NAIS Dublin Times, V3, I1

Term 1 Aug-Dec 2021

NAIS Dublin Times Volume 3, Issue 1

This uninteres�ng road, however, sweetened our disposi�on. If the road wasn’t interes�ng, why should we not make it interes�ng? It was a true reflec�on of how the community at NAIS conquers challenges.

Contents The House Hike

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Trunk or Treat

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The Christmas Shoebox Appeal

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New Student Perspec�ve

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Founding Student Perspec�ves

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The first stop we had was checkpoint.

Mentally, everybody was preparing to get to checkpoint. It was when they decided to con�nue, or to stay. Most people wanted to stop at checkpoint, just to be compelled to move forward by the other students, in true compe��ve nature.

Checkpoint was rather unusual. Some were taking photos, others were ea�ng, some stopped for a quick snack and a sit-down before con�nuing over to the second leg, which was only around twenty meters maximum.

To The New Students, From a Founding Student The Founding Student Perspec�ve

House Hike

Growing up as an Athlete

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Elena, Our Favorite Tennis Player (Interview)

16

Mrs. Bateson Interview

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Food For Thought, The Chinese Cuisine CCA + Recipes!

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Badminton is FUN!

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Crea�ve Wri�ng

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Tazkia It would have been quite a sight to behold for any passersby. Children in wavering colors, and wavering levels of enthusiasm, cheering as they looked up at the towering mountain they intended to climb.

It was an ac�vity against nobody but the clock. The most difficult part was conquering the first leg. It was a steep, uphill, road. Not so enthralling, but nothing too terrible. It didn’t have much view, nor anything par�cularly noteworthy to make it more exci�ng.

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However, the real highlight of the walk – for me personally – was the final leg.

Naviga�on required careful focus and a�en�on. It was a rocky terrain, with dried rivers flowing through the larger cracks in the uneven stone that it was built of. There was a slope on one side – a par�cularly strong gust of wind would have been enough to endanger.

Surrounding the whole path was greenery, or some form of nature. From both sides, we could see people coming down, or going back up. Reaching the final part of this hike, the way up to the large rock at the top – affec�onately

Halloween at NAIS Trunk or Treat Campbell

dubbed ‘Fairy Castle’ – the landscape came into view. Rolling hills and greying skies paired with co�on candy clouds, contras�ng the cityscape of flashing buildings and twinkling lights.

exhilara�on and thrill that comes with victory.

The ecstasy you would feel is giving you the energy high.

And suddenly, people on their way up are cheering you, and you can be the one to mo�vate. Whenever an accomplishment like this is over, the emo�on is one that you feel should be contagious. We stopped at checkpoint again on our way down for a breather, and for a picture. Feet cla�ered on rock has�ly to make into the frame – some flashed signs, others smiled.

Most agree about the spirit of the walk. We encouraged runners outside of our community also – and runners inside our own, of course.

Another personal highlight would be encouraging some sweet elderly women as they were making their way down. Mo�va�on and reciproca�on of that enthusiasm was what made the whole ac�vity what it was. Whenever we crossed paths, we’d clap, perhaps holler some inspira�on message, and then con�nue.

Some bought candy as a preroga�ve (quite effec�ve, unfortunately).

This year our school held an event the we at Nord Anglia Interna�onal School Dublin like to call trunk or treat. It is an event organised by the lovely staff and parents involved in the PTA, where all students are given the op�on to come to school dressed up in their Halloween costume. Then at a certain �me in the day, parents are invited to come and open up the trunks of their cars that they have so kindly filled with scrump�ous sweets for kids to come and eat. It works just like trick or trea�ng but with cars and a school! This was so fun for so many of the kids and parents to take part in! Firstly it was a wonderful social experience for kids and parents. Kids get to have a bit of fun with friends and for some a break from the stress of

educa�on. An example of this is “it was all very fun. I loved all the ac�vi�es and break we had from school! I missed trick or trea�ng last year”.

