Mosaic November 2018 Issue #11

@CIS

MOSAIC CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

MAY 2019 ISSUE #12

A special connection:

The Power Five strikes back • UN week design challenge • TK’s weekend of robots • Le cafe at TK

18

CONTENTS

49

MAY 2019

14 30 35 2

COVER STORY

2

A special connection: Shrek the musical

6

FEATURED NEWS

6 8

10 11

The Power Five strikes back TK mum releases new kids yoga activity book Emotions in motion at TK Fighting educational injustice

24

12 STUDENT VOICE 12 13

14

15

16

17 18 19

Behind the camera: a student’s story Sustainability: evaluation of UN food festival food stalls CIS students dance to top spot at World of Kidz Training for cross country the Husky way CIS Students win special prize in French Idol 2018 Dodgeball Domination week SEE ME CIS students broaden horizons at sixth Chinese Teachers’ Conference

15 20 21

CIS student comes in first in the Spartan Race Students run for worthy cause in 24 Hour Race

22 LEARNING 22 23 24 25

26

Le café at TK Earthquake hits grade 4 pod at Lakeside Mud buddies at TK Grade 12s secure top spot in French debate competition A ‘creepy’ author session at TK

27 ARTS AND CREATIVITY 27 28 29 30

TK becomes an African savannah Grade 9 UN week design challenge Diwali celebrations at TK Dia de los Muertos at CIS

32 34

49

UN week 2018 logo designs revealed Fun and function: locked in

35 INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 35

TK’s weekend of robots

36 OUTDOOR LEARNING

46

36 37

44

Activities: benefits include friends, fun and hidden talents Down memory lane with Open Minds

38 HAPPENINGS

54

50 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

39 GETTING SOCIAL 40 SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES 40 41 42 43 44 46

TK season 1 success CIS secondary FOBISIA accolades Stellar 11U TK boys’ basketball season U14 boys’ football life lessons A triumphant first sports season TK’s Aline wins gold in rhythmic gymnastics

50 52 54 55 56

Alex Thebez, Class of 2005 Jeremy Canivet, Class of 1993 Julian Jeanne, Class of 2018 Jessica Boji, Class of 2018 Kiki Kung, Class of 2010

58 PHOTO GALLERY 64 VIDEO GALLERY

47 SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

47 48 49

Grade 12s organise clothing drive Reflecting on ‘Angst’ and ‘Like’ SK students do their part for animals

MOSAIC@CIS A quarterly school magazine of the Canadian International School Editorial

37

Editors: Michelle Sharp, Lilian Wu, Anouk Breuls Design: Raymond Babol, Robin Viernes Photographers: The communications team and other members of CIS. Mosaic@CIS is published by the Canadian International School in Singapore.

Reproduction in any manner in any language is forbidden, unless prior consent is provided.

Please send feedback to mosaic@cis.edu.sg.

CPE Registration Number: 199002243H CPE Registration Period: 8 June 2015 to 7 June 2019 MCI (P) 004/02/2019 Published by: Canadian International School Printed by: Carlisle Printers & Graphic Designers

COVER STORY

A Special Connection:

Did you manage to catch Shrek the musical? If you loved it as much as we did, then read on to hear our leading actors’ thoughts on the production and why they felt such a special connection to CIS’s interpretation of the Tony Award winning musical.

Angelina Mable (grade 10) and Sophie Valleteau (grade 11)

02 2

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

COVER STORY

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

03 3

COVER STORY

Every year the drama department at Lakeside chooses a play for secondary students to put on. This season, we had the opportunity to watch Shrek the musical, which is based on an acclaimed Broadway musical of the same name.

Many students who were involved in the play or attended the musical felt a special connection to it. Shrek the musical is inspired by the DreamWorks movie that follows an ogre named Shrek and his comedic counterpart Donkey. The pair go off on quests around the magical kingdom of Duloc, and fight off the evil ruler Lord Farquaad. Although the movie was first released in 2001 (a year or two before we were born), many of us have watched the movie and fallen in love with the characters. CIS’s Shrek the musical lets us relive a simpler and more joyful time in our lives.

The students who were involved in the musical have been hard at work ever since casting started last school year (before the summer break). The cast and directors worked tirelessly, giving their all, in order to create the best CIS show possible.

4

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Minaal Khurram, grade 11, played Shrek’s trusty sidekick, Donkey. To her, Shrek was not only an out of the world experience, it was also a great opportunity for budding actors as it was considered the most professionally produced musical we have done at CIS so far. She believes that it’s the best musical the school has ever done and it’s been an outof-the-world experience to her. Like Varun, she believed that Shrek would resonate with older audiences due to its mature humour. She auditioned for the musical because of her love of all things theatre. Though she has been in many school productions, she felt that she has the closest connection to the hyper and happy-go-lucky character of Donkey.

Our lovely leading lady, Princess Fiona was played by Ysa Boon (grade 9). Ever since she started becoming more serious about acting over the past year, Ysa saw Shrek as the golden opportunity to develop her talents for acting and singing. Her favourite part of being in the production was practising the song “I know it’s today” with the other two Fionas. This song is quite famous in the Broadway version of Shrek and it’s a sign of the show coming together.

The comically evil (and comically short) antagonist, Lord Farquaad, was played by Haizea Garate, a grade 11 veteran of CIS’s annual productions. Haizea wanted to use the flamboyant role to showcase her acting capabilities and comedic skills. For her, Shrek was a way to continue her involvement with theatre after she selected Visual Arts as her art course. Sadly, this was her last musical as she will be under the enhanced academic pressures of a year 2 DP student next year.

It was indeed an amazing experience to watch CIS’s very own interpretation of Shrek the musical at the David Foster Theatre. Thank you to all the students and teachers who have worked so hard to bring this Tony Award winning musical to the CIS community!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

5

COVER STORY

The leading characters Varun Babu (grade 12) played the musical’s lead, Shrek.

To him, this musical was an amazing opportunity for him to show off his talents in acting, singing and dancing. As the lead, Varun wanted to show that people of all ages can enjoy fairy tales, especially Shrek with its fair share of mature humour. Varun told us that he auditioned for Shrek mainly because he wanted to improve his acting skills and boost his self confidence. He didn’t know that he would have the qualities of a true musical actor while balancing academics!

FEATURED NEWS

The Power Five strikes back.

Have you been waiting for the sequel to ‘The Power Five’, a book about third culture kids written by our very own TK PE teacher Jamie Yorke? Wait no more, because Jamie has written two books that continue to follow the adventures of a group of international students in Singapore. We catch up with Jamie to find out more.

Words by CIS Communications Have you been waiting for the sequel to ‘The Power Five’, a book about third culture kids written by our very own TK PE teacher Jamie Yorke? Wait no more, because Jamie has written two books that continue to follow the adventures of a group of international students in Singapore.

How was the response to your books so far?

I was able to launch the second and third book just one year after publishing the first. The immediate response from the CIS TK community was that most of the students who had read the first book wanted to follow up with the second and third book so I thought that was a really good sign. As a standalone book, ‘The Power Five’ wouldn’t have caused such a demand but having a set of three books opens up more doors of opportunities like author visits and writer workshops to me.

For example, I was invited to be a recurring vendor at PYP Connect. I participated in various events hosted by the AFCC (Asian Festival of Children’s Content), authors’ speed dating events to network with librarians, and even visited international schools in Phuket and Bangkok to do a series of international author visits. It’s been a really great experience seeing how international school students outside Singapore connect to my book. I was also invited to host workshops for aspiring writers. Here, I helped guide students on how to weave values and life lessons into stories they were writing as part of their UOI (unit of inquiry).

Tell us more about your books.

I set up a universe of characters in the first book where they were grade 4 students attending a fictional international school in Singapore. In this setup, they had joined the basketball team and promised to be BFFs (best friends forever) for many years to come. My idea from the beginning was to have three books because I’d planned to use the basketball team as a launching pad for each book. The characters would continue with basketball as they moved from grade 4 to 6 at their campus.

What was the inspiration for the title, ‘The Power Five’?

Many people ask me why I named my book series ‘The Power Five’. The characters’ coach in this fictional universe (Coach Martell) calls his five starting players who begin each

6

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

match on the basketball court ‘The Power Five’ - and they really take this nickname to heart. So much so that when they perform in a talent show at school in one of the short stories, they go on stage as “The Power Five”. They are proud of the leadership roles they’ve embraced at their school.

The stories are not exclusive to these five girls as other characters are introduced and join the five main characters at different points, so the fictional universe is actually much bigger than just The Power Five. This allows me more room to tell stories through the lens of different characters including teachers, parents, and students. I touch on the transient nature of being an international student/third culture kids and the unique challenges/opportunities they experience.

Do you base your books on your experiences at CIS? Yes, I draw heavily on my experience as a coach and teacher at CIS. Before I came to CIS, I taught at international schools in Hong Kong and Korea for seven years. This is my eleventh year at CIS and I really enjoy my time here. During my time as an international educator, I’ve experienced many school celebrations. Some that stand out are United Nations Week,

International students can proudly relate to my stories because the Power Five are like them - international students who hail from different parts of the world. Some students relate to certain characters more than others. Their eyes light up when they are introduced to Yuko from Japan, Shania and Sam from India, Jessica from both Canada and the Philippines, and finally Julia from Sweden. When international students read my books, they feel a natural connection because they see themselves in the characters.

Do CIS teachers use your books as part of a lesson in the classroom?

Based on the feedback I received, teachers use them in a variety of ways. Some teachers use them as part of a literacy learning centre while others have used them for book studies. I wrote the books with teachers in mind so the short stories have many strong teachable moments. There is actually a “Teachable Moments” section after each story that highlights potential learning experiences.

My books can also be used as a resource for highlighting celebrations like United Nations Week or Deepavali.

Sometimes teachers will have their students read one of my short stories before a major event to get them excited as part of a pre-connect, preloading their learning before a celebration, and/or to reflect on a celebration after its conclusion. This has helped students connect my stories to their real lives.

My books have the learner profile attributes and attitudes built into the stories as well. Words like ‘communicators’ and ‘risk-taker’ are in bold so they highlight the importance of such attributes to students. When teachers introduce a particular learner profile attribute, they may use my stories to highlight and enhance the learning - which is more meaningful than just pointing to a picture on the wall for example.

Any memorable feedback you received from teachers or students?

The most memorable feedback has got to be the natural feedback I receive from students. They come up to me and tell me how much they enjoy the books, and ask when I’m coming out with more. There was one time when grade three students were learning how to do a school survey and one of the survey questions a student included was ‘what is your favourite book series?’. The Power Five’ was one of the multiple choice options students gave, alongside Harry Potter, Wonder, and Judy Moody. I was proud that some students had answered “The Power 5” in the survey.

I also love coming across students who happen to be reading my books as I pass by. I’ve experienced this in the canteen, library, and even with their parents at the coffee shop across the street from the school. Another recurring theme is to see new CIS students searching out my books as a way to connect to their new CIS community.

What is one recurring theme throughout your stories?

A big part of my stories focuses on friendships and relationships. For example, one of the main characters feels homesick in one story so it provides an opportunity for her friends and classmates to help her through that difficult time. I also write about parents and teachers providing guidance throughout the books so there is a lot of focus on relationships. When I go on author visits, I like to promote our school using the three dots of the CIS logo. Some parents may not know this but the dots represent the influence of parents, teachers and classmates. This strong connection between students, parents and teachers is also present in my books.

I try to make my stories as realistic as possible so they are not always on positive and happy things. Students experience conflicts in their day to day lives at school.

They sometimes make bad choices and have to overcome challenges. For example, one of my stories used a real-life event where Singaporean, Joseph Schooling, had won a gold medal at the summer Olympics. One fictional student didn’t feel overly excited as he was new to the school and didn’t feel emotionally connected since he is not Singaporean.

The Power 5 and friends tell him all the wonderful things about Singapore and the importance of having respect for your host country. As the story progresses, the student’s attitude improves and he begins to feel proud of Singapore’s accomplishments. It’s a chance to look at cultural sensitivity and how we can support one another as friends.

Will you be following up ‘The Power Five’ with more stories, but from another perspective?

Yes, I’m in the process of writing books four and five. They will focus on two younger girls who joined the original Power 5 in book three and became quite close with their new teammates. As the original Power 5 finish up grade 6 in book three, the new girls get to lead the next generation of The Power Five on Coach Martell’s basketball team.

I’m also planning to write a series about a group of boys attending the same fictional school. Braden, one of the main characters is a familiar face as he is the younger brother of an original character Jessica. He has been appearing throughout the first series as a supporting character, but this time he will play a more significant role as the main character in “Braden’s Buddies”. This is a chance for us to relook at learning opportunities and celebrations through different lenses and continue to tell countless untold stories of Third Culture Kids.

There will actually be an overlap of stories in some cases as Brayden and his buddies are at the same campus as the new Power 5.

Want to read the adventures of The Power Five? You can check them out at TK and Lakeside libraries or your nearest public library.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

7

FEATURED NEWS

Deepavali, Chinese New Year. I’ve also witnessed big events like talent shows, drama productions, and sporting events.

I saw how impactful such events could be so I thought of using them as settings for my stories.

