Singapore American School Newsflash, April 2009

Volume 11, Issue 8-08/09 - April 2009

MICA (P) 160/08/2008

A Singapore American School community service publication

NewsFlash

A Culture of Giving Page 3

Star Appeal 2009 Pages 4-5

Cirque De La Nuit Pages 22-23

NEWSFLASH

April 2009

Volume 11, Issue 8 -08/09

Board of Governors

7 Garth Sheldon Chairman of the Board

Bart Broadman Vice Chairman of the Board Chairman Finance

Calendar Highlights

20 Booster Club News 32 SAS PTA President’s Letter

Ravi Agarwal

Joseph Anderson

Board Member

Chairman Curriculum

Kirk Hulse

Devin Kimble

Chairman Trust

Chairman Facilities

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A Culture of Giving

17 IS Math Fair

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Star Appeal 2009

18 Standardized Testing

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Ms. Siti in Person

19 RLA/English Study Year

10 Mystical Tibet

20 Global Issues Network

12 Strings Students in India

24 Cirque De La Nuit

13 IASAS Cultural Convention

26 MS Music Festival

16 Math Madness

28 AMIS Festival

16 IS Knowledge Masters

29 MS Band Goes High Tech

NEWSFLASH is published monthly by the Communications Office of the Singapore American School. It is distributed free of charge to the parents, faculty members and organizations served by the school.

Rudolph Muller

Bon Park

Board Member

Chairman Advancement

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE Singapore American School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 Tel: 6360-6303 SAS Website: http://www.sas.edu.sg Editor: Beth Gribbon Staff Editor: Junia Baker Layout Design: Alfi Dino

Margrit Benton

Sheila Wang

Board Member

Board Member

We welcome input from the community associated with Singapore American School May NewsFlash Deadline: May 13, 2009 Publication Date: May 29, 2009 Email Community News Input to bgribbon@sas.edu.sg

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Maria Warner Wong SAS NewsFlash – April 2009 Board Member

Catherine Poyen Zemans

Board Member

Email Trading Post Input to trade@sas.edu.sg Trading Post advertising is restricted to non-commercial items only from SAS students, parents and staff

Singapore American School – A School Shaped by a Culture of Giving “Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.”

By Brent Mutsch, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools had an impact on their lives in ways they will never forget. The list was not limited to but included Don Adams, Jim Baker, Nat Bava, Martha Began, Michael Cox, Bob Dodge, Kim Melsom, Mike Norman, Bill Rives, Paula Silverman and Rick Silverman.

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hile recently participating in an international recruiting conference in San Francisco, I had the pleasure of attending an SAS alumni reunion. As inevitably occurs during conversations at a gathering of this nature, the discussion turned to what alumni remember most about SAS. On this particular evening, I was struck by the frequency with which so many commented on their recognition that SAS is a school shaped by a culture of giving.

Giving is sometimes defined as: to bestow, entrust, impart, contribute, provide, award, grant, devote and sacrifice. The concept of giving that was consistently represented in these alumni conversations was focused on the genuine care for and about students that teachers brought to their daily interactions. This care was manifested in how unselfishly faculty invested in creating challenging, stimulating and engaging learning opportunities in the classroom and through the Interim Semester experience.

Alumni frequently named the teachers who had given so willingly of themselves and

SAS is indeed fortunate to have a deeply committed and caring group of professional educators that makes up the faculty. This group, both as individuals and as faculty, engages students in a wide range of experiences that serve to further promote learning, growth and development.

Beyond what is daily committed to the classroom experience, many SAS faculty and staff also work countless hours with students outside the classroom to reach beyond the Woodlands campus and enrich the lives of those who are less fortunate through a variety of service programs.

However, the culture of giving at SAS is not limited to members of the faculty and staff.

SAS is fortunate to enjoy an exceptional parent community that is deeply committed to giving of its time, talent, expertise and experience. The strategic presence of the PTA and Arts Council offices when first entering the SAS campus, the Booster Booth located in the heart of the high school “town center” and the proximity of the SACAC office to the high school speak volumes to the phenomenal level of volunteerism that is represented by PTA, Arts Council, Booster and SACAC organizations. Parents associated with each of these organizations

are on campus daily and willingly give of their time, talent and passion to further enhance the quality of experience that students enjoy at SAS. SAS is also fortunate to have a community that is increasingly committed to giving of their financial resources to support the school.

These gifts, whether given as direct donations or through the support of the broad range of fund-raising activities that occur throughout the school year, are each important. These funds are used to expand the range and scope of services made available to students and to support the fundamental commitment of the SAS community to being of service to others.

The Vision of the Singapore American School is to inspire a passion for learning, encourage emotional and intellectual vitality and empower students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community and achieve their dreams.

The culture of giving that is woven into the fabric of SAS and positively experienced in so many forms ultimately contributes to students’ abilities to making contributions of their own and thus transcends the circle of giving that shapes the school to further impact the broader global community.

2009-2010 Calendar Update

The 2009-2010 school calendar has been revised. The Deepavali holiday (originally November 15) has been changed to October 17. The Deepavali school holiday will be on Friday, October 16, during the previously scheduled Fall Break. Since Deepavali is no longer on November 15 (Sunday), November 16 (Monday) will be a regular school day. In addition, January 11, 2010 will be late start day (10am) for students. The revised calendar has been included as an insert in NewsFlash this month and has also been posted to the homepage of the SAS website.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Photos by Eric Loh & Willy Foo

Teachers Steve Bonnette, Jo Ann and Mark Clemens, Karen Olah, Shelly and Paul Griffin, Frank Olah

Alex Bettadapur, member of the High School Jazz Combo that played for guests during the reception.

