Journeys Summer 2019

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INSPIRED BY PASSION POWERED BY PURPOSE

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On The Cover Fervently making notes as he heard about issues facing his ancestral Indian village, Sushmit Dutta (Class of 2018) took it upon himself to address problems related to the cost and availability of electricity faced by farmers. We teamed up with our facilities team and award-winning photographer Scott A. Woodward to create an image that truly shines.

Read on page seven about students as they think beyond themselves to how they might contribute to the world, creating meaningful projects that are powered by purpose.

Online https://www.sas.edu.sg/journeys

Editorial team Kyle Aldous Charlotte Hewson Didi Hari Krishnan Kinjal Shah

Design team Haziq Hairoman Amos Ong

Communications intern Sarah Hilty, tenth grade

Contact communications@sas.edu.sg

Connect

Š 2019 Singapore American School All rights reserved.

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I S S U E

CONTENTS 01

Chip Kimball: Reflecting on a Season of Change

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IASAS: Bringing Home the Gold

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Captivating Classrooms: The Quest Room

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Scoreboard

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A Day in the Life of a Preschooler at SAS

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Alumni: Imagineer

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Sixth Grade: Standing Up for Sustainability!

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Alumni: The Gap Year

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Becoming Me

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Alumni: Breaking News From Snowy Minnesota

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Libraries of the Future

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Alumni: Going, Going, Galapagos!

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Seal of Biliteracy: Education for a Global World

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Notable Mentions

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Alumni: Generations of Eagles

Featured 63

Alcohol Assumptions Gone Wrong

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JOURNEYS III

Reflecting on A Season Of

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Change

The season of change for SAS has been inspiring but challenging. As we look to a season of continued growth and inspiration, I am excited to watch some of our pillar programs continue to gain momentum as they evolve and serve the needs of our students.

By D r. C H I P K I M B A L L Superintendent

I often think about the life of an organization, much like our own lives, through the lens of seasons. Each season has distinct characteristics that mark its time, sometimes with bright sunny days and other times with looming clouds and rain. We know that each season serves a purpose that will lead to the next season of growth. This is how children develop, how the physical world around us often works, and how great organizations evolve as they respond to what is ahead.

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The past seven years at SAS are probably best described as a season of change. That season is characterized by innovation and new learning, new opportunities for students and faculty, redefining our school culture, and doubling down on things that we hold dear such as extraordinary care and excellence. It has been a season of hard but important growth as individuals, a community, and a school. This particular season has also been characterized by unprecedented competition in Singapore, new pressure for our students, competitive college admissions, resistance to change for some, and fear of the unknown for many as our kids face an increasingly complicated and difficult world to live in.

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I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished, and am grateful for the opportunity to work among tremendous faculty, leaders, and parents. We have made meaningful and significant progress in the delivery of our academic curriculum, the support of the social/ emotional needs of our students, leadership opportunities for students, the development and empowerment of our faculty, and so much more.

Our children’s achievements and their development as kind and competent people provide us the evidence of our work. I am inspired by our students each day. Just this semester I have witnessed impressive research projects by high school students, met with second graders advocating for better play

spaces, observed innovative projects in our middle school, analyzed impressive academic achievement from all grade levels, participated in TEDxYouth, and seen exceptional art, dance, and athletics in all parts of the school. Our kids are articulate, hard working, competitive, and compassionate.

I am deeply proud.

The season of change for SAS has been inspiring and hard.

I am grateful for our team of teachers and leaders who have worked tirelessly to build world-class programs and experiences for our kids. TRi Time, Catalyst, i-time, and our Reggio Emilia-inspired approach (in the early learning center) help our students experience and personalize the inquiry process that will serve them for the rest of their lives. Our advanced studies courses and schoolwide interdisciplinary work helps our students develop skills in increasingly important areas of our curriculum while rigorously using higher level thinking. Our social and emotional work with advisory, morning meetings, responsive classroom, and character curriculum make SAS a place where our students are supported and helped to understand themselves better. These new practices and programs are making a difference for kids.

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We have implemented new structures like our high school split counseling model, learning support systems (Response to Intervention), professional learning communities (PLCs) for faculty, deans of student life, and new curriculum and assessment practices. Activities and athletics opportunities have been restructured and enhanced so that we offer more opportunities for more students, and our faculty recruiting and retention is as strong as any international

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school in the world with over 50 applications for each job. We’ve managed our budget carefully building ample reserves to protec our future while updating our campus in areas that will make a difference for learning.

It has indeed been a season of change, and SAS has moved at an incredible pace. And although it has been fast and sometimes hard, our work is resulting in more opportunities for more students who will learn more and positively impact our world.

As a leader, I am incredibly optimistic about the future of SAS. More personally, I am going to miss our families and staff who bring exceptional talent, optimism, care, and open hearts and minds to what we do. I have friendships I cherish and memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my days. I have fallen in love with SAS and the people that make our school come to life. It is hard to say goodbye.

As SAS enters a new season, I will look upon my seven-year tenure with great pride and gratitude. As I look ahead, I have great optimism and hope for the school, the team, our families, our students, and your new superintendent. Thank you for your support and care, and for expecting the best from the SAS team and me. I am better because of you.

Until we meet again‌Go EAGLES!

SAS Is A Special Place That I will Miss Dearly in the Days Ahead.

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Quest Catalyst Tr itime Advisory PEr Learning Catalyst Quest Advisory Tr itime Catalyst Adv Personalized Lea Catalyst itime Tr Advisory Powered Persona LEarning Catalys by Quest TriTime Cat Purpose Advisory Persona Learning TriTime i Advisory PErsona Learning Catalyst SAS Eagles are unwavering in their pursuit of passion that inspires purpose worthy of commitment. Immersed in a school that advocates a culture of possibilities, students are encouraged to explore interests, ask questions, and think beyond themselves about how they might contribute to their community and the world at large.

By CHARLOTTE HEWSON Communications Writer

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st Tri Time sonalized alyst itime ry Tri Time t Advisory d Learning me TriTime sonalized lyst itime e Catalyst sonalized iTime itime sonalized alyst itime Passion motivates. It can inspire and awaken. It can equip students to overcome challenges to achieve a goal that is meaningful to them.

Purpose pulls. It can compel students to think bigger, think of others, explore, and create.

At Singapore American School we believe learning is more meaningful when students are able to study and learn through a passion, and ultimate purpose.

Six years ago SAS faculty members began a worldwide research tour to over 100 schools. This led to a series of recommendations to improve SAS programs, processes, and structures, unlocking student passion and potential.

From exploring the concept of sustainability in preschool to creating a solar battery pack in high school, SAS has eagerly embraced interdisciplinary project-based learning focused on student interests.

These programs are designed to address real-world competencies and reflect the types of learning and work people do every day outside of the classroom. Students across all divisions produce meaningful projects as they exercise voice and choice, research and create, reflect upon their own ideas, and make decisions that impact project outcomes and their own learning experience.

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"My desire is for students to leave my classroom feeling empowered to do better and to be better for humankind.

They won't remember all of the different strategies to multiply or divide, but they'll remember how much kindness matters and the positive effect kindness has on one another and the world."

ANGELA SPITZMAN, fourth grade teacher For Quest student Sushmit Dutta (Class of 2018), a passion to address ongoing problems related to the cost and availability of electricity faced by farmers in his ancestral village in India compelled him to develop a solution. Through his research, Dutta learned that over 240 million Indians live without electricity and those that have access bear the heavy burden of spending approximately 30 percent of their income to obtain it for their crops.

His goal was to lower this burden. Working alongside mentors and industry experts for a year, Dutta created a solution that would help farmers double the lifespan of their battery packs and lower the cost of electricity. The Quest program at SAS amplifies students’ efforts in pursuing their passions as they take control of their own learning and change the world, one problem at a time. It enables juniors and seniors to earn grades by completing various interdisciplinary projects based on their interests. The year-long program emphasizes on skill development that will equip students for college and future pathways. Working with industry mentors this rigorous program offers students the exposure to unleash and demonstrate their true potential, and discover purpose in their daily learning.

Quest Catalyst Tri Tim itime Advisory PErsona Learning Catalyst itim Quest Advisory Tri Tim itime Catalyst Advisor Personalized Learnin Catalyst itime TriTime Advisory Personalize LEarning Catalyst itim Quest TriTime Catalys Advisory Personalized Learning TriTime itime SAS student Skylar Ward opted for the Catalyst project in 2018 during the second semester of her junior year. Her project aimed to educate people about the endangerment of pangolins.

This included giving talks to classrooms all around the school about what pangolins are, why are they endangered, and what could be done to help. Ward also put up a collaborative banner in the library to raise further awareness in the high school. She raised donation money through a bake sale, an online fundraising page, and sold 3D-printed pangolins that she had made.

Like Ward, all Catalyst students are encouraged to dive deep into an area of interest, and utilize school hours to work

on a project they find purpose in.

Students are empowered and challenged to design their own learning experience as teachers provide student-centric guidance, support, and flexibility.

Instruction focuses on building skills in communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity while students are expected to apply these skills within authentic contexts such as work studies, apprenticeships, internships, and scientific research.

As students design, plan, and conduct their projects, they are taught how to employ regional and global professional networks, starting with a mentor from an academic field or profession related to their interests.

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JOURNEYS 10

“Birds flying over rubbish is very sad. I only want to see beautiful trees.” In the early learning center, days are filled with young learners and teachers working together to build relationships, to wonder, to discover, and to learn. Projects derived from student interest and inquiry bring purposeful and positive change to their wider community and environment.

Curious to find out where all the rubbish goes, prekindergartners began a research project and learned about recycling in Singapore. After collecting over 200 plastic forks and spoons in just three weeks, students demonstrated empathy for the natural world.

They presented their concerns to Mr. Tan in the high school cafeteria which led to the implementation of using metal forks and spoons in our early learning center. This passionate learning process continues into elementary school where each month time is dedicated to personal inquiry enabling young learners to investigate, create, share, and reflect. From developing a video game to baking cupcakes, iTime aims to foster student engagement and curiosity through interests and a personalized learning process.

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"As a professional learning community we personalize the learning of our students with intentionality. Whether it’s through personalized learning goals or personalized inquiry, we are committed to ensuring that our students are engaged in impassioned, personal, and meaningful learning experiences."

ADRINA SMITH, second grade teacher

Tri Tim Perso Cataly Perso itime Q Adviso TriTim Learni Adviso Tri Tim Learni Adviso

me itime Catalyst Advis onalized Learning Ques yst itime TriTime Advis onalized LEarning Cata Quest TriTime Catalys ory Personalized Lear me itime Advisory PErso ing Catalyst itime Ques ory TriTime Quest Cata me itime Advisory PErs ing Catalyst itime Ques ory Personalized Lear "I hope that all my students fall in love with many books, while still finding something to enjoy in the rest. I hope that they learn to make the world more beautiful, to understand themselves more deeply, and to change the world. I hope most of all that they continue to become more and more empathetic with each experience."

Middle school TRi Time opens a door to purpose filled possibilities. Advisory teachers guide students through lessons aimed at strengthening habits of inquiry so that students may pursue their own curiosities and design their own investigations to share with an authentic audience. The TRi Time program was first piloted with all middle school teachers and students for four weeks in March and April 2017. Now, TRi Time takes place over three weeks each semester helping students make time in their busy schedules to question, investigate, create, and reflect based on topics that spark their own imaginations. Students explore a variety of interests from raising money for dance students in Columbia to investigating the driving question what can middle school students do outside of school to help the community?

SAS students continue to demonstrate passion inspired by kindness that not only powers their own learning but brings good to a world in need of a compassionate generation.

JENNIFER MEGEE, English language arts teacher

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JOURNEYS 12

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Walk into the Quest room at SAS and time takes on a whole new meaning! One year of a flexible yet accountable schedule offers students the time to explore, innovate, and be inspired.

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Quest allows students to work at various job sites, make products, start businesses, conduct undergraduate-level academic research and pursue passions—all of which can help to differentiate them in the college admissions process.

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Three teachers cover the academic core content and personalize the education journey for each student making sure they explore different interests and develop over 36 soft and hard skills that will serve them in university and well into their working lives.

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The class spend over 550 hours off-campus meeting industry professionals, working with mentors, and exploring local workplace culture as they embrace those very skills.

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The Quest Room What is your Quest? At Singapore American School, the full-day, year-long Quest program offers students an immersive projectbased setting and yet another way to differentiate themselves from their worldwide peers.

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JOURNEYS 14

Then 1973

The Singapore American School baseball team was on its way to Hong Kong for the HKIS Christmas tournament in 1973.

The long hair of the players was a source of irritation to Singapore officials and was the cause of SAS eventually being ousted from the local league for two years.

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Now 2019

Today, SAS athletes know that sports are about much more than winning and losing: teamwork, leadership, sportsmanship, physical fitness, personal bests, and team triumphs. As they travel across the region to take part in IASAS, our students display determination, self-sacrifice, and perseverance, the Eagle way!

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STRATEGIC PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AT SAS By CHARLOTTE HEWSON Communications Writer

The Lessons Learned series takes us on the journey with SAS educators, showcasing the recent pathfinder projects—pilot programs and learning communities—that mirror the motivation, research, and challenges to transforming the education system, breaking frontiers and raising the bar. These spaces will inform the building of world leading programs, processes, and structures; those that future students would benefit from due to their sustainability and attention to quality.

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Does SAS need to change?

The traditional education system, built on the foundation that academic content knowledge is king, is no longer adequate to prepare our children for the modern and evolving workforce. An emerging economy requires students to have new and different skills, and a shifting emphasis in US education and universities, and new competition in Singapore requires SAS to be more nimble. There is a sense of urgency for change, but figuring out what to change, and helping change the mindsets of educators, parents, and children themselves hasn’t been easy.

For the last five years, Singapore American School faculty and leadership have been on a journey of transforming an existing successful school to better serve students as we prepare them for a constantly changing world.

The R&D process was designed to challenge deeply held assumptions, engage faculty, shape culture, and included thousands of hours of research and visitations to over 100 schools worldwide. Over 100 college admissions officers were interviewed, internationally known educational leaders were consulted, and a strategic plan is now in place reflecting what has been learned.

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Immersion Chinese Immersion Learning Community

The Singapore American School daily language program is in its tenth year running and is built around the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Levels. Students learn Chinese or Spanish and the curriculum for each language is vertically aligned across the school, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Starting sixth grade, students are also able to opt for French.

Chinese is the most spoken language in the world and with a set of over 50,000 characters (3–5000 needed for literacy in daily life), it is probably one of the most complex languages to learn. With the introduction of the Chinese immersion program, students have language opportunities integrated into every moment, allowing them to develop high capability with the language while learning in the language.

