Inspiration, June 2016

Inspiration

Newsletter 2016 | International School of Prague

Photo Credit: Carisa Held, Earth Week, ISP, April 2016

Inspiring Learners for Life | www.isp.cz

ISP Newsletter 2016

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From the Director Dear ISP Friends and Families, Another academic year is coming to a close, which is an opportunity to reflect back on the past year. I am, however, at the same time very much looking to the future, for our returning and new students, and for the exciting and varied journeys upon which our new graduates (and now ISP Alumni) are about to embark.

2015-16 has been been a year with some outstanding activities and events taking place, which this edition of Inspiration merely touches upon. I am continually heartened by the generosity of our community and the support they give to me and to the many activities and fundraising events taking place at ISP throughout the year.

Over the past year with the involvements of all constituents, we have developed an ambitious strategy which will be our focus for the next few years, ISP2020.

While you will be hearing much more about this next year, I can announce that our major strategic objective is to: “Unleash our collective potential, so that our school is greater than the sum of its parts.” This is indeed an ambitious and exciting goal, and we look forward to finding new ways to get all of you involved in the great things happening at ISP. In addition to ISP2020, we completed our campus Master Plan design which is a road map for enhancing our facilities and learning environments. Returning students will see a number of improvements as phase 1 of our Master Plan will take place over the summer, including the installation of new all weather sports fields which will allow students to play sport outside all year round.

I was also delighted to take part in our first Alumni Council meeting, which involved ISP Alumni based here in Prague, Athens, London and New York. It was inspiring to feel the enthusiasm of the group, the genuine affection for their school and their keenness to promote all the benefits that gaining an authentic global education at ISP brought to them. I am greatly excited to watch the development of the now formalised Alumni Association over the coming months and years.

During my usual Monday morning music selection, I recently played Bob Dylan’s “New Morning” over the PA. It contains the line - “This must be the day when all my dreams come true”. I suppose this well describes my immense pride as we all witness another crop of ISP Graduates embark on their next exciting step into the world. I’m sure many of you shared this sense of pride and anticipation on behalf of our graduates.

I would like to thank all of you for your ongoing support of ISP and its mission!

Have a great summer, Dr. Arnie Bieber ISP Director

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

Throughout ISP’s history, Prague’s diplomatic communities have been closely connected to the school. From the early days based in the US embassy, to our position today when we have a significant proportion of our students from families employed in diplomatic service, this link has endured.

In March the ‘Guess Who’s Coming to

Dinner’? event was a celebration of these existing connections, and an opportunity to strengthen the bonds between the ISP and diplomatic communities. The event was also an important fundraiser for ISP’s Annual Fund, which touches every area of the school and provides ISP with resources to continue to deliver educational excellence and fulfil our mission.

The event kicked off with a reception for all participants at a specially decorated Elementary School Theater.

The participants, who were unaware which embassy they were going to prior to the event, were then whisked by bus to the embassy they had been drawn to go to. Participants reported on how their night unfolded.

a delicious main course of salmon fillet with fresh asparagus, carrots and finger potatoes. The dessert of compressed apple terrine with blueberry coulis and vanilla ice cream was paired with Lapponia Cloudberry Liqueur - also known as Lakka (which is produced with cloudberries grown only in the moors and marshlands of Northern Finland).

lounging on Czech antique couches that were purchased from the previous owner of the house back in the 1940s when the residence was bought by the Finnish government.

Embassy of Finland

Sean Krebs

Who knew that Finland was home to award-winning gin? The ten of us - each one expecting shot glasses of vodka quickly found out about the gin upon entering the stunning residence of Helena Tuuri, Ambassador of Finland to the Czech Republic.

Post-dinner cognacs were served in the large window-lined sitting room while

Nestled in the quiet hills of Stresovice, a short ten-minute drive from ISP, the residence is also home to Ambassador Tuuri‘s two apricot-blonde poodles, who happily joined us just before the end of the evening much to the delight of everyone present.

We were greeted not only by the Ambassador‘s warm smile but also by a tray of the most delicious gin & tonics served in crystal-cut glasses with a sprig of rosemary and cranberries.

Ambassador Tuuri explained the ryebased Napue Gin was created by the Kyro Distillery Company in an old dairy farm in Isokyro, Western Finland. It was recently awarded first place at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in the United Kingdom.

Dinner was served in the dining room filled with glorious paintings from several different Finnish fine artists.

First course was a lovely green pea soup with parmesan foam followed by

Helena Tuuri, The Ambassador of Finland, and ISP guests

ISP Newsletter 2016

Embassy of Georgia Alexandra Walmer

Sagamo Mshvidobisa (sah-gah-moh mshweed-o-bee-sah) or “Good Evening” in Georgian is the phrase the Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner guests tried to remember as we entered the Georgian embassy.