And for parents this ac�vity was an excellent way for them to get involved in school events and be aware of all school happenings. An example of this is “the kids had fun, I loved all of the costumes and I loved how everything was all decorated! It was very fun.” Secondly, trick or trea�ng in Ireland was closed last year! This year not only would most people be able to trick or treat outside of school but now they can inside too! In some ways this can make up for the disappointed regarding this that took place last year. It was all a very fun interes�ng event for all audiences.

Pumpkin Carving Competition Photos

The picture itself will take its place as one of NAIS Dublin’s favorites, cemented in our history to remind future students of who we were. All of us, united in a singular snapshot to embody who we are – students who run the walk of life determinedly.

The walk down was hazier. At one point, it shi�s into a blur of conversa�on and laughter, because you would have been now experiencing the

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Christmas Shoe box Appeal Sofia The Christmas season is back in town and like every holiday we at NAIS have tradi�ons and mannerisms to carry on. While all tradi�ons are important, there is one that is especially dear to us students and teachers… The Christmas Shoe box appeal done with Team Hope. I’m sure that all of us at school know what the Christmas shoe box appeal is, but for those that have just joined us the Christmas shoe box appeal is an annual campaign where we pack boxes (shoe boxes) with toys, basic necessi�es (toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste, etc), sta�onary, and clothes.

These shoe boxes are then wrapped in wrapping paper (because they are presents) and given to the Team Hope Founda�on, where they are then sent around the world to families and children that are in need.

from the Christmas shoe box appeal changed their lives and allowed the children to have school supplies, soap, socks, and many other things that weren’t within reach before. The story specifically quotes “the school age children were especially grateful to get school supplies and the eldest daughter was very happy with the puzzles.”. So if there was ever any doubts on the impact these shoe boxes have the ‘Team Hope’ website holds many more similar stories.

The Christmas Shoe box appeal is a wonderful event and it brings joy to many vulnerable kids around the world and this can be seen in stories such as this one: Nelly, a mum of 5 from Transnistria has to send her children to work in neighbouring fields to earn money for basic necessi�es. The family has no shower or bathroom and cannot afford basic school supplies or books. The shoe boxes they received

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New Student Perspective Sheryl I have joined NAIS Dublin in 2021 and this is also my first �me living in Dublin. As a newcomer, at the beginning I couldn’t sleep well for days, because all the concerns suddenly just stuck in my head. My admission interview was processed through a computer due to the pandemic; I had never met anyone in Ireland face to face before.

Ge�ng back to NAIS, behind the recep�on desk there is a wall of mul� coloured boxes just wai�ng to be sent. The sight itself brings happiness because who doesn’t love presents, I remember that in my first year at NAIS I had really enjoyed making a shoe box because it gave me the chance to go out with some friends to do some shopping (for the shoe boxes) and spend �me with people I liked. There was also some excitement in the whole preparing and wrapping the box but most importantly it was really great to imagine how the supplies would be used.

The first official physical contact with the school happened during the new family’s welcome day.

Even in the limited �me of the visit, the atmosphere of this school provided me the sense of hard works and dedica�on. I spent my very first day of school si�ng in the classroom in proper school uniform.

The Christmas shoe box appeal is a beau�ful tradi�on that should definitely be carried on.

One of the most common things all new students need to overcome is to memorize

names… and, undoubtedly, every �me I par�cipate in a game that involves calling someone’s name, I fail!

The structure of the school is complex, it is usually difficult for me to find the right classroom. A�er repeatedly looking for them, I have evaluated a pa�ern — secondary classrooms have blue doors and primary classrooms have purple doors, this really helped a lot. Believe it or not, the schedule is the hardest thing to get familiar with. Because un�l now, I s�ll either need to ask others for my next class, or to double-check the schedule myself.

During the first three months of school, I have enhanced my academic skills, from comple�ng daily assignments to summa�ve assessments.

The support provided by the teachers at NAIS always helps me to have a vibrant and selfconfident a�tude.

The good thing is that I am familiar with the IB curriculum so even if I’m in a new school, I s�ll can grasp most of the content. But certainly, it is s�ll quite difficult to challenge myself to get involved in this whole new community. In terms of communica�on, I use my mother tongue almost always before I step into school, however now I must familiarize with using English consistently.