Sally Lean along with deputy principal Jo McIlroy, visited Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School in Washington DC, a highly successful Mandarin immersion program and two immersion schools in Minnesota.

The team was able to form a plan— and get to work. From a talented pool of candidates, Holly Xi and Julie Zhang, then teachers in the world languages program, were selected to be the founding teachers for immersion. They visited existing immersion programs and spent a semester embedded in regular kindergarten classrooms at SAS learning pedagogy and teaching techniques across all subjects. They adapted the immersion curriculum materials from the regular program directly, translating and in many instances, recreating.

The program launched in 2017–18 with 31 students across two kindergarten classes. In 2018–19 these two classes rolled forward to first grade, while the second year of the program experienced strong enrollment overall in both kindergarten and first grade.

The goal

To build a responsive program that begins with a focus on developing students’ foundational Chinese language skills through a one-way total immersion, with the curriculum content learning being fully aligned with the regular program. Over the course of elementary school, English learning time is gradually built up over time until the program becomes a two-way bilingual program in fourth and fifth grade.

Commenced: 2017–18

The Chinese immersion program is the product of extensive research and development, and was one of the recommendations that came from the elementary school R&D team.

Elementary school principal David Hoss and director of world languages

“The program exceeded my expectations. Olivia, my daughter, reads stories in Mandarin without pinyin.

She recognizes characters on the street and speaks to people in Chinese around town. I even hear her using Chinese words with her immersion classmates when they play at home.”

— CHERIE DE ZWART, PARENT

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Desired outcomes / Measures for success Assessment measures are paced and aligned closely with grade level benchmarks Chinese: • Similar learning opportunities through curriculum and content as peers in the same grade level.

• Math testing follows the grade level in full alignment.

• Reading is assessed through an online reading system that was designed in reference to the Fountas and Pinnell leveling system as well as character and vocabulary recognition.

• Writing—students are assessed through similar rubrics and expectations as are used across the grade level, with adaptations for the language conventions around writing characters instead of writing letters and words.

• Social Studies/Science—students are assessed through similar rubrics and expectations as are used across the grade level, with adaptations as needed.

• Students’ oral proficiency is also tracked across the year in 1:1 mini oral proficiency interviews.

English: • Benchmarks are adapted due to the limited nature of the English learning time in the immersion program.

• Aimsweb as well as Columbia Teachers’ College assessments are used as reference points for teachers to know if the children are meeting the immersion English benchmarks.

Catalyst

What worked well?

• By the end of the school year, most students were able to read more than 80 books in Mandarin. That figure surpassed the benchmark set for kindergarten.

• Students were able to independently write personal narratives, and introduce themselves and their families and friends using an expansive vocabulary.

• As the year began, the teachers frequently collaborated with Ms Lean, Ms McIlroy, and the team of regular kindergarten teachers, learning, sharing, implementing. Now in their second year, they continue to work together and report feeling more confident in their instruction and ability to settle children into their learning routines quickly.

• The Chinese immersion teachers have worked to adapt the regular kindergarten curriculum to Mandarin immersion and commensurately, Mandarin instruction to a program outside the traditional Chinese language system. They are masterful at planning their lessons with double objectives—one for content learning and one for language.

• The kindergarten model worked so well it was decided to continue the approach and also the ‘hub’ style of learning and teaching into first grade.

Room for growth • As the program builds, we are looking for naturally occurring opportunities for vertical alignment of the immersion program as well as alignment for the development of language skills in both Chinese and English.

• Deepening teachers’ understanding of latest pedagogy, classroom management, and research-based approaches to education.

Changes along the way • Smaller adjustments have included expanding the inquiry-based approach to math instruction (in both the immersion and regular programs).

• The introduction of running records to track reading comprehension and growth to capturing students’ understanding and thinking at regular intervals is intended as a way to track students’ progress and provide richer data for teachers and parents alike.

Catalyst

Singapore American school has always had a strong foundation of students who have been not only academically motivated, but actively engaged in the desire to pursue areas of interest. Prior to the R&D process, many SAS students chose to immerse themselves in independent study, an informal process that consisted of working with an advisor teacher to pursue an individual topic or project. The research and development focus enabled faculty to address this concept of interest and project based learning, one being utilized by many schools and programs and colleges placing increasing emphasis on self-efficacy; student ability to direct and regulate their own learning.

Commenced: 2013–14 (optional course), 2017–18 (graduation requirement)

Building upon research literature and all that was learned through the R&D process, SAS pushed the idea of independent study into what was to become a senior project

and began to formalize a program in terms of structure, learning targets, and assessments. The Center of Innovation was created in alignment with this philosophy of learning and a co-teaching model was introduced to create the Catalyst program.

Catalyst was initially an optional course that students could choose to take for one semester. In 2017 the program became a mandatory graduation requirement. This is because SAS believed that a program focused on personalized learning, skills-based learning, self-advocacy, and pursuing passions, in addition to being emphasized by colleges, provided the necessary real-world skills students needed to master for lifelong success.

“Lots of companies don’t succeed over time. What do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future.”

— LARRY PAGE, CO-FOUNDER OF GOOGLE AND CEO OF ALPHABET

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“Catalyst instruction strengthens students' self-efficacy in designing, planning, and conducting self-directed projects while focusing on building competencies in communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Ultimately, the Catalyst program will prepare students for the future by employing their skills to develop a professional level network, find a professional mentor for their project from a respective academic field or profession, and engage in work studies, apprenticeships, internships, scientific research, etc.

In my opinion, the SAS Catalyst program represents current best practice in personalized learning where students can develop the self-efficacy to be successful in college and beyond.”

— DR. KEN YATES, ASSOCIATE DEAN OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL EDUCATION AT THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Desired outcomes / Measures for success

Lessons along the way

Are students able to • identify an interest and document their learning process • personalize their learning • solve problems, be reflective, and self-direct some of their learning • communicate effectively with people they don’t know and leverage a network

What worked well?

• Catalyst began as an optional program with approximately 40 students all of whom were highly self motivated with interests and ideas they eagerly wanted to pursue. Teachers could naturally support and facilitate the learning journey of students who showed strong engagement and enthusiasm for the program.

• The opportunity to work with students grappling with questions they had never been forced to ask themselves before; What am I passionate about? What makes me do the work that I do? Why does some work have purpose to me and other work less purpose? Supporting students in finding answers and observing their realization of the value of skill development through self-directing a project is extremely rewarding.

• Every project demonstrates the unique learning journey of each student. From the chosen area of interest to the scope of research to bring an idea to conception, every project showcases diverse and rich learning experiences.

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• Networking and the development of interpersonal skills proved to be a challenge for many students who found it difficult to talk to people they didn't know about high level material.

• One of the biggest low points for many faculty was the initial narrative that circled around the course from students and parents who felt Catalyst should not be mandated as a graduation requirement.

• Fast forward to today and this narrative has shifted to a positive dialogue with so many seeing the program as a valuable experience.

• The transition to Catalyst becoming a mandatory meant that teachers were required to scale the program in size and flexibility, and adapt the curriculum to respond to a much broader array of needs, aspirations, and readiness. Enrollment increased from approximately 40 students to 200 students.

• In addition to an increase in the number of students, the demographic itself shifted. Previously only students eager to take the course and confident in self directing their learning through a project did so. Moving forward Catalyst teachers needed to find a way to serve, inspire, and support a larger cohort of students that were challenged in an environment that encouraged a new and different model of learning.

• Faculty listened to student feedback and made adaptations to the curriculum to better support the wide range of students the program served. One key change is the adjustment of the course infrastructure to allow students to self pace. This included the move to flexible calendars, online curriculum support, multiple instructors, modified tasks and groupings, and a codification of all necessary project resources and requirements in all aspects of skill development.

• Some of the assessment has changed to place focus on the process, learning journey, and skill development such as reflection, communication, and critical thinking. Previously there was higher importance placed only on the end presentation and grade.

• Through a combined and significant effort to listen to students and their experience, the Catalyst team came to realize the importance of mentorship.

SAS mentors are experienced and trusted professionals who provide resources, guidance, and opportunities in fields that are relevant to student interests and academic pursuits.

6A Learning Community

Commenced: 2017–18

An important lesson learned from the R&D process was that SAS classrooms were neither future-proof to readily align with changing pedagogy nor could they fully support our strategic vision in their original state.

The school’s work with architectural firm Fielding Nair International prompted the recommendation to select a few areas on campus that could be prototyped for what the new learning environment in the new campus might yield. These illustrative and investigative prototypes, dubbed

pathfinder projects, would allow teachers to begin developing the practices and systems within a flexible learning environment to support our strategic plan.

The goal

To create an interdisciplinary project-based environment focused on a flexible and personalized learning experience, building community, and aligning student skillsets with the needs of our rapidly evolving workforce.

6A

Desired outcomes / Measures for success Are teachers using the learning space effectively, enabling students to: • • • • • •

personalize their learning gain deeper insight into the context and purpose of their learning have more ownership of their learning make connections across the subject disciplines identify their next steps for learning solve real life problems

What worked well?

• Building and developing a community of faculty and learners brave enough to be flexible, try new things, and work as a team to problem solve.

• The high level of transparency in a flexible environment exposes teachers to address their individual strengths and vulnerabilities in teaching and allows opportunity to collaborate, learn from each other, and share best instructional practices.

• Flexible blocks of time have worked well. Each grade level has a block of time dedicated to the core program: English language arts (ELA), math, science, social studies, and physical education. Faculty can reorganize that scheduled block in numerous ways to allow for different uses of the time. For example, they might revise the schedule, shortening classes, to create a block of time for a guest speaker or an advisory activity.

• Concepts such as ‘cause and effect’ or ‘scale and proportion’ are weaved through subjects helping students make connections across disciplines in order to deepen their understanding and practice of skills.

• The space and flex time have provided students the element of choice and they respond well to this. They make good choices and rise to challenges.

The learning communities accommodate flexibility, creating spaces for groups of different sizes. There are small breakout rooms throughout the space so groups of students can work collaboratively. Some examples of what might happen in the smaller breakout spaces include activities like book partnerships and literature circles, math explorations, independent work, or collaborative work on a group presentation.

Lessons along the way “The use of space is dictated by the need of the moment.

If we need all 6A students and teachers to come together, we open up the walls to accommodate a large group activity. Other times we close the walls to conduct lessons with a co-teaching approach, or to dive more deeply into subject-specific content. ” — BRENDAN RILEY, SIXTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER

• New experiences bring new lessons to be learned. The faculty worked hard to overcome initial growing pains such as learning how to share a space, learning different types of co-teaching, cross-curricular unit planning, and addressing different opinions on how best to repurpose the use of time.

• Initial challenges with learning to manage multiple and dynamic schedules, including exploring new web-based scheduling options.

• Teachers have discovered many ways in which to utilize the learning space but are still navigating additional ways and best practice.

• Faculty are still learning the extent of possibilities within a flexible learning environment. With so much variety in ways to collaborate and co-teach the program continues to grow and evolve.

• The learnings of 6A were fed forward to transform 6B and 6C into flexible learning communities in 2018-19 including; • an increased variety of breakout space sizes and seating • a stronger connection between the science/maker lab and the larger • learning community • As the school expands the model to part of seventh grade in 2019–20, communication and coordination will evolve and faculty must rethink the way in which they collaborate as a whole to ensure consistency in instruction and teaching.

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Kindergarten Kindergarten learning Communities

Commenced: 2017–18

An important lesson learned from the R&D process indicated that SAS classrooms were neither future-proof to readily align with the evolving research on how students learn best nor could they fully support our strategic vision in their original state.

The school’s work with architectural firm Fielding Nair International concluded with a recommendation to select a few areas on campus that could be prototyped for what the new learning environment in the new campus might yield. These illustrative and investigative prototypes, dubbed pathfinder projects, would allow teachers to begin developing the practices and systems within a flexible learning environment that align with our strategic plan.

As the early learning center had already adopted a modern, collaborative environment in 2015, kindergarten was a selected pathfinder as a natural progression for rising pre-kindergarten students.

These classrooms were also well situated on the ground floor with a footprint that enabled swift renovation.

The goal

To create flexible learning communities across kindergarten in which student needs would drive the design of the environment and teachers could work collaboratively to provide more personalized instruction, activities, and experiences for students. This would allow faculty and students to experience new learning models and collaboration strategies in a prototype environment that will eventually be implemented throughout the school.

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Desired outcomes / Measures for success • • • •

Are student needs being met?

Are teachers able to work more collaboratively?

Does the learning community accommodate a variety of learning activities?

How do we communicate one common informative message to parents?

What worked well?

• As the kindergarten team reflect on their journey there is much to celebrate.

An already strong team has become further united and inspired in building a connected kindergarten ‘family’ where students are better known by all grade level teachers. Collaboration with colleagues has facilitated the invaluable opportunity to learn from each others strengths and share best instructional practices. Furthermore, advocacy and strong support from the principals has empowered teachers to have open conversations and exchange thoughts, concerns, and questions with colleagues.

• This redevelopment process has brought further opportunities for professional development enabling faculty to engage in learning experiences and high level conversations with esteemed consultants such as Kath Murdoch. Murdoch is an experienced teacher, author, university lecturer, and popular consultant who is widely respected for her work in the field of inquiry based learning and integrative curriculum.

• Finally, the biggest highlight echoed by teachers and principals is observing happy and relaxed children enjoying their learning environment, developing, succeeding, and making great friendships along the way.

“Working alongside Rachel Gray in the learning community, we have multiple opportunities to collaborate. Collaboration between team members offers various perspectives and encourages one to take risks while trying something new.

Ultimately, working toward the same goal gives us a strong sense of purpose. There is value in working together in this capacity as the common goal gives us a meaningful reason to work together while meeting the needs of each and every student.”

— JESSIE BURANT, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

“Kindergarten teachers led the way on implementing our flexible learning communities.

They were involved in the design process for the spaces, helping to choose the types of furniture and technology those spaces would be equipped with, to researching collaborative teaching strategies and instructional practices to shaping the messages that would be shared out to parents.

Their commitment and desire evolved into a sharp focus on what learning experiences we were wanting to provide for students which was then captured and shared out in various ways to the entire school and SAS community.”

— KEN SCHUNK, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Lessons along the way • Through the renovation process and the development of flexible learning environments at SAS, the kindergarten team learned the importance of design and configuration. Serving as prototype environments three of the five learning communities received a light renovation, and two consisted of a full rebuild.