FEATURED NEWS

TK mum releases new kids yoga activity book.

CIS is full of talented students and it’s no surprise that we have talented parents in our midst as well. Take Sophie Spoor, a TK parent, for example.

Not only is Sophie a certified yoga teacher, she has added the title of author to her belt after the release of a yoga activity book for kids. We chat with her to find out more.

Words by CIS Communications

CIS is full of talented students and it’s no surprise that we have talented parents in our midst as well. This is exactly the case with one of our CIS TK mums, Sophie Spoor. A certified yoga teacher, Sophie has added the title of author to her namelist of accomplishments as well. She recently shared her new book, ‘The Elephant of Wisdom’ - a yoga activity book for kids - with 15 primary students when she visited the TK library as a guest author. Sophie talks with us and shares more about the inspiration behind the book.

Tell us about your book. What inspired you to write a yoga activity book for kids?

As a yoga instructor, my real love and passion lie in teaching kids yoga. Yoga can make a positive impact not just in children’s strength, balance and flexibility, but also their wellbeing and happiness. Due to packed social lives, high academic expectations, busy parents and sports competitions, children nowadays live in a ‘hurry-up’ world.

This leaves them feeling anxious and stressed. Yoga can help them slow down, release stress, find balance, and feel more joy in their liveslife. Despite this, yoga for kids still remains a relatively unknown activity today.

8

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

As I wanted to make yoga accessible to more children, I came up with the yoga notebook concept. This way, kids can discover or pursue the practice of yoga at their own convenience - even if they can’t go to studios, school ECAs, or live in remote locations. With this in mind, I started to write accessible, fun, non-competitive content. My view is that children can practise yoga while playing. As my yoga classes for kids are very interactive, the content naturally evolved into an activity book so young readers can write or draw their feelings, comments and thoughts.

I wanted Mini Yogi to be multifaceted so I included learning, breathing, moving exercises as well as some games and relaxing moments. One book is equivalent to a complete kids yoga class for children aged 5-12 years old, as per my teaching style.

Is this your first book? And are there more in the pipeline that we can look forward to?

The Elephant of Wisdom is the first volume of the Mini Yogi series. I have written enough content for 10 volumes. Each book will have a different title, and readers will meet animals

FEATURED NEWS

that illustrate fundamental yoga values and concepts. In the first volume, children transform into an elephant to develop wisdom. In the second one, they will become a flamingo and test their balance!

The volumes are standalone stories, however little yogis will intensify their practice along the journey. The first volume is really an introduction to yoga, and it even presents the history of yoga. I’m intending to publish the second book by Summer 2019, and sketches are on the way!

Tell us about the entire process from conception to publication. Were there any challenges along the way?

It took me three years in total, to finalise the Mini Yogi series concept, and launch the first volume. Writing – in French at first - took me a long time, as I did it in between my classes, and finished it during my maternity leave! I structured the content to introduce kids to yoga and guide them along the journey, making the poses and exercises more intense progressively.

I sent a first mock up and synopsis to a range of French publishers. None of the offers materialised due to a lack of illustration and weak distribution network in Asia (I’ve been living in Singapore for 12 years!). Finally, I decided to do it on my own and discovered the self-publishing world. I sought help for the English translation, looked for the right illustrator and met the very talented Florence Mahon de Monaghan!

It was amazing to see sketches - of what I’d only seen in my mind for so long - come to life. All her drawings are done by hand and it took us a very, very long time to finalise all the illustrations. We wanted every pose to be not only beautiful, but also “physically correct’ because the right alignment is key to practising yoga safely.

Yes, the concept creation, writing, project coordination with creative people and printers took time but it is so satisfying to hold the first book in my hands. Now, I’m trying to pass it to others. Communicating and distributing the book is hard work too.

This project is a long journey and I encountered some obstacles, but thanks to resilience and the support of my friends, family and students, I managed to cross the finish line. It’s a real pleasure to present the book through demos, author’s talks, and the feedback is very positive. I hope to bring even more breathing and smiling into CIS students’ life in 2019.

Sophie’s book ‘The Elephant of Wisdom’ is now available in the TK library.

Since Florence was moving back to France and then Africa after that, it certainly presented a lot of challenges. My friend, Stephanie Lehembre, eventually finalised the layout and graphics to make this book beautiful, soft and colourful.

What do you hope to achieve with this book?

Through Mini Yogi, I hope to establish yoga as an important part of families’ lifestyle. Children can integrate some of the techniques in the book such as the elephant breathing or sun salutations into their daily routine. They can use the book to develop a home practice and eventually increase their level of wellbeing.

Yoga is always better together! Readers can practise individually or with their family. It then transforms into an incredible bonding moment. Family yoga works best when parents and children learn to breathe, stretch, play together.

Mini Yogi is an accessible, secure and joyful universe for kids to practise yoga. I also recently launched kids yoga mats – they’re similarly soft and colourful, perfectly sized for primary school students.

What have you learned from publishing this book?

My friend told me that launching a book is like giving birth: hard but relatively quick. The hard work lies on raising the kid – or in my case distributing the book. This is very true.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

9

FEATURED NEWS

Emotions in motion at TK. What did primary students from TK, Lakeside and across Singapore learn about emotions during the 3-day ISTA Drama Festival hosted by TK? Sierra and Kelly, TK drama teachers, talk about this emotionally rich learning experience that engaged imaginations.

Words by Sierra Laderoute and Kelly Karges (TK drama teachers) Happy...sad...angry...excited...wonder. These are the emotions that crossed our drama enthusiasts’ faces at this year’s Primary ISTA Festival. Hosted at our TK campus, the theme for this year’s festival was “Emotions in motion”. Participants went on an emotional “roller coaster ride” as they explored each feeling in detail.

First, we “buckled up” and began the exciting “ride” by exploring the theme with our ISTA theatre artists in a full group session. This was followed by an “Out and about” inquiry experience to the Trick Eye Museum where participants had fun experimenting with different 3D settings. Since every set-up was different, the participants had to adapt their body movements and facial expressions to create new experiences.

Next, we had to hold on tight as we wove our way through a variety of fun and creative workshops over the weekend. TK teachers engaged participants in mask-making, Shakespeare and stomp style musical instruments. Our emotional roller coaster then loop-de-looped and took us back to working in our ensemble groups with the ISTA artists. It was a pleasure to work with them because their wide range of specialities included clowning, sound and tech, mask play and physical theatre all skills that would be valuable for our participants in future!

The “roller coaster” finally rounded the last bend but we still had one last bump to navigate. Participants put their best acting faces on and took their families on a journey that showcased their feelings, new friends and all that they had learned during the 3-day festival. With that, we “disembarked” the “ride” in high spirits and with stories to tell of our “Emotions in motion”.

Let’s take a look at a few memorable ride snapshots:

“I felt that everything was super cool and was super fun.”

- Féline, grade 3 (Lakeside) “I just loved everything that we did. Everything about the festival was really exciting for us.”

- Jasmine and Laura, grade 4 (Lakeside)

“We loved learning about new emotions we didn’t know about and exploring them with our bodies. We loved using them to be dramatic and the masks helped to really show our feelings. We could be silly or be whatever we wanted.

- Elizaveta and Isadora, grade 4 (TK)

“I really enjoyed ISTA because it was very interesting. I like how the ensembles and workshops were very interactive, and I made new friends with kids from other schools.”

- Ojasvi, grade 5 (TK)

10

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

FEATURED NEWS

Fighting educational injustice.

264 million children and teens around the world don’t have the opportunity to attend school or complete their education. With this statistic in mind, Julie L addressed this concerning issue in her Personal Project (P2). We spoke with the grade 10 student to find out more.

Words by CIS Communications Unicef reports indicate 264 million children and teens globally don’t have the opportunity to attend school or complete their education. It is a concerning statistic - as education offers disadvantaged children a path out of poverty and the opportunity of a brighter future.

chance by helping them stay in school with a variety of resources including stationery, uniforms and school fee assistance. If the child is unable to return home due to mistreatment, Blue Dragon takes them under their wing and provides shelter, food and education.

For her Personal Project (P2), grade 10 student Julie L chose to work with Blue Dragon, a charity in Vietnam.

Blue Dragon works to find practical solutions for children and families in crisis to help them break the cycle of poverty. We speak with her to find out more.

Were there any unforeseen problems that rose while doing the project?

How did you handle them?

I organised a book drive where I collected books from the CIS community. However, during the process, I neglected to consider the shipping fees that I would incur. It wasn’t until I went to the post office to get some boxes that I realised I needed extra funds to ship the books over to Vietnam. Singapore has strict laws on fundraising and time was running out, so I ended up using the money I earned from babysitting to pay for the shipping.

Tell us about your P2. What inspired you to choose educational injustice as your topic?

For my P2, I compared the resources available to CIS and two schools in Vietnam under Blue Dragon’s care. My goal was to find out what resources the Vietnamese schools were lacking, so I could formulate a plan to help them. This is important to me because I feel that we are very lucky here in Singapore, especially when compared to those who face educational inequality in other parts of the world.

My efforts were not just about helping one person; it provided me with a platform to help many people caught in the cycle of poverty, from either lack of opportunities or background.

Why did you choose to work with Blue Dragon?

I chose to work with Blue Dragon because I find it to be a great charity, one that provides multiple avenues of assistance. They save children from the streets and give them a fighting

What was the most memorable part of your project?

One of the most memorable parts was having the wonderful CIS community donating gently used books for my book drive. If not for their generous book donations, my book drive wouldn’t have taken off at all.

Knowing what you know now, what would you do if you could start over again?

I think I’d still focus on educational injustice because it is a critical problem in today’s world, and we often talk about it in class. Without education, many people may lack the knowledge on a variety of important

topics, and this might see us repeating history’s mistakes.

Even if I hadn’t chosen educational injustice as my P2 topic, I would still want to work on something that would allow me to give back to society because I feel lucky to be given so many opportunities in life.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank?

First, I would like to thank Ms Jane Mcgennisken. She was a really big help as my advisor and she helped me throughout the whole process. Ms Katherine Ross and Mr Jez Gray were also always there to help and answer any questions I had on P2. Last but not least, I would like to thank the CIS community for showing me such tremendous support during my book drive.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

11

STUDENT VOICE

Behind the camera: a student’s story.

What is it like to view the world through a camera lense? Ryan Huang, Lakeside grade 9 student, reveals the challenges involved in being part of the Live Video Crew - a school club helmed by secondary teacher Mr Philip Roberts.

Words by Ryan Huang, grade 9 Over the past months of being part of the Live Video Crew (LVC), I’ve quickly gained a lot of experience as a camera operator. I remember covering our first show (TEDxYouth) and how stressful it was. I was assigned to the centre camera position, which was mainly responsible for wide shots and zooming in when necessary.

I was always fascinated by cameras and how they operate, but actually operating a camera live was very different than my expectations. I expected it to be very easy but in reality, it was very difficult. The TEDx speakers would sometimes move out of the frame so you have to try and predict their next move.

The UN Parade of Nations was definitely a memorable experience for me as a camera operator. Although it was not the hardest thing to do technically (because there was a method to follow), the people running into the frame and other factors made it very hard to get a good shot. Overall, I am extremely happy that I joined the LVC as it gave me more experience as a camera man and it has also been very fun journey.

12

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

STUDENT VOICE

Sustainability: evaluation of UN food festival food stalls Did you know that while the Lakeside community had a delicious time at the UN food festival, a team of students from Green Machine were evaluating the sustainability of each stall? Leonor De Mendonca (grade 11) tells us all about this wonderful green initiative.

Words by Leonor De Mendonca, grade 8

This year, a Green Machine student team evaluated the food stalls during Uniting Nations week. Students evaluated each stall based on two main criteria.

Criteria 1: whether the stall had any single-use plastic packaging. The stalls were evaluated according to the following predefined scores: • Two points if there was no packaging of any kind • One point if they had compostable disposables • No points if plastic disposables were used Criteria 2: we evaluated the stall based on whether the stall had plantbased food. Each stall was evaluated

according to the following predefined scores:

student feedback on how to improve and make their stall more eco-friendly.

• Two points if there were at least two plant-based dishes, with at least one meat-free option • One point if there was at least one plant-based dish that was meat free but contained dairy or eggs • No points if all the dishes contained meat

France was one stall that received the Greenest Stall award. The student who evaluated the French stall said: “They used reusable kitchen towels, carried their food in a bowl and had many different kinds of food with various ingredients. They also made the stall look interesting by including the French theme. They used reusable containers as well and included plantbased foods that didn’t include any meat.”

By the end of the evaluation, the students totalled up the scores. If a stall scored four points, they would be awarded the “Greenest Stall”. If a stall scored three points, they would get the “Green Enthusiast Award” while a stall with 2 points would get the “Green Start-up Award”. However, if a stall had 1 or no points, they would receive

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

13

STUDENT VOICE

CIS students dance to top spot at World of Kidz.

Congratulations to CIS students Abhinav, Teja, Subhrodeep, and Varisht on securing top spot in the World of Kidz dance competition! Let’s hear from them on their exciting experience.