A �p for all new students in the future: res�ng is a need, don’t put yourself into the workload for all day long and sleep ridiculously late. You will need to take a short break, so all the pressure flies away. But remember, please do manage your �me wisely!

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week-long “vaca�on” in County Mayo, where we shared bunks and tried out different outdoor ac�vi�es. I vividly remember the Leap of Faith, where we had to climb up a 10-meter pole, then jump and reach out for a hanging metal s�ck. I could recall how shaky the pole felt when I stood

NAIS, in the Perspective of a Founding Student Katie

backstage instead of from the perspec�ve of the audience is so fascina�ng and rewarding.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Seussical due to restric�ons in Covid-19 last year and social distancing has prevented us from planning one this year, too. Hopefully, things will start returning to normal soon and the musicals can start rolling as well.

People always hear about our school in the perspec�ve of new students, but what about the old members of the school community?

existent. It amazed and astonished me during my second year back that a new construc�on next to the Astroturf had suddenly appeared and a few months later a new sports hall was built on the campus, offering more accessible sports ac�vi�es than ever, such as badminton, climbing, basketball, and tennis.

My name is Ka�e, and I am currently a grade 10 student in NAIS Dublin. I have studied in this interna�onal school for 3 years: star�ng when the school had just opened, therefore can be considered as one of the "founding students" of the NAIS community.

I was also very fortunate to take part in the Peter Pan musical that was produced during the first school year as a member of the backstage crew.

The whole project was led by Ms. Picasso and Ms. Calvert and countless more talented individuals in secondary who collaborated to make the musical come to life. It was very enjoyable crea�ng and pain�ng the different props that were u�lized in the performances and moving the objects onstage and offstage during each scene. It was my first experience par�cipa�ng in such as big produc�on and the view from watching the students perform

My experience coming to this school was like that of any new pupil, nerve-wracking but exci�ng. During my first year here, there were only 12 students in my grade and 40 in all secondary. It was easy familiarizing myself with everyone else and the school community felt more like a big family than anything else. The Edge, which people know very well by now, was s�ll a small plas�c model on the school model board and the actual founda�ons were non-

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at the top, and the simultaneous shock and relief that followed as I a�empted to grab onto the object in front. It was an exhilara�ng experience to say the least.

Lockers were also crucial back in seventh grade as my shoulders cannot handle the immense weight of books from all 9 subjects and the area was also a great hangout place during morning breaks. Some of my classmates were excep�onally crea�ve and decorated their lockers with different organizing compartments, magnets, s�ckers, photos, etc.

As a founding student, I have witnessed the growth of the school community and the development of the campus. I was also able to experience many facili�es, events, and fes�vals that we are sadly not able to use or par�cipate in due to nowadays circumstances. However, I believe that we will be able to access more resources that are available in the school soon a�er the Covid restric�ons have eased.

One of the most memorable experiences during seventh grade was the Delphi expedi�on at the end of the school year. Grade 7-9 went on a

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To The New Students, From a Founding Student Sofie

although I’m sure you’ll find it just as enjoyable as I did.

Dear new students, Perhaps you have moved to Dublin from another country because one of your parents got a job offer, or you are returning back to your home country a�er travelling the world, or maybe you have come to NAIS from another school in Ireland. No ma�er the reason, you have landed yourself a spot at Nord Anglia Interna�onal School Dublin! What do you do now? I am wri�ng this le�er for those of you who are wondering what it’s like being a student at NAIS Dublin. How do you se�le in for the first �me?

What are the main things you should know before coming?

First, I’ll tell you a bit about my experience se�ling into this school. Since I’ve been at the school since the day that it opened for the first �me, my experiences might differ a bit to yours,

Stepping into the building for the first �me, I remember thinking how incredibly welcoming everybody was. Seeing the smiles of the recep�onists and my new teachers for the first �me definitely built up my excitement. S�ll, to this day, I believe that atmosphere has not gone.

Compared to any other school that I went to previously, I never felt so welcomed and happy as I was in NAISD. Before my worst enemy, COVID-19, came about, we had lots of opportuni�es to explore the world on different school trips. Some included: a trip to Tanzania, Switzerland, STEAM fes�val trips, performing arts trips, sports compe��on trips, etc. I really hope that one day, when restric�ons ease, we’ll get these amazing opportuni�es again.