Erica Padgett, teacher Nanette Ruhter, MCs Nihal Varkey and Lauren Felice.

Shailesh & Jacquelyn Bettadapur, Jason & Suman Masciarelli, Stephanie Morgan-Russell

Garth Sheldon, Chairman, SAS Board of Governors

Margrit Benton & Kiran Gill

Parents Y.S. and Suzie Nam (left) and Bon and Edan Park (right) with Superintendent Brent Mutsch and Maggie Mutsch.

The fourth annual Star Appeal Dinner on April 4 raised over S$390,000 for the Education Foundation thanks to many generous parents and the Khoo Teck Puat Foundation, which underwrote the dinner in the Windsor Ballroom of the Goodwood Park Hotel. Members of the cast of Seussical sold raffle tickets for prizes donated by Forfino and Il Lido restaurants, Aman Resorts and Como Hotels and Resorts; the wine was donated by Wendy Yap and Vinum Fine Wine Merchants; and the entire event was orchestrated by committee members Andrea Muller, Sandra Smith, Mae Anderson, Beth Gribbon, Khoo Eun Choo, Suzie Nam, Janie Ooi, Bon Park and Fae Varinata.

Superintendent Brent Mutsch thanked them all, saying that the event was “another example of the spirit of giving that exists at SAS. Whether members of the SAS community are giving of their time, experience, expertise or financial resources, each gift serves to enrich the quality and nature of the educational experience made available to our students.”

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In addition to music performances and skits from Seussical, Erica Padgett and Kyle Smith gave a talk and slide show on the athletic programs, the dedicated personnel who carry them out and how the Education Foundation has contributed to their growth and success.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

SAS Education Foundation Star Appeal Dinner Donations - 2009 Eagle Circle

S$20,000 & above

Khoo Teck Puat Foundation Hano Maeloa & Monita Harianto & Sukma Widjaja Stephen Riady & Shincee Leonardi

Tiger Circle William & Jamie Amelio Steven Cheng & Sylvia Liu Cisco Systems Crocs Asia Pte Ltd DBS Bank LTD Michael & Shelly Dee Michael & Eva DeNoma GETCO Asia Pte Ltd William & Lois Lydens

Gecko Circle Joe & Mae Anderson Ragnar & Joey Horn Soejono & Fae Varinata

Orchid Circle Ravi & Sunanda Agarwal Jonathan & Jessika Auerbach Richard & Ashley Barry Masoud & Maria Bassiri Bart & Valerie Broadman Dong Woo Chang & Ah Jung Lee Jenny Q L Chiam Mike & Kendall Connors Michael & Grace Fan Edward & Rachel Farrell Ed & Noa Gilbreath Scott & Valerie Graddy Jim & Beth Gribbon Bryan & Christine Henning Kirk & Janice Hulse g

S$10,000-S$19,999 Brent & Maggie Mutsch Y.S. & Suzie Nam Mark Nelson & Margrit Benton Janie Ooi Edan & Bon Park Brent & Sandra Smith Pei Ling Tan & Yulies Irawan Ee Lim & Sofina Wee Xu Quan & Xue Qiong Yao

S$5,000-S$9,999 Phillip & Sandra Widjaja Raymond & Kaori Zage David Zemans & Catherine Poyen

S$1,000-S$4,999

Scott & Yun Joung Jung Gerd Keim & Rini Sumardi Devin Kimble & Amy Sittler Ayaz & Shamina Lavingia Joo Bae & Eun Hee Lee Shahryar Mahbub & Shazia Khawaja Rudy & Andrea Muller Masatsugu & Yuki Otani Vijay & Sujata Parekh Neil & Mika Parekh Deepa Pasumarty Adrian & Susan Peh Cameron Poetzcher & Varsha Rao Raj & Mary Rajkumar Namuh & Younsoo Rhee

Traveler’s Palm Anonymous Mark & Marianne Boyer Yeow Ming Choo Angelina Zheng Philip & Daywen Chu Marian De Groot Gary & Sally Greene David Hoss Geri Johnson Stanley Koster Marc & Heidi L’Heureux

Stephen Russell & Stephanie Morgan-Russell Iwan Sarjono & Ingrid Prasatya William & Martha Scarborough Garth & Roxana Sheldon Abidinsyah & Bonita Siregar Helman Sitohang & Maria Praptanti Gerry & Michelle Smith In Jun Song & Joo Hyun Lee Lawrence & Jane Sperling Chris Tan & Chantal Wong Steven & Asa Tucker Harrison & Sheila Wang Jun Won & Yoon Hee Choi Chiu Man Wong & Maria Warner Wong Kwan Nga & Rosa Wong Shue Hai Yee & Iris Liew

S$100-S$999 Rajkumar Narayanan & Jaya Rajkumar Hanatha & Louise Perdana Thomas & Heather Presnail Ken Schunk Tiri & Susan Shaw William & Marybeth Shay Gregory Smith Walter & Patti Szopiak Wilbert & Amy Young

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Meeting Ms. Siti in person … 36 years later!