We were greeted by Ambassador Zaal Gogsadze, the Deputy Head of Mission, Alexander Chelidze, and the Chairman of the Georgian,Czech and Slovak Chamber of Commerce, Alexander Gedevanishvili.

We were immediately led into a dining room where a spread of food was already presented on the table.

Embassy of India Carmen Pignotti

We had some time for introductions, and the guests were asked if they had any Georgian connections. The Ambassador began with a brief history of Georgian winemaking. Georgia boasts to be one of the oldest winemaking places in the world. It is obviously a source of great pride. The food was a spread of first courses, typically prepared with walnuts, a favorite ingredient in Georgian cuisine.

Several walnut-themed dishes including chicken in walnut sauce, and walnut toasts were served.

Ambassador Gogsadze shared his background as an ambassador, which is interesting. His career as an ambassador has taken him many countries, including postings in New York City and Rome. Prague has been his home for a few years, while his wife currently resides in Georgia and also holds a government role.

As the evening warmed up, the toasting

find Grade 1 Aide Miss Suja Venugopal among them! Two guests had children in her class.

Drinks were served and conversation flowed as the meal began, buffetstyle. Starters included scrumptious vegetable samosas, chicken tikka, chali papadi, and, of course, papadums!

What a festive night at the Indian Embassy!

Matters were auspicious from the start: As we entered the building in Hradcanska neighborhood we were greeted in true Hindu style with a Tilak, a dab of red paint placed on our foreheads by one of our female hosts.

Another woman added a sprinkle of rice shavings. The red mark, made from turmeric, is considered a bearer of good things to come. And, sure enough, the evening turned out to be a joyful and memorable one.

First Secretary Mr. Kamal Parvez was the event organizer and five embassy couples with children at ISP were on hand to welcome us and join us for dinner that night. What a delight to

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began. Georgians evidently enjoy a good toast and they toast a variety of things! The men stand while toasting and the women sit. The dinner guests asked many questions about the country and people. Georgia is definitely a country with rich history and our hosts made clear their pride in how well their rugby team has been doing!

The conversation then moved to the Ambassador’s hopes and dreams for the Georgian embassy in Prague. It was clear the Georgians enjoyed making connections with ISP. Our evening ended slightly abruptly as we wondered if there were more courses coming, but this evening was wine and appetizers only. Although there were a few unknowns, it was an adventure at the Georgian embassy. The highlights were meeting new people and experiencing Georgian culture.

the saris for the rest of the evening.

The main dinner course arrived and was equally mouthwatering. It included dal, butter chicken, mutter paneer, vegetable pulaav and Indian breads such as roti and paratha. Gulaab jamun and kulfi, a form of ice cream, were served for dessert.

During the meal Mr. Venugopal introduced a video series that led us on a tour of magnificent Indian landmarks and then on to scenes from Divali, the Festival of Lights, and to the Festival of Colors.

Next came a short film on the art of putting on the Sari, the traditional female Hindu garment. It consists of a long stretch of fabric of up to eight meters! The Sari is wrapped elegantly around the body and draped over one shoulder.

This seemingly complicated process was demonstrated “live“ afterwards by our female hosts, who fitted beautiful saris on two guest volunteers in a matter of minutes. Once swathed in the colorful fabrics, the guests donned

ISP Guests trying traditional Indian Saris for size.

ISP Newsletter 2016

Just when we felt completely content and satisfied and pretty sure we couldn‘t get up, our hosts announced: “No Indian party could end without some Bollywood dancing!“ This is the dance style used in the modern Bombay film industry and it is enjoying rising popularity around the world.

by our children in the Bollywood afterschool activity at ISP. We swayed and formed a large circle and did our best to follow the smooth moves of our hosts, or just moved to our own rhythms.

Special kudos to Dr. Bieber who set the tone for us by immediately launching full-heartedly into the dance!

The music started and so did the bonus fun. What a great way to end the night!

Some of us recognized songs danced

We were mesmerized by an Indian gentleman, whose spins, torso, hand and wrist movements were fantastic!

Embassy of Lithuania

informed during our warm welcome that the Italian chef had taken the evening off, and a “ringer” had been brought in to prepare a meal that was thoroughly Lithuanian, and excellent in every way.

Clive Watkins

How about preparing dinner for a bunch of strangers, and inviting them over to your house?

As one of the organizers of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, I’d like to start by saying that I am so thankful to all our diplomatic friends who responded so positively to this rather bizarre request. In the end, although six Embassies actually participated, we had more than ten that had wanted to host, but couldn’t make the specific date. We hope that next year we’ll be able to find a date that suits everyone.