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Anyway, believe me when I say that there are incredible opportuni�es here at NAIS Dublin.

Now that I’ve told you some of the things that you can expect when coming into school, let me talk you through some student �ps. Especially as the years go on, the workload gets higher, so keeping a work-life balance is essen�al.

Firstly, remember to TAKE BREAKS. I could argue that this is probably the most important method of keeping a work-life balance. You can work as hard as you want, but at some point, you’re going to reach exhaus�on. In short, working all the �me without breaks is not sustainable, it’s not going to last in the long run. I suggest you do something you enjoy during this �me. Perhaps dancing (like me), reading, watching a movie, or something else!

PRIORITISE TIME AND TASKS. There are going to be �mes when things will get really hec�c in

school, with lots of tasks to do in short periods of �me. This is when you need to start priori�sing tasks. Which tasks are urgent and important? Which tasks are not urgent, but important? Which tasks are urgent, but not important? Which tasks are neither urgent nor important? Pu�ng tasks into such categories can massively help with organiza�on and �memanagement.

My final �p… make �me for EXERCISE. As much as it may be despised, exercise has countless of benefits, both physical and psychological. Let me give an example: by releasing various chemicals and hormones such as serotonin, exercise helps to raise energy levels, decrease stress and helps to improve focus and efficiency when working.

That’s all I have to say for now! I hope to see you soon!

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Growing up as an Athlete

By Chiara Sports are something children are introduced to at a very young age and whether through physical educa�on at school, or independent training, sports become a prominent part of their lives. However, some children further pursue their sports related ambi�ons and choose to compete. This means a lot of work throughout the years, but also a lot of fun, and it ul�mately affects all aspects of their life and future.

Besides the obvious physical advantages of compe�ng in sports, countless scien�fic studies have shown the posi�ve effects of compe��ve sports on the mental development of children. When compe�ng and training in sports events, children develop the ability to plan and prepare diligently to ensure the best possible performance. They learn how to cope with pressure, manage anxiety and think and act clearly when they are under pressure.

They learn to set goals and they strive to con�nually improve and

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mo�vate themselves. They also pick up the concept of sportsmanship, and how to deal with failure, on their own as well as in teams, which further develops their ability to work in teams. And most importantly, they develop discipline and commitment. All these skills that they constantly use and develop during their younger years, are then translated into other parts of their lives such as academic studies, or even work in their adult life.

As a kid who grew up as an athlete, I definitely experienced these advantages.

Especially the commitment and discipline in my studies. Compe�ng in sports gives you an incredible drive, that I might not have even understood un�l this pandemic, when it was taken away from me. The pandemic shut down most if not all spor�ng ac�vi�es, which affected me and countless other youngsters around the world. Having sports, a major part of my life, temporarily cut of really helped me reflect on all that I have to thank growing up as an athlete for.

I started sailing at the age of 6 and never stopped since. Sailing is a complex sport and requires physical and mental prepara�on and an incredible amount of focus.

When you really want to achieve something, as an athlete, you must work more than anybody else, you have to work hard, be resilient and give it your all every day. It is more than simply going to training. You have to partake in fitness and theory sessions to ensure that you can make the most of your �me on the water. You learn to balance your life and make �me for everything, without decreasing the quality of your work.

And as gruelling as it all sounds (and some�mes feels), the rewards, such as the pride when you reach your goals are indescribable and just feed your hunger to push yourself even further.

During my 8 years of sailing compe��vely, I have made many memories. The community and peers you train with o�en become lifelong friends, a network of support and great contributors to many fun �mes. However, ge�ng involved in sports not only creates new rela�onships but also strengthens already exis�ng ones. On this note I would like to men�on how much the support of parents affects athletes, and how it encourages them, and strengthens their bond with their parents. I personally received an incredible amount of support throughout my whole sailing career, and

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only now, as I am a bit older do I come to realise how much the support of my parents has li�ed me. It allowed me to travel to various parts of the world and explore them, whilst partaking in events. Travelling and compe�ng creates las�ng memories and has allowed me to make friends all over the world with whom I keep in touch to this day. Eventually anywhere you go you have friends, and it just really opens your eyes to the world, diversity and you evolve as an openminded individual.

empowers me, it is part of me, and I have so much to thank it for. Growing up as athlete gives you an incredible outlook on life, strong rela�onships and unparalleled drive and discipline, which will help you tackle any obstacle that is to come in your life.

