Cool activities heat up first Winter Camp

byHamzaBa-aqil

By providing the participants with various fun-filled educational activities focused on enhancing their cognitive and social skills, Shorouq Al Mamlakah International School (SAMIS) successfully put on its firstever “Winter Camp 2021” with the theme “Honing the Best in Me” on November 27-December 2, 2021.

SAMISians spend quality time on Family Day

byHamzaBa-aqil

After a year with no events due to the pandemic, Shorouq Al Mamlakah International School (SAMIS) held its long-waited event, the Family Day, on the 18th of December 2021 at Al Baijan amusement park, Taif, K.S.A.

The event, attended by approximately 1244 participants, was mainly conducted for the students to rest from the studying environment and enjoy their time with their families and friends.

“Of course, this event will have a great impact, especially on the psychological aspect of our learners. We took the students out from academic atmosphere, and their day has been filled of activities and programs prepared and arranged by the teachers,” Sir Hattan, Student Counselor, and one of the organizers of the event said.

The park’s gates were opened for registration at 7:30 am. Families came one after another and the intended program started and rides started to operate. Despite being pre-occupied with a lot of things to see, attendeed were still able to pray the Friday prayer in the park.

The planned program was fulfilled with entertaining activities for all ages; activities for students were Sack Race, Straw Planting Relay, Bottle Flip, Carrying a Ball Relay, Tug-of-War, and Pass the message while the games for the families were Kick the Ball, SAMIS Henyo, Fill the Bottle, Memory Games, and Main Games. Each game involved different grades from each section.

“It feels good to win since we didn’t join such activities for a long time. I’ll indeed recommend a friend to come to this event,” said a winner in Tug-ofWar.

The organizers took approximately a whole month to prepare for this event. Meetings were conducted with the park officials and food trucks were provided for a more joyful experience for the families.

“The event was prepared through extensive meetings with park officials so that this event would become successful and there would be no harm in it. Discounts were offered to parents in the room process and we made an agreement with some food trucks to provide food and drinks for families. The whole process took about a month to complete,” said Sir Abdullah Al Ashmawi, event organizer, said.

The school prepared for this event to enhance the relationship between the school and its stakeholders.

“With family being the basic unit of our society and community, we want SAMISian families to be together for at least a day, so that we can witness the kind of culture that SAMISian families have.” Sir Kit, Student Counselor, said.

The Family Day was an overall success, thanks to our SAMISIAN families, organizers, and faculty members.

The camp was attended by 57 students from grade 3 to grade 6 who participated in recreational activities that helped them enrich their knowledge and enhance their creativity in different subject areas.

Options such as football, dodgeball, table tennis, painting, and various engaging activities in Mathematics and English were included in the program, and the idea of fun in learning for each activity was carried out.

“We wanted our students to have a learning experience that they will never forget, so we made sure that each learning activity is enjoyable and fun-filled,” said Sir Louis Guinto, one of the Camp Supervisors.

The school also initiated the camp for those students who would like to get away from the blandness of the vacation and for the parents who find it hard to manage their children’s free time.

“It was a great opportunity for our students to be productive this winter break by expanding their interest and to take time off from the school routine,” Sir Matt Norman Hapa, Camp Supervisor, stated.

To conclude the camp, the student-participants were divided into four teams namely Red Spartans, Blue Barons, Yellow Patriots, and Green Titans, and pitted against each other in an intense tug-of-war and a hulahoop-relay match. The Blue Barons team was triumphant making them the champion while Green Titans landed in 2nd place, Red Spartans in 3rd place, and Yellow Patriots in 4th place.

The event will not be successful without the help of the teachers who served as the camp leaders: Sir Jhay Ortiz, Sir Paolo Azul Canicosa, Sir Kenneth Sibal, Sir Felix Olarita, Sir May June Sadicon, Sir Jojie Lozano, Sir Klarc Luis Tamayo, Sir Aldrin Bulatao, Sir Avie John Tesorero, Sir Heman Gonzales, and Sir Martin Kit Guzman.

“The first-ever winter camp was indeed a success. It did not just hone the best in our students, but it also helped our students connect with people and make genuine friendships.

Congratulations to everyone and thank you teachers for your full support,” Sir Raymond Cornelio, Camp Supervisor, stated.

Parents also expressed their praise for the activities provided to their children and their gratitude to the people involved in the said camp.

Clubs make come back after pandemic

byYousefYasser

The clubs strike back after the pandemic.

After a thorough planning of the SAMIS administration, clubs have finally made a comeback this year to cater to the needs of the students in terms of extra-curricular activities. Through these organizations, students can find the company they need to help them unleash their intellect, energy, and creativity in the world, both in and outside the classroom.

There are 6 established clubs on the campus namely, the English club, Math club, Science club, Arabic club, Robotics club, and Campus Journalism club, each of which has its own goal to let the students dedicate their out-of-class time to improving themselves in their respective field of interests.

The Science club adviser, Sir Avie, said “we try to be resourceful and at the same time have engaging activities. As a matter of fact, the first activity after the election of officers was to make a model of DNA while practicing resource management.”

On the other hand, the English club adviser, Sir JM, mentioned “I’m planning to modernize the classroom into something like an amphitheater.” In the future, the English club will present entertaining plays and acts. The activities the English club planned include movie reviews which is something that can help students better themselves in the subject.

The Math club adviser, Sir Paolo, is excited and finds the club fulfilling. Sir Paolo planned a Math investigatory project to help the Math enthusiasts further their understanding of the concepts that are new to them. Aside from the Math investigatory project, the Math club also provides board games to encourage strategic thinking among its members.