During my “pre-event” visits to the Embassies, Egle and Edvilas Raudonikis of Lithuania – despite the usual packed schedule of diplomatic duties – had been very accepting of the whole idea.

As with all the Embassies, I was asked what I thought they should propose as a menu. And as with all Embassies, I said, “Perhaps something from your home.”

“Hmmm,” was the response, “I’m not sure that our Italian chef will be familiar with Lithuanian cuisine.” So when I was informed by the committee that I would be going to the Lithuanian Embassy, I was excited to see what the Italian chef had decided to do about preparing Lithuanian dishes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, then, we were

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There were rounds when everyone danced together, and rounds when it was just the men or just the women dancing. We ended with one last mixed dance, then said our thank yous and goodbyes.

We trickled out into the cold Hradcanska night, feeling the warmth and generosity of the Indian people, the goodness of their food, and the urge to visit their amazing country.

After an introductory glass of Bobelinė Spanguolių trauktinė (cranberry brandy), we were introduced to several dishes of typical Lithuanian fare, with exclamations of Skanaus! (Bon appetite); although each dish was excellent, the one that I’ll mention here is “Cepelinai” (Lithuanian for, “Zeppelin”, so named for their shape); they’re a dumpling made from grated potatoes and stuffed with ground meat – delicious!

Throughout the evening, Egle and Edvilas were perfect ambassadors for their country (as one might expect from Edvilas, the Lithuanian Ambassador to the Czech Republic), describing the history and geography (from the capital of Vilnius, to the countryside, with its over 6000 pristine lakes).

After dinner, we were reminded that Lithuania is a majority catholic country, and Palm Sunday was the day after our dinner. Egle had brought out some materials for any of us to try making Lithuanian Easter palms (“verbos”), which (when made by experts) are elaborately woven stalks of dried flowers and leaves. We found out afterwards that Egle had thought that only the women might be interested in making the verbos, so I think she was somewhat surprised when the men commandeered the couch and set up an assembly line of verbos-making. I still have mine, although I seem to have

H.E. Mr. Edvilas Raudonikis and his wife Egle with the ISP guests

returned home with several of them…

We finished the evening with a round of drinks, and another saying, “Būk Sveikas” (“Be Healthy”). It’s pronounced almost like “Books Wake Us“, which seems to be so appropriate for such a cultured people as the Lithuanians. Egle and Edvilas then actually made a gift of a beautiful book to each of us, Taste Lithuania, by Lithuanian Food Historian and Chef, Beata Nicholson.

Thank you again to the Raudonikis family for their wonderful contribution to this inaugural Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? – they are superb and friendly hosts, and epitomize what we had so much looked forward to: meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, and making new friends. Thank you!

ISP Newsletter 2016

Embassy of Malaysia Stacy Eckstein

What a wonderful evening filled with culinary delights, dance and culture we all were treated to during our evening at the Malaysian Ambassador’s residence!

We were warmly greeted by Ambassador Nadzirah Binti Osman, her First Secretary of Education and Cultural Affairs, Nurmiza Binti Zakaria and Second Secretary, Head of Chancery, Mr. Al Izaini Che Izhar.

the beautiful country of Malaysia.

We began our meal with drinks and Soto, a soup with rice noodles and beef dumplings and a chicken satay appetizer, while we watched a Malaysian student, who is studying in Prague, perform traditional Malaysian dance. It was a wonderful start to the evening!

The main course of traditional Malaysian dishes followed and everyone loved the Nasi lemak, rice cooked in coconut milk, the Chicken Rendang, cooked in Malaysian spices, and the Sweet sour prawns with Sambal, a spicy sauce.

After dinner, the dancers continued their lovely performance as we were

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served a dessert of Kuih Bakar Pandan Kuih Lapis, a beautiful pandan flavored, custard-like, layered cake with tea and coffee.

Conversations continued after the meal ended and everyone was happy to learn more about each other, both Malaysia and ISP. Around 11:30pm, it was time for the evening to end and the Ambassador handed everyone a beautiful handmade paper flower that is a traditional craft in Malaysia. We all gathered for one last group photo, profusely thanked the Ambassador and then headed home after a wonderful evening of Malaysian cuisine and culture.

After our arrival at the beautiful residence in Stresovice, we tried our best to greet the Ambassador and her staff in Malay saying; “Selamat Petang” or “Good Evening” to our hosts. The guests all chose a number from a bowl that corresponded to numbers on place settings at the table, a nice way to mix our group up and get everyone to mingle.