Source: h�ps://mommybites.com/col1/toddler/ posi�ve-effects-compe��ve-sports/

One of the most common ques�ons athletes get asked is ‘Why do you love your sport’. And to that I honestly can’t give a straight answer, it just

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Elena, Our Favourite Tennis Player Interview by Sheryl Elena is a grade 9 student from NAIS, who won the second place in the under 18 interna�onal tennis tournaments held in Spain. This is an interview to Elena regarding her overall experiences and thoughts about this tournament.

Q: Why tennis? What made you choose tennis out of all sports?

A: I prefer to join an individual sport because I want to be the first of the individuals. I played tennis with my family, and later discovered that I was talented in this sport, eventually I started training.

Q: What are your thoughts on par�cipa�ng in a tennis compe��on?

A: Do good and enjoy the sport and process, give out everything she trained and play without stress. *confidence) Q: Did the result meet your expecta�ons?

A: Definitely, my goal for this year was to get a few points to get my ranking up, and be able to join more tournaments, and by doing well in big tournaments I got points.

A: The first goal was to join a tournament, and I now join bigger tournaments.

Q: What is your current goal? Are there any changes made to the primary goal un�l now?

A: Get into the top 100 in ITF ranking (HUGE).

Yes, there has been a HUGE change because I am not just joining a normal tournament but a global tournament.

Q: What are the challenges during the compe��on?

A: A lot, your opponent performance (the way she acts and performs), the weather is an important thing, as well! For instance, if it is windy, it changes a whole game, this is overcome with experience, though.

Q: What do you think that you did well during the compe��ons?

Q: How long have you played?

A: I competed very well, I played 100 % in every moment even when I am down in the score.

A: Since I was six, 9 yrs.

Q: What were your primary goals? Did you reach your primary goal?

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Mrs. Bateson Interview (pt.1) Nina To celebrate our outstanding and inspiring school community, we are star�ng a series of interviews to some of our remarkable teachers and students.

Our first remarkable teacher is Ms Bateson.

Here’s what she told us about herself.

Good morning Ms Bateson and thank you for having accepted to be interviewed by NAIS Dublin Times! We are proud to call you our teacher, but you are also a published IB author: what made you want to become an author of an IB book?

I had been teaching from some MYP books, and I felt that they were very repe��ve. And just lots and lots of ques�ons, but no interes�ng examples. So I wanted to make a genera�on of math students who didn't hate math, because lots and lots of people hate maths. And they're scared of it. And I thought that's just silly. We want to have books that are interes�ng, that have examples from, Tik Tok, or Snapchat or something that would be a li�le bit more than the usual, typical book.

So how was it wri�ng an IB book?

Well, it's a bit of a long story. But the short story is, I was working for the IB, I was in charge of all of the mathema�cs and sciences for all of the IB schools. And a publisher was trying to buy books, and they kept hiring authors, and it didn't work out. Their books were either too boring or too tradi�onal, and not very IB. They needed to be more MYP. So when I le� the IB to go back to schools, they said, “Hey, why don't you write this?” I answered that I was too busy, but they did not take ‘no’ for an answer. So I wrote four books for them, respec�vely one for grade six, one for grade seven, one for grade eight, and one that is for nine and ten. And it took me about six months to write the big one, and then a year to write the others.

What was your main source of inspira�ons?

It was a lot of work, because I was teaching all day and I would write at night. And I would have to wait un�l my daughter, she was two, went to bed. So as soon as she went to sleep, I would start wri�ng. I would look at Twi�er and Facebook, I would have a look at the news and see if there was anything interes�ng I could use.

I put everything across the floor or on the walls, everywhere! I looked like a crazy person. And then I tried to organise the material into chapters, and I tried to make those chapters relevant, not too easy, not too hard, with lots of prac�ce for everybody. And then I wanted to make sure that teachers had really good assessments, that would allow students to get the top grades, but also allow students who were struggling to get something.

