ISP Inspiration Newsletter June 2017

Night at Sacre Coeur ISP’s 7th Annual Fundraiser for Scholarships and Financial Aid June 2017 | International School of Prague

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Night at Sacre Coeur Newsletter 2017

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About the Event Following the success of last year’s “Night Under the Stars”, held at Mánes Gallery, the flagship event of the ISP social calendar, was once again on the move. This year‘s event, Night at Sacre Coeur was held on Saturday, May 13th.

Located in an area surrounded by two parks but nonetheless very close to bustling Smíchov, Sacre Coeur is a deconsecrated chapel which dates back to the 1880s and is a rare example in Prague of what is known as the Beuronese style, a monastic architectural tradition of the late 19th century.

The building was constructed purely as a church, and stands on the Southern slope of Petřín. The venue takes its name from the religious order of Sacre Coeur, who had preceded the construction of the church by establishing a boarding school for girls on the same site.

Although Sacre Coeur still hosts occasional religious services, these days it is a purely secular venue. The venue’s history and ambience, however, provided a unique venue in Prague for the ISP Community to enjoy the social highlight of the year under stained glass.

One of the pleasing aspects of the venue was the opportunity for guests to congregate in one space and hear more about the purpose of the event - supporting the ISP Scholarship Program. Several guests commented that ISP Alumna (Class of ’06) and former Scholarship recipient Lucie Vágnerová’s speech was particularly powerful as she traced her journey from an ISP Scholarship to her current

role as an academic at Columbia University in New York City.

Guests were welcomed with the jazz and soul-tinged vocals of Juwana Jenkins, who made a quite spectacular entrance from above the church altar!

Juwana gave an upbeat performance of soul, gospel and pop classic covers all delivered in her distinctive and rich voice – sometimes from among the audience!

Once more this year, the welcome champagne was generously provided

by La Finestra. The red, white and rosé wine was donated by the Chateau Winery Třebívlice, and all beer was supplied by Pilsner Urquell.

The Zátiší Catering Group served delicious food throughout the night, with several of the Zátiší chefs providing entertainment through performing live shows as they prepared an extensive selection of food for the guests.

There was spectacular entertainment from Pyroterra - a team of professional gymnasts and artists - who performed gravity-defying feats from high up in the church spire.

En.Dru and Jen Hovorka also brought their unique beatbox-vocal style of improvisation to the stage, and it was left to DJ Jerome ‘Big-Jay’ Hutchinson to fill the rest of the night with more music and dance into the small hours.

The Sharingbox photo booth captured fun and special moments so that everybody could have an exciting memory of the party.

The Small Hall offered an outstanding selection of wonderful silent auction gifts, generously donated by supporters of the Scholarship and Financial Aid Programs.

Again this year, the guests could enjoy the presence of an Exotic Supercar displayed in the Sacre Coeur courtyard.

The car was generously offered by the Advantage Cars to be raffled off for a weekend.

Foot massages provided by the outstanding people from the luxury spa of the Boscolo Hotel Prague helped our guests get back on their feet.

A memorable night in Sacre Coeur!

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Thank You to Our Major Supporters The most prestigious companies in the Czech Republic support ISP’s Scholarship and Financial Aid Program.

Their financial support is demonstrated at various giving levels, such as the

base. This year, we are proud to announce that our corporate donors contributed 585,000 Czk out of the total of 1,750,000 Czk that will be given to support the Scholarship and

Gold & Black, Societies. The communicate those donors

Financial Aid Programs. A profound word of thanks goes to all our corporate donors for the influence that they are having on the lives of our students.

Falcon’s and Comenius school is delighted to the commitment of to the ISP constituent

Scholarship Program at ISP Since 1948, The International School of Prague has been committed to providing an exceptional education in a truly global environment. The success of ISP Alumni is a tribute to the work not only of those who have worked at the School, but to those who have helped to ensure its firm financial foundation.

For more than sixteen years, a number of our students from the Czech Republic have been the deserving recipients of generous scholarships provided by the ISP community.

community as much as their horizon have widened. Their involvement in ISP is another way in which our school can connect with and give back to the local community.

In order to ensure the long-term viability of this program, the School holds its annual fundraiser for scholarships, Night at Sacre Coeur.

The event is a chance for the whole

community to celebrate the success of the program and those donors who so generously support it.

Thank you to our volunteer committee, without whom this evening could not have happened! Thank you also to our donors, without whom the Scholarship program could not thrive, and thank you to you, without whom the evening could not be as successful, or as fun.