Both the Ambassador and the two Secretaries, placed at both ends of the table, really engaged all of us in conversation and told us much about

U.S. Embassy

Carisa Held & Mai-Brit Vangsgaard

The U.S. Ambassador Andrew Shapiro and his wife, Tamar Newberger, hosted a wonderful dinner at the U.S. Ambassador‘s residence. The evening started with Manhattan cocktails and an “icebreaker“ questionnaire.

To the guests’ delight, the dinner theme

H.E. Ambassador Nadzirah Binti Osman with the ISP guests

was the “American Southwest.“ Tamar had prepared incredible cornbread that perfectly complemented the Yucatan soup starter. The main course was entrecote steak served with sweet potatoes and green beans. We topped off dinner with a clever dessert ‘hamburger’! Lime and cilantro sorbet deliciously sandwiched between brioche buns!

After dinner, our hosts graciously gave guests a tour of the historic building.

The beautiful villa was built in the late 1920s by Otto Petschek, the wealthy patriarch of a Jewish industrial family.

The building was seized by the Nazis

in 1939, and used to house officials during the occupation of Prague. We learned that some of the furniture retains marks of the Third Reich. Tamar even showed us a Hitler Youth Song book that was left behind in one of the cabinets!

After the war, the U.S. government purchased the villa from the Czechoslovakian government. The Villa was carefully decorated, to restore it to how it was decorated in the 1930s. This was achieved with the help from Otto Petschek‘s daughter, Eva Petschek, who recalled how it was when she lived there as a child.

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After the tour, we went into the Library for the fun American tradition of s‘mores, graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows that have been roasted in a fire. Additional fun mysteries of the house were uncovered as an old piece of paper was discovered in the Library. It featured a handwritten train itinerary to Norway that was written in German (translated by one of the guests).

It was a wonderful evening where we not only had a fantastic dinner on “U.S. soil“, but also felt welcome in Andrew and Tamar‘s home.

H.E. Ambassador Andrew Shapiro and his wife Tamar with the ISP guests

The 6th Annual ISP’s Fundraiser - “Night Under the Stars” A magnificent “Night Under the Stars” took place on May 7th this year in the functionalist surroundings of Manes Gallery on a beautiful spring evening.

The sixth annual fundraiser for ISP’s Scholarship Program was based at a new venue for the first time in the event’s history following five great years at the Lobkowicz Palace. As is obvious from the photos - a great time was certainly had by those present, as well as raising a cool 1.5 million CZK for such a worthy cause!

who offered tickets which allowed ISP staff to attend, everyone who donated refreshments and entertainment from the evening, and of course, to all donors to the highly successful auction.

The night would not have been possible without the tireless organisational efforts of all the “Night Under the Stars” Committee; Soo Joo Bae, Marie Bossan (co-chair), Yasmin Hejduk, Lena

The evening’s primary purpose is to raise funds for our Scholarship Program, which unmeasurably brings a richness and vitality to our community here at ISP. The benefits of the program were inspirationally and eloquently expressed by Petra Viaglova, who gave the evening’s keynote speech which tracked her journey from the Scholarship Program via Oxford University to her current work as an archaeologist based in Greece.

ISP would like to thank everyone who was part of the event. In particular the school expresses sincere gratitude to for the generous support for the event.

This extends to all donors, ranging from our corporate donors, those

The “Night Under the Stars” Committee

Kornblad, Andrea Koudelkova, Missy Nussbaum, Paulina Pousette, Eva Shaw (co-chair), Ericka Sykora, Martha Rey, Dana Westby and Clive Watkins.

We look forward to the next “Night Under...” event in 2017, when there will be another new venue and another rallying call to our community to support scholarships at ISP and all they bring to our school.

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ISP Robotics in High Spirits in St Louis In February, the International School of Prague Robotics Team, FalconTech, won the Central European regional competition and was invited to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in St. Louis in April.

The FalconTech has existed for 4 years and has 18 current members, the majority of who are new to the field of robotics. The team is divided into three main groups to build a fully functional robot and team; builders, programmers and logistics.

For the last 4 years, FalconTech has taken part in the CEESA (Central and Eastern European School Association) robotics competition. This year, 12 teams from all over central Europe came to the event hosted here in Prague. FalconTech won the Inspire Award, given to the team that best

embodies the ideals of the First Tech Challenge. This award is one of two that grant an invitation to the World Championships. The other award is the Winning Alliance award given to the robot that does the best in the competition.

This spring, the FalconTech team packed up their robot Sokol (“Falcon” in Czech) and travelled all the way to the USA. Of course, the team had to do even more preparation after arriving.

After settling in the hotel, finding their way around the city and decorating their team ‘pit’ where they would keep their equipment, they were finally ready to compete.