Interviewed by IS GATE RLA Students Photo of 3rd grade teachers and aides by Salmah Ismail

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s. Siti Nopiah Bte Aziz has been part of the staff at SAS for 36 years. During her time many changes have happened both in her personal life and the life of the school. When Ms. Siti started working at SAS, the elementary school was at Alexandra Road. She was still single and used to walk to work each day. Now, not only has the school transformed into a new and enormous campus, Ms. Siti also has a family and is a very proud grandmother, who is ready for the new challenge of caring for her granddaughter.

The Gifted and Talented Reading Language Arts class recently interviewed her to her to find out more about her 36 years of service to SAS.

How did you come to work at SAS? Ms. Siti: There were no advertisements back then, so by word of mouth I heard of SAS. One day, a teacher asked me to babysit her kids and drop them off at Sunday School. Over time I came to work and do artwork with them.

The teacher, Zoe Rita Smith, liked the work that I did and suggested that I apply for a job at SAS and so here am 36 years later.

What changes have you noticed in the school while you’ve been here?

Ms. Siti: There are more facilities and the population has grown. There used to be only 2 classes per grade level and so there were only 50 students per grade level back in 1973.

Were you always a third grade aide?

Ms. Siti: I have worked in many different grade levels: 5th grade (1 year); 4th grade (20 years); 6th grade (6 years); 3rd grade (9 years).

What did you want to be growing up?

Ms. Siti: I wanted to be a teacher. Things just didn’t work out, but being a teacher’s aide is close enough.

What motivated you to keep working here?

Ms. Siti: It was a great experience for me and my family, and I liked meeting people from around the world. I also gained a lot of experience in ways to work with my small children at home.

What does it feel like, working here for so long and then leaving?

Ms. Siti: I feel sad about leaving because I have made so many friends, both adults and children. I will miss all the people here – the teachers, the staff and the students. I really enjoyed working here because everyone is so nice to work with.

What is one of your favorite memories of SAS? Ms. Siti: When I started working at SAS, it was at the Alexandra Road campus in an old barracks building. I used to love walking to school and viewing the trees on the campus. It felt so peaceful. Now, it is quite different as I need to board the MRT and then I get on the shuttle bus to the school.

What is the most meaningful thing that you’ve learned from SAS? Ms. Siti: I’ve learned how to deal with problematic kids from teachers and then I used some of those strategies with my own children. I also believe that parents should always support their children’s teachers because they really do a wonderful job with the children in school.

What do you think of SAS? Ms. Siti: I think SAS is the best school in the world! They hire excellent teachers from all over the world!

Thank you Ms. Siti for all the lives you have touched in your 36 years of service at the Singapore American School. We will miss you.

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

* Campus Mosquito Fogging, every Sunday 5:00pm – 7:00pm 20-23 IS Awesome Ape Competition 20-24 Rachel Simmons Visiting Author 20 ALTERNATE DRESS DAY PS Principal’s Parent Coffee 22 ALTERNATE DRESS DAY Earth Day Celebrations 7:00 pm 5th Grade Parent Night 24 Booster Honor Roll Recognition Lunch 7:00 pm PTA Carpet Auction (PTA Office) 8:00 am Gerri Hickman Memorial Run 7:00 pm MS Dance

May 2009 1 2-3 4-8 4-15 4

April 2009

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9:00 pm-1:00 am Junior/Senior Prom Earth Day Celebrations 27-30 Wellness Week 27 ECC Parent Coffee 3:15 pm National Art Honor Society Inductions (H301) 10:00 am Booster Club Mtg. (H301) 30-May 3 SACAC Gym Fest Show (MS Gym)

* Campus Mosquito Fogging, every Sunday 5:00pm – 7:00pm

LABOR DAY HOLIDAY HS SAS Activities Free Weekend Festival of Stories AP Exams 8:15 am - 9:15 am IS Parent Coffee for Gr. 2 Tri-M Inductions 10:00 am MS Parent Coffee (M301) 5-8 Tabitha Sale 5 PTA Board Mtg. 3:15 pm MS Dance Open Dress Rehearsals (Auditorium) 8 4:00 & 7:00 pm MS Dance Show (Auditorium) 9-10 8th Grade Tabitha Trip 11-12 SCHOOL HOLIDAY 13 ALTERNATE DRESS DAY Late Start for Students 10:00 am 14 4:00 pm Drama Performance (Drama Th.) 15-17 8th Grade Tabitha Trip 15 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm HS Art Opening (Gallery) 7:00 pm Drama Performance (Drama Th.) 11:30 am Booster Club Appreciation Lunch

19-21 19 20 21 22 23 26-29 26

27-29 27

28 16 –22 HS Art Show 29 16 9:00 am -1:00 pm PTA White Elephant Sale 19-20 Senior Photo & Senior Appreciation Day (Sentosa)

Student Council Decathlon PTA Appreciation Tea/Annual General Mtg. 7:00 pm MS Choir Concert (Drama Theater) Community Calendar Mtg. (H301) 7:00 pm MS Strings Concert (Auditorium) 7:00 pm-8:00 pm EASA Just 4 Jazz Concert (Elm. Theater) No school K-5; PS/PK are in Session PS/IS Student-Led Conferences 7:00 pm HS Combined Concert (Aud.) HS Final Exams Thespian Inductions (Th. Studio) PTA Joint Board Mtg. (PTA Office) Booster Club General Mtg.(H301) 7:00 pm MS Band Concert (Auditorium) K and Grade 1 Field Day ALTERNATE DRESS DAY PS/IS Play Day (Stadium) Booster Club Popcorn Day HS Celebration of Service (HS Gym) Grade 3 Field Day Grades 4 & 5 Field Day IS/PS Play/Field Day Make-up Day 7:00 pm 8th Grade Dance (MS Cafeteria) Field Day - Make-Up Day SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Flying with Eagles – BSA Troop 07 Sailing in Phuket

By Star Scout Andrew Moody

Photos by Trish Stearns

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agles soar, and so did BSA Troop 07 of Singapore as scouts attended their second fall sailing adventure in Phuket, Thailand in October 2008. Beside fishing, camping, kayaking and swimming, this year’s adventure included a double Eagle Scout project, as two Troop 07 scouts worked toward obtaining scouting’s highest rank.