Words by Abhinav Moulik, grade 10 It has been a great journey for me and my friends to participate in a competition organised by the World of Kidz - an event company that provides a platform to promote inherent talent in kids of Singapore. We secured first position in the dance category for 2 consecutive seasons.

This year, 200 kids participated in different competition segments like dance, singing, instrumental and ramp walk. There were as many as 500 people in the audience. We were a group of 5 participants. Teja Nanduri (grade 11), Subhrodeep Hazra (grade 10), Varisht Gupta (grade 10), myself (grade 10) and Sania Shah (a student from a local school) performed a Bollywood dance.

It gave us all immense pleasure and satisfaction to secure the first position and hold the trophy high.

It had been 6 weeks of rigorous practice - taking time out from our busy schedules and keeping up other commitments had been challenging. However, since dance is our passion, all of us worked hard to overcome the challenges. As students of CIS, we always remember to contribute to society as part of our CAS. We recently performed in Kebun Baru Community Centre and the KYC year end party 2018 in Tuas to do our part for the senior citizens and workers in Singapore.

14

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

STUDENT VOICE

Training for cross country the Husky way.

What is it like to compete in and train for a cross country run?

Shiqin Ong, a grade 8 student from Lakeside, tells us all about it.

Words by Shiqin Ong, grade 8

On 1 November 2018, our 12U and 14U girls and boys competed at the last cross country meet of the season. The Huskies competed against several other schools, which included UWCSEA, Tanglin, and Dulwich. The track course at Bedok Reservoir was three kilometres long. Everyone was nervous but in good spirits.

working hard since the beginning of the year. We trained at least two times a week under the supervision of Mr Clarke, Mr Kys, Ms Hosick, Ms Rambin, and Ms Ramsey. The venue was the Chinese Garden near our Lakeside campus which was the perfect training ground with the unending pathways and challenging hills.

The 14U girls started off first. They were then followed by our 14U boys, 12U girls and 12U boys. Everyone was cheering their team on, and encouraging all the runners.

One of my favorite memories was one Wednesday morning when it was rainy.

The sky was grey and it was drizzling slightly. Every puddle my friend and I saw, we would jump and splash in. We tried to splash each other as much as possible. My socks and shoes were

The CIS cross country team has been

completely soaked but I think it was worth it. I really enjoyed this season and trying cross country. I will definitely be running more. Not just to increase my physical endurance and enjoying the outdoors, but also to feel the satisfaction and pride of finishing a run.

Cross country is a great sport to get up your endurance and enjoy the outside. Training is challenging and you are always testing your limits. Keep running, run faster, and push it when you are almost done. Nevertheless, I recommend everybody to consider doing cross country next year! Go Huskies!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

15

STUDENT VOICE

CIS students win special prize in French Idol 2018.

Congratulations to grade 10 students Swara Ranam and Natasha Angie on winning a special prize at French Idol 2018! Swara shares the story on how some last minute decisions helped her give the performance of her life.

Words by Swara Rajiv Ranam, grade 10 French Idol is an annual French singing competition organised by the teachers of the French Association of Singapore. The competition has been taking place since 2006 in schools across Singapore - last year’s host was Lycée Français de Singapour. French language students in Singapore represent their schools or universities in this competition and compete for a trophy as well as the prestige of being the French Idol of that year.

Students prepare for months in order to deliver their best performance in the competition. It’s a singing competition that encourages diversity, so participants include both beginners and students who have been learning French for many years. They also come from different French-speaking countries around the world. French Idol is a good opportunity for French language learners to test and improve their language skills through a stage performance. It also encourages learners to keep learning and progressing in the French language.

I have been participating in French Idol for two years and it has been nothing short of amazing. In 2017, I was incredibly nervous to sing on stage in a language that I had just started to learn. My performance did not win me any prizes but it taught me a lot about confidence and stage presence.

In 2018, I made more meticulous choices - but they were all incredibly last minute!

The song I chose in 2017 did not suit my voice very well, and initially for 2018 I had chosen a song from the same artist. After practising that song for about a month, I impulsively decided to change the song. It was 16

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

not difficult because a song tends to stick in my head when I listen to it repeatedly. So I listened to it whenever possible: on the way to school, during breaks and lunch, on the way home, in the shower and before bed. I’m happy to say that it worked!

I also asked my close friend Natasha to accompany me on the ukulele because it was comforting to have a familiar face on stage with me. Luckily the song I chose sounded great on the ukulele, so Natasha and I practised almost every day until the day of the competition. Our French teacher, Ms Fiannaca gave us really good advice as well and she even generously gave us both an entire class period to practise our performance.

On the day of the competition, both of us were really nervous. We were honestly intimidated by the performances before us because they included many elements like harmonies, costumes, and even dance moves that we did not have. By the time we got to intermission, we felt that we only had a glimmer of hope of winning. Nevertheless, we decided

to practise during the intermission to boost our spirits. Have you ever had the feeling where you felt that ‘this was it’? This last rehearsal was the boost we needed. Suddenly we felt very confident and I was having fun as I performed on stage. It wasn’t about winning anymore - I was simply enjoying myself and celebrating my progress in learning French. Natasha and I weren’t expecting any award. In fact, I was doing Buzzfeed quizzes and Natasha was doing her I&S summative during the award-giving ceremony.

Then we heard the announcer say: “Le prix spécial, L’école internationale canadienne: Swara et Natasha”.

Thank you to everyone who has taught me French - especially Ms Odile De Troy and Ms Sandra Fiannaca who have been incredibly supportive and patient these past two years. I also thank Mr Lespagnol, Ms Tainsh and Ms Sevilla for supporting me during rehearsals and the performance. Of course without Natasha, winning the special prize would not have been possible. It’s not the first place nor is it an Oscar, but it is one of my greatest achievements in French learning to date because it acts as a motivation for me to keep learning more.

STUDENT VOICE

Dodgeball Domination week.

Because sports are such a critical part of a student’s growth and development, student participation in sports is an important part of our secondary student council sports committee’s strategic plan. The committee are working hard to encourage participation in a variety of activities, one of which is the January dodgeball tournament. Let’s hear from Shashwat and Kush, on why the committee decided to host this event.

Words by Shashwat Amar Parikh (grade 11) and Kush Tummala (grade 9), grade representatives of the Student Council Sports Committee On 16 and 17 January 2019, the secondary school Student Council Sports Committee organised the first ever Dodgeball Domination week. The sports committee held this event to provide students with a fun opportunity to celebrate their return to school after the three-week December break. Most of our activities have been students playing traditional sports against staff members. Although students are welcome to spectate, our participants tend to be from the school’s varsity competitive teams.

As a result, we decided to host an event that every secondary student could join and enjoy. After all, one of the goals in the sports committee’s strategic plan for this year is to encourage participation in sports. After some brainstorming to plan the perfect event, we settled on hosting an event in a non-traditional yet classic ‘PE class’ sport: dodgeball.

The Dodgeball Domination events were held during SMART on Wednesday 16 January (for grades 10-12) and Thursday 17 January (for grades 7-9). Any student in the respective grades was welcomed to play multiple rounds of dodgeball

in the gym. Dodgeball Domination week provided students with an opportunity to take time out of their otherwise busy schedules to partake in a fun, engaging game with their friends.

We advertised the event through assemblies and poster ads, and we are happy to say that the event was a huge success! Wednesday’s event had about 30 participants while Thursday saw as many as 70 players. Every student who attended the event seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves so we are very glad that the event received such a large amount of enthusiasm and student participation.

As part of the sports committee, we hope to host many more events for the rest of this school year. In fact, the school community can look forward to a new and more entertaining version of the annual student vs staff basketball game. Plans for a five-a-side futsal tournament for student teams are also underway. The Student Council Sports Committee hopes to continue engaging and entertaining the secondary student body with sports activities.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

17

STUDENT VOICE

SEE ME. Do you actually know the people you see at school every day?

Grade 12 student Elena Chamorro asked herself this question and made an amazing video that explores the topic in depth. We catch up with Elena to find out more - make sure you watch her video!

Words by Elena Chamorro, grade 12

SEE ME is a short film that aims to educate the CIS community (students, teachers, and parents) about the lives of our support staff. As someone who takes the MRT to school every day, I often walked past our guards and janitors on the way into school and began to wonder what their stories were. I often asked myself what kind of person it made me if I didn’t know the people I saw every day and I couldn’t find an answer. So what could be better than asking them myself?

The most important thing for me was to ensure the video was captivating, and that the audience didn’t feel bullied into caring. I worked with Kai Franks (grade 12), another senior, who wrote the score for the film, and helped me find the right tone. I wanted viewers to hear a call to action and to feel inspired to change their behavior after watching the film, and Kai’s score helped execute this with its Hans Zimmer-like feel. In addition to Kai, I’d like to thank Mr Andrea Bertoncelli from the Communications and Marketing department for letting me borrow (and teaching me to use) our school’s more advanced video equipment. Unlike other interactions I’ve had with adults in tech-related fields, Mr Andrea was kind and generous, even staying after school to make sure the interviews went well. Additionally, I’d like to thank all the staff featured in the video - Mr Goh, Ms Mandi,

18

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

and Mr Padmanathan - for taking breaks from their busy work days to provide interviews and for trusting me with their stories.

I can honestly say that by the end of filming, I gained an even larger sense of respect for the staff at CIS, not only because of the difficulty of their jobs, but because of their profound empathy towards those who continue to perpetuate stigmas on them due to their job titles. I think the amount of understanding and care these staff members have for others can be a lesson to all of us - that even if all we have time for is a simple “good morning” or “thank you”, it is worth it to make people feel seen.

Scan this QR code to watch the video

STUDENT VOICE

CIS students broaden horizons at sixth Chinese Teachers’ Conference.

Chinese language teachers from all over the world attended the sixth Chinese Teachers’ Conference at CIS last December. Teachers from around the region learned about best practices in teaching Chinese, how CIS teaches the language, as well as sharing best practices of their own. The conference also provided CIS students with some novel leadership opportunities. We talk to grade 10 students Marie and Natasha, who share how being student ambassadors at the event helped broaden their horizons.

Words by Marie-Lyn Jalaguier and Natasha Nagata (grade 10) The pedagogy (principles and methods of instruction) of language learning is built on best practices, however, it is a diverse discipline that is unique to every teacher and school community. There are many ways to not only teach students, but also maintain their attention and interest.

On the second day of the sixth Chinese Teachers’ Conference, Chinese language teachers from around the world gathered to observe how Chinese is taught at CIS. They visited a number of classrooms, and observed methods and strategies utilised when teaching students with different levels of language proficiency. Teachers also had opportunities to break into groups to discuss what they’d observed and to share what practice looked like in their own school.

Our job as student-ambassadors was to help visiting teachers find the designated classrooms, navigate our school and answer questions they may have had about our school or the event. It was a great opportunity for us to help out as volunteers. Not only did we get some unique insight into how our teachers teach Chinese, we also got to see the type of teaching strategies that are effective for different groups of students across a range of ages and proficiency levels.

At the same time, we were able to practise our Chinese speaking and listening skills. Visiting teachers asked us about our own language learning experiences (both at home and school), and we interviewed them about their teaching experiences and thoughts about the Chinese Conference.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

19

STUDENT VOICE

CIS student comes in first in the Spartan Race.

After being inspired by his father’s 2016 fitness transformation journey, grade 11 Chezven Cheah started participating in spartan races. Although an obstacle course can present both mental and physical challenges, this did not stop our secondary student from coming in first in the South East Asian series of the race last year.

Angelina and Sophie give us insight into his inspirational journey.

Words by Angelina Mable (grade 10) and Sophie Valleteau (grade 11)

Spartan racing is a sport where participants have to complete a variety of challenges over an obstacle course that’s 5 to 21km. Grade 11 student, Chezven Cheah, has been participating in these races for nearly 2 years. He participated in his first Singapore race in 2017 after he was inspired by his father’s significant fitness transformation journey towards the end of 2016.

Depending on the distance, participants may have to complete up to 45 different obstacles or challenges during the race. Your body and mind need to work together as obstacle races require physical and mental endurance. To finish a race, you must clear obstacles that require body strength and go through extensive running distances on irregular terrain. As a participant, you have to keep pushing no matter what. That’s why having a strong mental discipline is important.

20

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

In 2018, Chezven competed in the South East Asian series of the race in the 14 to 17 year old category. It took place across four different countries (Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia), which meant that Chezven had to travel all around South East Asia! After competing in multiple races, he managed to accumulate enough points to come in first place for his age category. He also won a cash prize, so congratulations Chezven!

Reflecting on his spartan race journey, Chezven encourages everyone to try out the competition at least once in their life. You not only get an opportunity to exercise and step out of your comfort zone, you will also make new friends with people you may not have met otherwise!

STUDENT VOICE

Students run for worthy cause in 24 Hour Race.

Actions speak louder than words, and nothing is louder than the noteworthy act of CIS students who participated in the 24 Hour Race to raise funds and awareness of modern day slavery. Grade 12 student Nina Engelbrecht, who is also the Operations/ Logistics Director of the event, tells us all about the youth-driven charity initiative.