Over 120 teams participated in the FTC World Championship, and while the majority was from all around the US, there were teams representing

Photo 1: Team FalconTech on the first day of the competition

countries all around the world, including China, Romania and Italy.

Meeting and greeting all these different people was definitely one of the best parts of the trip, as the other teams had a lot of knowledge to share and experiences that FalconTech could face in the future.

Unfortunately, the projectile system which the team so painstakingly designed was deemed unsuitable for competition, and the robot had to be redesigned. Thankfully, another team during the event provided the needed materials. In the end everything worked out and the problem solving skills showed how anything can happen and how important it is to be flexible and open to changes.

For the next few days of the competition, there were quite a few

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Photo 2: Our robot Sokol, with its team number

FalconTech Partners

ups and downs. FalconTech won some matches, lost some matches, had a few breakthroughs and suffered through challenges. Overall, this competition was a great experience for all students involved and hopefully FalconTech can return to St. Louis in the future to compete again soon.

competition in between matches. Jan is working on it a little bit.

Photo 3: On Friday, there was a spirit day. Everyone was supposed to wear tiaras, so a team member brought a few to share. This picture is of Mr. Druce wearing both one of the tiaras and his signature Aussie hat he wore for most of the trip. We put this one in for you since there aren‘t too many other good pictures of the mentors.

Photo 1: Team FalconTech on the first day of the competition.

Photo 2: Our robot Sokol, with its team number. It was taken at the

Photo 3: Mr. Druce wearing a tiara

Victoria Schdeva & Team FalconTech

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ISP Alumni Association - Learners for Life

Dr. Arnie Bieber, Martin Blecha, Irina Ivanova and Clive Watkins, are joined by Gwyther Bultman, Larissa Batt and Petra Vaiglova (on screen) at the inaugural Alumni Council meeting

The inaugural meeting of the ISP Alumni Council, which will look to take the school’s alumni relations to a new, formalized, level through founding the ISP Alumni Association, was hosted from campus on Monday, May 16, 2016.

This first meeting was attended in Prague by Martin Blecha (Class of ‘04), who acted as Chairman of the Council, as well as Irina Ivanova (Class of ‘03), and

by Petra Vaiglova (Class of ‘06), Larissa Batt (Class of ‘07) and Gwyther Bultman (Class of ‘98) online from Athens, London and New York, respectively.

Given the nature of an international school, ISP defines its alumni broadly

- everyone who attended ISP is automatically a member of the ISP Alumni Association. Both the Council and ISP are eager to promote more of an “Alumni mindset” around the school.

Acting Chairperson, Martin Blecha, said: “The achievements of alumni are the most tangible measure of success of any academic institution. As much a school should want to see its graduates go on to succeed and represent it in the best possible light, so too are alumni inherently represented by their school and should hold it to high standards. As an alumnus of ISP, I am keen on seeing that the school maintains its high reputation. I am especially keen that as

many alumni as possible get involved to celebrate and represent our school and to strengthen our network.”

The Council discussed a number of ways forward for the school Alumni Association, not least a commitment to organizing an All Years’ Alumni event, to be held in Prague later this year. As the subsequent pages show, ISP alumni embank on all sorts of journeys on leaving the school, and the Alumni Association intends to harness these stories. Please get in touch and get involved by dropping an email to alumni@isp.cz

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Alumni Class Notes Class of 2010 Katrien Wilmots Class Correspondent

katrien_wilmots@yahoo.com

TJ Billard is currently a doctoral fellow in the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in sunny Los Angeles.

He is a political communication and mass media scholar whose research focuses on critical transgender politics, participatory political practices, and information design. TJ’s research has been presented at the annual meetings of the International Communication Association, American Political Science Association, National Women’s Studies Association, and the Popular Culture Association. His writing has been published in the Journal of Communication, the top journal in the field of communication and media studies, and he has two book chapters and several journal articles forthcoming.

Toby Hessenberger is just finishing up his masters in Political Economy of Late Development at the London School of Economics this year. This summer Toby will be cheering Austria on in France watching Euro 2016. He’s interested to see if any “Class of 2010” classmates will be there!

Marie Jönssen recently received her M.Sc. in Development, Disorders and Clinical Practice from the University of York in the UK. Since then she has been working as a Specialist Mentor and Support Worker with Neuro Partners across 4 universities in Leeds and Bradford in the UK. She hopes to do a postgraduate diploma and certificate in counselling in the future. She currently lives in Guiseley with her boyfriend and has recently joined the Guiseley Amateur Operatic Society and will be performing in The Wizard of Oz next year.