While there are differences predominantly in natural lighting and sound buffering, the team have collectively adjusted to their work spaces and are feeding valuable lessons to admin that will inform future design.

• Unlike a traditional classroom space, the transparency of a flexible learning environment brings teachers into a spotlight and exposes individual vulnerabilities. While this can be daunting for many, it has prompted faculty to address these areas of vulnerability by learning from and sharing ideas with teaching partners. Further learning has occurred via productive opportunities to engage with schools established in flexible learning environments and talk with SAS early learning center faculty already working in flexible spaces. A beneficial addition to this would include opportunities to observe skilled collaborative teaching teams in action.

• A continued focus needs to be placed on refining the process of grouping and regrouping students based on their needs. This is a critical element of success for students working in a flexible learning environment and one that teachers are sensitive to given that kindergarten students are developing foundational academic skills • Faculty are still learning the extent of possibilities within a flexible learning environment. With so much variety in ways to collaborate and team teach the program continues and will long continue to grow and evolve. A new environment inevitably presents new goals and lessons. Teachers had to learn to adapt and navigate a new shared physical space, and learn ways to collaborate and team teach. Demonstrating ongoing resilience, teachers have increased confidence in their initial goals of opening walls and co-teaching.

• Through the stages of implementation, faculty reflected on experiences and developed checkpoints in order to share what they have learned, pain points or challenges along the way, and are able to discuss these with colleagues in order to grow and problem solve.

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JOURNEYS 24

Quest Quest At SAS

Desired outcomes / Measures for success

Commenced: 2016–17

School visits and observations led to eight SAS faculty and administrators meeting every other day, debating about what they had learned, whether it was important, and how much value should be placed on it. At the end of the R&D process, a series of recommendations including the advisory system, capping Advanced Placement courses, introducing Advanced Topics courses, Catalyst, and more were presented to the school board.

Among these was a proposal of an “academy” that brought together the best forward thinking practices that were observed during the school visits and further research.

This proposal was initially rejected.

However, after a further year of development by Simon Bright and Dr. Tim Stuart, the school board supported the vision of a program that flipped the traditional contentled model to a focus on skills-based instruction and a student-designed learning experience. Upon this approval, Katie Walthall and Darlene Poluan worked with Simon Bright for a year to flesh out the Quest program that was launched in the year 2016-17 with 21 seniors

The goal

To create an interdisciplinary projectbased education that was focused on preparing students for their future through rigorous, relevant academic research, advanced skills, and deep intellectual and personal exploration.

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• • • •

Are students able to personalize their learning?

Have they gained skills for lifelong learning?

Are they able to work as a community of learners?

Are they inspired?

What worked well?

• The stability of having the same teachers for four years starting with R&D resulted in thorough planning before implementation • Holistic understanding of every student as they spend every day in the program • Building a community of learners who support, teach, and learn from each other • From working at a ski resort in Japan to finance companies in Singapore, students gained hands-on experiences as part of their institutional partnerships • Strong community support from faculty and parents to help students succeed • College acceptance rate for Quest students: 81 percent for the year 2017-18 • Positive reviews from educators and other visitors who desire to replicate the Quest experience in their own schools

“With more project-based learning at SAS, the focus has shifted from the quality of the final product to the process of learning. That often includes seeking and accessing the help of mentors and serving as a peer mentor–skills that will serve them well in college and beyond.”

— TOM VANDER ARK, CEO OF GETTING SMART

Room for growth • Challenges in marketing the program internally and externally • Keeping a startup mindset while ensuring academic rigor was a difficult balance to achieve • While the faculty continued to build the program based on feedback and observation, a lack of thirdparty evaluation creates gaps in evolution of the program

Lessons along the way • Flexible spaces and flexible scheduling brought many positive impacts and benefits to the program, however it also prompted some to label the program as too relaxed. In response, academic goals were raised to a comparatively higher standard that students found hard to meet.

It was later tweaked to achieve a balance between accountability and flexibility.

• Giving students the freedom of time and choice at the beginning of the year did not work as intended. Program leaders soon learned that the students needed more structure and guidance than anticipated, and required time to wean off their regular school experience. The program now commences with 40 percent student-directed learning reaching 80 percent by the end of the year, offering a solid foundation for college.

• As a result of feedback from industry professionals and students, program leaders increased the duration of institutional partnerships so that students would benefit greatly from an extensive hands-on experience.

• The program was made available to juniors in the year 2017–18 in order to leverage the Quest experience earlier in their high school careers, so the students could use their accomplishments in the college applications.

“Quest gave me the opportunity to fail at time management and learn from those failures. In the context of my college experience, Quest emphasized the importance of making connections with people to keep me accountable, share notes, study together, and build a community of learners that helps me progress through university.”

— HAYDEN REEVES (CLASS OF 2017), SECOND-YEAR STUDENT AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY

Today, the full-day year-long Quest program makes for an immersive projectbased setting, providing juniors and seniors an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their peers across the globe.

Quest students gain real-world experience as they work with mentors, build career networks, and take charge of their own learning. Pursuing curiosity and passion, Quest students develop skills and connections through a variety of real world experiences as they explore intellectual topics and create products and businesses.

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IMMERSE. SERVE. SOAR. Tucked away in the western mountains of Bhutan, a small library built by Singapore American School Eagles in 2014 serves a rural community. From vocational training to English lessons, and even health supplies are available to members. Every year students return with learning resources—audio books, board games, funding, and supplies. The Eagles even brought the first internet connection to the village! Our annual Interim Semester offers over 50 trips spanning nearly 20 countries. For two weeks each year all regularly scheduled high school courses cease while students and teachers participate in an extraordinary global program engaging in service, adventure, and unparalleled cultural experiences.

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

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JOURNEYS 28

A Day in the Life of A Preschooler

At Singapore American School

Whether it is watching kites soar in the wide blue sky, or building imaginary worlds with blocks, time and again parents talk about how the early learning center at Singapore American School is a home away from home for their little ones.

By HANNAH CONNORS P r e s c h o o l Te a c h e r

In the early learning center we believe children are curious, creative, and highly capable.

Relationships drive our learning, and together we co-construct understanding about ourselves, our community, and the wider world. Children and adults are active researchers, and our participation in the learning process positively impacts our lives and the lives of those around us. Together, we create an environment of possibilities that fosters meaningful inquiry, strong connections, and rich understandings.

Welcome to the wonderful world of preschool at Singapore American School.

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Arrival “We pack our bags and say good morning and hello to our friends,” says Sara.

As the buses start to arrive, preschool children are warmly greeted by their friends and teaching adults in their learning community. Some children wait eagerly at the door to welcome friends who have not yet arrived, while others explore the learning invitations set up in the environment. There is always something new to discover: a recycled space rocket, a rainbow beaming from a light projector, or even a family of snails.

COnnection Time “Everybody comes to connection time,” announces Loki.

Once the children have arrived we meet together to connect with one another and our learning. Thirty two children, two teachers and two instructional assistants make up the learning community and come together to plan the day’s learning. Preschoolers participate fully in their learning journey. Children and adults share stories, photos, videos, or artifacts from the previous day, and talk together to plan the next steps in their project work. In the preschool learning community one, children are making plans to launch their rocket up to the moon with messages, while in preschool learning community two the group is designing a rain robot to catch and reuse rainwater.

Snack Time “We sit by our friends for a snack,” says Bekah.

A time for making connections with each other, snack time is shared outdoors by all of the members in the learning community. Children share stories from home, talk about the learning ahead, or ask questions about the world around them.

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JOURNEYS 30

Outdoor Learning “We like the slide and the bikes and we like playing there,” quips Sasha.

The outdoor learning environment welcomes big body movement and collaboration. Children work together to build castles, ride bikes, cross the wobbly bridge, scale the climbing wall, dig for treasure in the sandpit, and swing across the monkey bars.

Story Time “We relax. We sit down. I bring in a book,” says Xavi.

The children cool down with water, and meet together for a story. The preschoolers often ask for their favourite books, The Gruffalo, and Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus! or bring a special book from home to share with their friends.

Exploring Time “We are making a rain robot!" says Cheo excitedly.

The environment in preschool is rich with possibilities. During exploring time the children and teaching adults work together to explore their interests and delve into project work. In preschool learning community one, children write their names to post in a parcel to the moon, while in preschool learning community two, they trial pulley systems to transport water to the top of their rain robot. Some children change into swimwear and head outside.

In the courtyard children investigate water, paint on the giant tiled wall with rollers and brushes, engage in a clay workshop, build obstacle courses, or erupt baking soda volcanoes in the sandpit.

Inside, children paint, move objects along a conveyor belt, retell stories with puppets, make observational drawings, create messages which are passed to friends, climb the loft, build with wooden blocks, design models, and snuggle on the sofa with their favorite book. The environment is set up to encourage independence, and they readily access a wide range of materials with which o bring their ideas to life.

Reflection Time “We listen to our friends and teachers,” say Sasha.

Time is taken to reflect on the group’s learning each day. As they grow comfortable with one another the preschool children speak confidently about their learning, sharing their thoughts and wonderings. They also bring their own questions and ideas for the following day’s learning.

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Lunch “We eat together. I like to sit with my friends,” Raaghav says.

At lunchtime children choose to have a picnic on the large colourful mat, or sit with friends at picnic tables. Children talk about their day, their food from all around the world, and their families as they eat lunch together with their teachers.

Move and Groove “I practice my moves!” says Felix as he grooves!

This daily movement class is an opportunity for children to learn to move safely and imaginatively, developing basic skills and confidence in themselves both as a mover and student of movement concepts. The children gain knowledge and experience through a full range of rhythmic activities and dramatic enactment, music and dance, developmentally appropriate games, and guided discovery. The goal of physical literacy and building a love for physical activity is paramount.

Chinese “I sing songs with some of the food names. We speak Chinese,” quips Ziyi.

Each day children learn Chinese through songs, stories, and practical experiences. This is an opportunity to develop their spoken language skills and engage in cultural competency.

Library Day on Wednesdays “You get some books to take home,” says Liam.

The library is a source of much joy each week, as the children share a story and then have the opportunity to borrow their very own books to take home.

Goodbyes “We say goodbye and we walk to the bus,” says Grant.

The children and teaching adults say goodbye, and thank each other for another wonderful day of learning together. As they walk to the bus, the children speak to their teachers about the day’s learning, or their upcoming playdate with a school friend.

Another teacher greets parents at the door and all the preschoolers head home, eager to return the following day to see what new discoveries await.

Thank you to the preschool children for writing this article with us.

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JOURNEYS 32

! y t i l i b a n i a Sust r o f p u g n i d Stan

rious eaving of va rw te in e th is d their ary teaching concepts an n o m Interdisciplin m o c xplore le to ciplines to e areas are ab t n te n o c t n curricular dis t of differe cross subjec ns. Teachers a o s ti n c o e ti n c n e o n rc n inte ke co xth students ma lp e h d n a dle school, si te id m In . g in collabora learn thinking deepen their to r e rd o their critical in s rm o sf area n a tr ow to . nts learned h inability unit a st su ir e th grade stude rough ed actions th rm fo in to in ls skil By AN I KRISHN DIDI HAR riter ations W c i n u m m Co

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Sixth grade students spent 12 weeks immersed in sustainability through various disciplinary lenses (English language arts, social studies, science, and math). After acquiring content knowledge, students crafted a question that interested them to drive their inquiry. Students then explored, investigated, and created an action plan to answer their question, and address the problem

they had discovered. At the end of the unit they presented their learning to an authentic audience of parents, community members, and peers at the sustainability exhibition.

One of the main objectives of this unit was to help students discover connectors between different disciplines while engaged in a long-term, self-directed project.

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JOURNEYS 34

The phases in the sustainability unit: Phase Question:

1.

In the first phase of the unit, students were asked to develop a driving question that inspired them to take action.

Before they could do this, students needed to build some background knowledge. In order to help students explore elements of sustainability that may be of interest, sixth grade teachers planned the following:

Sustainability unit launch At the launch, each learning community was transformed into a multi-sensory experience to encourage curiosity and awareness in the students. The 6A learning community focused on issues related to water, with blue lighting to simulate water and a classroom turned upside down to demonstrate some possible effects of powerful storm surges. In the 6B learning community, the setup was dedicated to issues related to land. In one area, waste from the cafeteria was brought in so students could see and smell the effects of food waste, while leaf cuttings were strewn around to simulate deforestation.

Lastly, the 6C learning community focused on issues related to air.

One learning space was filled with fog to demonstrate air pollution, and powerful fans blew air through the space to show the effects of air.

Through these exhibits, students engaged with various multimedia such as videos, news articles, infographics, and virtual tours to build background knowledge on various issues related to the environment.

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Speaker Symposium A few weeks later, more than 10 speakers from various sustainability initiatives across Singapore were invited to speak with the students.

This helped students deepen their understanding and thinking about sustainability and offered an opportunity to speak with professionals working in the field.

List of speakers invited to speak at SAS: • Keynote Speaker: Zero Waste SG • Keynote Speaker: Jeroen van de Waal, Founder and CEO of Orca Scuba • Stella Cochrane & Robin Hayes, Trash Hero SG • Wong Yee Thing and Masayo Hada, Eco Action Day Initiative • Libby Vine, parent at SAS • Prescott Gaylord (former sustainability director at SAS) • Samantha Thian, Seastainable • Sam Shu Qin, Our Singapore Reefs • Jessica Blaustein and Emmanuela Albert, STUDIOOSS • Tim Hill, Eco-Business

Phase

2.

Investigate:

Students conducted their own research to gather and synthesize relevant information on an environmental issue they felt strongly about.

Teachers encouraged students to use a range of media, interviews, surveys, and observations to build background knowledge on the issue. Throughout the research process, students learned how to ascertain the credibility of their sources.

“My project was to get in touch with KFC and see if they could do a no-straw movement in at least one of their stores in Singapore.

I did lots of research on plastic waste in our world and found it shocking. I thought it would be a good way to reduce the amount of plastic wasted, so I sent an email to the Chief Executive Officer of KFC.” Emily L., seventh grade student *In June 2018, KFC Singapore announced it will stop providing straws with drinks.

Phase Reflect:

Students reflected on the impact of their work. They shared the results, including their successes, failures, and future plans with an authentic audience during their sustainability exhibition at the end of the unit. Students received feedback from their audience which helped them revise their plan if needed.

4.

“I was really impressed by their enthusiasm. They had thought through their solutions and ideas.

That is truly personalized learning because they were able to make it their own project!”

Phase

3.