Words by Nina Engelbrecht (grade 12 and Operations/Logistics Director of 24 Hour Race) The 24 Hour Race is a global charity organisation with the aim of abolishing modern day slavery. Every year, the organisation hosts a youth-driven race where students run in teams of 8 for 24 hours. When they participate in the race, students are given the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for a global crisis that is often swept under the carpet.

This year’s 24 Hour Race at Palawan Green (Siloso Beach Walk, Sentosa) has been the most challenging yet rewarding event that I’ve been involved in. Many of the organising committee members are from CIS, and they all worked tirelessly to ensure the event’s success. On the day of the race (Saturday 19 January), everyone was filled with excitement and positive energy. To keep the runners motivated as they took turns running laps for their team, we planned several performances and activities. There were live performances by student bands and DJs as well as push-up challenges, water balloon fights and more.

At midnight, all the runners gathered in a moment of silence to show solidarity for the victims of modern day slavery that they were running to raise awareness for. Even though no one slept more than 4 hours as the runners ran laps through the night, everyone remained happy and proud to be a part of such an inspirational event. When the race finally ended, prizes were awarded to teams for achievements such as “Most Laps Run” and “Best Sportsmanship”. The award for most money raised went to “WHY R U RUNNING” - a team that comprised entirely of CIS students who raised $4430.

It was an awesome achievement that highlights CIS’s core values as a school community.

The 24 Hour Race is the product of hard work and dedication of many students across Singapore and I’m very excited to see it grow in scale in the upcoming years.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

21

LEARNING

Le café at TK. TK recently saw the “opening of a new cafe” on campus but who was responsible for it? Nandini Jhaveri, French lead teacher, tells us all about it.

Words by Nandini Jhaveri, French lead teacher (TK)

French café at school? C’est possible! For parents and teachers? Oui biensûr!

Students serving? Mais oui! In French? Evidemment!

Grade 3 French students culminated their unit on healthy foods by organising a cafe for their parents and teachers on a Thursday afternoon. Students planned the menu that included a salad with a variety of vegetables, a cheese platter, fruit salad and a choice of drinks.

Students were responsible for conducting the entire event in French - from preparing the salads and naming all the ingredients to their parents sitting at the table to serving cheese and offering drinks. They were little 8-year-old servers walking (or running) around with trays and mind you, with not a single spill!

Menu cards, carefully written by the grade 3s, served as table mats. Since their biggest concern was that mum or dad didn’t speak French, there were pictures to explain the ingredients. And of course, not forgetting the “bill” that was presented at the end of the meal where real money was collected and counted. Everyone had a good lunch at the TK MYP basketball court and we are very thankful to all the “customers” who took time from their busy schedules to come join us for lunch.

22

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

LEARNING

Earthquake hits grade 4 pod at Lakeside.

Early one Tuesday morning, Lakeside grade 4 students arrived at school and found their pod in a state of chaos and disarray.

Erin Bird fills us in on how this unexpected event ‘jolted’ students into constructing meaningful inquiries, and how the process helped them gain a deeper understanding of how natural disasters shape communities.

Words by Erin Bird, grade 4 teacher It was a Tuesday morning like no other in the grade 4 pod at Lakeside. As students entered the pod, they found it dark and in various states of destruction.

The emergency lights were on, sirens were blasting, desks were overturned, and pieces of furniture were flipped in a chaotic manner. Even the WiFi was down! Students walked around gobsmacked. Some asked their teachers what had happened. Many whipped out their iPads to take photos and videos. A few just sat down and watched the raw footage of an earthquake playing on the projector, while others took the initiative to start cleaning up.

When teachers deemed it safe, they gathered their students and mindfully tiptoed between the mess into their classrooms, which were in the same state as the pod. They had a conversation about what could possibly have happened and what their plan of action was going to be. Some students started making connections between earthquakes and other natural disasters, while some were positive there had been a break-in.

This was grade 4’s introductory provocation to their new unit ‘How We Organise Ourselves’, a unit that explores how natural disasters play a role in shaping communities. Through this was a simulated earthquake, teachers were able to witness how students would

possibly react in a real emergency. Many students knew they needed to ensure that everyone was safe and then work together to clean up the mess this ‘earthquake’ had made; not unlike any real community facing such a horrific event.

From this simulation, students were able to make connections, ask excellent questions about key concepts, and start the unit’s inquiries. And best of all, they were excited about their learning!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

23

LEARNING

Mud buddies at TK. Playing in the mud kitchen at TK is both fun and educational, but what if you could explore the space with an ‘older’ buddy? It might open up a whole new world of discoveries. Kate Polychronopoulos, TK Pre-K teacher, shares how students in Pre-K and grade 2 have worked together to create an unforgettable learning experience.

24

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Words by Kate Polychronopoulos, TK Pre-K teacher This year, two Pre-K classes have buddied up with two grade 2 classes, for a special ‘Mud Buddies’ collaboration at the mud kitchen.

After a couple of sessions in the classroom to initiate and form friendships, the classes now meet every Friday morning in the Outdoor Discovery Centre. A range of different provocations (explorations) are set out for the children to explore together in the water and mud. Ms. Kate visited grade 2-2 after the second session to ask students how they thought the sessions were going.

Students shared some excellent ideas and suggestions, and changes were made.

Children can now choose from water play, digging with spades, working at the ‘construction site’ under the big tree, cooking and baking at the kitchen table, building magical fairy houses in the tree roots with blocks, constructing dolls’ furniture with natural materials or playing in the big muddy pool. Pre-K students also reflect on their mud kitchen experiences and share their ideas on how to keep it exciting and interesting each week.

These developmental play sessions are connected to their learning as well. Pre-K’s current Unit of Inquiry is “Sharing the Planet”, and they’ve been exploring the life cycle of a frog each week in the mud kitchen. Students have observed how tadpoles grow legs and become froglets. Maths is incorporated as the students use scales to weigh and balance natural materials gathered from the school grounds.

Their older buddies initiate meaningful conversations as they play with the younger students - using language that is rich and varied. Thanks to the grade 2 students, the Pre-K students are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and become risktakers. Each week, teachers encourage students to try something new and watch with pride as they grow more confident and have lots of fun. Grade 2s have stepped up as effective leaders and communicators - and the result is a wonderful bond between kindergarten and primary school.

LEARNING

Grade 12s score top spot in French debate competition.

It was a close competition as teams from international schools battled it out at “Les Joutes oratoires”, an interschool French debate competition. We are happy to report that CIS grade 12 students Solene and Gaia managed to score the top spot! Let’s hear more about this feat from Armelle Tainsh, their MYP/ DP French teacher at Lakeside.

Words by Armelle Tainsh, MYP/DP French teacher

In late 2018, our French students were invited to take part in the French Debate Competition. This was CIS’s second time competing, and schools including Tanglin Trust School, UWC, Overseas Family School, GESS, Singapore American School (SAS), St Joseph International (SJII) and NUS participated.

Students went head to head in groups of 2, as they debated current global topics that grew more complex in nature.

For example, students first started debating the ban on using mobile phones in schools and the justification of footballers’ high wages, before they moved on to more complex issues like the topic of migrant assistance in

Europe and the right to protest in a democracy.

The first round at Tanglin Trust School saw 4 of our grade 12 students going into the quarter-finals: Marius Cagnat, Garrick Massardier, Solene Le Bretton and Gaia Bartoletti. Solene and Gaia won hands down and qualified for the second round. At that point of time, four schools (SAS, UWC, SJII and CIS) were still in the race.

The second round took place at SJI International School. Solene and Gaia won another great debate in the semifinals against SJII. The finals against Tanglin took place immediately after and despite an increasing tension between the 2 opposing groups we are proud to say that the girls defeated Tanglin. Well done Solene and Gaia!

The students considered the debate competition as a fantastic opportunity to apply the skills they learnt in class to real world situations. The debates provided them the opportunity to interact with French speakers who are the same age as them and have different views on the issues being debated. These debates were an excellent preparation for the DP oral exams as the students could practise a range of topics linked to global issues that are part of the DP language acquisition course.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

25

LEARNING

A ‘Creepy’ author session at TK .

Although TK grade 3 students weren’t able to meet awardwinning author Aaron Reynolds in person, they still managed to have a fun and informative Skype session with him. Stojana Popovska, TK teacher-librarian, tells us all about the conversation.

Words by Stojana Popovska, TK teacher-librarian TK hosted a special virtual guest, well known picture book and graphic novel author, Aaron Reynolds in January. Aaron is the award-winning author of books like Nerdy Birdy, Carnivores, Caveboy Dave and Creepy Pair of Underwear! - popular with primary aged children. Although the beloved creator of Caldecott Honor–winning picture book ‘Creepy Carrots!’ wasn’t able to visit our TK campus in person, our grade 3 students were able to interact with him, and meet his cat Daxter, over Skype.

Once we were online, Aaron showed students around his working space and even introduced his writing buddy, his cat Daxter. Aaron spoke to the children about the writing process, and discussed everything from the obstacles every author faces to the ups and downs you experience as you go through the story publishing process.

It was really beneficial for students to hear more about writing from an author’s perspective.

Since students had been reading Aaron’s stories and exploring his website during library time, our Skype session provided us with the perfect opportunity to ask Aaron a few pertinent questions (ones they’d worked on over a few weeks)!

To end this exciting session, Aaron read us two of his stories: ‘Creepy Carrots!’ and his newly published book ‘Dude!’. The students had a blast and they are definitely looking forward to more of his new books!

26

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

TK becomes an African savannah.

How and why did the TK basketball court suddenly become an African savannah on 22 November 2018? Sierra Laderoute, TK drama teacher, fills us in.

Words by Sierra Laderoute, TK drama teacher The Circle of Life took over TK on 22 November when grade 3 students and their teachers surprised the TK community with a flash mob during recess. The basketball court came alive and turned into an African savannah. “Lions”, “zebras”, “warthogs” and even “gazelles” could be found dancing and singing “Circle of Life”, a classic song from the Lion King animated film.

The flash dance, which involved choral work, choreography and mask design, was the result of a project grade 3 students had worked on for 8 weeks during CCA arts. It was indeed a spectacle to behold - with full blown animal madness. Rawwrrr!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

27

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Grade 9 UN week design challenge.

In an effort to demonstrate their appreciation of parent volunteers, grade 9s took it upon themselves to design original logos that represented the cultural diversity of the CIS community. The result? A wide range of thank you merchandise that parents could collect on the day of the Parade of Nations in November 2018. Read on to find out more about this initiative.

Words by CIS Communications If you were at Lakeside on 22 November 2018 to watch the Parade of Nations as a parent, then you may have picked up a complimentary piece of thank you merchandise at the entrance to the gym’s viewing gallery. Merchandise included t-shirts, tote bags, hand flags, fans, badge pins and temporary tattoos.

But how did this initiative come about? It all began when grade 9 students wanted to show their appreciation to the parent volunteers who dedicate much of their time to ensuring events like the UN week food festival run smoothly.

Events like these do much more than simply showcase our school’s rich diversity, they also give students and staff members an opportunity to celebrate and understand the different cultures and nationalities at CIS. To start the process, students consulted Ms Michelle Sharp (Head of Communications and Marketing) and

28

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Mr Raymond Babol (Senior Graphic and Web Designer) about the art of product branding. After an informative session, students went to work on their individual designs.

The result? Over 200 unique designs that represented different nationalities at CIS. Naturally with every ambitious project, there were challenges to overcome. Time and materials were major factors but thanks to the positive feedback they received from both teachers and parents, students crossed the hurdles with aplomb. Naomi Trevatt, for one, enjoyed the activities she took part in as part of her design course and relished the new skills she acquired as a result. But at the end of the day, Naomi says it was the opportunity to incorporate the rich culture of her nationality (Brasil) in the design and learn more about her home country that made the experience unforgettable.

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Diwali celebrations at TK. Diwali or Deepavali, depending on which part of India you are from, is a festival of colours, music, festivities, feasts and family gatherings. It celebrates the victory of good over evil, and is one of the most celebrated across India. Nandini Jhaveri, French lead teacher at TK, tells us all about TK’s Deepavali celebrations in 2018.

Words by Nandini Jhaveri, French lead teacher (TK) At TK, we celebrated Deepavali by gathering as one big family on the basketball court. The centre of the court was adorned with a decoration of flowers, called Rangoli.

We gathered at 6am to complete the floral design before students arrived at school. Mums from all nationalities signed up and took part in one of the most beautiful moments of the day.

Children, teachers and parents were all dressed in Indian festive clothes. Most of the ladies were wrapped in a beautiful saree. Trying to walk in it is tricky enough, but the courageous ones danced in them! It was beautiful seeing people from other cultures not only participate, but fully immersed in our celebrations. As our principal, Mrs Henderson mentioned, it’s the “inclusiveness of the culture that lends itself to being such a wonderful celebration.”

TK’s Deepavali celebrations see our students really learning about Indian culture as they showcase classical Indian dances and musical performances. Some students enacted and expressed the story of Deepavali through a poem, as they were accompanied by grade 2 and 4 students on drums. Another grade 2 class showcased the different types of traditional Indian costumes, while a grade 1 class danced

to the Jai Ho movie soundtrack (an Indian action film).