Anna Munter spent 2015 exploring a whole new world! She spent the year

Anna Munter at an elephant reserve for previously abused or overworked elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

in Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia as an English Teaching Assistant on a Fulbright Grant teaching in a public Malaysian secondary school. She taught curricular and extra-curricular English classes to students ages 13 - 17. As part of the program, Anna organized and led two day-long English workshops for the students that taught language-learning through arts-based activities. She also consulted regularly with Malaysian Ministry of Education officials to track student language development.

During her time in Malaysia Anna was able to travel to many new and exciting places, including (but not limited to!): South Korea, Japan, Australia, Thailand, and Cambodia. Anna is now back in Prague working as an English Language Instructor for adults.

Joel Pettersson is still working for

the energy company Sandviken Energi as an engineer. Joel works mostly with production and distribution of district heat and electricity at a power plant but he also does some work with hydropower. Besides work he recently went sailing in the North Sea for a week with some friends. On his trip he saw wild orcas and a bunch of other cool sea life!

Joel Pettersson on his trip to the North Sea

Tosca Rivola’s past year has been very different from previous ones. For the first time in her adult life she is not a student. She graduated from USC just about a year ago with a Bachelors of Art and Minor in Communication Design, and in this past year Tosca has started her own graphic design business, working most often for entertainmentrelated clients. She is also continuing to work on her acrobatic practice and was able to do a long-term contract in Germany this past winter and take

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helping with exporting goods from Japan to the rest of the world. Other than work, last year in March 2015, Kaoru met up with Ms. Schultz in Bangkok!

Katrien Wilmots is still at the

Tosca Rivola performing in the show in Germany last winter

her discipline to a more serious level.

Tosca is booked to do a show in Zurich in September and October and another one in Germany after Christmas, so she’ll be super close to Prague for once but her home base is still Los Angeles for the majority of the year. If anyone has any interest in coming and seeing some well-curated entertainment, Tosca would love to invite you to a show!

maybe later this year, but nothing is set in stone yet. If he did visit, it would be in late August so he could catch the MotoGP racing in Brno.

Kaoru Takase graduated from university in March 2015. A year has passed already since she’s started to work in Tokyo,

Avo Shahverdian graduated college

last year with two B.S. degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and another in Computer Systems Engineering. About four months ago he joined Green Earth Energy Photovoltaic as their Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The company designs and installs solar arrays across the upper East Coast of the United States and are the largest commercial installer in Connecticut. Avo is very happy with his job and the company is expanding to Washington DC/Maryland this year, keeping him very busy. Avo recently went skydiving for the first time and loved it. He is now looking into getting his skydiving license. He would also like to take a trip to Prague,

Katrien on her visit to Chicago in February 2016

University of Michigan Law School completing her J.D. degree. This summer she will be splitting her time between Budapest visiting her parents and Brussels where she will be working as a summer intern at Shearman & Sterling, LLP working mainly in the area of EU Antitrust Law. In January, Katrien was able to get back to Prague to ring in the New Year and looks forward to her next visit. In the meantime, she is enjoying traveling around the United States.

Thank you to all those who responded!

If you have any more updates you want your classmates to know about or you have any photos you want to share please don’t hesitate to pop me an email at isp.class.of.2010@gmail.com and I’ll make sure to include them in the next newsletter.

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Class of 2013 Bo Hitzert, Julien Mikton Class Correspondent bohitzert24@gmail.com

Nicole Lim, who is an Environmental Studies major at New York University, began interning for a hydroelectric company this year. She also volunteers at a clean-technology startup in New York, and plans to continue working for renewable energy companies in the US after graduation.

At the Savannah College of Art and Design, Lukas Borovicka has been busy directing and producing short films. He will be spending his final year at SCAD producing and shooting a film in Arizona, as well as doing marketing and distribution for a school-sponsored Virtual Reality Project.

in the region. He also started an independent venture called Study Financing Netherlands, where he tries to help students and recent graduates find part time jobs, internships and financing opportunities.

Kristian

Ye Jin Choi, who is also in New York,

had her first solo cello recital. This summer, she will be attending a summer program at FAMU in Prague, where she hopes to explore her interest in film. She is also in the process of making audition tapes for programs she might pursue after graduating from Juilliard next year.

At Swarthmore, Tom Wilmots is entering his final year of school. He is still pursuing a double major in Engineering and Economics. He would like to get his master’s degree from a University in the UK afterwards.

William Lobkowicz also plans to return to Europe after graduating.

He is currently studying at Harvard University, where he has been busy organizing Model United Nations conferences and enjoying life.

Lukas Borovicka

Khang Duong, who is pursuing his degree at the Illinois Institute of Technology, hopes to stay in the United States after graduating. He plans to eventually get a master’s degree, and would like to have his own start-up.

would like to continue running Study Financing Netherlands as he pursues his master’s, but is unsure what he plans to do afterwards.