Create:

Students created a plan of action to implement in their classrooms, school, or community. While they worked on designing their own projects, teachers were available to provide students with guidance and feedback. Teachers conferenced with students, and examined each individual’s work and created individualized support plans for each student. For example, some students may have needed support in developing their driving question while other students may have needed help evaluating sources for credibility. Based on those needs, students were then grouped flexibly and given targeted support.

“Some students contacted the National Environment Agency and they spoke to companies in Singapore and Australia about becoming sustainable. Also, students started bringing in metal straws to school. These are actions students are taking because they have taken ownership over their learning.”

Kris Munden Sixth grade math teacher

Kathy Bailey Parent The sixth grade sustainability unit amplifies our vision to cultivate exceptional thinkers.

It provides students with the opportunity to connect with real-world topics that they care about and begin to see how their actions can influence society. It is easy to see the lasting impression the experience leaves on students as some individuals continue to be advocates for sustainable living even after the unit has concluded. It is precisely this type of passion and drive that will help students prepare for the future—make a difference in the world, become agents of change, and stand up for sustainability.

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JOURNEYS 36

Tech Tips: Personalized Learning Through Design Thinking

Taking control of their own learning, SAS students navigate the inquiry process to apply crucial knowledge and skills to solve and answer real-world problems.

By D AV I D L E E E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l E d Te c h a n d S T E M C o a c h Singapore American School is well-known for its dedication to create a culture of possibilities for its students. SAS provides opportunities for students where they get to personalize their own learning. In programs like TRi Time, Catalyst, and Quest, students navigate through projects of interest using the inquiry process of questioning, investigating, creating, and reflecting.

In the elementary school, our teachers plan and implement instruction that brings personalization to learning experiences. In the book, Make Learning Personal, personalization of learning is referred to as “instruction paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and adapted to specific interests of different learners.� Teachers provide students with instruction where content, pacing, and learning practices may differ between each student.

This year, as the new STEM coach in the elementary school, I wanted to bring in an additional component to personalize learning through an inquiry method that provides opportunities for student voice and choice.

What inquiry process could students use to navigate through openended performance tasks where they apply crucial knowledge and skills to solve and answer real-world problems and questions? How can we scaffold the inquiry process so that students can effectively make their own decisions, choose how they work and what they create, and get involved in self-directed learning?

One approach is the design thinking method. A human-centered design process and set of mindsets that give people courage to become creative problem solvers bringing meaningful change to real world experiences and developing solutions to complex problems; a creative problem-solving toolkit that gives students the courage to take on complex problems.

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Design thinking consists of five phases: empathize In the empathize phase, students gain a deep understanding of their end user(s), the person or group of people they are designing for, as well as the context of the problem. Empathy is gained through touchpoints such as interviews, observations, immersion, and research, to learn as much as they can about the context of the problem.

define In the define phase, students use the information they gathered from their empathy work to organize them into needs (end user’s goals) and insights (interesting and surprising information advantageous in developing a solution).

The most significant needs and insights are used to develop a problem statement that could also include specified criteria for success.

ideate Next, the ideate phase involves students brainstorming as many visual solutions as they can that could possibly solve the problem statement. They then identify the most optimal and innovative solutions to develop a tangible product or solution. Students can develop a blueprint to help them organize their ideas and make it easier to transition into the prototype phase.

prototype In the prototype phase, the students create a physical mock-up of the solution. Depending on the problem, the prototype can be a service, action plan, system, or a tangible product that end users can experience and engage in.

test In the test phase, the prototypes are tested to elicit feedback and help identify failure points or difficulties that suggest elements of the design that need to be improved on. End users can provide feedback to the students on what aspects of the solution worked and what did not. This process can ignite new ideas and start the whole process over. It is important to note that the design thinking process is not linear. Students can jump from one stage to another at any point, based on what is needed at that point of the design process. For example, students in the test phase can go back to the define phase and generate a new problem statement due to new insights that were discovered during the tests.

So how does design thinking personalize learning?

Well it really comes down to student voice and choice. In the empathize phase, students get to generate their own questions that they would like to ask during empathy work or the questions needed to be answered during the inquiry process. Additionally they get to choose the types of resources they use to obtain knowledge about the real-world problem they are given.

In the define phase, students get to choose specific problems that need to be solved. In the ideate and prototype phases, students get a choice in what they want to create to solve the problem or improve a realworld experience. In all the design thinking phases, students decide on the tasks that they will take on to complete the challenge, jumping around different phases based on their current need.

In all of the phases they get to use their own judgement and decision-making skills when approaching a problem; making the learning self-directed where students take control of their own learning.

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S Wu mi nm t e e r R 2 2 0 0 1 1 9 8

J OJ OU UR RN NE EY YS S 4 40 0

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JOURNEYS 42

Becoming

Me 43 JOURNEYS

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Who am I? How do I fit in? Building a sense of self-identity is something we all must navigate. As we go through life we face a series of developmental challenges that ultimately shape who we become. As children, we begin the journey of developing a self-concept that helps define who we are and how we can fit into the world.

By CHARLOTTE HEWSON Communications Writer Singapore American School has long recognized the importance of supporting students in their social-emotional learning. Funded by the SAS Foundation, it is an integral and core component of our institution. From our young kindergarteners to our adolescent learners SAS psychologists and counselors take a proactive, child-centered, and developmental approach in working with students as they embark on a journey of self-understanding, self-acceptance, and self-compassion.

Promoting high self-concept is important because it relates to success and happiness as children learn to approach life with resilience. So how can parents support this journey and help their child develop a strong sense of self-identity? I asked our school psychologists to share some advice.

Social-emotional learning and support is an integral component of our school and is funded by the SAS Foundation.

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JOURNEYS 44

Encourage exploration of interests Identity is about being able to find a sense of competence and confidence in the activity children are engaged in. Achieving a level of competence in an activity provides meaning and purpose for kids.

Encourage your child to explore a number of varied interests. Start this from a young age and explore these with your child allowing them to decide whether or not they wish to continue with an activity.

These activities are important ways for your child to express who they are.

Recognize the importance of belonging A sense of belonging is important to every child.

Identity building includes being able to find a sense of connection to peers. This is a process of finding others that share similar views, values, and interests.

If children can’t find this sense of community they will feel isolated. Allow your child to manage relationships and encourage them to solve any problems that may arise on their own while seeking guidance when appropriate.

Establish boundaries and advocate balance Help your child recognize the importance of balance in life. Due to the busy pace of the modern world we live in, it is common for children—and adults—to overschedule their days, weeks, and lives. Children need help with establishing boundaries as a lack of balance can lead to anxiety and stress. For example when it comes to course selection, without guidance, many students are likely to overselect. If a teenager enrols in too many Advanced Placement or Advanced Topic courses and fail, they often believe it’s because of their intelligence when in fact it has very little to do with intelligence and everything to do with balance.

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"Promoting high self-concept is important because it relates to success and happiness as children learn to approach life with resilience."

Encourage self-advocacy Through self-advocacy children can develop effective life skills including understanding and handling themselves, their relationships, their learning and work. While it is important to support and guide children, it is equally important that children develop the skills to make positive choices on their own. Encourage self-advocacy through these four key areas: 1. Organization and routine

Establish a routine at home and ensure your child can manage their own schedule. Prompt your child to assume responsibility for routine tasks such as preparing their backpack for school or cleaning their bedroom. Do this with clear communication to ensure a mutual understanding. For example, work on

a list together and define what constitutes

a clean bedroom.

2. Time management

Help your child understand what they are doing with their time. If your child is unable to complete tasks in a given day, feels overwhelmed, or is too tired to complete homework, consider how your child spent

their day and if it was well managed. Set

clear bedtimes or check how many hours

your child is dedicating to their iPhones

or social media accounts.

3. Task initiation

Help your child to learn to stick to a task once they have started. Today many of us have phones that are never switched off. The repetitive buzzing sounds and vibrations can result in distraction or lack of adequate focus.

Build a habit of time on/time off with your child. When it is time for homework, practice 20 minutes of focused attention, followed by an incentive of a 10-minute break. Remove any potential distractions during the focused moments. As your child gets older increase the focus to 45 minutes on/15 minutes off.

4. Emotional regulation

It is important to help your child learn how to control their emotions. Your child will inevitably experience some form of stress through the course of life and while it cannot be avoided, the management of emotions can. Be mindful of your child becoming ‘stuck’ in an emotion or wearing it as an excuse to behave negatively.

This article was created with contributions from SAS psychologists Adrian Elmo, Cindy Gilbert, Kelsey Pierce, and Sarah Pisacano, as well as personal academic counselor / school psychologist Dr. Jeff Devens.

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JOURNEYS 46

Libraries of the

Future

By R O N S TA R K E R Middle School Librarian

Progress and innovation over the past 20 years alone have changed the world in countless ways. In keeping pace, traditional libraries are rapidly transforming to align with digitization and emerging technologies. Middle school librarian Ron Starker explores the transformation of SAS libraries.

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S? IE EC SP ED ER NG DA EN AN Y AR BR LI E TH IS When is the last time you stepped inside a library? If your answer is over a year ago, don’t be embarrassed. That’s standard for most people today. With digital media at our disposal and busy schedules, many people have stopped visiting libraries and choose instead to access information online.

Now ask your son or daughter, when they last visited one of the libraries at Singapore American School. The answer will probably be yesterday or today. That’s because SAS libraries are among the busiest school libraries in the world. The high school library alone receives over 2,000 visitors per day, the middle school library receives 1,100 visitors each day and the elementary library sees approximately 1,500 or more. While not every one of our 4,000+ students goes to the library each day, many students choose to visit the libraries two or more times each day.

Not all libraries are so fortunate. Many libraries are closing down due to budget constraints and competition from digital sources of information. Schools and libraries around the world are facing three global challenges: digitization of the world’s information, exponential growth in the world’s knowledge, and constant change due to emerging technologies.

EN “THE LIBRARY SHOULD BE MORE OF A KITCH THAN A GROCERY STORE.” CHER-LIBRARIAN – JOYCE VALENZA, TEA

We need to move from simply accessing information to information literacy and content creation.

Libraries can no longer afford to simply be depositories for print book collections. School libraries need to provide support to teachers and students who are adapting to new technological and informational challenges through curricular changes such as project-based learning and personalization of education. Schools are complicated places that are slow to change because of the complexity involved, but libraries are capable of being far more flexible and agile. When our school conducted R&D visits to innovative schools around the world, we noticed a disturbing trend; several schools had replaced their libraries with innovation centers.

The choice is not either/or; we need a remix or a new hybrid that combines access to information along with content creation. The library is one of the few places in a school that has the budget, staff, and resources to become an R&D center for innovation as well as a center for literature and the arts.

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OUR MISSION STATEMENT The SAS libraries strive to build a community where students can explore interests and pursue passions in new and flexible ways, while facilitating learning and knowledge creation. We assist members in becoming thoughtful users and creators of information with an emphasis on improving society through lifelong learning.

Within the SAS libraries, we have created unique learning spaces unavailable in most classroom settings, with resources and library staff to serve as facilitators to support and ignite learning. Unlike teachers, library staff members have more freedom to go beyond the curriculum, to be more agile, and experimental. Does this mean we are giving up on books and reading? Absolutely not, we still regard reading as a key life skill and primary form of learning; we will continue to support and encourage good reading habits and enthusiasm for reading.

COOL TOOLS FOR LEARNING The ancient Royal Library at Alexandria was arguably the most highly regarded library in the history of the world. However, Alexandria was not simply a warehouse for information, it served a much broader role in research, education and cultural development than we often associate with libraries today, even featuring specialized rooms for astronomy and zoology and hosting scholars from around the world.

I propose we experiment in our libraries, that we create mash-ups and hybrid settings based on our community needs and initiatives. While some schools offer maker spaces or innovation centers, we see these types of settings as highly compatible with the mission of our libraries.

Currently, our libraries at SAS have maker spaces, photo studios, audio recording studios, wellness areas, presentation areas and theaters as well as quiet study zones, relaxation areas, collaborative office spaces, and traditional large book zones. Within these spaces we offer thousands of print books, eBooks, book swap bowls, metal working equipment, exercise equipment, virtual reality headsets, digital wacom boards, video equipment, musical instruments, solar chargers, online databases, ant farms, 3D printers, robots, and woodworking equipment, all available for student, faculty, and parent use.

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FORMING A COMMUNITY COMMONS With all these cool tools and agile and flexible learning spaces, our libraries have tremendous convening power. Each week our libraries host a wide range of events which during the course of a school year include guest authors, faculty meetings, musical performances, TRi Time, math olympiads, Catalyst projects, film festivals, talent shows, TED talks, CSI crime scenes, hour of code, poetry cafes, MAP testing, club meetings, National History Day events, college fairs, Google Summits, Apple summits, science fairs, and a myriad of conferences and special events.

“Our libraries serve as community spaces on the SAS campus where everyone is welcome: students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors. We strive to inspire, enhance, and support learning both at school and at home through an impressive lineup of print and online resources as well as provide learning opportunities through a collaborative approach with librarians, ed tech coaches and other specialists,” says elementary school librarian Alison Cuthbert.

For our libraries to reach their fullest potential, they must become laboratories where we can experiment with new technologies and informational sources.

The rapid innovation in the world of emerging technologies is exciting, frightening, and confusing. We need an open honest broker to show us the best new tools for learning, problem-solving, innovation, and personal development, and a school library is the perfect setting to serve as a testing ground for new approaches to learning.

Doesn’t it make sense to utilize our school libraries as areas where we can prototype, test, modify, and introduce new ideas before adopting them across an entire school district? The school library can become an agile setting for learning and a catalyst for educational change; we are leading that change in the SAS network of libraries.

school librarian at Ron Starker is the middle nsforming Libraries: SAS and the author of Tra Makers and Seekers.

A Toolkit for Innovators,

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Hello ! l l a k Blac

Our young readers were mesmerized

by Australian author and illustrator Sophie Blackall and her captivating stories. When asked how to become an author, her advice: READ, READ, READ!

By DIDI HARI KRISHNAN Communications Writer

There is no better way to celebrate the annual Festival of Reading in elementary school than to provide our students with an opportunity to meet renowned author and illustrator, Sophie Blackall! Blackall won the 2016 Randolph Caldecott Medal for Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Famous Bear. Just a week after she visited Singapore American School in January this year, Blackall won her second Randolph Caldecott Medal for Hello Lighthouse!

Like many illustrators, Sophie Blackall had to persevere. She sent her work to many publishers and then she waited, and waited, and waited. It paid off! She received an email shortlisting her as one of three illustrators for a book called Ruby’s Wish. She joked that it was almost like a bake-off! Blackall sent in her illustrations and soon after got the job! Her eyes glimmered when she said, “I loved the story (Ruby’s Wish). I had goosebumps when I read it!”