Twenty scouts and leaders flew into Phuket, then headed to Phang Nya Bay to meet up with the Merdeka, a 90-foot sailboat. A fantastic start to a week of high adventure was jumping off the bow of the Merdeka into16 feet of free fall and watching the commercial fishermen spear barracuda!

The trip was not without danger as falling coconuts were rampant in camp. Once the Thais had cleared them, the husks were used for our campfires. During the wilderness survival overnight on Koh Nok beach, one scout had a serious wake-up call when he found a Malayan water monitor lizard sitting on his chest!

Fortunately it scurried off when he woke.

A few thunderstorms passed through the camp as well, but nothing spoiled the adventure.

Eager to earn Eagle rank, Life Scouts Corbin Weber and Dymock Dibb guided the troop and local volunteers in the renovation of a school on the small island off Phang Nya Bay. Corbin passed out the scrapers and paint brushes, then went to work repairing doors and building new shoe racks for the students. Dymock’s project included the repair and repainting of the school’s metal railings and the building

Troop 07 aboard the Merdeka, on which the scouts spent a week sailing around the islands in the Andaman Sea.

of new picnic tables for the students.

They also put up a new tether ball pole on the “playground” and taught the kids how to play. Despite the work, there was plenty of time to horse around, and the Thai kids provided plenty of opportunities.

Seeing the smiles on their faces when the collection of school supplies was distributed gave the Boy Scout slogan, “Do a Good Turn Daily” new meaning.

exciting. Earning merit badges was a big part of the trip, and the Sailing and Fishing merit badges had never been so alluring!

Thanks go to outdoor activities leaders Scott Weber and Neil Dibb who guided us through the week and provided a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. I thought this was a good example of what the Boy Scout organization is anywhere – developing the whole person by learning to adapt to new environments, training

As swimming is a big part of this trip, stroke by stroke, several scouts earned the Mile Swim, Snorkeling and Kayaking patches. The scouts swam among beautiful coral and alongside yellowlipped sea snakes, urchins, anemones, clown fish and starfish. Kayaking into the limestone caves and exploring the many types of stalagmites was also an amazing adventure. With only our headlamps to lead the way, the caves were both eerie and

Dymock Dibb resurfacing the railing at a Thai school.

in new skills, becoming a leader, helping others and making life-long friends.

When our family moved to Singapore a year ago, it was a wonderful surprise to find myself on a scout campout within weeks of arrival. It amazes me how many troops are scattered all over the world. May Boy Scouts never get on the “Endangered List”!!

Corbin Weber working on his Eagle Scout project by leading the scouts in painting a classroom in a Thai school.

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

Girl Scout Troop 32 Silver Award Project

By Elina Filice, Grade 8

Photos by Lisette Roy-Filice, Parent & Troop Leader nearer, we packed 120 individual bags with everything the participants would need, including a day camp T-shirt, a snack, a poncho, tissues and a drink. On the Saturday before camp, we went to Sembawang Park to scope out the area.

Elina is helping the Daisy Scouts make “ Colored Goo”.

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he Girl Scout Silver Award is the second highest award that can be earned in Girl Scouts, and the highest award that can be earned by Cadette Scouts. The Silver Award “represents a girl’s accomplishments in Girl Scouting and her community, as she grows and works to improve her life and the lives of others.”

Troop 32 has been working on its Silver Award for two years, and there remained several steps to be completed. Steps one to four helped us explore career options, visit places we had never been, learn about ourselves and strive for self- improvement.

Step five was the Girl Scout award project, which needed to benefit the community in some way and entail at least 40 hours of work.

Our troop of eighth grade SAS students Rachel Jackson, Mary Jane Lenderman, Tara Sivaskandan, Angela Wang and Elina Filice chose to plan and host the annual Girl Scout Day Camp for our Silver Award project. This is a day of activities and fun for younger Scouts, the Daisies and Brownies.

We thought this was an ideal choice because it allowed us to work as a group, yet still have individual jobs and responsibilities.

The first step in completing this award was finding a project advisor to guide us through the process. We were unable to use troop leaders Mrs. Jackson or Mrs. RoyFilice, as the mentor cannot be directly associated with the troop. We approached Mrs. Sushma Agrawal, as she has been involved in Girl Scouts for many years and has a wealth of experience in planning

and programming events. The next step was to assign jobs and activities to each troop member. Along with our individual responsibilities, we chose a science theme for the Try-It Badge that the girls were going to earn, chose a T-shirt design and worked out the details of the budget.

We separated the attending girls into five color groups and worked out a schedule that would give us time to carry out five stations, as well as time for lunch and the opening and closing ceremonies. As the February 7 date drew

Camp day finally arrived, and we were all thrilled. We rose early in the morning to bring all we needed to the camp location.

By 9:30, the camp was underway! Other than a few minor issues, everyone agreed that the event went quite smoothly.