The goal of the Scholarship program is to make the ISP educational experience available to a diverse range of students.

These Scholarships are based not only on financial need, but also on merit.

In addition to fulfilling the normal requirements for admission to ISP, a student who wishes to be considered for a Scholarship must demonstrate an excellent academic record, a strong command of the English language, a desire to obtain an education in a multicultural environment, and an intention to enroll in the full International Baccalaureate program.

These students have enriched our

Profile of one of the scholarship recipients, Tereza Matoušová Class of 16‘

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“Learning to Ask Questions Rather than to Memorize Answers” Lucie Vágnerová Former ISP Scholarship Student 13th May 2017 Thank you for having me, ISP, and thanks to all of you – I literally wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the scholarship fund you are contributing to.

I was recently doing a job interview at one of the oldest research universities in the United States. In a meeting with a senior professor, I got asked “So, you seem young, when did you graduate high school?” Now, this is a strange question to ask someone applying for a professorship, and it’s not an entirely legal question to ask, either. So I did what I was trained to do: I stared at him and smiled for about ten seconds straight without answering. Now, ten seconds might seem short, but it is actually a very long time for a Czech person to smile. And in this very long ten seconds, I realized just how much I have been thinking about my time at the International School of Prague in the past year – specifically, how much my high school experience prepared me for where I am now. Where I am as an academic – a music scholar, a recent grad of a doctoral program and current lecturer at Columbia University – and where I am as a person (or, as my tax return would put it, a “resident alien,” in New York City USA in 2017).

Guests listening intently to Lucie‘s inspirational speech

History class taught by the amazing Shannon Leggett (I rewrote the paper three times until I got an A-). In my defense, it was a history class like I’d

I came to ISP in the Fall of 2002 as a scholarship student. Some months prior, my mother had asked me if I had any Czech friends who might be interested in competing for the scholarship (I remember looking at her, offended, like “Yeah, mom, I can think of someone.”).

My first friend was a girl from India called Manasi Chatpalliwar, and my first grade was a D+ in a Non-Western

All smiles with friends

never taken before: we spent the first few months doing what I can only describe as “learning how to read the news.” We studied how a caption

Night at Sacre Coeur Newsletter 2017

me to pursue the humanities later on.

And I had instant respect for Mr. Hrubeš because he took his Czech wife’s last name. Later in my high school career, in a class called Theory of Knowledge taught by Tony Ackerman, I learned to think about how the languages we speak structure our worldviews. Being surrounded by kids from all over the world, many of them multi-lingual, really drove this point home. But I really became a music scholar in my IB Music class also taught by Tony – a thoughtful pedagogue, amazing guitarist, and now a friend. Nothing testifies to how much I believe that that’s where I became a thinker about music as that I asked Tony, years later after college, to be one of my recommenders for PhD programs in the U.S – an unusual decision, to say the least.

Lucie Vágnerová giving her keynote speech

changes the meaning of a photo, how two news sources report on the same story differently, I learned the word “bias.” I also learned a lot of other

ISP ladies resplendent in red

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new words in an English for Academic Purposes class with Lawrence Hrubeš, a class that was a growth hormone for language skills that honestly enabled

I have a theory that all the best lessons you learn in life only sink in much later, or keep sinking in for a long time, and that can be said for the courses of Shannon Leggett, Tony Ackerman, Daniel Lamken, John Crane, and others.

At ISP, I learned to ask questions rather than memorize answers. Rather than just absorbing the voice of a textbook, I found my own voice, and formed opinions about the world around me. I learned how to disagree with my peers and to learn from them. For the first time, in a striking difference to Czech school, I was speaking to other students in class, not just answering the teacher’s questions. I learned to construct arguments supported by evidence, and learned that without evidence, arguments are just claims.

In short, I learned to think critically.

These bare-bones critical thinking skills have been activated with a renewed immediacy as I – as all of us – lived through an Election year in the States so defined by what we read and how we understand it.

Night at Sacre Coeur Newsletter 2017

I’ve also taught at Columbia for over six years now, and I devote a lot of my time to thinking about pedagogy and curriculum-building. That part of my job is teaching, and the kind of teacher Ive become is, in my mind, clearly a product of ISP more than any other school I’ve ever attended. In this sense, I draw on not just what I was taught at ISP, but how I was taught. And so critical thinking is now the cornerstone of my pedagogical practice. Broadly, I learned that different students learn differently. Different students gravitate different voices, texts, and media, and I see it as my job to equip them with a kind of multimedia, multicultural literacy as ISP equipped me.