“There is a gap between knowing in your heart what you really want to do and t hen actually doing it ”.

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Blackall gushed about SAS libraries and the great selection of books—almost 90,000—made available to our students here at SAS. “The students here are in a kind and enriching environment and you see it through the interactions between the students and teachers.”

After spending almost two weeks with our young, aspiring writers and illustrators, the best advice she could give is, “Read, and read, and read, and read! Look at pictures that you like and try to figure out how they were made. Trace them over and over again just to figure out how they were built.”

The signature academic visitors-in-residence program, funded

by SAS PTA and the SAS Foundation, brings renowned authors, illustrators, artists, actors, and music professionals to campus to work with students. Authors and illustrators like Debbi Michiko Florence, Jeanette Canyon, Eliot Schrefer, and many more have worked in-residence with children from early learning center to eighth grade, in art rooms, and in classrooms helping them to explore the art of storytelling and illustration.

Feeling inspired to replicate a Mr. Hoe classic at home?

Find the full recipe at www.sas.edu.sg/recipe.

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Educating for a Global World SAS initiates the Seal of Biliteracy to demonstrate language proficiency By K AT E L I L I E N T H A L Communications Writer When Singapore American School senior Da In Chung’s Mandarin teacher suggested she apply for the Seal of Biliteracy earlier this year, she thought, I can speak two languages.

Why not show some official evidence of that?

Sally Lean, director of world languages, and Stephen Ly, high school deputy principal for eleventh and twelfth grades, initiated the US-based Seal program to give students like Da In exactly that opportunity. “This is another significant step in the development of our World Languages program,” says Lean. “It shows participation in a shared level of language mastery across the United States and global employment community. It’s very exciting as a potential goal for long-term language learners and a capstone element to our program.”

The Seal of Biliteracy is literally a seal on a graduating student’s diploma that signifies written and oral proficiency in English and another language. It involves an application and test process. The program began five years ago in California as part of a movement to encourage bilingualism and has since spread to a majority of states. This year for the first time, SAS has adopted it for Mandarin, Spanish, and French.

The program began this year as a pilot.

Students in their senior year were invited to apply. These included students in the World Languages program as well as native speakers outside the program. The pilot also

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introduced a new language assessment tool, the STAMP (Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency) test, which marks a transition away from skills-based assessment to a focus on proficiency. “Students need to demonstrate their ability to use the language in unrehearsed, real life situations which is more aligned with what we try to achieve in our language instruction across the program,” Lean says.

Many SAS students come from bilingual households and speak two languages, even three. The Seal program goes beyond that.

It requires a high level of mastery across all four aspects of language proficiency: speaking, reading, writing, and listening in both English and another language.

The idea is that even bilingual students find this level of mastery challenging. Take Da In, for example. A native Korean speaker, she studied Chinese in primary school but then took several years off until picking it up again at SAS as a second language. She found she had a lot of ground to make up. She wasn’t used to keyboarding in Mandarin, and she’d forgotten many characters. Her subsequent years as a Mandarin student were hard work.

“The Seal gives students like Da In a goal,” Lean says.

Here’s how it works. Students may apply if they have studied a language through senior year and met expectations in a tenth grade or

higher English course, as well as scored well on an Advanced Placement Chinese, Spanish, or French exam or the STAMP test. That’s not all. There are also internal benchmarks to meet. Students must be nominated by the high school world languages department chair or their language class teacher and verify their English proficiency. According to Ly, the years of learning leading up to the exam represent a rigorous process that reaches beyond bilingualism, “It’s about our school’s vision of preparing students for the future.

Being prepared for the future requires us to be able to communicate with people from a range of different backgrounds.”

In practical terms, the test itself is a computerbased assessment delivered at a designated test site once a year early in the second semester. It’s adaptive, meaning, the level adjusts according to proficiency as a student works through it. Like the AP or SAT subject tests, it includes a writing component with paragraphs and mini-essays.

The test is appropriate for a variety of students, including both native and nonnative speakers of English and the language they apply to. Most likely, students who are still studying the language will apply, but it’s available to students who may have dropped their foreign language in an earlier grade, as long as they pass the STAMP test in their senior year.

In 2019, 36 SAS students applied for the Seal.

Twenty were accepted.

“This is a wonderful formal recognition of students’ hard work and achievement in the world languages,” Ly says. “However, we do not have any reason to believe that this will influence college admissions.

It’s meant to help our kids demonstrate a high level of language mastery in a manner that is increasingly recognized by employers around the world.”

Both Ly and Lean encourage language students to explore the program with their language teachers. To those interested, Da In says, “Give it a try. It doesn't hurt you to take the test, and it gives you a chance to test yourself on your own proficiency.

And if you're of high enough level, you can also get the Seal.”

Lean sees this as a capstone to the language offerings that begin at SAS in kindergarten.

“It gives students something to aim towards.

I want to see as many students as possible graduate SAS biliterate. It’s a critical component of the twenty-first century.”

For Da In, the Seal helped her feel her effort in high school had paid off. “The award made me feel accomplished,” she says. “I feel better as a language learner.” And that seems the best award of all.

“The Seal gives students like Da In a goal.”

– Sally Lean, director of world languages

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Boys Cross Country Girls Cross Country Boys Soccer Girls Soccer Bringing Boys Volleyball Home the Girls Volleyball Boys Basketball Girls Basketball Boys Rugby Boys Swimming Girls Swimming Boys Tennis Girls Tennis Girls Touch Boys Badminton Girls Badminton Boys Baseball Boys Golf Girls Golf Boys Softball Girls Softball Boys Track & Field

Every year, nearly 400 students are chosen to represent Singapore American School in multiple IASAS events and competitions. At SAS, excellence isn’t just about performance, it’s about the Eagle way. Students push themselves to their competitive limit while maintaining the integrity of the ultimate sportsman. Our Eagles display determination, self-sacrifice, and perseverance!

By KINJAL SHAH Communications Writer

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From hours of gruelling training in the hot Singapore sun to special diets, no season is complete without broken records, multiple injuries, and every range of emotion you can imagine!

Elation accompanies triumph and frustration and disappointment work around the fields, pools, gyms, and courts as students grapple with a missed goal, a blanket finish, or a late start!

This year, SAS hosted IASAS soccer for the first time in seven years! Kim Criens, the high school athletics director at SAS and his team were busy for months finding student-athletes willing to serve as hosts for the visiting student-athletes, allocating dedicated field/facility space, arranging with officials of high enough caliber that teams feel that everything was done fairly, and devising a schedule so that the games were played in a way that players would be adequately rested.

"I was super excited to showcase our SAS community’s Eagle way to our visitors and couldn't wait for our visitors...for our community to totally surprise them and make them feel wonderfully welcome," Criens said.

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years The beginning Since the fall of 1982, when Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asia Schools (IASAS) first started, SAS has remained one of the top contenders in the region.

The association comprises six Southeast Asian schools.

Other member schools include International School Bangkok (ISB), International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL), International School Manila (ISM), Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS), and Taipei American School (TAS).

Prior to this, SAS and ISB participated in an annual, multi-sport event called the Singapore-Bangkok Games.

In 1980, ISKL was asked to participate in this event creating the Triangular Games, which soon gave way to the idea of forming and commencing a regional international school athletic conference. The six school association has flourished ever since.

Over the years, cultural, artistic, and math events were soon added to this athletic partnership. Today the wide-ranging IASAS activities include badminton, baseball, basketball, chess, cross country, dance, debate, drama, forensics, golf, math contests, Model United Nations, music, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

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For some, the last season of the year may have been their first or second time to participate in IASAS. For others, it was their eighth or ninth. For every Eagle, the main goal is to bring home the gold, the Eagle way!

Senior Benjamin King, who captained the boys’ soccer team said, “I've been on many sports teams before, but the culture of this year's soccer team was special.

The team had a brotherhood where everyone had each other's backs.”

As athletes brought their A-game to the fields, courts and courses, they learned how to hold themselves accountable, how to persevere, and how to be committed athletes. Time seems to stand still when the whistle blows, and four years pass in a blink of an eye.

IASAS tournaments are unique experiences that only six schools—in the entire world—can partake in.

IASAS

The last hurrah!

golds

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5 59 9 J OJ OU UR RN NE EY YS S

WS i u n mt me eR r 2 20 01 18 9

IASAS SEASON Two Boys’ Rugby The Eagles completed another season filled with blood and sweat as they continued to battle against more experienced teams. They displayed commitment, courage and comradery, striving to be better everyday.

Girls' Touch Rugby Record: Bronze The girls produced some strong performances throughout the season demonstrating a sound understanding of the team systems and strategies.

The margin between the top three teams was very slim and highlighted the work the girls had put in to narrow this gap.

Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming The girls team brought home the gold, breaking five SAS records and setting three new IASAS records, while the boys’ team placed fourth. SAS won 13 gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.

Boys’ Basketball Record: Gold In a hard fought, physical battle with International School Bangkok (ISB), the Eagles came out on top. SAS peaked at the right time, playing their best team game of the season in the final against International School Manila (ISM). With seven seniors on the team, SAS celebrated an IASAS championship in front of a packed gym at home.

It was an incredibly successful season overall.

Girls’ Basketball Record: Gold The girls exhibited the Eagle Way to the fullest extent this year. Coming back from 11 points down in the championship game against Taipei American School (TAS) to bring the plaque back to SAS. These Eagles showed a tremendous amount of grit, perseverance, and sportsmanship and should be extremely proud of their accomplishments and efforts.

Boys’ Tennis Record: Bronze After weeks of dedicated training and hard work, the boys celebrated a hard-fought 3-2 win over TAS. Named to the All-IASAS team were Advait Abrol and Giovanni De Ferrari for a second straight year.

Girls’ Tennis Record: Gold In the championship matches against ISM, the team took home gold by winning four out of five matches over the defending champs.

All-IASAS winners include Laila Abou-oaf, Jackie Chang, Ally Chen, and Sally Nakazawa.

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IASAS SEASON Three Girls' Badminton Plagued with recovering injuries prior to IASAS, our girls suffered two more badly sprained ankles, and two sore and stiff shoulders.

Nevertheless, the Eagles fought through their pain and fatigue to the very last point.

Eagles all the way!

Boys' Badminton Record: Bronze We lost a tough semi-final 2-3 against International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL), putting SAS into the bronze medal match against ISB. Like all matches this one went down to the wire with a 3-2 victory. As always the boys played with determination and sportsmanship.

Girls' Golf The girls fought hard and hung in until the very last hole. A few struggles with chipping and putting on the new course, they put in great effort during long and hot days.

Boys' Golf Record: Silver The boys competed for gold against a strong Manila team and finished with 2 1/2 out of 6 to take second place for the tournament. Everyone gave their best and competed hard, keeping the matches close.

Girls' Softball Record: Gold The Eagles ended their season by defending the gold medal a third year in a row. Our team played extremely tough defense, aggressively ran the bases and executed with both hitting nd bunting. The girls outscored their opponents 82-24 and dominated the IASAS tournament.

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Boys' Baseball Record: Bronze The Eagles were able to defeat Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) to capture the bronze medal. With all the adversity they faced, they deserve kudos for the hard work.

Boys' Track and Field Record: Bronze Top point earners for the boys this year were Ben Brown, Cooper Isernhagen, and Ethan Pizano.

Lucas Bertnik gained key points and broke the SAS record in the 1500-meter run. Sean Garvey displayed great leadership and lead by example in his throwing events, where he also gained essential points to help the team.

Girls' Track and Field Record: Silver The top point earners for the girls' team were Mikela Munasighe, Yasmin Subawalla, Sam Vinal, and Lara Westwood-Marsh, who scored the most points as an individual for the team as a whole.

Captains Margi Antonio, Christina Yoh, and Yasmin Subawalla were instrumental in injecting passion and pushing everyone to the very last day!

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ALCOHOL

Assumptions GONE

WRONG By D r. J E F F D E V E N S Personal Academic Counselor / School Psychologist

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There is research suggesting that perhaps 80–90 percent of teens who do marijuana or alcohol regularly never graduate to more dangerous drugs. If that makes you feel less worried about your teen using weed or booze, I would ask you this question: If you saw a cool roller coaster that had a small sign reading: "Warning, every 10th teen on this ride loses their life," would you allow your child to climb aboard? Addiction is an absolute horror of a disease that essentially takes the hearts and souls of its surviving victims, often for decades, so that they are living a life that many see as worse than death. Any parents who are “cool” with their kids smoking or drinking are also being cool with tossing dice with the devil for the lives of their teens.

Dr. Michael Bradley, Clinical psychologist, author, and substance abuse disorders expert

Working as a psychologist and counselor in an international context can be problematic. I must be cognizant of my cultural presuppositions along with accounting for cultural variations when interpreting mental health data. Take, for example, reported adolescent alcohol use. Relying on student data from the United States and generalizing findings to “our” population of students may not accurately represent student experiences. The good news: we have data regarding our teens reported alcohol use.

The bad news, the comparisons are concerning.

Why We’re Concerned Alcohol kills more teens each year than all other drugs combined! Even with opioid-related deaths making headlines of late, alcohol continues to be a factor in the top three causes of death among those aged 15 through 24: accidents, homicides, and suicides. Unwittingly or culturally some adults view alcohol as a lesser drug (i.e. “drugs and alcohol”), perhaps this is because alcohol is the primary drug of choice for adults. Some parents even go so far to encourage adolescent alcohol use by providing it in the home. Unfortunately, these adults may be unknowingly contributing to a lifetime of dependence. Research from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicates teens that begin drinking before the age of 14 are five times more likely to have addiction issues as adults. Further, based on data from a six-year study which followed 1,900 teens, lead researcher Richard Mattick noted,

“teens whose early exposure to alcohol came from home aren’t protected against the dangers of alcohol and may be more likely to drink and suffer alcohol-related harms.” Providing alcohol to adolescents implies parental approval of drinking.

I don’t think it’s complex, I think it’s that simple, notes Dr. Mattick. The study looked at parents who gave teens occasional sips of alcohol vs. those who provided full glasses of wine and beer and found little difference in outcomes. Providing alcohol for teens does not foster healthier outcomes.

The longer we can delay using, the greater the likelihood youth will make better choices with this drug as adults.

Having had hundreds of conversations with teens I’m convinced alcohol is used primarily to cope with life challenges. When asked why they drink teens responses include: to feel good, to relax, to fit in, my friends were doing it, to have fun, to forget, to deal with frustrations with social relationships. In essence what these kids are indicating is in order to feel good, relax, fit in, etc., they need to put a drug in their body. Think about that for a moment.