The Robotics club managed by Sir Heman plans to join robotics competitions. Members are supposed to research how to make deliveries more convenient and then implement the idea through robotics. The younger members of the club get to practice assembling and disassembling robots to familiarize themselves.

The Arabic and Islamic club is led by Sir Abdulillah, where members have fun learning. According to a member, According to a member, the activities provided helped them appreciate the Arabic language and deepen their Islamic faith.

Many seem to look forward to the positive impact the clubs can bring to the school and to its students. Promising as it may be, students have yet to see what future will be brought upon by these school organizations.

OTSC organizes career counseling webinars... page 4

The 3rd session focused on extracurriculars. These are activitiessports, music, or community service - that are outside of the regular school curriculum, which are useful in boosting college application.

For the 4th session, Sir Kit explained the importance of the different factors students must consider when looking for a college such as student aid, academic requirements, country, and others. Students were allowed to rank these factors in terms of importance so that they can get a grasp on what they should be focusing on. The final session was allotted to give students the opportunity to ask questions which will be answered by mentors. The grade 12 students helped by sharing their experiences as some of them had already gone through the application process. It assisted the lower grade students by giving them the pointof-view of students who have recent experience.

Sir Kit left a message to the students, especially to those who find it hard to choose a career they would like to pursue in the future, “It is very much okay, and slowly is the fastest and safest way toward a destination.”

“Career planning is a process that requires rigorous studies about yourselves and what your purpose in this world may be. Take your time and allow yourselves to be helped,” he further said.

SAMIS marks 15 years, highlights cultural diversity

By showcasing the uniqueness of different cultures, SAMIS promotes diversity as part of the celebration of the school’s 15th founding anniversary on November 4, 2021

With this year’s theme “Transform and Inspire: Celebrate SAMIS Diversity,” each section in the middle and high school was assigned a country to represent: Grade 7 -Saudi Arabia, Grade 8 – the United Kingdom, Grade 9 – Brazil, Grade 10 –the United States of America, Grade 11 –Pakistan, Grade 12 – Egypt.

“Knowing that we have students from different cultural backgrounds, SAMIS becomes an inclusive place for them to interact, to support their needs, and to value their unique contribution,” Mr. Marlon Garcia, Boys Section Academic Director, said.

On foundation day, SAMIS held its first expo and six grand presentations showcasing the uniqueness of the culture of the assigned countries for each grade level.

The students wear different costumes based on their respective countries. Each expo corner contained well-known parts of each country’s culture. The presentations were dances prepared by the classes under the supervision of their respective advisers.

All these activities were done

The event continued with its multiple activities, including audience engagement activities and plays.

The play “Abu al-Aswad, famous poet, and the seller of words” was carried out by selected students from grades 9 and 10 presenting beautiful poetry from his works. This was followed by a short speech given by Ali Ba-aqil of Grade 11, giving more perspective on the importance of this figure to Arabic poetry as well as the development of the Arabic language.

This went on as Abed Alrahman of Grade 10 went on to present “the seller of words”, with an engaging activity. He went around distributing random numbered words in which if one were to be picked, he will use it in basic Arabic structure.

Afterward, grade 10 students, Ayman and Ijtihed, presented a poetic anthem on stage, followed by small and significant pieces of historic poetry by various students.

The event was concluded by a few team activities involving various rewards, as well as a closing speech about the importance of commemorating the Arabic language by Grade 8 student Eyad Ammar.

“This event sure made me realize the importance of the language I use in day-to-day life”, said Awab, one of the participants of this event’s activities.

Abdullah Hajid tops Mahwoob.. from page 3

His outstanding performance pushed him further than he expected making him move straight to stage three of the competition.

He is scheduled to go to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in June to practice theoretical and practical biology for his upcoming forums.

Despite being in a glorious moment, Abdullah never forgets to be grateful and to keep his feet on the ground. “Without Allah and my parents, I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did,” he said. difficult, and four-star tasks. in an attempt to display each country’s respective culture by showing its customs and traditions such as food, clothing, entertainment, economic activities, religion, and more. Multiple teachers of different backgrounds were picked to judge each grade level’s expo corner and presentation.

Every country has a national and international Olympiad, and the Olympiad program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is called Mawhoob that test students’ knowledge and skills in scientific disciplines: Chemistry, Biology, Informatics, Mathematics, Science, and Physics.

Once the four-star tasks are completed, participants get full points for it. Given that these tasks give participants full points, they are the most difficult variation. “I remember that there was this problem in which you had to rearrange these balls through twists and turns; this was one of the four-star tasks and ultimately I couldn’t do it,” Awab stated.

Student-presenters for the expo and cultural dance were given certificates and cash prizes based on the average scores given by the judges. Representing Pakistan, Grade 11 under the supervision of Mr. Klarc Luis Tamayo were hailed champions both for the Expo and Cultural Dance competition. Grade 8 representing the UK won 2nd place and best in costume for the cultural dance competition with the help of their adviser Mr. Paolo Azul Canicosa, and Grade 9, representing Brazil, with Mr. Kristian Lego as their adviser, won 3rd place.

For the Expo competition, the 2nd place was the Grade 7, representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with their adviser Mr. Jhaymart Ortiz while Grade 8 has once again won claiming the 3rd spot.

“I am hoping that the students enjoy the activities and at the same time appreciate the essence of celebrating and cultural diversity in accordance with the Islamic faith,” Mr. Garcia added.

All in all, Bebras is a competition that helps students get their logical thinking side running and help stimulate the mind which helps with development. This combined with the rewards made Bebras an all-around amazing experience. “I felt amazing when getting the medal, the entire experience was incredible and the medal was the cherry on top” Awab further said.