I still actually regularly talk to a former ISP teacher about teaching – I’m talking about Joel Sugarman, who taught drama here and now teaches at an East Coast high school. We meet for coffee in Central Park when he’s in the city, we go to see theater shows, but we also talk about how to evaluate student work, how to address issues of diversity in the classroom, the importance of improvisation in the classroom, how to empower non-native and native English speakers to teach each other.

The ISP community continues to be a key part of my life.

In 12th grade at ISP I got two student awards I’m really proud of: one in P.E. and one in English (a long way from that D+). Last year, my cycling team and I won a racing series in New York just a couple weeks after I got my PhD. This is to say, there is no doubt that ISP changed me, but I think it’s particularly cool that it changed me into the person I still am today. I am embarrassed to say that I never thought much about who is behind the scholarship fund that enabled me, and many others after me, to attend ISP, and opened the doors for me to study at the University of Nottingham and Columbia University.

It’s inspiring to see you in front of me now, so thank you, again, for being here, and have a great night. Go Falcons!

Juwana Jenkins

Thank you to Chateau Winery Třebívlice for donating the white, red and rosé wine

At the end of Lucie‘s speech, ISP Director Arnie Bieber expressed his admiration, and said he hoped everyone felt as much pride as he did.

The silent auction offered an outstanding selection of wondeful gifts

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Thank You from the Director Dear Friends,

Breathtaking performance of the aerial dancer

Thank you for attending the ISP’s Seventh Annual Fundraiser for the Scholarship and Financial Aid Programs. After five great years at the Lobkowicz Palace, and a very succesful “Night Under the Stars” at the Mánes Gallery, we were delighted to have the opportunity to welcome you to a magnificent new venue for the biggest night in our community’s social calendar. We are sure that our Night at Sacre Coeur at the Sacre Coeur church, proved every bit as successful as the previous events at the Palace, or at the Manes Gallery.

We at ISP are immensely proud of our Alumni, and for almost two decades a significant number of outstanding candidates have benefited from the scholarships provided by the generous financial support of the ISP Community. Thanks to this consistent support, coupled with the support of our corporate donors, the scholarship program continues to support present and future scholarship recipients.

Silent auction with a TV donated by LG

This evening could not happen without the tireless work of our Night at Sacre Coeur committee, which was staffed entirely by volunteers drawn from our school community. To the committee I would like to offer my sincere thanks. I am sure you had a great evening, your support is critical for the Scholarship program and the richness it brings to ISP.

Dr. Arnie Bieber ISP Director

Party guests view amazing auction gifts

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Report from the Night Under the Stars Co-Chairs Dear ISP Community, Thank you once again for your support of ISP and the 7th Annual Fundraising ‘Night at Sacre Coeur’ Event for the Scholarships and Financial Aid at ISP. This year there were several new faces on the committee and we worked hard in organizing a fun and engaging event that people would enjoy! This was without forgetting the aim of the event, which is to raise significant funds to provide educational opportunities at ISP through Scholarships for those who might otherwise not see our school as an academic option.

As a committee, we would like to express our appreciation and the greatest of thanks to all those involved ranging from; parents, teachers, ISP community, local and international businesses for their hard work, generosity and support including the donation of products and services for our auction. Without this energy and generosity we simply would not have an event.

For the 7th year of the gala event the committee went through a process of elimination to arrive at a unique venue that would be somewhere slightly different to the usual Prague venues. It was a thrill for all of us to see people enjoying themselves at the event, which had taken months of careful planning.

The Night at Sacre Coeur Committee

and fun jigsaw we would like to thank the many people who made this event possible with all the given during the course of the year.

Thank you to the Advancement Office and the Night at Sacre Coeur committee - Strella Ahn, Soo Joo Bae, Elizabeth Frausto, Sheridan Barnett, Vera Newbold,

The organizing committee, the ISP Advancement Office and the Board of Trustees are dedicated to ensuring the event is a success. We aim to please the whole Community and we spend a lot of time planning and coordinating this event with the help of volunteers who give up numerous mornings, lunches and afternoons to source the best food and drinks, entertainment, décor, and auction gifts to make the evening one to remember.

For all the pieces to fit into this complex

Relaxing foot massages provided by the Boscolo Hotel Spa Team

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wholeheartedly. The trustees not only volunteer their time on the Board, they also sponsored many of the activities and products, which made the event so successful.