We started with an opening ceremony, which is a requirement for all Girl Scout events. We then split into our groups and the fun began. Girls went to their first three stations and then rested for lunch.

After lunch the campers enjoyed the last two stations, and then we had a closing ceremony. After the closing ceremony we had a friendship circle, where we sang songs and enjoyed cookies to end the day.

I think Day Camp this year was a huge success and that all the girls had had fun interacting and getting messy. Troop 32 is very happy with how day camp turned out and is proud of its achievement as a team and as individuals. Pursuing the Silver Award has been a rewarding experience, and one that we will always remember fondly.

End of Day Camp Friendship Circle.

Patty Jackson(troop leader), Rachel, Mary Jane, Tara, Angela, Elina, Lisette Roy-Filice (troop leader).

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Mystical Tibet

By Chelsea Leonard, grade 11

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ibet is one of the few places in the world that lies mysteriously out of the grasp of the media and global understanding. It is widely discussed, but rarely do people truly experience it beyond articles about rioting monks and news clips of the Dalai Lama. Its reputation as a politically charged region should make it overexposed in the media, and yet it remains a mythical place. It goes without saying that our group of 20 juniors and sponsors Mr. Oms and Mr. Devine was extremely lucky to get into Tibet so close to the anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile, March 10. Unbeknown to the students, China was taking steps to close the border to foreign visitors, and Mr. Oms and Mr. Devine were negotiating with travel agents to get us into Tibet after we had already arrived in Chengdu, China. Had they not been successful, we might have spent a week touring panda enclosures in China. Instead, we were fortunate to arrive in Tibet the next day and experience, truly, the trip of a lifetime. Tibet interim was rewarding for me and the nineteen other juniors because we came home enlightened about one of the most traditional and culturally preserved places in the world – where modernization and industrialization are only slowly encroaching on a way of life that has lasted for centuries.

One of the most breathtaking features of Tibet was the contrast between the barren, inhospitable landscape and the thousands of colorful prayer flags draped between mountaintops for good luck.

The contrast in architecture was also a

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

Photos by Chris Kuan

visible juxtaposition of traditional Tibet and modern Chinese influence. Colorful red and blue cloths draped windowsills of the older buildings, many of which have flat roofs to retain the heat in the rooms below, and many windows to let in the warming rays of the sun.

Contrary to what I expected, my own views on China’s oppression of the Tibetan people did not affect the trip in a negative way. The constant Chinese military presence became a sort of unavoidable obstruction to our viewing of the monasteries; we barely even acknowledged the tanks and riot squads toward the end, although it seems hard to comprehend now.

Our last days in Tibet, spent in Lhasa, were the most memorable. The difficult hike up the side of a mountain to the first of three monasteries afforded us a distant view of crowded Lhasa buildings among snow-capped mountains. In the first monastery, a friendly monk with a huge smile bustled around, swishing his maroon robe, serving yak butter tea to prostrating Chinese tourists and offering us traditional local cookies.

His warm personality and optimistic nature made us feel at ease, in the way all Tibetans seemed to do. The final monastery had astonishing views of the surrounding mountains outside and the many priceless artifacts inside.

The most memorable monastery may have been Jokhang Temple, located in the center of Lhasa; for many, this is the

epicenter of Tibetan Buddhism. The deep colors of the wall carvings and unique traditional door locks frame the building with staggering beauty. While exploring the holy site, we were lucky enough to observe a special dance performed by the monks for the New Year celebrations.

The turning and swirling of the monks was fascinating to our group, but perhaps more significant for the Tibetan onlookers, who seemed mesmerized – our tour guides had never even seen the dance! While I was filming the dance on my digital camera, I felt breaths of cold air on the back of my neck, and I turned around to see an old man with his chin on my shoulder. His curiosity for my strange device was endearing, and we stood still there for several minutes, after which he tried taking a photo of his wife with this unfamiliar piece of technology.

My most memorable experience was visiting the Potala Palace on Tibetan New Year’s day. Traces of snow frosted the rooftops and doorways, and we walked carefully around several prostrating pilgrims who were holding prayer wheels in one hand and a rosaries in the other.

They may have walked for miles to get to the palace, but the few hundred steps to the 1,000 rooms in the dry, thin air were enough to challenge our lungs.

Each room had a different atmosphere, whether the monks’ dormitories or one of the small chapels. At the tomb of A sort of crypt for the 13th Dalai Lama is opened only on New Year’s day, and I blinked dozens of times, trying to soak up the 4,000 kilos of gold and thousands of gems used for the Buddha statue

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ever seen by most Tibetans, let alone the world! If I close my eyes, I can still see the indescribable beauty.

The absolute devotion of the Tibetan people was an honor to witness; their displays of homage manifested through the many spectacular monasteries on which Tibetan society is based are indeed something rare and beautiful in the modern world.

Tibet. All of my concerns of boundaries – language, culture – were unfounded when we were matched with our little buddies. Sonam and Lhamu Dolma

hurriedly opened the boxes of toys I had carefully assembled, and I don’t think I have ever been so excited as I was to see their reactions.

Some people feel that Tibet is an occupied land that will be freed when China’s industrialization leads to its democratization.

Others say Tibet rightfully belongs to China and believe there has been no visible negative impact on the people, economy or land.