Other students performed a classical dance from Kerala (a state on India’s tropical Malabar Coast). The day was an absolute spectacle of design, colour and tradition. The variety of performances did more than just add spice to our celebrations, it also helped us remember that India is much more than Bollywood movies.

For the first time ever, we had some dads join the parent dance this year, and students loved cheering them on. Our teachers, not to be left out, performed a traditional dance that incorporates big long sticks. This dance is normally performed at the time of grounding spices. But the highlight of the event had to be the traditional lamp lighting ceremony led by Ms Henderson, Ms Boltong and Head of School, Mr Corcoran. The lighting of the lamp represents the spread of knowledge, which is especially fitting in a school like ours.

By the end of the event, we had the entire TK community swaying their hands.

A huge thank you to all the parent volunteers for their amazing enthusiasm and to the TK community for their support. We look forward to doing this again next year!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

29

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Día de los Muertos at CIS.

For the second year in a row in 2018, the Lakeside Spanish department (primary and secondary) hosted Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a unique and colourful Spanish celebration. Let’s hear from the team as they explain the story behind this cultural celebration - a Mexican holiday that honours loved ones who have passed.

Words by primary and secondary Spanish department

“Porque la muerte es vida, enciende luces en otro lugar (English translation: Because death is life, light lights elsewhere)” - From the Disney movie ‘Coco’ Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), is a celebration of life and death, and occurs on 1 and 2 November. While festivities originated in Mexico, the Day of the Dead is celebrated all over the world with colourful Calaveras (skulls) and Calacas (skeletons).

At CIS, we believe that language and culture are essentially inseparable. The American writer Rita Mae Brown once said, “Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.”

30

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Language doesn’t just communicate the values, beliefs and customs of a culture, it fosters group identity and solidarity through the expression of traditions and shared values.

Through languages, students are motivated to learn more about the particular country’s culture, history, geography, cuisine, traditions, and beliefs. Language is therefore a verbal expression of culture.

For the second year in a row, our students had a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the Day of the Dead as part of their language acquisition Spanish cultural integration. The students dressed up as Catrinas and Mariachis, and greeted everyone as they arrived at school. Everyone had fun as they learned more about this special celebration.

We are grateful to have an international community at CIS. Two wonderful Mexican families supported this event by running a workshop. They shared their personal experiences and

• Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead), a typical sweet bread that often features anise seeds, and is decorated with bones and skulls made from dough. The bones are arranged in a circle to represent the circle of life while tiny dough teardrops symbolise sorrow.

• Sugar skulls, which are part of a sugar art tradition introduced by 17th century Italian missionaries. Pressed in moulds and decorated with crystalline colours, they come in all sizes and levels of complexity.

• Papel Picado (perforated paper), which is a Mexican folk art made by cutting elaborate designs into sheets of tissue paper.

We would like to give special thanks to the CIS families of Consuelo Gutiérrez, Alfonso Torres and Cassia Jiménez. Last but not least, a big thank you to our CIS staff who supported the event with their time and generosity; Melina Lobos, Nina Taskin and Liz Rossi and her art students - who did an amazing job helping with the makeup.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

31

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

family photos taken in celebration of Día de los Muertos. Students were not only treated to an interesting presentation on the origins and meanings of the Mexican holiday, they also learned about the different components of the Día de los Muertos altar such as:

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

UN week 2018 logo designs revealed.

Congratulations to Koyuki Inoue (grade 7, Lakeside) and Akriti Gupta (grade 6, TK) for winning this year’s Uniting Nations (UN) week logo competitions! As we prepare for another year of cultural celebrations, we talk to our talented artists to find out the thought process that went into designing a logo that reflects the UN theme, and echoes our collective cultural diversity.

Words by CIS Communications UN week, a highlight of the school year, is a celebration of our unique collective diversity. It encourages us to embrace our similarities as we celebrate and honour traditions from around the world. And what CIS UN week would be complete without our annual UN logo competition. Each campus, Lakeside and Tanjong Katong, has their own UN logo competition. We are very pleased to announce this year’s winners: Koyuki Inoue (grade 7, Lakeside) and Akriti Gupta (grade 6, TK) We talked to each artist to learn more about their design concept and to understand how they felt about their win.

Congratulations on winning the TK UN week logo competition. How are you feeling about your win?

Akriti: I feel happy and very excited about it.

Is this your first time winning the competition?

Akriti: Yes, it is!

UN Theme ‘Our beauty lies in our diversity’ Akriti Gupta (grade 6, TK) 32

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Tell us the story behind your design?

Akriti: The black paint symbolises space and how it’s never ending. The tree represents different countries and the diversity of life. The planet is the place we all love - Earth.

What or who gave you the inspiration?

Akriti: My mother gave me the inspiration to make this painting.

Did anyone help you with the design and logo concept?

Akriti: My mom helped me with the materials from her art class and she even stayed up extra late to help and offer support, but I did the rest of the design myself!

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

UN Theme ‘Hand in hand’ Koyuki Inoue (grade 7, Lakeside)

How do you feel about winning the logo design competition a second time (Koyuki won the TK competition last year)?

Koyuki: I’m proud of myself. Actually, I won two logo design competitions at TK in grades 4 and 6, and now this one at Lakeside. I really have to thank my dad. I had all the ideas but he gave me some good advice on colours and how I could improve my design.

How did you come up with the design concept?

Koyuki: The theme is ‘hand in hand’ so I was thinking of drawing a handshake. After drafting some initial designs, I realised that it didn’t really look good on paper. Then I thought of drawing a heart that contains different nationalities because I initially didn’t understand the meaning of ‘hand in hand’. My dad explained that ‘hand in hand’ is like two shaking hands so I wanted to add that to the heart but it didn’t work out either. In the end, I decided to go with the idea of drawing a heart but include groups of two people holding hands because I thought it would match the concept. My dad helped me with the colours as well as understanding what people from different nationalities would look like. At first, there were only groups of 2 people holding hands around the heart but after reviewing my design, I decided that having groups of 3 people would balance out the design.

What advice do you have for future logo competition participants?

I think that you should design according to the theme. I didn’t win the competition in grade 5 because my design didn’t match the theme, although I was chosen as the runner-up.

Were there any challenges while designing the logo?

Koyuki: It was kind of hard to come up with new ideas because I’ve participated in many school art competitions.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

33

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Fun and function: locked in.

Secondary students spend a significant amount of time each week at school, so why on earth did they stay overnight at Lakeside? Tom Anderson, MYP music teacher, tells us all about it.

Words by Tom Anderson, MYP music teacher On 26 and 27 October 2018, 25 symphonic band students and teachers held their first semester lock-in. The event was scheduled to coincide with the annual Halloween dance, Nightmare on Street 41, where the symphonic band played a 30-minute concert in the atrium before the dance began.

A ‘lock-in’ is essentially a school activity where students stay overnight to attend activities and meetings after school and the next morning. The lock-in is one of the most important events of the year for the symphonic band, and its purpose is four-fold: • Rehearse music for upcoming concerts • Build student relationships • Grow musically • Have fun together The symphonic band consists of 45 students (all of whom auditioned) from grades 9 to 12, and the Halloween dance is their first official concert of the year. Musical themes for the concert were of a scary or spooky nature. After all, throw in some tunes from movies like Harry Potter and Jurassic Park, and you have a solid playlist for a Halloween dance.

Students began working on their concert repertoire as soon as the school year began in August. They rehearsed

34

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

for about seven and a half weeks as they prepared for the concert. Tom Anderson, MYP music teacher and conductor of the symphonic band, said: “the annual lock-in is one of our greatest music events. It’s tons of fun for the students because they get to hang out together, laugh, play games, watch a movie, and do one of the things they enjoy the most - make music.”

But the lock-in is not all fun and games - band members also work hard. This year’s lock-in participants attended after-school rehearsals on Friday evening, performed for their peers, and then rehearsed again on Saturday morning.

But a lock-in brings a band community together, and students reported that the event was really rewarding.

Co-curricular activities like symphonic band lock-in are one of the unique ways CIS develops performing arts students.

As a school, we believe that playing an instrument, preparing for a public performance, and engaging in the weekly process of community building and collaborative musical experiences teach students an aspect of music that cannot be learned from a website, iPhone app, textbook, or an mp3 file. Performance ensembles are crucial in learning what it means to be a musician. By providing these opportunities, we are developing the whole student.

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

TK’s weekend of robots.

In recognition of Computer Science Education Week 2018, TK hosted a special community event to coincide with their annual Hour of Code activities. It took place over two days on 2 and 3 December 2018, and 25 families turned up to try their hand at robot programming.

Words by CIS Communications

In recognition of Computer Science Education Week 2018, TK hosted a special community event to coincide with their annual Hour of Code activities. It took place over two days on 2 and 3 December 2018, and 25 families turned up to try their hand at robot programming.

The plan was simple, each parent-student pair would be given a robot, a set of instructions and links to other resources to help them learn how to program the robot. They could choose from a variety of projects like BBC Micro:bit, Lego Mindstorms EV3, Lego Education WeDo 2.0, Spheros and Parrot Mambo drones. After getting to know their robot, exploring its capabilities and learning some basic programming, the parent-student pair would then design a simple task for the robot to complete to showcase what they had learned.

While this sounds like an easy task, every team had to start their project from scratch so it was tough going for a bit.

Nevertheless, the teams overcame any initial difficulty and accomplished some amazing feats including synchronising flying drones (to those in other teams) in a dance, and creating mazes and bowling alleys for Spheros.

Students who attended had prior experience in block based coding, so it was a fantastic opportunity for them to

teach their parents a new skill and level up their knowledge in the process. Ben Cooperman, our STEAM facilitator and event organiser, told us that the students were very professional because they had total ownership and often took the initiative to ensure that their projects would turn out successful. Their parents (both mums and dads) were surprisingly keen learners as well, resulting in a unique family bonding experience that was fun for everyone.

The weekend activity ended on a high note. When the following Monday rolled around, the students were tasked with an important mission, teach two of their friends what they had learned over the weekend. As we roamed around the TK gym, we were impressed by how professional the ‘robot master trainers’ were as they imparted their newfound skills to their ‘protégés’. We are sure that everyone went home with lifelong knowledge that would serve them well in the future!

Thanks to the efforts of Ben Cooperman, with help from Blaze Smith (TK grade 4 teacher) and Yoni Garboyrg (from A Posteriori, one of our after school activities providers), this weekend activity was a success. Want to join more activities like this? Then don’t forget to keep a lookout for updates on future workshops from Ben Cooperman in our weekly WAG newsletters.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

35

OUTDOOR LEARNING

Activities: benefits include friends, fun and hidden talents.

Joining an afterschool activity gives children the opportunity to try something new, develop new skills and make new friends. It can even help them settle into school life. Wendy Nussey, Head of Activities, tells us a little more about the primary activities programme.

Words by Wendy Nussey, Head of Activities and Camps When you think back to your primary school days and consider the choice of activities that were available to you after school, I’m sure you would probably struggle to count them on one hand. Back when I was in school, I had the choice of joining either the Brownies or swimming classes that were held at the local leisure centre. I enjoyed both thoroughly, but it would have been even better if I had more options.

How things have changed. Not only is there an immense variety of activities on offer after school, we also have amazing facilities available to our children. Last season, we had around 80 different activity classes in art, enrichment, recreational sports and languages every week.

We have more students enrolled in After School Activities (ASAs) than ever before. ASAs at CIS are beneficial for our students for many reasons, not least to be able to step out of their comfort zones and join activities they wouldn’t normally have tried, all within

36

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

a safe, learning environment. Students can get to experience something different, develop new skills but more importantly make new friends.

Exploring extracurricular activities can really help students settle into school life.

Speaking about stepping out of comfort zones. A memory of one particular student immediately springs to mind. A grade 2 girl had registered for Cycle School and during her first session, she was sitting on her bike and using her feet to push herself along. She told me very unenthusiastically that her mum had signed her up because she couldn’t ride a bike. By the end of the season, she was zipping around with only one hand on the handlebar shouting: “Ms Wendy, Ms Wendy, look what I can do!”

The huge smile across her face was awesome!

We have many students who join the same activity all year and progress through the different levels available, such as martial arts, inline skating

and race car engineering. Many of the activities we offer are on an ongoing basis because our external providers are able to come up with interesting new content whether it’s recipes for little chef, topics for debate club or different tricks for young magicians to pick up.

And it’s not just our students who get to enjoy after school activities. We offer beginner Chinese and English language classes for parents too. In fact, I overheard a parent practising her newly acquired English language skills in the Activities Office. She even requested my colleague not to speak to her in Chinese because she wanted to practise her English.

There really is something for everyone in the CIS activities programme and the most important element is having fun! I’ll leave you with this quote from Michael Jordan: “Just play. Have fun.

Enjoy the game.”

OUTDOOR LEARNING

Down memory lane with Open Minds.

Led by Lakeside’s Open Minds lead, Carl Brown, a group of grade 3s visited Telok Ayer on a quest to understand its history. Here is what happened during the trip.

Words by CIS Communications It was a bright and sunny morning for an Open Minds adventure, and grade 3s, led by Carl Brown, had a mission.