Aydin Shahidi travelled to China, the

Middle East and Dubai this year as a sales manager for a medical equipment company. He is still majoring in Managerial Economics, and after spending the summer travelling in Europe, hopes to pursue his newfound interest in wine making.

William Lobkowicz

In Rotterdam, Kristian Voldrich is finishing his degree in International Business Administration and has been busy working for ISM eCompany, one of the largest e-commerce startups

Aydin Shahidi

ISP Newsletter 2016

Steven Slezak, who is also in

Rotterdam, will also be finishing his degree in International Business Administration at the Rotterdam School of Management this year. He spent part of this year working as a marketing intern for Skoda Auto, and plans to continue working in either the auto industry or the financial industry after graduating.

After gaining work experience, Steven then plans to get an MBA. Along

with

Kristian and Steven, Christian Moesby will be receiving his bachelor’s degree from the Rotterdam School of Management this year. He has recently had the opportunity to work as a Scandinavian liaison for a software company in Rotterdam, and also spent a semester studying at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He will also be pursuing his master’s degree after graduating.

Bo Hitzert, who is also in Rotterdam, is

in the process of completing her 2nd year in International Business Administration.

She will be spending the fall at Bocconi University in Milan, and would like to work in marketing after she graduates.

Class of 2014 Anna-Rosa Eerikäinen and Holli Demirel Class Correspondents rosifinland@gmail.com holli3demirel@hotmail.com

Anna-Rosa Eerikäinen has just

finished her Erasmus Exchange studies at Kingston University of London, UK as a part of her Journalism Bachelor Degree and 2nd year of studies at the Anglo-American University of Prague.

Rosie says that the highlights of the trip for her were meeting one amazing group of friends from all around the

Kristyna Dlouha spent part of this year changing campuses from The Hague to Amsterdam, where she has begun working as a duty manager at Skotel, which is a student residence and fully-functioning hotel. This summer, she will be attending a course at Bocconi University. She hopes that the experience will help prepare her for a career in the luxury sector.

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Also in Prague, Paulina Wydrzynska is working on her thesis at the AngloAmerican University. She has been working for Bridge Magazine, and hopes to move to Rotterdam to work for a magazine after completing her degree.

In Belgium, Maïté Versaevel is finishing her degree in Interior Design at the School of Arts, Ghent. She will be spending the rest of this year working on her final design project, as well as interning for a company in Istanbul.

After graduating, Maïté hopes to get her master’s in Interior Architecture.

Ashkan

Khamsehpour, who is

halfway done with his bachelor’s in International Business and Management, has been working on his own startup. He has also returned to acting and filmmaking, and hopes to incorporate these passions into his professional life after he graduates from the Metropolitan University of Prague.

Veronika Jouklova

Veronika Jouklova is currently working full time as the Director of International Relations and Supply for an online BMW store.

Thank you to all the members of 2013’s graduating class for sharing your progress!

ISP Newsletter 2016

world, visiting the cities of Bath and Brighton, as well as being able to meet with one of the graduates of 2012, Lucy. She says that during her stay in London, she also had the time to start writing a blog, as well as develop her photography skills. For the Summer of 2016 she plans to work in Finland with the UN Women organization to help promote a campaign that will raise money for young girls and women in Guatemala who not have the rights and the freedom for education and pursue their dreams. Rosie will return

to Prague in the fall of 2016 to start her 3rd and last year of University.

Katerina Cupova, s finishing her 2nd year at University of Reading in the UK, where she has been studying Consumer Behavior and Marketing. She started the International Society Club at her University because there wasn´t one last year and it turned out to be a great success. Katerina also says it´s fun to organize events. Currently there are 600 + members on their Facebook page and they won the Best New

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Society 2015/2016 award. Throughout her studies in the UK, Katerina has also enjoyed exploring the country by making small trips whenever she has had the chance to do so. So far her favorite cities from her trips have been Bath and Oxford.

Holli Demirel has continued playing 2nd division basketball and 3rd division football. For next year she plans on doing a dissertation in sport psychology and is currently finishing up her year of being the women´s basketball club chair.

Class of 2015 Mati Malvido Class Correspondent mati.malvido@gmail.com

Dor Katz has been doing a pre military

program in the north of Israel, where she learned a wide range of topics including Israel, Judaism, and Zionism.

She also travels around the country, and does a lot of volunteer work with all levels of society. She says “at first, it was very hard and intensive but I am now really enjoying myself.” Next year she is starting school in New York, at New York University, with a prelaw track.

Savia Pettinella has almost completed her first year studying a dual degree of Marketing and Design at Lancaster University in the northwest of England. Her second year will consist of a variety of modules to further this study, such as marketing research and design management, and allowing her the choice of whether to write a marketing- or design-based dissertation in her third year. In her free time, she has also plays for the University Women‘s Volleyball Team.