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When you were a student, have you ever thought that you would write a book like this?

No, never! My dad was a maths teacher, and his mother was a teacher and his grandmother and grandfather were teachers, and I thought ‘I will never be a teacher! I don't want to do it, no thank you.’ And they definitely didn't think I would write a book. Many years later I started teaching, and I absolutely loved it. I would use books, but then I would find more interes�ng things on the internet. And I thought, well, is takes a long �me. What if teachers could do this much faster? So I thought that the idea of wri�ng a book was interes�ng. But as a kid, I would never have imagined I would have wri�en a book.

world. Some�mes I get emails from teachers or emails from students. And I heard a story from Ms. Scannell, who used to work in a different school: she said one of her teachers once men�oned the book to her and said, ‘Isn't it weird that there are so many Irish examples in here!’ And I thought that's kind of cool. But they didn't realize that I was from Ireland. And I got to use pictures from other schools I've worked in like Bermuda or names of kids who, I have taught in the past or you know, things like that.

It's kind of cool to think that there are people all around the world using the books. I think we've sold maybe, like 40,000 books altogether.

Which of your experiences as a student have inspired this book?

The deadlines! So keeping to the deadlines is really important, because the books were due to be published soon. I found it challenging to cut parts I liked, such as ques�ons, ac�vi�es or examples… I would have made the book three �mes longer! I hated ge�ng rid of cool ac�vi�es, however all of my MYP ATL skills came in, like making sure that I was using my affec�ve and communica�on skills. Those are really valuable!

Probably remembering that doing hundreds of examples of the same ques�on was really boring. Yeah, I think that some people really enjoy it, they find it sa�sfying, but most people hate doing the same thing over and over again. So I remembered those experiences, I remembered nobody ever explained why we were doing math, why you need maths. It was just super important. And I wanted students to see that actually, there was a reason we were doing all these things. I thought that was very important. And I remember being a student and not knowing why. And I hope this book help students with that.

How does it feel that hundreds of students are using your book?

It's kind of cool to think that examples from Dublin, pictures of my daughter or silly jokes that I used in the book are being used all over the

What did you find challenging?

What did you find easy? Were there any stages that were easier than others?

The sta�s�cs chapter was really cool to write. I found hard to make algebra super interes�ng. So I tried to find examples where it was used in TV shows, or examples where movies have people wri�ng algebra on the windows to make the character look smart. And I thought that was an interes�ng idea. Why does algebra make you look smart when it's supposed to be something that's really simple? Some chapters were harder and a bit more boring to write than others.

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Food For Thought, Chinese Cooking CCA Katie In NAIS, a great variety of co-curricular ac�vi�es are offered to secondary students, from sports like volleyball, football, to literature, music, visual arts, and of course, cooking. This term, the Chinese cooking CCA is available to Grade 9 students, organized by the secondary mandarin teacher- Ms. Mi. In the CCA, they have tried various types of Chinese cuisines, from main and side dishes to desserts. Some examples of their cooking recipes include fried noodles and rice, hongshao potatoes, Chinese crepes and mochis. We were incredibly lucky to be able to interview Ms. Mi about her CCA, and here is a summary of the contents of the interview.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about the Chinese Cooking CCA? A: I’ve wanted to do this for a long �me, but because of covid and everything I am finally able to do it this year. My inten�on was to share my passion for cooking with others and to give people who love Chinese food some authen�c cooking methods and technique: something easy that they can try with different ingredients, vegetables and meats. So, this year we are doing easy and quick recipes. Nevertheless, they are all very authen�c and I hope they (Grade 9 students) are enjoying the cooking!

Q: Do you wish to spread cultural awareness in school through this CCA?

challenging with the �me limita�ons. I see them (students) once a week and one hour is a short amount of �me to finish one recipe, therefore I can’t find much �me to talk about the cultural background of the cuisines.

I did a Kahoot with the Grade 9 students during our first cooking session, where I went over the Chinese food culture briefly and just wanted to see how much they knew about Chinese food already. But a�er that, it was quite difficult to talk in depth about the culture due to �me restric�ons.