They explored the history of Telok Ayer and learned how it got its name. To help them get started, students first looked at an old photo of the area and discovered that Telok Ayer used to be a bay and landing site for migrants in Singapore’s early days. This sparked off a flurry of activities designed to help them better understand the history of migrants.

Students interviewed locals to ask where their ancestors came from before they mapped out their answers on a world map. Then they examined an old photo showing migrants of

different nationalities and engaged in a discussion on why people might have chosen to move to Singapore.

Activities were hands-on, and one activity saw students go into risktaking mode, as they tried to identify different goods that migrants might have traded by tasting, touching and smelling various items like sugar, coffee, black peppercorns, glass and ceramic bowls, raw cotton, silk, and gems. Role-play was used to help students understand firsthand the problems migrants may have faced when they first arrived in Singapore.

Judging from the satisfied looks on these students’ faces, it wase an insightful morning indeed!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

37

Happenings.

November Uniting Nations week at TK and Lakeside.

November Día de los Muertos at Lakeside.

It was two weeks of wonderful celebrations at TK and Lakeside as the CIS community came together to celebrate the culture and identity different nations through food fairs and cultural performances.

Our Spanish teachers and students hosted a traditional Mexican celebration and greeted our community dressed as Catrinas and skeletons.

December Holiday concerts at Lakeside.

What better way to kick off the festive season than with a series of Christmas concerts performed by CIS students?

October-November Deepavali celebrations at Lakeside and TK.

2018 2019

Lakeside and TK celebrated Deepavali with rangoli, poetry slams and traditional dances.

April PYP Exhibition at TK and Lakeside.

February

Our students explored issues connected to the UN’s sustainable development goals.

Chinese New Year Celebrations at TK and Lakeside.

March Free to be Me at TK. The TK campus was awash with unicorn horns, jersey shirts, pajamas and much more.

38

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

We welcomed the Year of the Pig with lots of exciting celebrations.

Getting social.

Subscribe to CIS’ social channels: FB@cis.edu.sg Twitter@CISsingapore Instagram@cissingapore

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

39

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports and Activities.

TK season 1 success.

Words by Fabio Davide Dogliotti, TK sports coordinator Mr Fabio provides us with TK’s sports teams’ great results by the end of season 1.

9U boys’ soccer: Our students experienced a fabulous season as a result of improving their skills and learning challenging rules of the game. They completed the championship event by ranking within the middle range of their division.

11U boys’ & girls’ basketball: Our two basketball teams, boys and girls, had an exceptional championship day and achieved the highest ranking in their division.

Congratulations to both teams and to their coaches, Ms Sarah Cole and Mr Jamie Yorke, for their dedication towards students.

12U girls’ badminton: With determination and a lot of practice, the team achieved significant learning about the game and also good match results. Well done, girls!

12U girls’ netball: These girls joined a new team and welcomed this new challenge! Students demonstrated quick learning of skills and solid knowledge as they learned the rules of the game. They practised a lot and had the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned.

Naturally, they never gave up during matches, because they are CIS Huskies!

Cross country: It’s always great to see our students, from the youngest to the oldest, become risk takers, strive to achieve their potential and exceed expectations. This year our students achieved an even higher number of overall points at matches than in the previous academic year.

Engaging actively in sports can generate many emotions, which can at times be challenging to describe in words.

Yet it is a very rewarding experience that students will remember in future. I’m proud of all the student coaches and supervisors for making season 1 so memorable.

Go Huskies!

40

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

CIS secondary FOBISIA accolades.

Words by CIS Communications Join us in congratulating Rebecca Jenkins (grade 10), Shiqin Ong (grade 8) and Dominique Deelchand (grade 8) on their brilliant performance at the FOBISIA gymnastics meet 2019 (a gymnastics invitational that took place at Harrow International School in Bangkok from 19 to 20 January 2019). These CIS Huskies left this international meet with the following accolades: Rebecca: • All-around individual bronze winner in the Women Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) level 7 category • 3rd Vault, 1st Uneven Bar, 5th Balance Beam, 3rd Floor on the Level 7 Open apparatus Shiqin: • All-around individual silver winner in the Women Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) level 7 category • 3rd Uneven Bar, 2nd Balance Beam, 4th Floor on the Level 7 Open apparatus Dominique: • All-around individual bronze winner in the Women Artistic Gymnastics level 6 category • 3rd Vault, 4th Balance Beam, 4th Floor, 3rd AA on the Level 6 apparatus Yit Peng, a CIS parent who shared the girls’ good news, told us that she is thankful for the environment CIS has created which helped the girls become all-rounders. Yit Peng shared that “secondary students are not only encouraged to excel in their studies, they are also given many opportunities to pursue their passion; in this case, gymnastics. The girls were proud to represent CIS. They wore the Huskies jacket and donned CIS colours during the competition”.

Based on their excellent results, the girls obviously spent a lot of time training but did they run into any challenges in the lead up to the meet?

“Handling the mental aspect of a meet is always a challenge,” Rebecca told us. “I was very nervous before the event. However, with support and encouragement, I was able to push through and eventually enjoy myself. Another challenge was that the equipment we used at the meet was very different from what we are used to at The Yard (where we train), so adjustments to vault and tumbling on floor needed to be made, but podium training gave us a valuable chance to figure this out.”

We’d also like to offer our congratulations to the other students who represented CIS at the meet: 1. Anagha Ganesh (grade 10) 2. Charley Hastie (grade 6) 3. Izabella Lehoczky (grade 4) 4. Julia D’Avola (grade 4) 5. Libi Sokol (grade 4) 6. Geethan Samrakoon (Grade 7) Congratulations to all participants and Go Huskies!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

41

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports and Activities.

Stellar 11U TK boys’ basketball season.

Words by Jamie Yorke, TK PE teacher The 11U boys’ basketball team at TK have had an amazing season. Showing consistent progress from day one, they demonstrated strong commitment - evident by their almost perfect attendance record for practices and games. They consistently practised during recess to work on their skills and were open-minded enough to try different positions.

They were very eager to get the season underway and matches started.

After some collaborative planning, we decided that Sean and Luka would play centre positions. Karl, Sean, Shane, Gabriel, Joshua, and Charlie would take over the forward positions while Tobias, Zac, and Amartia were assigned to be guards.

Everyone worked hard in the lead up to each match. The team was eager and competitive as they played a range of levels of competition. We played matches at CIS Lakeside, the Australian school, and St. Joseph’s.

We were not only competitive, we also finished the season with eight wins and only one loss. Although ACSIS didn’t offer competitive medals for this age group, our 11U boys were still pleased to be recognised for having finished in second place. They played selflessly and passed well all season. And, in our final game against St. Joseph’s, the team decided to make it their mission to help one of our forwards score his very first basket. The boys did everything in their power to get him the ball and into a scoring position in the final half of the game. They were thrilled when their teammate scored with moments to spare in the game.

The boys’ strong character was evident in the way they supported each other after matches. They often complimented each other (without prompting) and always applauded the player chosen for being “man of the match”.

It didn’t seem to matter if the player was chosen because of their defensive efforts, late game basket, or all around great play! The team always supported one another.

Even though season 1 has ended, most of the same boys are now participating in 12U basketball. They are staying focused, working hard and striving for continued success.

They are learning how to do layups, set plays, and execute better player coverage.

Go Huskies!

42

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

U14 boys’ football life lessons.

Words by Max Doornbos, grade 9 As the U14 boys’ football team, we have been trying our best to perform well. We train often and give 110% whenever there is a match. Challenges faced so far have been tough to overcome, but thanks to the lessons we’ve gleaned from our losses, we now understand that these challenges are easier to overcome when we do so as a team. This insight will definitely be a game-changer in our future games.

The first game we played was a home game against Australian International School (AIS). Although we tried our best to equalise the game in the latter half, the full-time score by the end of the game was 4-2 in favour of AIS. Losing the game was a real test for us both as individual sportsmen and as a team because everyone had worked really hard for the match. But despite that, it brought us closer together as a team and reaffirmed the values that our team stands for: perseverance, respect, sportsmanship, cooperation and integrity. It also helped us realise the fact that we are now in Division 1, we have to work harder as a single unit, and not as many individuals.

Our second game was against the UWC East A team. It is safe to say that we failed as a team initially. The coach was consistently giving the team advice on the best strategies to follow and tips on what direction the play must go. In the opening half, the team was behind our opponents by 9 goals, but after a motivational and informative half-time talk by coach Lespagnol, the team started to turn the game around. We tired our opponents out, so they started playing with less momentum and started making some errors. Our team thrived and scored two great goals (thanks to Koray Cona, a late addition to the team).

From an outsider’s perspective, the match might seem very one-sided due to the fact that our opponents were stronger, but as coach Lespagnol said, our opponents don’t necessarily have a better team - they are simply linking up better and their passing was more fluid. All we had to do to defeat them was to work together as a single team.

Unfortunately, the match ended soon after our renewed efforts to win the game but it was clear to us that we would have been able to achieve a tie if we’ve had more time.

Our team was naturally devastated by the loss, but at least

we managed to score two goals - a sign that our team was learning how to move as one. To have been able to score these goals, we had to put their pride aside and keep working as a team regardless of the score.

The last and most recent game we played also ended in a loss. The first half was especially hard because of the blazing sun, which made all players exhausted. The opening half had a good start but there was a significant shortage of opportunities to score a goal. The second half started, and we were down 3-0. During this half, the team’s defence was well executed, but we had trouble advancing and getting the ball upfield. The team relied a lot on our keeper who saved many goals and stopped our opponents from scoring multiple times. The defence also played very well, except for a particular weakness in man-to-man marking. Nevertheless, we worked hard as a team and kept our opponents from scoring. The second half was, therefore, a success. Overall the team played well, but both the coach and the team, are expecting more in the upcoming matches.

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” This famous quote by the great sportsman Michael Jordan can be applied to our team. Although we have lost numerous times, we have developed the ability, will, perseverance and team cooperation to win our future games.

Go Huskies!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

43

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports and Activities.

A triumphant first sports season.

Words by Dean Monaghan, previous Head of Sports With season 2 sports starting on 19 November, we thought this was a good time to reflect on a superb sports season.

The following achievements were the results of our teams’ commitment, enthusiasm, and pure grit when it came to doing their best as they represented CIS: Sport

Individuals

14U Rugby 16U Girls Soccer 16U Boys Soccer 16U Girls Volleyball 19U Girls Volleyball 19U Boys Volleyball 14U Girls Badminton 14U Boys Badminton 12/14U Cross Country 16U/19U Cross Country 19U Girls Soccer 19U Boys Soccer

Placing

Division

7th

1

1st

1

2nd

1

6th

1

6th

1

4th

1

1st

2

2nd

2

Fleur Helmantel 4th

12U

4th

19U

5th

19U

3rd

2

2nd

2

Risa Machida Emma McIntosh

I want to send a special shout out to the 16U girls football team for winning Division 1 gold for the second year in a row! It’s a huge achievement, so well done girls for your amazing effort in creating CIS sporting history!

Congratulations also go out to Risa Machida and Emma McIntosh who were awarded with the 19U Cross County Girls team silver medal.

Coach’s choice and MVP awards The achievements of both our 12-14U and 16-19U athletes were recognised at the sports awards held during the SMART assemblies on 12 and 19 November.

Congratulations to the recipients - you did an amazing job during season 1!

44

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Coach’s Choice Most Valuable Player

12U Netball

Cindy Sun

Lauren Kys

12U Boys Badminton

Trevor Seah

Karl He

12U Rugby

Louis-Victor Brouillard

Nicolas Kys/Joeri Van Graafeiland

Prithvi Narayan

Divyank Sharma

Chloe Hoesen

Selina Sun

14U Boys Badminton 14U Girls Badminton

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

Sport

Azzurra 12-14 Cross Cassinelli/ Fleur Helmantel Country Thomas Jenkins 14U Rugby 16U Boys Football 16U Girls Football 16U Girls Volleyball 19U Girls Football 19U Boys Football 19U Girls Volleyball 19U Boys Volleyball 19U Cross Country 19U Boys Swimming 19U Girls Swimming

Pieter Zeven

Thomas Hew

Danial Scott

Emil Thorling

Jaimie Atkinson

Julie Le Bretton

Pari Biswas

Misaki Nagae

Emilie Zeven

Maizy MacDonald

Xiangan (Fred) Wang

Luca Alfonso

Chloe Fortoul

JY How

Adrien Dubois

Hariz Suhaimi

Emma McIntosh Risa Machida Lukasz Latuszek, Thomas Fortoul Yukina Iwata, Zara Miller

Gabriel Asevedo Rowan Obach

A special thank you to all the coaches, managers and parent supporters for your time and effort during season 1.

Continue to show our Husky Pride - Go Huskies!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

45

SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports and Activities.

TK’s Aline wins gold in rhythmic gymnastics.