A primary way for them to deal with developmental related issues is to use a drug. Not only does this drug cause potential long-term consequences it also stunts healthy social-emotional development.

What we want for teens is to address socialemotional issues without resorting to a drug.

How much alcohol is “ok” for teens to consume?

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My response, none. I’ve received an ear-full from some parents as to why I’m wrong, what I don’t understand about culture, and that not drinking is not possible for kids. Still I persist in holding this view. I am not so naïve to believe all kids will comply with parental prohibitions.

This said, parents holding convictions against alcohol use should not be swayed by perceptions or “cultural” practices. Maintain your convictions, communicate your concerns, present evidence supporting concerns, and lastly, lean on the law. It’s illegal for persons under age 18 to drink in Singapore. The hope is by the time young persons reach 18 (or 21 in the US) they have gone through enough not-so-good life issues and figured out how to address these without having to resort to alcohol or other drugs to cope.

Results of the 2018 Alcohol Survey Of the 926 students (high school population 1,250) participating in the study, 50 percent indicated they have never consumed alcohol. However, when responses are separated by grade in high school a clearer picture is presented.

Percentage of students by grade who have never drunk alcohol

Monitoring the Future Study For the past 40 years the US Department of Health and Human Services and the University of Michigan have partnered in the administration of the Monitoring the Future Study. This research (anonymous survey) assesses rates of substance use among twelfth, tenth, and eighth-grade students. Prior to undertaking research with our students, parents would often comment on the perceived use of alcohol among teens; however, there was no empirical data to substantiate claims. Knowing perceptions drive reality, even in the absence of evidence, in 2008 I began surveying SAS students utilizing questions from the Monitoring the Future Study and comparing findings among our population.

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9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

257 students

251 students

240 students

178 students

The question of perception of use is an important variable of consideration. 65 percent of students believed that half or more of their peers consumed alcohol the past 30 days; however, 73 percent of the students surveyed indicated they did not drink alcohol in the past 30 days. This variability (perception vs. reality responses) has been a consistent finding of this research. This perception distortion has been also consistently noted among US populations.

Percentage of students by grade who have drunk alcohol in the past 30 days VS perception of students who have drunk alcohol in the past 30 days (2018)

Tenth Grade Comparisons Twenty percent of tenth grade US students indicated they consumed alcohol the past 30 days. Among SAS tenth grade students, this figure is 15 percent, or 33 percent lower. Historical data indicates SAS tenth graders reported higher alcohol use the past 30 days when compared to youth in the US. (i.e., 2008-31 percent, 2009-29 percent, 2010-25 percent, 2011-52 percent, 2014-34 percent).

Ninth and Eleventh Graders The Monitoring the Future Study only surveys students in eighth, tenth and twelfth grade.

No comparison data is available for our SAS student body in ninth and eleventh grade.

Reality

257 9th = Grade students

251 10th = Grade students

240 11th = Grade students

178 12th = Grade students

perception

Twelfth Grade Comparisons The Monitoring The Future Study, last administered in the United States in 2017, indicated among US twelfth graders 33 percent consumed alcohol the past 30 days. Among SAS twelfth graders this figure is 62 percent or 53 percent higher. Historically, SAS twelfth graders have consistently reported higher alcohol use the past 30 days compared to US twelfth graders (i.e., 2008-62 percent; 2009-73 percent; 2010-78 percent; 2011-82 percent; 2014-65 percent).

Factors which may account for the variations include:

• The legal drinking age in Singapore is 18, • • •

whereas the legal drinking age in the United States is 21.

The majority of our seniors turn 18 at some point during their senior year.

Access to other drugs is significantly controlled thereby limiting the use of other substances making alcohol the primary drug of choice.

Cultural accepted practices, rites of passage, and family differences in use.

Other Findings From the Study

37 45 24 211 530 531

students indicated they've consumed alcohol 10 or more days a month, 11 of whom were ninth graders students indicated they've consumed so much alcohol that they passed out

students did something sexual they later wish they had not

students indicated did not drink because they did not want to disappoint their parents students noted if they had a problem with tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs they would likely talk with parents about it students noted they get information on tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs from parents

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What We Do At SAS to Support Students and Families Each year we share out alcohol survey data with parents via workshops, parent coffees, articles like this one, and one on one conversations.

The personal academic counselors (PACs) hold student workshops addressing alcohol and other social-emotional-mental health concerns.

Counselors also meet with students and parents as well as outside mental health providers, when necessary. All students are required to take health courses in high school where the topic of substance use is addressed.

Lastly, prior to spring break, we meet with all twelfth grade students in an assembly shifting the focus of our discussion from prevention to responsibility. We continue to advocate delayed use but must acknowledge in a few short months these young folks, most of whom are 18, will be heading off to university.

What Parents Can do

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Be explicit about your alcohol rules and consequences…and your “why.”

•

Share medical (physiological) information about alcohol and drugs with your teen.

•

Be your child’s out. Allow your child to be able to use you as an excuse for them to not drink (i.e., “I’ll be in BIG trouble if my parents find out and they will because they ask to smell my breath when I come home.”).

•

Find relevant examples of others who have made not-so-good decisions while under the influence.

•

Address this topic in an ongoing fashion. Having “the alcohol talk” isn’t a one-off conversation. Rather, this conversation along with others is ongoing, dynamic, and expanding as our kids move through adolescence.

•

Be aware of the influence of alcohol in your own life and how and why you use. I recently had a parent comment her spouse often needs a drink or two or three each night to unwind and comments as such to the kids.

•

Recognize if you drank as a teen this does not negate your stance on your children drinking, nor does it make you a hypocrite. With life experience comes (hopefully) wisdom and healthy self-reflection.

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Final comments I reached out to several other international schools but those schools declined to participate in this study. Why? I suspect part of the concern was not wanting to draw attention, with data, requiring a school response (i.e., student-parent education, counseling supports, curriculum/instruction, etc.). Perhaps there were concerns the data would be viewed unfavorably by prospective parents. Regardless, the leadership team at SAS recognized the need to challenge perceptions, frame reality, and find ways to support youth.

This is extraordinary care in action.

The leadership team at SAS recognized the need to challenge perceptions, frame reality, and find ways to support youth. This is extraordinary care in action.

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s n o o i f t E a a r e g l es en

SA 71 JOURNEYS

SL egacy Fami

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s e li

By KINJAL SHAH Communications Writer

No matter who we are, where we live, or what our goals may be, we all have one thing in common: heritage. That is, a legacy passed on from parent to child. Every one of us is passed a heritage, lives out a heritage, and gives a heritage to our family.

Generations of Eagle families share a special connection to Singapore American School. Legacy families are students and alumni whose families have attended SAS. As we say,

once an Eagle...

21

legacy households

25

alumni

26

children studying at SAS

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The Ellis Family

Christopher Ellis graduated from SAS as part of the Class of 1996.

His sons Mark and Lewis attend the Chinese immersion program here. Currently, Ellis is head of partnerships and alliances, APACDow Jones. He runs the partnerships group for the Dow Jones professional information business in Asia-Pacific expanding the reach of Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal news and data assets into new markets and with new partners.

1. Favorite memories IASAS tournaments/exchanges and Interim Semester top the list.

2. Favorite Mr. Hoe dish Beef broccoli rice.

3. The one thing at SAS that has changed the most from when you were here.

I was in the last class to graduate from King's Road—so the biggest difference is the campus.

4. The one thing at SAS that has remained unchanged from when you were here.

The sense of community at SAS between parents, students, and teachers remains strong and feels just the same as it did.

5. Favorite spot on campus The cafeteria.

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We really wouldn't have considered sending our boys elsewhere in Singapore, and it was a large part of choosing to base here instead of Hong Kong.

New opportunities like the Chinese immersion program along with the many extra-curricular activities offered and being a part of the same community that I was many years ago excites me.

The Baker Family

Bryan Baker graduated from SAS as part of the Class of 1994.

His son is enrolled in third grade here at SAS. Baker is a business development manager in the oil and gas/marine and offshore industry.

1. Favorite memories The American Club, vacations around the region (Bali, Langkawi, Phuket, Rawa Island, Tioman Island) with family and friends, IASAS, Interim Semester, SACAC sports, Mr. Hoe’s food, football at Ulu Pandan campus, and the very close-knit community.

The locations of the old campus’ (and proximity to The American Club) were an added bonus!

2. Favorite Mr. Hoe dish Chicken burger and fries.

3. The one thing at SAS that has changed the most from when you were here.

Sports! A lot more expensive, but more opportunities to play (a lot more)! I grew up on SACAC, which is now extinct, sadly…but the CSA is making me a believer. My son is eight years old and has great coaches.

This school year alone he had four or five opportunities to play baseball in overseas tournaments!

4. The one thing at SAS that has remained unchanged from when you were here.

Mr. Hoe, and Yeap Transport. That’s literally it, I think. Oh, and Mr. Schunk (elementary school principal)! He and I have a funny story. In my first week of school, I got myself in trouble, and Mr. Schunk (a counselor back then, I think) gave me detention.

When I found out he would be my son’s principal in kindergarten, I found him and told him the story (from 1988) and promised him that I was a reformed person and that my son would not give him any problems!

5. Best-loved SAS events IASAS, County Fair (now International fair), SACAC football, free dress days, and Air Band (lip syncing) 6. Favorite spot on campus At King’s Road, I’d say it was the open air cafeteria. Right at the front of the school.

98.7 radio station playing all day…the smell of Mr. Hoe’s cooking...we’d sit there and watch everyone come and go. At Ulu Pandan it was the football and baseball fields. Too many legendary moments…

I remember on graduation night at a friend’s house (Paul Hoopingarner)...we all sat around in front of a camcorder and predicted where we’d be in 20 years. I said I’d be in Singapore with kids at SAS, and God has truly blessed me. My son, Alex, is in his fourth year at SAS.

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The Klip Family

Donal Klip attended SAS from kindergarten through his sophomore year. Klip is the founder of the Global Mortgage Group and his children are enrolled in second grade and pre-kindergarten at SAS.

1. Favorite memories Sports with other IASAS schools and friendships.

2. Favorite Mr. Hoe dish BBQ pork over rice with incredibly-tasty gravy.

3. The one thing at SAS that has changed the most from when you were here.

Bigger campus and more cultural diversity.

4. The one thing at SAS that has remained unchanged from when you were here.

Forward-thinking, educational excellence.

5. Best-loved SAS events IASAS, County Fair (now International fair), SACAC football, free dress days, and Air Band (lip syncing).

6. Favorite spot on campus Basketball courts!

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We moved here from Hong Kong because I wanted my children to experience the same nurturing environment that I experienced in the safe, tropical setting that SAS offers. The school has evolved so much since I attended at the Ulu Pandan campus. It's been an incredible four years to see my children grow to be authentic, accountable, curious, and passionate citizens of the world.

The Crowe Family

Lynsey Crowe Howitt graduated from SAS in 1996 and is back as a pre-kindergarten teacher with three children now attending SAS. Coincidentally, her husband Dr. Cody Howitt is also a faculty member!

1. Favorite memories Dance performances, trying to get homework done in between costume changes and going on stage, Cultural Conventions—dance exchanges, beach cleanups, Interim Semesters...I could go on forever!

2. Favorite Mr. Hoe dish Chicken curry.

3. The one thing at SAS that has changed the most from when you were here.

The campus and renovations, learning communities, maker spaces.

4. The one thing at SAS that has remained unchanged from when you were here.

The love that the teachers have for what they do, and the extraordinary care they show to students and parents.

5. Best-loved SAS events The excitement that my parents had from having their kids attend the school. I try and bring this to my own kids each and every day. We are proud, thankful and excited to be a part of SAS! Physically... the big senior tree! It was beautiful!

6. Favorite spot on campus Behind the curtains, waiting to go onstage.

SAS affords the students experiences, materials, teachers, spaces, relationships, and a community that is unparalleled anywhere else!

I wanted my kids to have the same opportunities I had as a child. My mom was so involved in everything at the school, and I love that both Cody and I work here, so we get to be a big part of our children's lives at school as well!

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When i was a student at SAS, i nev

By KINJAL SHAH Communications Writer

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ver knew my career path existed!

A managing story editor in the story development studio at Walt Disney Imagineering, Margaret Kerrison (Class of 1996) works at the happiest place on earth!

At the time of writing this, Kerrison is the story lead for the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands in Disneyland, Anaheim, California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. She works closely with the creative team and Lucasfilm to promote a big, compelling Star Wars story.

A love for travel complemented her strong desire to tell stories through physical environments by building immersive and emotionally impactful worlds. “I’ve always loved to travel because every time I’m in a new place, I imagine what stories have come and gone through there. Being able to tell a story using all of my senses is like traveling to a new place. I love that feeling of discovering a new place for the first time.”

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Her passion for telling stories traces its roots to Singapore American School, where she found her voice through art, writing, and public speaking. Writing about and exploring other cultures is second nature to Indonesia-born Singapore-bred Kerrison.

Born in Surabaya, Indonesia, Kerrison and her siblings spoke Bahasa Indonesia at home. Learning English at SAS proved to be challenging but “amazing teachers encouraged me to embrace my own culture while learning about other cultures and languages.

It wasn't long before I learned to love reading and writing in English. Today, English is my primary language.”

TIP

1

Always stay curious and never stop learning.

Kerrison attended Tufts University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations. In college, she opted for Mandarin Chinese classes and studied in Annecy, France for a summer. Eventually, she discovered a love for screenwriting and attended University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic

TIP

2

Practice presenting and communicating effectively.

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Arts graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting in 2007.

A few entertainment and production companies later, Kerrison found herself drawn to themed entertainment writing at Walt Disney Imagineering. And the rest as they say, is history!

TIP

Part of the last graduating class from the King’s Road campus, Kerrison fondly remembers walking to the National Honor Society homeroom in the morning, chatting with friends in between classes, playing cards during lunch in the cafeteria, performing in the auditorium for band, and hanging out in the library. “SAS was my second home,” she says.

Embrace the child inside you!

Laugh and play often.

Kerrison is married to Foster, her husband of 15 years, and they have a curious and active five-year old named Bryce. The family enjoys road trips and discovering new places in California and around the world!

TIP

3

TIP

Be the person everyone wants to work with.

5

4

Follow your heart when you choose a major in college.

With passion comes success.

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We ship internationally!

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What’s your story?

The bonds of friendship. The mentorship of teachers and staff. Memories made in moments big and small.

The learning that shines through perseverance.

Every interaction, every pursuit, every class, and every activity at SAS weaves the fabric of our community to make us who we are.