Emmi

Kuivalainen began her bachelors ‚Law LLB‘ degree at the University of Exeter. Moving to the UK has opened the door to a competitive legal market of which she hopes to part of as, she aspires to become a trainee solicitor at a commercial law firm in London. She took part in the ‚Pathfinder First-Year Scheme‘ at the Linklaters

London office, where she shadowed trainees in SFG (Capital Markets) and Dispute Resolution. During the summer Emmi will be interning at Linklaters and Eversheds in their international offices in Dusseldorf and Helsinki, before applying for vacation scheme opportunities.

Zahid Mudaqiq is studying Computer Science at Maris College, Poughkeepsie, New York. He says first time studying abroad was a challenge, especially being away from family, and in a completely new environment. He is currently involved in Computer Science, Residence Hall Council and Intramural soccer clubs, and in his free time, he loves to code and develop websites.

In college, he is currently working on a program called Sakia, which is an on a open source educational software, to support teaching and researching, for many colleges around the world. His message to everyone out there is that technology is an important part of our every day life. Soon or later, most of our daily activities will be running through machines, so we should at least try to learn how to do basic coding.

Johannes Feldbaumer is currently

completing his mandatory civil service at the Afro-Asian Institute in Graz, Austria. The institute he works at has been very active in the refugee crises.

The experiences he had have been

thought provoking and rewarding. Also, he joined a 5th league football team which is currently first in the league and will most likely be promoted into the 4th league if everything goes as planned. The coming year he is planning to go to university; however, he is still unsure what university I will be attending.

Wout Vertenten moved to Belgium, with his family, after graduating from high school where he’s currently attending the “Katholieke Universiteit Leuven” (KUL) aspiring to be a civil engineer. Although the course is challenging he really enjoys doing it and he’s convinced this is what he would like to pursue later on in life. He really enjoys the independence that one has in Leuven, which also puts one in charge of one’s life and as a result, everything he takes part in is something he is truly interested in.

Jack Karafotas is starting an internship

at DataXu (a big data firm for marketing) as a data analyst. He will be starting his second year at Brown University, which he is loving so far, as an Applied Math major. With the many friends he made there, he is starting a multicultural fraternity at his university that is focused on asian identity in the United States. He says It is a lot of work, but he is very excited to be in a fraternity that includes all his closest friends at Brown.

Your Class Correspondents

ISP Newsletter 2016

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We currently publish “Inspiration” twice each year, and we always look forward to the Class Notes. In order to submit your information, please contact your Class Correspondent, listed below. Please note that your Class is the year from which you graduated from High School, not necessarily the year you left ISP (for example, if you left ISP after Grade 6 in 2007, you would be a member of the Class of 2013). If you don’t see a Class Correspondent for your year, it means that your Class does not yet have a Class Correspondent. If you would like to volunteer, please contact advancement@isp.cz.

1997 Martina Pomeroy pomeroy@unhcr.org Sinan Aka kuzensinan@yahoo.com 2000 Ben Groucott ben@groucott.com Evgenia Bukhantsova jboukhantsova@hotmail.com 2001 Gorana Renovica goranarenovica@gmail.com 2002 Melanie Wallinger jaga36@hotmail.com 2004 Seyitbek Usmanov usmanov.seyitbek@gmail.com 2005 Andrej Vukotic

andrej.vukotic@gmail.com 2007 Daisy Hessenberger dhessenberger@gmail.com 2008 Larissa Batt larissabatt@hotmail.co.uk 2010 Katrien Wilmots

katrien_wilmots@yahoo.com 2011 Zoey Hitzert zoey.hitzert@gmail.com

Katie Hobkirk hobkirkk@gmail.com 2012 Dara Chermoeva dara.chermoeva@hotmail.com

Sophia Freckmann 4sophiafreckmann@gmail.com 2013 Julien Mikton julien.mikton9@gmail.com

Bo Hitzert bohitzert24@gmail.com 2014 Holli Demirel holli3demirel@hotmail.com

Anna-Rosa Eerikäinen rosiefinland@gmail.com 2015 Mati Malvido mati.malvido@gmail.com 2016 Mariia Chykulay mandy.chykulay@gmail.com

Thank you to all donors who have already helped us to raise 1.756.700 czk for the 2015-16 Annual Fund!

If you haven’t yet joined other ISP supporters by making your Annual Fund donation (of any amount), there’s still time!

To make your donation: By transfer: Account number 2112216446/2700 Account name: Friends of ISP, o.s.

Or by Paypal using the email address advancement@isp.cz.