Words by CIS Communications As the saying goes, fortune favours the hard worker and that couldn’t be truer for Aline - a grade 2 student from TK. Although she started training in rhythmic gymnastics only last year, Aline has since made leaps and bounds in her progress. The result? In a rhythmic gymnastics competition hosted by Viktoria Karpenko - a two-time Russian national champion and the founder/head coach of Karpenko Gymnastics Academy - the grade 2 student scored first place, and took home a beautiful trophy and gold medal in her age category. That in itself is impressive because this is only Aline’s third competition and she is already showing so much potential. This achievement didn’t come easily though. Due to Aline’s too-tight muscles, it was a challenge for her to do stretches for splits. To overcome this difficulty, she doubled her weekly training hours. Aline trained up to 24 hours a week during the October break and even gave up playdates to work on her flexibility. That’s what we call determination! No wonder her track record is showing a steady improvement (she won a bronze medal in December 2017 and a silver medal in February 2018).

Aline also qualified to compete at the International Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition (DuGym Cup Dubai) that took place in Dubai from 6 to 8 December 2018. It was the largest rhythmic gymnastics event in the Middle East so it was a golden opportunity for her to compete with more than 400 gymnasts and 60 delegations from 18 different countries.

Although the competition was fiercely intense, Aline persevered and finished in 12th position (out of 21).

Aline’s mother, Wehda, said: “we are in awe of her determination, enthusiasm and positive mindset. Since she set herself a target to make it to the international competition in Dubai, it has truly been mind over body.”

Determined not to make the same mistakes as Dubai, Aline trained tirelessly to prepare for the international competition hosted by Universe Gymnastics in Pattaya (Thailand) on 24 February. At this event, 111 gymnasts from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Singapore and Thailand competed. This time, Aline competed in 2 categories - free hand and hoop. It was Aline’s first time competing in the hoop category. In fact, she only started training for her hoop routine less than a month before the competition.

The competition was just as intense but, thanks to Viktoria Karpenko (two-time Russian national gold medalist, founder and head coach at KGA), as well as her amazing coaches at KGA, Aline was able to stay calm. She put on a beautiful performance that eventually earned her two gold medals and first place in both categories!

46

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

Grade 12s organise clothing drive.

Inspired by a visit to the Genesis School, grade 12 student Giorgio Nguyen together with Jia Yang, organised a donation drive to help intellectually disabled children. We catch up with these busy grade 12s to find out more about this initiative.

Words by CIS Communications

Inspired by a visit to the Genesis School, grade 12 student Giorgio Nguyen together with Jia Yang, organised a donation drive to help intellectually disabled children. We catch up with these busy grade 12s to find out more about this initiative.

donations that we received. I placed the box in the atrium on a Monday and the next morning, I was astonished to see all the donations we’d received. It just shows what the CIS community can do when they come together for a good cause.

Tell us about your used clothing donation drive. What inspired you and Jia Yang to organise a used clothing donation drive?

Giorgio: I visited the Genesis School for Special Education during my grade 11 excursion. While we were there, we saw many students with special needs and observed the difficulties they go through on a daily basis. This inspired me to start a CAS project where we collect pre-loved clothing and donate them to the intellectually disabled as we thought it would be a good cause to strive for.

Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Giorgio: Transportation - since we did not plan ahead with the transportation, it took a while to get the donations from the school to MINDS. If we were to do this again, we would plan ahead by creating a schedule and actually follow it.

Out of so many charity organisations in Singapore, why did you choose MINDS? Giorgio: We chose MINDS because they offer a unique opportunity for the intellectually disabled that other charities don’t. This is because the clothes that we donate are not only given to the intellectually disabled, they also sell them in a thrift shop. The thrift shop allows the intellectually disabled to play an active role in society, as they sort through and sell the clothes in their thrift shop. MINDS does not only provide the intellectually disabled with resources, they also provide real-life opportunities for them. That’s why we chose them as the recipient of our donation drive.

What was the most memorable part of the experience?

Giorgio: The most memorable experience was seeing all the

Were there any unforeseen problems that cropped up?

Tell us about them and how you managed them?

Giorgio: One of the unforeseen problems that occurred was the presentation we gave in the auditorium. Jia Yang and I had memorised a script for our presentation, but we started laughing during our presentation because we were nervous.

At that point of time, we couldn’t control it due to nerves. We presented at another assembly and this time, we were more in control and less nervous. We still laughed a little though.

Is there anyone you would like to thank?

Giorgio: I would like to thank Ms Hosick and all the people who donated and made this CAS project possible.

About CAS: CAS (creativity, activity and service) in the Diploma Programme provides students with opportunities to develop interests, to collaborate with others, and to engage in meaningful service projects.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

47

SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

Reflecting on ‘Angst’ and ‘Like’ As part of CIS’s Wellness Week, parents and students were invited to watch the documentaries ‘Angst’ and ‘Like’. These screenings resulted in a series of thought-provoking conversations between parents, students, teachers and the CIS counselling team. Head of Student Support and Wellbeing, Colleen Drisner, gives us an overview.

Words by Colleen Drisner, Head of Student Support and Wellbeing Parents and students viewed two very thought-provoking documentaries during Wellness Week. ‘Like’, which students in grades 5-12 students watched, documented the impact of social media on our lives, while ‘Angst’ told the courageous stories of young people who are dealing with anxiety. Both films offered practical strategies and tips, and were followed by discussions with our counselling team. Many parents reflected on the role of adults as role-models and expressed a desire for CIS to have more conversations like these with the parent community and students.

One parent asked at one of the discussion sessions if teachers would be able to recognise a child with anxiety after watching the movie Angst. One of our parent contacted us via Facebook and wanted us to share this: “I would like to share our experience in response to her question. I am a parent with a child with an anxiety disorder. I’m not sure if the teachers could identify it as anxiety but they were surely on top of the situation right away. We reached out to the teachers for support and we were overwhelmed with all the help they gave us. The counsellors did an amazing job too and worked together with the teachers. If my child was facing a hard time, I would not hesitate to reach out for help at CIS.” If you have any questions following Wellness Week, please do not hesitate to reach out to Colleen Drisner or our counsellors. In addition, do look out for Egmond Boon’s helpful tips on My.CIS.

48

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

SK students do their part for animals.

You are never too young to be the change you want to see in the world. This is exactly the case for TK SK students who collected much needed items for Singapore’s homeless animals. Let’s hear more about this wonderful charity initiative from teacher, Juliane Herold.

Words by Juliane Herold, TK SK teacher In December 2018, TK’s SK2B and SK3B students came together to help some very special “furry” friends in Singapore. We were determined to make Christmas purrfect for the felines and canines who had spent yet another year in shelters around Singapore. Students were on a mission, and they collected everything you can imagine for dogs and cats. We had dry food, canned food and toys, blankets, leashes, shampoo, brushes and treats. After we had filled two very large boxes, SK students carefully transferred all the items to bags so they were ready for collection. They carried them to the TK foyer and waited for a van to come and collect everything.

The children and I discussed why it is important that we remember those in need, specifically our furry friends around Singapore, because they have no voice to speak for themselves. This year our donations went to Causes for Animals Singapore. If you want to know more about how you can help, feel free to email me or ask one of our kindergarten experts. I want to say a huge thank you to our parent community for always supporting us in all that we do.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

49

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Alex Thebez, alum 2005: “Know what matters to you and be open” Alex Thebez graduated in 2005. He now lives in New York, working in arts: as a photographer but also for Instagram as a curation lead. Let’s see what led him to choose this path.

Words by Lucile Jaillais, Communications specialist Alex Thebez graduated from CIS in 2005. Originally from Indonesia, Alex moved to Canada straight after graduation. He went to Vancouver Film School, where he studied film production for two years. He then continued on to Parsons in New York, to pursue his Bachelor degree in Photography. He’s been living in New York for the past ten years, working in arts: as a photo assistant, a photographer and photo editor.

He has photographed for The Fader, Bloomberg Businessweek and Vice.

He’s had the opportunity to work at Time magazine and Airbnb, and is currently working at Instagram, as curation lead. Let’s find out what that job entails and what led him to this career.

You are working at Instagram, one of the world’s largest social media companies. What would you say is the favorite part of your job?

We get to learn about Instagram communities and the vibrant creativity that lives within the platform. I love seeing how people freely express themselves through their passions.

Have you always been into photography and design?

Yes I have. I took all the arts classes that were available when I was at CIS. I also helped design the yearbook one year. I had the chance to take higherlevel art class when CIS introduced the IB programme. My teacher at the time, Mrs Jing Chiang, introduced me to the dark room and the art community in Singapore. She was very supportive and gave me the space necessary to

50

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

experiment with a variety of medium to express my ideas. That was a revelation!

Would you say CIS helped shape who you are now?

CIS definitely helped me put a lot of things into focus. The programme gave me space to learn more about what I was interested in, and encouraged me to really investigate these areas. A few teachers in particular influenced my personal philosophy, my openness, my curiosity. Also, not many people have the privilege of being able to attend an international school, and I feel very grateful for having has that experience.

Being in a place where you are exposed to diver sity of culture, history and backgrounds shaped the way I see the world for the better.

What are some of your fondest memories at CIS? What stuck with me the most was all the time we had over lunch time. Being with friends, and having conversations.

Being in the same place with so many people who all had their own unique stories was wonderful. I still remember some of our conversations, thirteen years later!

You have graduated 13 years ago, and a lot has happened since. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I want to continue exploring and practising as an artist, doing more of my own work. I want to contribute more to the art community both here in the US and maybe back in Singapore, or Indonesia. I want to be in a place where I can provide greater

support to emerging voices, so I can nurture a community of young talents.

You have had the opportunity to work for some great magazines and companies. What have been your most memorable personal achievements?

I had the opportunity to work for John Clang, a renowned Singaporean photographer and independent filmmaker, who taught me a lot.

And one of the best moments of my career was certainly to shoot Anohni, one of my favorite musical artists.

It was for a feature in a magazine when she released her new album.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

The shoot was very intimate as it was just her, myself and a friend who was assisting. Situations like that don’t happen often, so I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to work in such an environment.

This year, I was also part of the 2018 Vice Photo Issue, alongside other artists that I admire. I have always loved the annual Vice Photo Issue, and never imagined that I would be a part of it one day. I also started an independent publication called TAGTAGTAG, which I run with my frequent creative collaborator, Elizabeth Renstrom.

Do you have any advice for graduating students?

Everybody is a little different, but I believe being aware of your passions and realities is important. Pursue your dreams, but keep one foot firmly on the ground. Know the realities of a path before you decide to embark on it. Know your privileges, know what matters to you and be open. A lot of things will not come easy, but that does not mean that you need to be a jerk to others. Most importantly, be kind.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

51

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Jeremy Canivet, alum 1993: “Hospitality comes from the heart” Let’s meet with Jeremy Canivet, alumni 1993, who now works as a Sales & Marketing Director at Ritz Carlton in Bahrain.

Words by Lucile Jaillais, Communications specialist

“Hospitality comes from the heart. It has to be part of you.

When you start working in hospitality, you don’t get paid a lot, you need to earn your stripes, and work your way up. If you work hard, it is an industry that will reward your efforts. Be international and not restricted geographically.”

After graduating from CIS in 1993, Jeremy Canivet decided to move halfway around the world. He settled in Switzerland where he studied Hospitality Management. Twenty five years later, where has this career choice taken him?

Can you tell us about the career choices you made after leaving Singapore in 1993?

Jeremy: I’ve always enjoyed being surrounded by people and socialising with them. During my summer breaks, I would do hospitality jobs such as waiting or bartending. I quite naturally looked into a career in hospitality. That’s why I chose this threeyear programme Hospitality Management in Switzerland. I really enjoyed the course and what I learned, as well as living in such a beautiful country. After I graduated, I moved back to Canada, and began my hotel career as a front desk agent at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. From there, I moved through different roles, such as concierge and housekeeping supervisor, before accepting a job as event manager in London. Ever since London, I have been working in a sales capacity. Now, working as a Director of Sales & Marketing for the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, I am responsible for marketing this beautiful property to the world. My favorite part of the job would be the international travel to promote the resort - just last December, I was in Cannes, attending the prestigious International Luxury Travel Market (ITLM).

52

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

• Becoming an Assistant Director of Sales before reaching the age of 30 • Becoming part of the Ritz-Carlton hotel team • Winning group hotel of the year for Ritz-Carlton in 2014 What role did CIS play in shaping you as a person and as a hospitality professional?

Jeremy: My education overseas certainly shaped who I am today, and CIS was a big part of that. Being part of the multicultural student body, and living abroad, certainly made me more open to new experiences that perhaps would have intimidated me otherwise. I have to say that teachers at CIS guided and supported me in pursuing a career in which I could best utilise my interpersonal skills.

You have been in the industry for nearly twenty five years now. Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?

Jeremy: I hope to still be working in the hotel industry overseas. Despite my tenure in sales, I have a strong operational background and hope to one day become General Manager of a luxury hotel in some exotic location.

Hospitality seems to be a popular choice amongst today’s graduate students. What advice would you give them?

Jeremy: Hospitality comes from the heart. It has to be part of you. When you start working in hospitality, you don’t get paid a lot, you need to earn your stripes, and work your way up. If you work hard, it is an industry that will reward your efforts.

Be international and not restricted geographically. The more flexible you are with where you are willing to relocate, combined with a strong work ethic, the faster you will grow.

You attended CIS in its early years, in the nineties. What are some of your fondest memories on campus?