We want to celebrate all things SAS. Share your story with us, and we may share it with our community online or in Journeys.

Connect with us at communications@sas.edu.sg and help us tell the story of what makes SAS a special place.

S Wu mi nm t e e r R 2 2 0 0 1 1 9 8

J OJ OU UR RN NE EY YS S 8 82 2

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Taking a gap year can be an incredibly rewarding yet nerve-wracking experience. A gap year isn't about taking a year-long holiday. It's what you do with that time that counts.

The Gap Year: On Being The Only One Who Hasn’t Moved an Inch By P R I YA N K A A I Y E R (Class of 2018)

Midweek, I find myself thinking of rain.

The boundaries of all the possibility I’ve spent this year lingering inside of. Gap year, by which I mean move slowly, pay attention. By which I mean eyes up. It’s the final year I will have this joyful torrential rain. I am trying to hold it close.

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JOURNEYS 84

When I am asked why I chose to take a gap year before attending university in the US, I don’t always have a good answer. I wanted a year for myself, yes. I wanted to spend time with family, focus on my mental health, travel, I wanted to grow my businesses, nurture all the seedlings of ideas that I knew wouldn’t have time to bloom in the brilliant chaos of college. Also, I wanted to take a nap. But mostly I think I wanted one year more of that rain.

It’s been such a long and love-locked year.

I wrote a new book and a new short film.

Released journal issues. I spent 10 days in Jogjakarta on whim because the flights were cheap. Six weeks travelling through Europe, staying with friends and readers in each new city. Attended open mics, plays, concerts.

Went to the cinema at one in the afternoon on a weekday, took up a whole row because no one else was there to chastise me for it.

Hosted musical and literary events. Applied for scholarships. Published a peer-reviewed scholarly paper. Practised my terrible French and my only slightly less terrible Mandarin.

Petted my dog. Attended a meditation retreat.

Taught English to students halfway across the globe. Got a job, quit, got another, and then one more. Took that nap. Forgot the quadratic formula. Sat always inside the rain.

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Gap year, by which I mean freedom

Meanwhile, my friends text me from their astrophysics classes at Columbia University, Snapchat videos of time-lapsed sunsets from UC Santa Barbara, tell me in all caps how they just met the US Poet Laureate at the University of Chicago, surreptitiously take photos and ask me to rate the cuteness of boys in their introductory Latin classes at Cornell, Facetime for my advice on their party outfits at Michigan State. In a year that will be me. It’s all so close—closer than close.

But for now I am still able to tease them when they tell me how much they regret taking advanced calculus, how they suspect two of their professors have secret crushes on one another, how they’ve changed their intended majors for the fourth time in two weeks.

I believe there is a masterpiece in this, too—in being the only one who hasn’t moved an inch, the only one who has moved so astoundingly far. The world is large right now. The rain is still within reach. There are paths to everywhere, and if university beckons like sweetness, it can wait a few months longer. The hands and all the senses make song out of emptiness.

Gap year, by which I mean freedom. By which I mean peel these hours like grapefruit, hold these days like porcelain. By which I mean we will never have this time again, I mean feverish and haloed, I mean work till midnight, sleep till noon, I mean run the extra hour, I mean book the plane ticket, I mean click send, I mean right here, now, for the first time in our lives, we have nowhere to be, we have everything to do. I mean the rain is coming soon and maybe part of me can’t help but hold it as long as I can, just one year longer.

Possibility flickers, blue-gold on the horizon. Eyes up.

Let’s go.

Priyanka Aiyer (Class of 2018) is an alumna of Singapore American School and a future student at Princeton University (Class of 2023). Under the pen name Topaz Winters, she writes weekly love letters to thousands of readers at topazwinters.com.

Her fourth book, Portrait of My Body as a Crime I’m Still Committing, comes out in May 2019.

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BREAKING

FROM SNOWY MINNESOTA

By DIDI HARI KRISHNAN Communications Writer From sunny Singapore to snowy Minnesota, Sharon Yoo (Class of 2011) has experienced it all! It has been one brutal winter in the Twin Cities but that does not stop her from doing what she loves—breaking the news!

Year: 2001 Location: Singapore American School Role: Second grade student English proficiency: Nil. Zilch. Nada. Zero!

Fast forward to…

Year: 2019 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Role: Reporter at KARE 11 News—NBC Affiliate

87

The journey to becoming a reporter was not always smooth sailing for Sharon Yoo (Class of 2011). Looking back, Yoo can’t help but recall the stress of moving to Singapore from Korea. The fact that she could not speak English made it more of an uphill battle.

Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) with Ms. Culnane helped tremendously.

Yoo left Singapore after fifth grade and moved back and forth between Korea and Singapore before finally returning to Singapore American School again in tenth grade. “When I came back for high school, it was easier. It was like picking life back up where I had left it. I was thrilled to be back!” she says.

While at SAS, Yoo was heavily involved in the SAS choir group, Singers. It was the most distinct part of her high school memory.

However, it was the journalism class which sparked her interest in visual storytelling— shooting videos and learning to edit footage—that led her to the career she pursued eventually.

Inspiring teachers at SAS Mr. Guggisberg: ”He taught me AP Language and he taught me how to write.

Writing is a huge part of my career!”

Mr. Clemens: “I never would have touched any video equipment if it weren't for his class!”

Mr. Zitur: ”I recently met up with Mr. and Mrs. Zitur!

He lives in Plymouth (five minutes drive from KARE 11) when he is back in Minnesota. I can’t wait to have dinner with them again!”

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Photo by Travis Kobs, KARE 11

After graduating from SAS, Yoo attended college at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. During her four years at Northwestern, she was continually thinking about what she wanted to do after she graduated.

Northwestern paved the way for her to be involved in broadcast journalism. After graduating, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin for a stint as a reporter cum multimedia journalist at NBC 15.

Later, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky to work as a reporter at WAVE 3 News.

Currently with KARE 11, Yoo is on-air five days a week working on general assignment reporting as well as feature reporting when the opportunity arises. She has been doing a lot of weather coverage this year thanks to mother nature showing some extra love to the north—it was still snowing in March! “It’s definitely jarring to have giant piles of snow around you for more than half of the year— but I love it here in the midwest!” Yoo’s job as a broadcast journalist is definitely not the easiest nor the highest paying job out there, but it sure is fulfilling. She commented, “If you feel that this is the right path for you, believe in yourself!”

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IF YOU FEEL THAT THIS IS THE RIGHT PATH FOR YOU, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Coming full circle, Yoo recalled walking down the halls at SAS on her first day with her mother when her mother told her, “You can spread your wings and really be yourself here.” Yoo thought nothing of it then but now believes that SAS prepared her for the toughest things in life. She shares, “SAS taught me to be tenacious and independent. It taught me to fight for the things I love. However, it also taught me to be compassionate.”

Follow Yoo on Twitter @SharonKARE11 to be in the know of what’s happening in the Twin Cities.

SAS TAUGHT ME TO BE TENACIOUS AND INDEPENDENT. IT TAUGHT ME TO FIGHT FOR THE THINGS I LOVE. HOWEVER, IT ALSO TAUGHT ME TO BE COMPASSIONATE.

SHARON YOO'S PET PEEV ES OF JOURNALISM

1. Sexism.

As a reporter and mul timedia journalist, I carry a lot of gear—two tripods, a news camera, a DSLR, a GoPro, a light kit, and a light sta nd. Yes, I can carry all those things!

No, I do not need you r help, I’ve got it figured out! Many people offer help to be polite, but some people occasionally get on my nerves by saying things like “Sh ouldn’t you have a photographer carry that for you?” or “Th ey make a little girl carry that all by herself?”

2. I dislike the ter m "fake news".

Yes, we should all str ive to be accurate 100 percent of the time. But yes, we mak e mistakes. “Fake new s” is overused.

I’m over it.

3. I don't like Twitte r or Facebook trolls .

If you don’t have any thing nice to say, jus t keep it to yourself. Don’t hide behind a screen if you can’t say it to my face.

4. Stop asking us if we do our own hair and makeup.

Local news is not lik e network news. We all do our own hair and makeup.

5. This is not much of a pet peeve but it is something that I would like to explai n.

Each city or area has affiliates. KARE is an NBC affiliate.

Fox 9 is obviously a FOX affiliate. Howeve r, it doesn’t mean we work for NBC news or FOX news. We share video and content, but we do not strict ly report the views of our network affiliates. To approa ch a local news report er and say we are “liberal” med ia or “conservative” media is not offensive—but is techni cally incorrect. We are our own entity and we all str ive to be as objective as possible.

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The annual Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) picnic, held in January, was a celebration of foreign domestic workers in Singapore.

The middle school Roots & Shoots club teamed up with middle school Social Justice Council to organize the picnic. The response from Singapore American School community and club members this year was inspiring. The picnic was filled with laughter, enjoyment, and friendship!

Service club members and SAS teachers arrived at the picnic early on a Saturday morning. Some brought their families and dogs as well. Most importantly, they brought along a feast of delicious food and drinks. There were generous food donations from SAS teachers, SAS families, and Hoe Brothers Catering.

Sharing Laughter and Love at the HOME Picnic

By A D I V. A N D R E B E C C A F. Eighth Grade Students

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Sixty women from countries like Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines joined as the guests of honor.

These amazing women have faced various forms of social injustice, including emotional and physical abuse as well as exploitation. The goal of the picnic was to create positive new memories for everyone.

A sunny day at East Coast Park with food, good company, and lots of dancing helped achieve this goal. The women had an amazing time bonding with each other and the SAS community.

All the time spent by club members planning and organizing the picnic was worthwhile as the women smiled and laughed throughout the morning. In the weeks leading up to the picnic, SAS service club members handwrote notes for the women to share encouragement and love. Thanks to generous donations, Singtel top-up phone cards were gifted to the women along with each note so they could keep in touch with their family and friends.

It was also a pleasure to work with the HOME organization and their amazing volunteers who bring these women together, provide safety and support, and look out for their welfare. Thanks to the tireless effort of the HOME volunteers and partnering community members, there is hope the women staying in the shelter will have bright futures.

With the support of the SAS community, we were able to spread a message of hope and justice. The goal of the service club members now is to continue working alongside HOME to support foreign domestic workers in Singapore who face troubling times. Please visit the HOME website (https://www.home.org.sg/) or contact Brian Arleth (barleth@sas.edu.sg) and the Roots & Shoots club to learn more ways to get involved.

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Going, Going, Galapagos!

By S A R A H H I LT Y Communications Intern

I looked down at the vibrating phone on my desk and saw a 202 area code. I recognized the number was from Washington DC from my four years teaching there. I also knew that applicants would be contacted about selection for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship in early February. My breath caught a bit as I turned back to my first graders, who were beginning to pack up to head home. I was more than a little distracted during dismissal that day. —www.alisontravis.com

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Alison Chin Travis (Class of 2008) shares her journey to some of the most remote locations on planet Earth and how that amplifies her teaching.

Half an hour later, Alison Chin Travis (Class of 2008) returned the call to find out that she had been accepted into the 2018 cohort of Grosvenor Teacher Fellows!

She was ready to partner with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions for this professional development opportunity of a lifetime.

Over nine months, Travis along with 39 other Fellows would be going on expeditions to remote locations such as the Arctic, Antarctica, Alaska, and the Galรกpagos Islands. They would bring back and synthesize data, media, and stories to enhance geographic literacy for students in their schools.

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A seven-day voyage to the Galapagos Islands gave Travis more insight into the classroom without walls philosophy that she had experienced in middle school at Singapore American School. She spent 14 years at SAS from kindergarten through twelfth grade and the experience of living as an American expat and traveling internationally fueled her focus as an educator.

Today, Travis is an elementary educator, teacher mentor, and third-culture kid teaching first grade at Prospect Ridge Academy in Broomfield, Colorado. Travis aspires to teach her students to be good, engaged community members, and global citizens. The model exploration and real-world learning through the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship was a very tangible way to achieve her goal.

Travis’ SAS journey began in 1994 when as a four-year old she left Connecticut for a far-off island called Singapore. Even with the knowledge that her mother originated from Hong Kong, she found the idea of a move difficult to fathom. Disappointed to be leaving the corner of the world she called home, Travis and her family soon fell in love with the beautiful, bustling city of Singapore, and ended up staying for 14 years.

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At SAS, Travis fell in love with the arts program, finding a passion for dance and musical theater in her middle and high school years. Travis also experienced what many students do in international environments—constant goodbyes.

Is the teaching profession for you?

Alison Chin Travis has some advice:

Like many students who have been forced to contend with friends and classmates moving away, Travis was no stranger to the hurt that came with a feeling of abandonment. At SAS, Travis gained a perspective of the world that only a third-culture kid can claim, which played an integral part in influencing her future teaching style.

Believe it when people say that teaching is more than a job, it’s a lifestyle.

As emotionally and physically exhausting as it can be, it is deeply rewarding.

After graduation, Travis attended University of Virginia in the United States, graduating with a double major in political philosophy, policy, and law and psychology. She then went on to receive her Master’s degree in education while working as a kindergarten teacher in Washington DC. In DC, Travis developed teaching philosophies for use in her classrooms, growing and learning as an educator during her years in the city.

She eventually moved to Boulder, Colorado with her husband, continuing to teach in the new state as well.

Her love of educating stemmed from her years at SAS. Her experiences in leading others as a student allowed Travis to discover what she ultimately loved to do, leading her into a successful career in education.

•

Do you love to learn and work with other people, especially kids?

•

Do you crave a stimulating environment?

•

Are you a champion multitasker and get restless sitting all day?

•

Are you ready to face a new challenge every day?

The world could use more hard-working, passionate people to influence the next generation. Get on board!

.”

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JOURNEYS 96

1

ROBOTICS TEAMS ACE GLOBAL COMPETITIONS

The Eagles competed against 126 teams at the FIRST LEGO League Finals in Singapore. The elementary school and middle school robotics teams won three awards—elementary school presentation award champions, elementary school teamwork award champions, and middle school research award champion.

Head coach of the SAS robotics team of four years Mr. Daniel Gach also won the prestigious best mentor award.

High school robotics team (20 traveling team members and three coaches) had a successful FIRST Robotics season after 13 rounds of competition against 40 teams from seven countries. They won the engineering inspiration award and the safety award. Junior Rohit Narayanan earned the finalist status for the Dean's list award.

Narayanan also organized the cross-divisional end of the year celebration and awards assembly highlighting the achievements of SAS robotics teams this season. Narayanan is an integral member of multiple robotics teams at SAS and mentors students across all divisions. He also offers robotics mentorship to students from a local school.

