SAMIS celebrates 15th Founding Anniversary

by Elaf Adnan Almalki

Shorouq Al Mamlakah International School, instituted in 2006, kicked off its 15th Founding Anniversary celebration on November 3, 2021, with the theme ‘Transform and Inspire: Celebrate SAMIS Diversity’.

The celebration steered with the middle school and high school representing country assigned to them. Grade 7 represented Brazil; Grade 8 took Saudi Arabia; Grade 9 embodied South Africa; Grade 10 for South Korea; Grade 11 took Spain , and Grade 12 represented Russia.

SAMIS also held its booth and six grand presentations showcasing the uniqueness of the culture of the assigned countries for each grade level.

Students and teachers wore different costumes based on their respective countries. Each booth corner showcased well-known parts of each country’s culture. Additional to that , students performed different dances under the supervision of their respective advisers.

Student-presenters winners for booths and cultural dances were given certificates and cash prizes. Grade 12 under the supervision of Ms. Sara Ali bagged the 1st place in

SAMIS: A Half Risen Sun...from page 1

Perseverance

Mr. Majed Al Rubaian, SAMIS General Manager, describes the school’s humble beginning towards its vision as the Girls Section of SAMIS as it prepares to move to its newly constructed site.

“The goal was to provide quality education with minimum facilities and fees so it can help the community of Taif to have a good education,” says Mr. Majed, “...and it [SAMIS] has reached its first fiveyear goals.” With this in mind, Mr. Abdullah, Madam Mari, and Teacher Leony, the persevering founders made their extensive effort to live their purpose as the school opened its first school year 2006-2007. The school later on opened its doors as a Filipinobased curriculum but transitioned to an American curriculum-based school before the year 2014 ends.

Mr. Majed also believes that enhancing the quality of teaching and learning can be accomplished through hiring and training new, devoted teachers. “Teachers are at the core of any school,” says Mr. Majed. Every lesson at SAMIS includes an interactive start, diverse learning objectives, a cooperative task, an individual task where students can practice and enhance a new skill or concept, a straightforward learning journey, and a supportive ongoing assessment process. Furthermore, SAMIS continues to improve the quality of their school by introducing more initiatives and opportunities for students to participate in each new day that they strive to grow and develop together as a school community. Lastly, winning global and kingdomwide prizes can continue to “... add value to the school.”

Mr. Majed recognized the perseverance of not only of the administrators but also the teachers to ensure the school is providing lifelong learning to its clientele.

Innovative thinking

“We always say to the parents, they are our partners,” he says, emphasizing how important it is to acknowledge the parents and how their hope is for SAMIS students to achieve their full educational potential. One of the goals is for parents to trust SAMIS, and for parents to see their children’s accomplishments is a result of that trust. The current focus is on nonacademic activities that focus on students’ talents and skills and help

Booth competition; whereas Grade 10 with the guidance of Ms. Jonah Decale was hailed Champions for the cultural dance and 2nd place in Booth competition; Grade 11 with the advisership of Ms. Sarah Mae Adoyo-Sadicon won 2nd place in Booth contest; and Grade 9 with Ms. Maan Hershey Sabayton as their adviser, won 3rd place for both booth and cultural dance competition.

“The celebration of our founding anniversary brought forth the uniqueness and individuality of each member of the school community. It showcased them improve in those areas. As SAMIS expands, he predicts that more technology, whether robots or tablets, will be available to assist children in non-academic skills in the coming years.

This goal is every evident as the school launched and conducted numerous activities like Family Day, Debate, STEM Camp and Winter/ Spring Camps.

Transformation of hopes and dreams into gleaming realities.

“We thought that education was like the sun; it will give you the light.” Besides all the things that go into making a school successful, a logo is at the top of the list. The SAMIS logo, which depicts a half-risen sun, serves as the forum for communicating the school’s values while also fostering loyalty”, Mr. Majed narrated as he explained the wonderful story behind the school’s name.

As SAMIS continues to progress, they are thrilled at the prospect of relocating the Girls Section to its new facility. Additionally, through its global partnerships with the College Board and Cognia, SAMIS strives to be in the Top 5 synergy despite diverse cultural backgrounds. In the Girls Section, I was truly amazed by the effort exerted and collaboration exhibited by the students, teaching and non-teaching staff which made a celebration a success. Unity in diversity indeed!”- Ms. Marivir Modesto, Girls Section Academic Directress, said.

All activities were done in an attempt to display each country’s respective culture by showing its customs and traditions in terms of food, clothing, entertainment, economic activities, religion, and more.

International schools in Saudi Arabia. Despite having one eye on the future, some aspects of SAMIS’s mission to nurture, challenge, and inspire its students will remain constant. As a result, they will continue to enforce a learning environment based on strong bonds between school, family, and the community.

Mr. Majed discusses how every day brings a new challenge and how every decision brings its own set of challenges. “One man cannot do anything without his team,” he says, acknowledging and thanking those who work with him and face challenges alongside him. Moving the building of the boy’s section over the last year has been one of the challenges. In addition, having the ability to balance a good education with a reasonable fee, as well as looking for good teachers who can assist and support the school as a whole.

As students graduate, the school’s goal is not only to assist them in getting into good colleges, work, or universities but also to armor them with lifelong learning and teaching experiences that will make them survive the demanding 21st century.