Jeremy: I only know the old campus. I remember the cafeteria being open air which I enjoyed a lot. I also remember Mr McBride who, many years later, I met by chance as he was teaching in my children’s school in Muscat, Oman. It was surreal to see him again in such a random location 20 years after I left CIS. You’ve lived in Canada, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK, and for the last ten years, the Middle-East. Is it a particularly attractive region for hotel management? And do you see yourself ever going back to Canada?

Jeremy: For career growth, the Middle East is an amazing place to start. People come and go in this part of the world more frequently than in the West, so the opportunity for faster career growth is there. Plus they have no tax. I enjoy the Middle East, but hope to work in South East Asia again one day. Not sure if I’ll ever go back to Canada. My wife is like me and enjoys the expat lifestyle, but who knows what the future holds.

“I hope to still be working in the hotel industry overseas.

Despite my tenure in sales, I have a strong operational background and hope to one day become General Manager of a luxury hotel in some exotic location.”

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

53

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

It sounds like you have evolved rather quickly. Looking back at your career, what would you say are your top 3 achievements?

Jeremy: I have been in the industry for a long time and I have had the opportunity to accomplish many things, but if I were to pick the achievements that were the most meaningful to me, they would be:

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Julian Jeanne, alum 2018: “Travel broadens the mind.”

Julian just graduated last year from CIS. He now studies Hospitality Management, inspired by his travels in Asia.

Read on to find out more about his projects!

Words by Lucile Jaillais, Communications specialist After graduating in May 2018, Julian and his family went to his home country, the Netherlands, for the summer. After the holidays, his parents relocated to Jakarta. Julian stayed in the Netherlands to start studying Hotel Management in Amsterdam. “It’s been 12 weeks now since classes started, and I’m really enjoying it. This is what I came here for”.

The passion for hospitality grew on Julian during his stay in Singapore. “I had the chance to travel a lot while our family lived in Asia. I always felt that, just like every trip, every hotel we stayed at was an experience in itself. I always wondered what has to go on behind the scenes to ensure perfect customer service and smooth logistics.”

This curiosity spurred Julian to research the industry and universities that offered business and hospitality courses.

The Hospitality Management programme at the Hotelschool the Hague on the Amsterdam campus grabbed his attention.

Julian plans to stay in the Netherlands and finish his Bachelor degree. He is due to graduate in 2022. He is also considering studying abroad for a year in a partner university in either Barcelona or Australia. “After that, I may go onto a

54

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Masters degree”, says Julian, “but I’m not sure yet. I may take a break in between to see things through”.

Reflecting back, Julian shares he left CIS with some really precious memories. “I do miss my friends”, he says. “It feels weird to not see them every day anymore. Same goes for my teachers, as I had some of them for a number of years, and we built a relationship. They followed my progress keenly over the years, and I learnt so much from them.”

Something else he misses is the sports community. “I used to be a sporty guy, playing football, basketball and track and field. My friends and I were also one of the first few members of the track and field club - there were only 15 of us at the time, and now there are about 50!”

When asked where he sees himself in ten years, Julian says that although his dream at the moment would be a management position at a hotel in the tropics, he prefers to live in the present. “I want to focus on the present, making sure I get - and do - things right, so I build a strong foundation for my future.”

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Jessica Boji, alum 2018: “There’s a lot that could be done for the environment in Southeast Asia.”

Meet Jessica from the Class of 2018. Inspired by the ecological issues faced by her home country, Indonesia, she is now studying Energy Engineering and Environmental Science in South Korea. This is just the beginning though ...

Find out what she has planned!

Words by Lucile Jaillais, Communications specialist Jessica B graduated in May 2018.

She’s now studying in Korea, a country which she wasn’t familiar with just a few months ago. Let’s hear about her new life!

You are currently studying in Korea.

Tell us a bit more about what you do now.

I am currently a freshman in the Energy Engineering and Environmental Sciences bachelor in Yonsei University, near Seoul. This is actually on the international campus of Incheon.

What led you to choose environmental studies?

It actually happened naturally. I have always been into science, and I made a list of scientific and engineeringrelated courses (and universities) when I was at CIS. I knew I wanted to stay in Asia as my family is in Indonesia. I met with my university advisor, Karel de Cock, and he helped me to shortlist universities in the region that had bachelors in science and engineering.

I pretty much jumped on the Yonsei one! I like it - it is still general learning as of now, so it’s easily accessible to all students who are into environmental sciences. I’ll have to decide soon on my sophomore year major. I think I’d like to focus on alternative energy, such as solar panels. We shall see!

How do you like life in South Korea so far?

Well, Korea is quite different from Singapore, especially in terms of

culture. The Korean study environment is really tense and, to be honest, it’s harder than what I was used to in Singapore. The campus is really nice and the students are very welcoming, but it feels a bit harder to fit in the community as I am facing a language barrier. English is not as widely spoken as it is in Singapore. I am working on it though, recently I started taking Korean classes! I have also made some international friends, some of them from Korea. I am planning to join the environmental clubs here at university, but again - most of them are in Korean so I’ll have to improve my Korean first.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I would like to pursue a Masters degree. I also want to learn Chinese.

I have actually my eyes on a Masters degree in Environmental Sciences at Xi’an Jiaotong University, which is an Ivy League university. Then, I think I’d like to move back to Indonesia. I feel like there’s a lot that could be done for the environment, and to help the population: the rain forest burning for palm oil in Borneo, floodings in Jakarta, earthquakes in Lombok…

Would you have any advice for graduating students?

Don’t procrastinate! Don’t worry and just apply. Also, stay open to new opportunities - always! You’ll see what happens!

Back to your time at CIS - what are your fondest memories?

I really enjoyed the Tioman biology and geography field trip. It was very refreshing to survive 7 days without phones! It gave us the opportunity to bond and make new friends - friends I am still in touch with today.

Would you say CIS played a part in what you have become?

Joining CIS was really a turning point for me, as it was my first time outside of Indonesia. I got to meet many people from different backgrounds, friends but also teachers, who were very open and close to the students. In terms of learning, preparing for the IB really allowed me to write better and be more efficient, more organised, and these skills are still useful to me now that I am in Korea.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

55

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Kiki Kung., alum 2010: “Everyone should be able to make the decision that is best for them.”

Kiki graduated from CIS in 2010, and, unlike most of her friends, she decided not to go to university but to launch her business immediately. Nine years on, let’s find out how this has turned out.

Words by Lucile Jaillais, Communications specialist Kiki graduated from CIS in 2010, and, unlike most of her friends, she decided not to go to university but to launch her business immediately. Nine years on, let’s find out how this has turned out.

Nine years ago, you decided to start your own business straight after finishing high school. This is somewhat uncommon for young graduates. What made you take this path?

I always thought that I would go corporate and end up in a global advertising company, eventually running the agency. By senior year, I started thinking that I might be more suited as an entrepreneur, after all it does run in the family. So after graduation, I moved to Shanghai, and started working.

One major turning point that ignited this decision for me was something Mr. Butler said once in ENG4U: “Not everyone is suited for university, that doesn’t have to be the only choice. Not choosing university doesn’t represent your intelligence or success, it just means that this path may not be the right one for everyone.” This really resonated with me, even until now.

Has CIS helped you define your aspirations?

I was at CIS from grade 1 to 12, and my experiences there played a huge part in who I am today. I was

56

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

very active at school. I played sports, was in band, theatre, MUN, and a range of other clubs. I was also the student council president. I was very outspoken, and always a risk-taker!

The activities I did in school really gave me great training in working with people, and molded me in becoming the leader that I am today.

How did people around you - family, friends and teachers - respond to your decision.

I feel very lucky, my parents were very supportive and understanding, and said I should do whatever I set my mind to. My teachers showed they were very open mind too - it may be because the CIS mentality is a bit different to the other international schools. At CIS, I felt like I was encouraged to take risks, to be my true self, and not just what was expected of a graduate. All these opportunities, and the care and philosophy gave me the confidence to achieve my goals without going to university, and helped develop me into the person I am today.

So, what have you been working on since you graduated?

I actually have a lot on my plate teachers that taught me wouldn’t be surprised. I’m a show host, a race driver, and a boss (I oversee a team of 7 staff).

I work with Yahoo Taiwan, where I currently host three shows. I am a race

driver and driving coach: I was the first Taiwanese female driver to test a formula car, and I’ve recently been selected to be on the National team to race in an intercontinental gymkhana series.

I run my family’s company, “Kung Media Productions”, where we produce content related to motorsports and the automotive industry. We work with many brands including Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, and Red Bull, to create programmes that raise brand awareness.

To give a bit of background, my father, Robin Kung, is considered to be the face and voice of motorsports in Asia.

He’s been in this industry for a very long time. We’ve seen that in this region, the general public still has a lot of misconceptions about what “motorsports” are. People think it’s unsafe, or that every day, it’s “Fast and the Furious” street races and such.

This is just not the case, as proper car racing is governed by the “Federation Internationale de l’Automobile”, where the safety of all participants is pivotal.

We hope to educate people about road safety through our platforms, and show what practising safe and regulated racing really means.

You mentioned earlier being the first Taiwanese female driver to test a formula car. Is the place of women an issue in your day to day job?

Sexism is definitely still a major issue in this day and age, and possibly worse in Asia than some other parts of the globe. The industry that I’m in is no exception, especially since it’s still predominantly male-dominated and run in both the media and motorsports.

As a female race driver, there are a lot of unconscious prejudices that are pitted against you.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

My father and I also started the “Kung Racing Academy”. At the academy, we run a young drivers development programme, and our team participates in various race series. For the academy, we start with karting, which is the foundation of motorsports. Through our programme we encourage children to be more principled and responsible, qualities that, once developed, will serve them well into adulthood.

equality. One of my rewards is when little girls come to me at races and say, “I want to be like you when I grow up”.

It makes it all worth it.

Where do you see yourself in ten years - both personally and professionally?

Well, first, to put things in perspective, I really feel like I have accomplished a lot since I graduated in 2010. I’ve accomplished numerous short and long-term goals - which makes me very happy. At the same time, I’m looking forward to the next ten years.

Being married and having kids. I believe that by then, my company and the academy will be able to run more independently, which will allow me to work on other projects that can make a difference in the world. I hope to start a non-profit someday.

What word of advice would you have for young graduates who are unsure what to do next?

Listen to your heart. Do what is important to you. Being happy means being healthy, that also means mental health; if your heart isn’t happy, your mind won’t be either. It is common for kids to get stressed because of pressure from their parents, but everyone should be able to make the decision that is best for them, and have the opportunity to grow into who they are meant to be.

Sometimes I think, maybe I missed out on uni life experiences, but then I realise that, when all of my friends were studying, unsure of what they were going to do after uni, I was already doing things that I had always

wanted to do. I am proud that I took that different path. Different was what I was meant to be.

Are you still in touch with CIS friends?

Yes! Most of my best friends are from CIS. We keep in touch, and try to meet up whenever we can. I travel a lot for work, and wherever I go, I try to meet up with CIS-ers in that city. I’ve even met up with people from other grades, and have become close to people I wasn’t necessarily close with back in school. It’s always fun talking and reminiscing about the good old CIS days.

People think you’re smaller, and weaker. Fact is, once you’re in the race suit, helmet on, it’s all about your driving skills. You notice that male drivers are picked based on their skills and results, whereas female drivers are picked based on looks and how much skin they’re willing to show. So as a girl, it is even more important to prove your value and skills. It can be even more frustrating for me, because of who my father is, so I find I have to work even harder.

However, at the end of the day, I do see progress, so I will keep fighting for

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

57

PHOTO GALLERY

Every day at CIS is a blast!

We are on the last leg of the school year! We look back on the events that celebrate the CIS way of life and showcase student achievements in the best way possible.

58

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

PHOTO GALLERY

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

59

PHOTO GALLERY

Charlie Brown Christmas show.

TK kicked off the Christmas season in a wonderful way at their Christmas assembly where the CIS community enjoyed some amazing performances by the grade 3 drama club and grades 1 and 2 choir. Well done, TK!

60

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

PHOTO GALLERY

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

61

PHOTO GALLERY

Medea.

Kudos to everyone (students and teachers) who was involved with the Chinese drama Medea. Audience members, who spoke highly of the performance, said they were amazed by students’ “performance intensity and high-level acting skills”.

62

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

PHOTO GALLERY

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

63

VIDEO GALLERY

Candid moments Pictures paint a thousand words, but videos show a thousand pictures. Relive your fondest memories at CIS by scanning the QR codes to watch the videos. Enjoy!

CIS Huskies 4th Annual Swim Meet

Lakeside Food Festival 2018

A Charlie Brown Christmas Show

Lakeside UN Week 2018 Cultural Performances

TK Food Fair 2018

Littlesteps Asia interviews the Lakeside primary arts team

64

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

VIDEO GALLERY

TK UN Parade 2018

Lakeside UN Parade of Nations 2018

TK Deepavali Celebrations 2018

Entrepreneur Bootcamp 2018

2019 Lakeside primary’s activities programme

Grade 11 excursion week: Nepal 2019

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

65

www.cis.edu.sg/mosaic