Q: What do you find to be the most fun aspect of this CCA?

Q: Since you men�oned that the recipes are usually simple, what would you recommend a beginner try if they want to go into Chinese cooking?

A: I would suggest trying fried vegetables with soy sauce and oyster sauce. The dish is healthy and delicious, while also being super simple to cook; or fried rice, especially when there are rice le�overs already to fry with vegetables, sausages and eggs. Fried rice tastes super nice and is an authen�c and well-known dish of China.

A: It was nice to see that they’re excited about cooking Chinese cuisines and that they can share their food with their friends and families. I'm happy to see that they're enjoying cooking and Chinese foods.

Q: What do you find to be the most challenging part of doing this CCA?

Q: I recall one of the cuisines being cola chicken wings. So, why cola with chicken wings?

A: There are two parts to this. Firstly, some ingredients had to be ordered through school, so I always needed to find them first. We also can't bring anything from home and there are issues with Tesco orders some�mes. Furthermore, one hour to cook a dish is short, so I can’t really do fancy recipes: it had to be something super easy, super quick; so, they can prepare, cook, finish, �dy up within one hour. I find that to be quite challenging.

A: That’s the first recipe we tried and the recipe I recommended during the Chinese New Year fes�val last year. Even though cola chicken is not really a tradi�onal Chinese cuisine, it is a very common and famous Chinese dish. The flavour of the cuisine is also quite westernized as it is sweet and sour (if you go to a local Chinese restaurant, dishes are usually adapted to suit the local taste). This would be suitable for people who are new to Chinese food and haven’t go�en familiar with the taste of most dishes. People love coke and wings, so why not put them

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Fortunately, we have also go�en access to various delicious, crea�ve recipes that the grade 9 students have already tried, including the cola chicken wings, and are here to share some to you readers who'd just picked up cooking or are tempted to start!

Q: Do you plan on con�nuing this CCA a�er the first term with other secondary grades?

I am hoping to do that! Currently, I’m planning to organize another cooking CCA with grade 9, 10 or 11 in the future. I don’t feel like the CCA is suitable with younger secondary students because it would be quite difficult for them to cook and learn the recipes. It might be a bit challenging with the �me limits and budgets, nevertheless I do want to con�nue this CCA.

A: I wasn't really thinking about the cultural awareness aspects of the CCA as it is quite

together for culinary? It's also super easy to make and delicious!

At the moment, the CCA is con�nuing for Grade 9 students and progressing well. Hopefully, the cooking classes will be available to other grades in the upcoming school terms. Hey, there’s something to look forward to!

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Chinese Food Recipes!

Mochi: • 100g S�cky rice flour • 30g corn starch • 165g/ml whole milk • 10g bu�er Fillings: Strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries (decide to your own preferences), fresh cream Instructions: 1. Mix 100g of s�cky rice flour with 30g of corn starch. Then, add 165ml of milk with 10g of melted bu�er, mix all contents together 2. Microwave contents in a bowl for 2 minutes, 800W fan 3. Take the bowl out to mix and heat in microwave for another 1-2 minutes un�l the mixture is cooked 4. Beat fresh cream un�l s�ff peaks form, prepare fresh fruits as fillings. If using strawberries, cut fruits in half.

5. Separate dough into smaller parts and roll into balls. Place selected fruits inside hole, fold and roll

Coca-Cola/Pepsi Chicken wings: • 6 chicken wings • 1 can of cola/Pepsi • 3 tsp of soy sauce • 1 tsp of dark soy sauce • 2 slices of ginger • 2 spring onions Instructions: 1. Shallow fry the chicken wings with a generous amount of oil.

Con�nuous flip the wings un�l crispy and golden on both sides.

2. Add ginger and spring onions, s�r fry all ingredients for 3 minutes.

3. Add enough cola/Pepsi to cover all wings and 3 tsps of soy sauce.

4. Cover pan with lid and wait un�l sauce thickens *Be careful not to burn the wings during the cooking process

*Mochis will lose its texture and elas�city if froze or cooled in the fridge, so it is recommended to be eaten at room temperature.