Thank you to our student volunteers, Moira Strebel and Julia Lewis for lending a helping hand wth the cloackroom. Also, thank you to Toby Shaw, Jan Truneček and Danique Diks who helped with the sale of the Supercar raffle tickets. They showed a remarkable enthusiasm and energy to support Scholarships at ISP. Using their expert negotiation and sales skills, they succeeded in selling all the tickets, raising an amazing total of 50,000 Czk!

Fun Casino

Thank you to all our corporate donors: ADP, Doosan, Engel & Völkers, IBM and 24Safe.

Alejandra de Maria, and Viktoria Reznik - for their time. Thank you also to Renata Maudlingova for her help with the auction. It was a great team that worked well together and came up with an amazing evening.

Our security and safety was ensured by the watchful eyes of Petr Koubek and Milan Hašek.

Once again we had the backing of ISP’s Board of Trustees, who supported the event

We also thank Greg Wydrzynski and Sváťa Soukup for transporting all auction gifts, decorations and wine to and from Sacre Coeur. We are so grateful for all of their support and generosity of their time.

Finally we want to thank the entire ISP Community, who donated to our event and in doing so showed support to the Scholarship and the Financial Aid Programs, helping these causes have another amazing year! With your attendance, generous bids on the auction items and purchase of the raffle tickets, you have made our fundraising event a great success and many opened many realms of possibility available to a potential students.

Committee Co-chairs Ericka Sykora Markéta Zajícová Fun moments at Sacre Coeur

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Student Raffle 2017

As in previous years, the Student Raffle was a huge hit amongst students. The raffle, held in April this year, gave the opportunity not only for students to win fantastic prizes, but also to participate in raising funds for the Scholarship and Financial Aid Programs at ISP. A big thank you goes to all our dedicated volunteers, Soo Joo Bae, Aurelia Benitez, Noemi Criado, Alejandra de Maria, Ana Maria Garces, Monica Horvath, Alejandra de Maria, Grace Lew, Susan McKinnon, Vera Newbold, Lilia Orrico, Julia Paniagua, Martha Rey, Luz Helena Salinas, and Ericka Hernandez Sykora for helping with the ticket sales, everyday decoration and clean up of the raffle tables in the Cafeteria, and even donating amazing gifts to the raffle!

The raffle added greatly to the overall amount of funds raised by bringing record proceeds of 125,000 Czk to support Scholarships and Financial Aid at ISP. Please join us in thanking our generous Student Raffle donors for all the wonderful raffle gifts.

Student Raffle Donors: Adventure Golf Horní Bezděkov Aquapark Kladno Boulder MyWay The Bossan Family The Candy Store Caravan Metropol Karting Da Ezio Pizzeria Dolce Villa Hotel - Burger Bar Fresh & Tasty iPilot

ISP Advancement & Activites Office ISP Arts Departments Julia Paniagua Andrea Koudelkova K-Servis Laura Owen Lego Group LG MaxLaserGame MindMaze The Newbold Family Oriflame PaintballGame.cz SAMK Kladno Sephora Sleťák Restaurant Soo Joo Bae The Sykora Family Tiskdo1000 24U

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Night at Sacre Coeur Newsletter 2017

Student Raffle Donors

Advantage Cars

Support Scholarships Driving an Aston Martin, Lamborghini or a Ferrari is always a special experience - any time, any place, being behind the wheel of an exotic supercar is a great way to spend time.

Courtesy of Advantage Cars, one fortunate winner will experience all this, coupled with the knowledge that their own generosity will be making a significant difference to the lives of local talented students.

We are proud Avantage Cars continue partnering with ISP in recognition and support of ISP‘s Scholarship Program.

A Weekend in a Exotic Supercar in Raffle to Benefit ISP‘s Scholarship Program

Night at ... 2018 If you would like to volunteer for the event next year, please contact Andrea, Clive and Tony in the Advancement Office.

Your questions, comments, or suggestions are always welcome! Please email at advancement@isp.cz.

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Thank You to Our Auction Donors The Supercar Weekend Raffle, Fun Casino, and wonderful Silent Auction items contributed a tremendous amount of 803,000 Czk to the total figure raised, and brought people

from the ISP and non-ISP communities together in a meaningful way. The companies and individual donors who donated the Auction items have shown their support for the Scholarship

Program - please, whenever you frequent their businesses, be sure to let them know that you are aware of their commitment to the School, and that you appreciate their involvement.