On one issue there is no dispute – the people of Tibet are unusually friendly and unequivocally devoted to their way of life and religion. Tibet is one of the few places in the world that makes you stop and really consider that the things we find stressful in daily life are trivial and our culture so materialistic; to have the opportunity to see a lifestyle where everything has a need, a purpose gave us a new perspective on our lives. The poverty of some of the more rural areas was heartbreaking, and yet it seemed only poverty from a Western perspective.

Children roamed the streets, and some even clung to our back pockets, yet they seemed more fascinated with our appearance than the money in our bags.

Lucky Star Orphanage was indisputably our most rewarding experience while in

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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SAS Strings Students Explore India By: Anika Kim, grade 7

Back row- Angela Wang, Sylvia Shim, kate Sarosiak, Cat. Andrade, Cathryn Harvey, Deepti Varathan, Dean Chang; Second row – Lakshmi Batachari, kate Blakeman, Lena Jung, Letitia Chai, Anika Kim, Sarah Oh; Front row – Ethan Cheng, Young Ju Kim, Elton Wang

n March 20, 16 very courageous students, five fearless parents and three brave teachers, including Mr. Townshend, the SAS MS orchestra teacher who organized the trip, went to India to leave their mark on SAS history. Sixteen curious students pushed themselves into going to a country that might not be the safest place in the world. Although many people were ominous on the plane to India, they couldn’t help the giddy feelings that crept into their minds that they were going to spend their entire break with friends and without parents! However, Mr. Emerson, Ms. Kozerowitz, Mrs. Sarosiak, Mrs. Blakeman, Mr. Andrade, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Harvey didn’t seem quite as excited about spending their break with overly hyped-up teenagers in India, where it could be dangerous if they did not pay careful attention to safety!

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Now, why did 26 people go to India? The purpose of this trip was to have concerts with students from the Woodstock School in Mussoorie. Woodstock is an SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

international boarding school, north of New Delhi, where Mr. Townshend taught before coming to SAS. Although the purpose of the trip was for strings education, the 26 people learned much more than that. Mr. Townshend knew that this would be really great experience for everyone, including the teachers and parents, because they would learn compassion, responsibility, trust and mostly, interdependence. Of course, as a result, students, teachers, and parents did learn something more valuable than strings education; they learned about poverty and taking responsibility without the benefit of their parents or the ones they depended on. They learned about trusting someone and getting other people to trust them; they learned how to depend on others, even the ones that they would not have dreamed of becoming friends with at SAS. Lastly, they learned how to appreciate the help around them.

They began to notice the little things that didn’t seem to count that much at SAS but seemed like a big favor when they were not in their “safety zones.”

What did the 26 people from SAS do besides practicing their instruments every day? They traveled a lot while they were in India. In New Delhi, they saw the India Gate, Humayun’s Tomb, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Red Fort, Jama Masjid and Chandini Chowk. Then they went to Agra, four hours from New Delhi, and looked at the beautiful Taj Mahal and learned the history of this magnificent monument to love. The rest of the trip was spent in Mussoorie, but they didn’t just practice.

They met students from Woodstock and got to see the dorms, their activities and their lifestyle. The experience was definitely worthwhile, because everybody in Woodstock was kind and definitely not shy. They also hiked in the mountains, and walked for quite a long time through the bazaar. Coming back from Mussoorie we visited Rishikesh, where you could see beautiful scenes of hills and Ganges River. All the places were stunning and beautiful. All the places had valuable histories that drew all the kids, parents and teachers completely in.

The Singapore American School and the Woodstock School held two concerts, where students from both schools formed an orchestra. One concert was for Woodstock students and teachers. The other concert was for people from other schools and the community in Mussoorie. Both concerts were fantastic, even though

the students had only four hours of practice altogether. They managed to pull off both concerts, flawless and perfect.

Not everything was great while we were there. A few people had stomach aches and headaches. Two people had serious attacks of flu. One of them was unfortunately Deepti Varathan, who was

supposed to play the solo piece in the orchestra. Other than that, the trip was great! Students, parents, Mr. Emerson and Ms. Kay send special thanks to Mr. Townshend for planning this magnificent trip and for managing it so well before, during and after the trip!

Cultural Convention Dance, Drama, Tech, Debate & Forensics

By Mimi Molchan, Activities Director, and Paula Silverman, Theater Coordinator

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hat an Event! March 5-7 SAS hosted the 27th annual Dance, Drama, Tech, Debate and Forensics parts of the IASAS Cultural Convention on the SAS campus. 190 students from International School Bangkok, Jakarta International School, International School of Kuala Lumpur, International School Manila and Taipei American School joined with SAS students to compete in debate, extemporaneous, impromptu, original oratory and oral interpretation speaking. On the other side of campus, dance and drama delegates provided the student body and community with fabulous performances on the auditorium stage. When not performing, the dance and drama participants shared in collaborative workshops as well as critique sessions. The technical delegates created the sound and lighting cue sheets for the shows and attended a workshop on Saturday at LaSalle - School of the Arts.

Everybody was busy and the campus was hopping with excitement. All worked

Congratulations to the following SAS forensics finalists: Extemporaneous Ishan Gupta – finalist Impromptu Aisling Leow – finalist Original Oratory Zach Nelson – 1st place; Helen Knight – 2nd place; Aisling Leow – 2nd place Oral Interpretation Esha Sondhi – 2nd place; Danielle Courtenay – 3rd place Olivia Auuerbach – finalist

hard, and the outcome was high energy fun. Many of the visiting schools commented on the wonderful feeling that all the student interaction evoked and that the students were so relaxed

with one another. The closing ceremony was a perfect example with the delegates sharing in the chants of other schools and singing songs as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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IASAS Music and Art Cultural Convention in KL

by Michael Cox, HS Faculty

Akane Otani (left) and Linda Kim (right) were two of the eight SAS band delegates who participated in the Festival Band.