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thoughts raced through my head… How on earth would I be able to play when we had barely prac�ced? What even are the rules for badminton?

How does doubles work? I had barely prac�ced and we were already going to be playing towards two other schools!!

Badminton Is FUN! Sofie

I never considered myself a sports person. Ever since I was young I was always THAT girl, the one bad at sports, the slow one, the one that would lose the team points. Because my family and I were always moving from place to place, from school to school I felt that I never really got a good opportunity to master any sports. This, however, changed when I arrived in Ireland.

It has been almost 8 years now since I came to Ireland. In that period of �me I have go�en many opportuni�es to discover many new sports I had never even heard of before.

A lot of things have changed since 6th grade though. Up un�l last year I didn’t play badminton. However, towards the end of the previous academic year, I started picking up my racket again when we would prac�ce the sport in class. Since then I have been desperate to get be�er.

At the beginning of this year, I got a sudden no�ce that there would be trials held for a badminton team. I immediately knew that this would be a shining opportunity for me to take a step forward to improve on my badminton skills and techniques.

I was in 6th grade when I first started playing badminton. I was definitely not good at it… In fact, I was awful, but I found it incredibly fun to play. At the �me, I only played badminton during the a�er school ac�vi�es once a week. 6 days a week, I would impa�ently wait for the next �me I would get the chance to go back on court.

Good news! I got onto the team! Now what?

A�er ge�ng this no�ce, nothing much happened. We didn’t schedule training or talk about matches at all. However, two or three weeks passed when I suddenly got the no�ce that our team was going to take part in badminton fixtures the next week. Several

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I decided I needed to take ac�on. I signed up as a member at the nearest badminton centre, sat down with my doubles partner a few �mes a week and studied badminton clips and rules, and booked courts with my partner so we could spend �me outside of school to prac�ce. Our sheer dedica�on made our improvement evident. Two to three �mes a week, me, my partner and our dads would go out a�er school or on the weekends to prac�ce playing. Sore and s�ff muscles, �redness, you name it, IT WAS WORTH IT. Compe��on day comes, and let me tell you… my team was nervous. The first opposi�on team arrived at our school and we were desperately trying to analyse their playing while they were warming up. Although my nerves eased a bit, I couldn’t underes�mate or overes�mate them yet.

Long story short, WE WON ALL OF OUR MATCHES against both schools’ teams! Isn’t that just awesome?! It is now the day a�er the match and I could write a whole essay on how accomplished and proud of the team I feel, but I’ll leave it there for today. As a final message to my team I want to say a huge well done!! Even with the li�le training �me that we had in school, we did incredible! Let us keep training, improve even more and win more matches !! :)

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Creative Writing

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A Diary Entry By E.A. Poe Campbell 1843 November 3rd

To be honest I don’t feel like the greatest author. I should be feeling overjoyed considering the posi�on I’m in however, I don’t. I feel empty. Broken. I’m running out of money and my mind just doesn’t seem to be working right. Other than the fact I’m going to write a new book. I’m thinking of calling it the tale of the heart or ‘tell-tale’ heart or something like that. Virginia’s been awfully sick lately. I’m keeping her as well as I can and wri�ng, but other than that I’m not sure what to do with myself. If she’s gone I really don’t feel like there is anything worth living for. Anyway, I was simply smoking a pipe this morning and brainstorming, and it hit me. The book. It’ll be about Virginia. I feel like demons are out to get her, coming to steal her heart and take her away from me. There is nothing I can do about it. Except maybe this book. I think this book might be the key to save her. It might bring us out of debt and I’ll be able to buy her proper medica�on. I wrote a le�er to father asking for a loan to help her but he s�ll won’t speak to me. I think this book might be the only way. I am feeling sicker myself everyday just looking at her. I’m not sure what to do anymore...

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Special Thanks To: Editor and Graphic Design: Sofie (Grade 10) Writers: Tazkia, Marian and Campbell (Grade 8) Nina and Sheryl (Grade 9) Katie and Sofie (Grade 10) Chiara and Sofia (Grade 11) Photographer: Rui (Grade 10) Advisor: Mrs. Gregori