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2

VISITING ACADEMICS IN RESIDENCE AT SAS

Illustrator Jeanette Canyon spent two weeks working with our elementary students in the art classrooms creating beautiful sculptures made with polymer clay. Musician Mary Knysh drummed up some fun in the music classrooms through drum circles and music improvisation.

Visiting author Colin Goh, creator of the Little Dim Sum Warriors series (bilingual books for children 3-6 designed to teach Chinese) worked with students to create characters.

New York Times bestselling author and two time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer offered insights into his works and process and worked closely middle school students in workshops.

Advanced Topic Writing Workshop and Publication students worked with Bram Stoker and Elgin Awardwinning author Christina Sng—a great opportunity for our students to learn from an amazing poet, writer, and artist.

Two incredible children's book authors worked with students from kindergarten through fifth grade— Sophie Blackall and Debbi Michiko Florence.

Florence inspired our young aspiring authors by sharing her creative process. Blackall also spent a week in-residence with our early learning center students showcasing her illustration ideas.

3

NOTHING STOPS SAS DEBATE TEAM

SAS debate team conquered the International Debate League Championship. High school students Chris Cho, Rohan Jasani, and Harish Koneru won their grand finals match to bring home the gold. Another SAS debate squad made the quarterfinals in the Open Break and overall six of our debaters earned recognition as top speakers during the tournament.

At the IASAS championship, our high school debaters continue to soar. Both debate teams made the semi-finals after five preliminary rounds of debate. In a rare feat, SAS A faced off against SAS B in the grand finals. In the end, SAS A won the gold medal on a split decision and SAS B earned silver.

Mateus Norton de Matos earned the gold medal as the top speaker in the tournament and Rohan Jasani was named second best speaker and earned a silver medal.

They went on to dominate their next tournament— 2019 Cultural Convention at Jakarta Intercultural School. After having the A and B teams face off against each other, our A team brought home the gold, while the B team followed with silver. Mateus Norton de Matos won gold for best speaker, Rohan Jasani won bronze, and Dan Reznichenko placed fifth among the field of debate speakers in the tournament.

Andrea D'Souza and Mateus Norton de Matos both earned top speaker recognition in the Oldham Cup—the largest tournament of the year with 60 participating teams from Singapore and around the region.

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4

EAGLES DOMINATE SOUTH ASIA NHD AFFILIATE FINALS

SAS hosted the eighth annual South Asia National History Day Affiliate Finals. In the Junior division, middle school students took 17 out of 18 possible slots, and most of the third place alternates as well!

5

EAGLE SOARS IN GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ninth grader Sarasa Najima competed at the 11th Singapore Rhythmic Gymnastics National Championships. Najima bagged two gold medals in the ribbon and ball category as well as two silver medals for hoop and clubs for level seven.

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6

TOP PERFORMING EAGLE IN FLORIDA SHOWCASE

Third grader Stella C. was recently awarded top performer for eight through 10 year-olds at the Premiere Showcase in Orlando, Florida.

This competition is for actors competing in comedy and drama.

7

FORMER GOVERNOR OF VERMONT VISITS SAS

Former Governor of Vermont Peter Shumlin spent time in a few classrooms to talk on the topic of climate change. Governor Shumlin encouraged our students to become future leaders in efforts against climate change.

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TUNING INTO AMIS

Earning a place in one of the prestigious Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) honor ensembles has become an integral part of the culture within SAS’s performance art programs.

Middle schoolers represented SAS at the Asian Middle School Honor Orchestra Festival at Jakarta Intercultural School and the Shanghai American School Pudong for the Asian Middle School Honor Band Festival.

9

SPEAKERS TURN TIDES AT TEDXYOUTH@SAS 2019

SAS hosted its annual TEDxYouth event with the theme “Turning Tides”. TEDxYouth@SAS was organized by an executive team of 27 high school students including lead organizer Naya Jorgensen.

Speakers included Cal Galicia, Rohit Narayanan, Grant Schooling, Simran Sethi, Ethan Thorpe, and Evelyn Zhang.

10 EAGLES TAKE ON FORENSICS

AT IASAS

Each Forensics team—Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory, Impromptu Speaking, and Extemporaneous Speaking—sent delegates to IASAS finals. MariElena Ramnath took silver in Impromptu Speaking with the prompt "That's not funny." Ollie Van Den Heuvel won bronze for her Oral Interpretation of The Witch by Shirley Jackson. Other delegates in the finals included Regina Bernardo in Oral Interpretation, Naya Jorgensen in Original Oratory, and Reika Herman in Extemporaneous Speaking.

11 SENIOR RECEIVES GOLD

AND SILVER KEY

Senior Diana Ku received two prestigious awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards!

Ku received a gold key for her work in mixed media and a silver key for her work in the drawing and illustration category.

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12 MATHLETES MAKE

IT COUNT

Team SAS took first place at the MathCounts Asia 2019 Regional Competitions in Shanghai.

Congratulations to Gaurav G., Kevin H., Avi K., and Emma L. Students who placed in the top ten include Gaurav G., Kevin H., Emma L., and Josh S. An SAS math team also earned top honors at the South East Asia Mathematics Competition in Ho Chi Minh City. All team members earned medals in at least one of the competition categories with Andrew Chang and Allen Ryu also earning the prestigious gold medal for the top overall individual scores. The Eagles brought home the school trophy for best overall team score for the fifth year in a row. Participating team members were Nitya Arora, Gaurav G., Josh S., Allen Ryu, Harsha Polavaram, Andrew Chang, Vincent Choi, Advay Ratan, and Atharv Chowdhary.

13 THANK YOU FOR THE

GASTRONOMIC DELIGHTS

A big thank you to the PTA for all the hard work on the amazing setups and delicious delicacies from around the world for staff appreciation day.

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14 CHEERS

TO YOU!

Senior Asia Rutledge recently competed in the Singapore CAS National Cheerleading Championship and Asia Cheerleading Invitational Championships (ACIC), an event organized by the Cheerleading Association (Singapore). This event included over 80 invited teams with more than 750 participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore along with several exhibition groups from China. Rutledge's team, placed second in the ACIC Open Coed Elite #1 division and first in the CASNCC Open Coed Elite #1 competition.

15 LEARNING FROM

THE BEST

Badminton legend Tony Gunawan and his wife Etty Tantri coached the SAS varsity badminton team.

Gunawan is a former Olympic gold medalist and world champion for Indonesia. Tantri was the first Indonesian to win the women’s doubles title.

16 GOLD FOR

SAS GYMNASTS

SAS students competed in the Gymnastics Moose Games in Bangkok. Third graders Isha S. and Mackenzie H., second grader Ruby W., and sixth grader Talia W. brought home gold medals.

17 EAGLES DOMINATE

TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team SAS bagged the Taekwondo Championship for the sixth year in a row! The sky's the limit for our taekwondo champions.

18 SKATING QUEEN

STRIKES GOLD

Sixth grader Sissi G. brought home the gold after taking part in the preliminary 10 and over division at the Singapore National Figure Skating Championships and Basic Skills Competition.

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19 DAVID YEAGER TAKES

TO THE SAS STAGE

Dr. David Yeager, Carol Dweck’s protege, and described by Angela Duckworth as the best developmental psychologist of his generation, recently led the largest study a growth mindset in history. At SAS, Yeager spoke to the community about grit and and cultivating a growth mindset for high achievement among students.

20 SAS SPEAKERSERIES FOCUSES

ON RAISING BRAVE KIDS

As part of the SpeakerSeries, bestselling author, Forbes columnist, adventure traveller, and speaker Margie Warrell drew on her 20 years in executive coaching, positive psychology and her experiences as a mother of four children (15–21) to help SAS parents navigate the challenges of launching young adults into an increasingly competitive world. Warrell discussed the pitfalls of fear-based parenting and how to find the courage to help children.

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21 FACULTY SHINE IN PRODUCTION

OF INTO THE WOODS

The second annual faculty musical, Into the Woods, Jr! transported audiences into a magical world where they were entertained through drama, music, and just a little bit of mayhem.

SAS SPACE TECH PROGRAM

22 TAKES FLIGHT

The Engineering and Space Technology program team celebrated the launch of Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus spacecraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in April. Cygnus carried the students’ space crystals experiment to International Space Station.

23 EAGLES TAKE

ON SEABYST

SAS students competed with 22 teams from various countries in the South East Asia Youth Baseball and Softball Tournament. Team Awesome Singapore includes many Eagles baseball players. Stanley H. bagged the most valuable player award, and Shodai T. and Layton S. won a Best Pitcher Award each.

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY

24 WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

The National Honor Society inducted 60 new members this year. Guest speaker, Adrian Price, high school Accelerated/AP Chemistry teacher, led the induction ceremony. Congratulations and a warm welcome to the newest members of the NHS!

FLAUTIST SHINES AT

25 INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Eighth grader Sophie E. won second place in the 'Music of the World’ competition in Jerusalem after competing against 14 competitors mainly from Byelorussia, China, Israel, Moldova, and Russia. She performed La Traviata and Bach Sonata in G minor for 15 minutes.

MATU HARVEY

26 DOCUMENTARY

Ninth grader Matu Harvey’s film was shortlisted for The Across Asia Youth Film Festival after going against 244 films entered from 71 schools in 12 countries! Harvey and his mother, Kirsten Harvey traveled to Siem Reap to give 11 young monks a film-making experience for a day. Harvey edited their footage to create his documentary In the Moment.

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27 BONJOUR TO NEW INDUCTEES OF

FRENCH HONOR SOCIETY

The French Honor Society inducted 14 new members this year. Guest speaker, AudeEmmanuelle Douyere, Marketing, Sales, and Development Executive of Alliance Française de Singapour, led the induction ceremony.

Congratulations to the newest additions to the FHS family!

28 TRI-M MUSIC HONOR SOCIETY

WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

The Tri-M Music Honor Society welcomed 19 new members. Through performance and community service, students will develop confidence, creativity, critical thinking, compassion, and a host of other leadership skills sure to serve them well in school and beyond.

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29 SPANISH HONOR SOCIETY SAYS

HOLA TO NEW INDUCTEES

Fifteen students were inducted into the Spanish Honor Society. Their guest speaker Ms. Elena Marco Fabre, Educational Consultant for the Spanish Embassy graced the occasion.

30 SAS STUDENTS PUBLISH

HORROR ANTHOLOGY

The Advanced Topic Writing Workshop and Publication team published their project—an anthology of current horror stories—Morbid Curiosities: An Anthology of Unconventional Horror Stories! This anthology of horror peels back the veneer of normalcy to uncover the strange and spine-tingling fears lurking behind. This collection of 25 oddly specific horrors will make one look twice at everything from a Barbie doll to a ball of twine.

31 SAS WORLD VOICES CHOIR BELT

IT OUT AT CHORALFEST

Selected seventh and eighth grade choir students performed at the Australia National Choral Association Choralfest Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia. This event drew in so many sectors of the choral community.

EAGLES SHOWCASE

32 MATHEMATICAL MASTERY

Led by high school math teacher Rhian Murgatroyd, ninth grader Allen Ryu and eleventh grader Atharva Naik clinched the gold and scored in the top 25 percent at the World Math Competition. They will be representing SAS at the World Mathematics Invitational which will be held in Tokyo.

SAS GYMNASTS

33 GO FOR GOLD

Sixth grader Tahnee B. competed in the UWCSEA East Dragons Invitational 2019 winning the gold on vault and sixth place on balance beam. She placed ninth among 27 athletes who participated in the open age Australia National level six category.

SAS GYMNASTS

34 CONTINUE TO SOAR

Our Eagles represented SAS at the ACSIS Gymnastics Competition. Second grader Ruby W. won second place on vault while third grader Isha S. won first place for both balance beam and uneven bars, silver medal for floor exercise, and third place overall. In the level three seniors category, sixth grader Talia W. and fourth grader Chloe M. won first place in uneven bars and balance beam respectively. Fourth grader Sienna D. won third place in both vault and uneven bars.

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35 SAS ARCHER AIMS HIGH

Sixth grader Aarna A. participated in the National Interschool Archery Championship 2019. She won third place in the Individual Elimination Senior Division Recurve Female category. SAS won fourth overall in the Senior Division category.

36 SAS DANCERS SHINE

AT WORLD FINALS

SAS dancers competed at Get The Beat World Finals. Katherine E., Joslyn B., and Anya H. qualified at regionals throughout Asia and placed very well at the World Finals. Anya H. placed first for contemporary and hip hop in her age division.

Katherine E. and Joslyn B. placed first and second for several of their solos.

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37 EAGLES BREAK

THE RECORD

Middle school track and field team hosted the ACSIS Track and Field Championships in May. Both girls and boys 12U/14U teams bagged the gold in the team competition. Seventh grader Nishka M. set two ACSIS records in the 800m and 1500m. Eighth grader Xavier J. also set an ACSIS meet record in the boys 14U 400m event.

38 EAGLES TO THE

FINISH LINE

Sophie Grant (ninth grade), Owen Green (ninth grade), Bella Shroff (tenth grade), and Andy Son (tenth grade) competed in the Metasprint Series Triathlon. Sophie Grant earned a second place finish in the women's 16–39 age group for the Discovery Sprint distance. Bella Shroff took third place for women 16–19 in the Sprint distance.

39 SNHS WELCOMES

41 JUMP FOR TABITHA

The Science National Honor Society (SNHS) welcome new members to the family. SNHS also hosted its first annual science symposium.

Speakers included high school teachers Dr. Began and Mr. Crawford, Doug Parker from nuTonomy, SNHS members Ahan Kaul, Zhirou Gao, Michelle Johnson-Wang, Hsi-Min Chan, Varun Narayan, and SNHS officers Jonna Chen, Rohan Jasani, Niranjana Rao, and Diana Yuan. Teachers and students spoke about a science topic that they're passionate about, ranging from directed evolution (the 2018 Chemistry Nobel Prize) to the Science of Hallucinogens. It was an eye-opening experience for the community.

Fifth grade students raised $17,096.35 through a Jumpathon for Tabitha Foundation in Cambodia.

Their fundraising efforts targeted clean drinking water and building wells. Tabitha is a sustainable non-profit organization that uses all funds to help the poorest people in Cambodia through programs that focus on personal and financial development, which ultimately allow people to become self-sufficient.

NEW MEMBERS

FOUNDATION CAMBODIA

40 NEW INDUCTEES FOR THE

THESPIAN HONOR SOCIETY

CONGRATULATIONS

EAGLES! A record number of 42 new thespians were inducted into the Thespian Honor Society, the only honor society at SAS based on co-curricular involvement.

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