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hirty-five SAS student delegates participated in the 2009 Music and Art Cultural Convention at ISKL in March. The students were adjudicated in the three convention divisions of vocal music, strings and band and under the direction of some of the world’s best clinicians. Dr. William Jones, festival orchestra director, Weston Noble, festival choir director, and Robert Busan, festival band director, combined their talents with those from the other IASAS schools in Cultural Convention Festival Ensembles.

Five art students participated in workshops led by one of Malaysia’s most

Danielle Selby (center) was among the 48 choir delegates who performed in the Petronas Concert Hall with the Festival Choir.

exciting and engaging artists, Ahmad Zakii Anwar. Art pieces from several non-delegate SAS art students were displayed in the IASAS art show as well.

The highlight of the Cultural Convention was the Festival Concert on Friday night in the Dewan Philharmonic, one of the world’s top classical concert venues, located in the iconic Petronas Towers.

Alyssa Reinoso, soprano and the SAS woodwind trio of Akane Otani, flute, Allen Koh, clarinet, and NooRee Kang, flute, were selected to play in Saturday night’s concert. In addition, the SAS String Ensemble of Nancy Li, PreetiVarathan, Gabriela Yu, Vinhya

Rao, Esther Jang, Julie Kim, Carolyn Koh, Vivian Yang and Aki Maedomari and the SAS Vocal Octet of Alyssa Reinoso, Daniele Selby, Aishwarrya Balaji, Sanskriti Ayyar, Dominic Wong, JJ Baek, Steve Hong and JC Kim performed in the Showcase Concert.

Micha Pavik Roach, art, Brian Hill, band, Stephen Bonnette, strings, Philip Green, vocal, and Yuko Kamimoto, piano, prepared the students for the convention and accompanied them to Kuala Lumpur.

From left, Morgan Thain, Ellen Lee, Ms. Roach, Raehanna Reed, Malvika Singh, and Jennifer Ho were honored as SAS Art delegates.

Raehanna Reed hanging her artwork at ISKL

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

Malavika Singh, Morgan Thain, Jennifer Ho and Ellen Lee at a charcoal drawing workshop at ISKL.

Finely Tuned Original Oratory Earns both Gold and Silver

By Helen Knight, Grade 12

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uring breaks and after school from January through March, Zac Nelson (10), Aisling Leow (11) and I could often be found in Mrs. Kett’s room. Our success in the IASAS Original Oratory speaking competition, which requires that each participant present a 5-7 minute speech on a persuasive topic, was decided by a number of nuanced factors. The content of each speech, worth 35% of the score in the competition, had to be original, convincing, well-organized and neither too frivolous nor too somber.

The presentation, determining 65% of the score, had to be poised, energetic, perfectly paced, and charismatic so as to create a connection with the audience.

With these goals in mind, we spent many weeks drafting, revising and rehearsing.

All of us were first-time participants and benefited from Mrs. Kett’s experience as a coach. She guided us through each step of the process, deciding which areas were satisfactory and which needed improvement, and growing as familiar with our speeches as we were. We also helped one another, providing second and third opinions when we were unsure of the phrasing or which words to emphasize.

As the competition drew closer, Mrs. Kett donated her classes as practice audiences so that we could fine tune our delivery.

By the time the 15 other competitors arrived on March 6 for the event, which took place as part of IASAS Cultural Convention Dance, Drama, Debate and Forensics,

we were ready with speeches that were distinctive in subject and humorous in tone. I spoke on preteens, or “tweens,” and their characteristic persuasiveness and optimism. Aisling’s topic was how the unusual names some parents choose for their children haunt them throughout life. Zac, speaking on the American public education system, convincingly supported a thesis that, “Americans are getting dumber and dumber.”

In the first three rounds that took place over the course of two days, each of us was judged against participants from the five other schools. Performing in front of a home audience, we enjoyed speaking to a receptive crowd, and all three of us made the final round.

To have all three participants from one

school make the finals of an IASAS forensics event is an unusual triumph in itself. However, the end results exceeded this victory: Aisling and I tied for second place, while Zac won the gold. This was actually the second consecutive gold for SAS; Ravi Shanmugam (08) earned that honor last year.

“Original Oratory is a great event, requiring a speaker with both writing and speaking skills, as well as a unique outlook on a topic. We were extremely successful this year, and for that I have to thank Mrs. Kett,” concluded Aisling.

Though in the finals we competed against one another, it was the collaborative preparation that made this year’s Original Oratory so memorable for SAS. SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Math Madness with the PTA Visiting Author, David Schwartz

By Susan Shaw, IS Gifted & Talented Advisor, Jodi Bonnette, Literacy Coach, and Sally Burk, IS Library Media Specialist, co-organizers of Math Madness Weeks in the IS Division

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id you know that if you hopped like a frog, you could jump from a baseball field’s home base to first base in just one leap? Do you know what one million pieces of popcorn look like?

David Schwartz was the 2009 PTA Visiting Author from March 9-13. He is an awardwinning author who has written over 50 books for children. Schwartz writes books that reflect interests he has had since childhood, especially his love of large numbers and nature. He writes in whimsical ways that make math and science come alive for kids and teachers. Some of his books are If You Made a Million, How Much is a Million, If You Hopped Like a Frog, G is for Googol and his newest book, Where in the Wild. Students and teachers had a fabulous week learning more about math and science with David Schwartz. In conjunction with Schwartz’s visit, the Intermediate Division

kicked off Math Madness Weeks on February 23 through to March 13 with many marvelous math activities in and around classrooms. Some of these included the Million Rap, chanted by the entire IS Division upon Schwartz’s arrival, the Million Dollar Walk outside the IS Office and a web search for kids. Daily Math Madness Problems came over the IS announcements every morning, and students were challenged to guess how many squares made up the enormous Welcome

David Schwartz sign in the IS lobby.

Students and teachers in all divisions really appreciate the generosity of the PTA in sponsoring David Schwartz’s visit.

And everyone appreciated his willingness to share the excitement of math and science in the real world. Thank you too to our librarians for all their hard work in coordinating and planning this visit.

5th Grade Knowledge Masters Open Competition (KMO)

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By Susan Shaw, GATE Advisor

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tudents from the United States and several other countries recently competed in the 41st Fifth Grade Knowledge Master Open (KMO) academic competition. The SAS team spent three weeks preparing for the contest, which consisted of 100 challenging questions from all curriculum areas.

The team scored 89/100 correct and now we are waiting to see how this score compares with the other schools. Contest results and example questions are available on www. greatauk.com. A member of this year’s KMO team, Katherine Dunn, wrote the following about the experience: SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

was an individual performance, the second day was in small groups and the final day of tryouts was a group performance. Through these tryouts, people could see whether KMO was their “thing” or not. Finally, Ms. Shaw and assisting teachers brought the group down to about 20 students, giving us our 2009 Spring KMO team!

I feel that the KMO enriched my life and the other contestants’ lives with new knowledge, both useful and useless! All of us have been challenged academically in a healthy way and have been exposed to a deeper level of enthusiasm in our everyday learning. This whole experience started with three tryout sessions answering 10 questions during our lunch breaks. The first day

With only six practices, we got down to the “nitty gritty,” working hard during our lunch breaks. We had one after-school practice on Friday, March 13, and then we had to be set for the final competition on the following Wednesday. To our surprise, our tough work paid off, and our final score was 89 out of 100 questions!

The Math Fair Has Arrived!

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By Jeane Khang, Alex Conrad and Nicole Cook

Photos by Salmah Ismail

wenty seconds left to solve Drew Burd’s mind-rattling problems!

“And we have a winner!” exclaimed the 5th grade host. On February 26 , the Intermediate division GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Math classes presented the inaugural GATE Math Fair. Days of devotion and time went into this fantastic event, which was all about sharing math knowledge, creativity and skills with parents, teachers and students.

From teachers to students, this was a great event to have your mind tested and pushed to its limits on math knowledge. From Jennifer Vu’s magical crystal ball to Se Hwan’s mindboggling wizard’s hat problem, this was an event that will be commemorated in the years to come.

Shiny posters lined the library walls. The students stood neatly beside their booths in a range of costumes: Chinese traditional clothes, can-can dancer outfits and smartly tailored suits. Parents finally began filing in, holding their pencils and calculators, ready to head into the great surprises of Math Magic. You could hear the occasional “beep” of a timer going off, the groans of problems being answered wrongly and also cheers of delight. All was busy and it was definitely a most colorful sight.

A puzzled Mr. L’Heureux and a baffled-looking Mrs. DeGroot attempted to solve the “Fabulous Five Problems,” while Aleya Gaba, a GATE RLA participant, used her “lucky number” at stations and guessed at others. She had one of the highest records and won many top prizes!

“I thought that it was a great opportunity for the GATE Math kids to express their math knowledge and spread it to others!” stated Kirsten Conrad, one of the many participants at the fair. Kirsten also added that it was

From Left : Nicholas Cosgrove, Otso Massala, Milla Shin (in back), Angie Lin, Sanna Massala.

From Left : Jennifer Vu, Milla Shin .

definitely worth attending, and she wasn’t the only one saying that, either.

As afternoon tea was announced, everyone finished up their activities and headed to the library research room to sample fruit, donuts, cake, veggie sticks and cookies. For the GATE Math students who had been busy hosting their own booths, it was

a relief to rest and enjoy a snack with their parents and friends. The same thought crossed their minds: “What a successful and delightful day full of wonder, excitement and anxiety. It’s a great memory and the amount of fun we had isn’t even close to the size of the earth! Wow, what a day!” True to their thoughts, it had been an amazing day – for parents, for students…for all.

Sam Park is perfect on AMC!

By Dr. James Kett, HS Mathematics

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or the past 25 years, students from SAS have participated in the American Mathematics Competition

(AMC). Students have 75 minutes to answer 25 questions. This year, SungMin (Sam) Park scored a perfect 150 on the test. Sam is the first SAS student ever to score this high. The exam is also used for IASAS Math, and Sam easily won the gold medal.

Another SAS student, Phillip Lee, took the silver medal with 135 points.

Students from around the world are invited to take part in the AMC, and over 2,300 students from Singapore enrolled, including the top schools, such as Raffles Institution. Sam was one of only four students with a perfect

score of 150, so he is in an elite group.

Sam first took the exam as an eighth grader, and this is the third year in a row that he has had the top score for SAS. Sam will receive a medal from the AMC organizers for this accomplishment.

Sam and five other SAS students qualified for the American Invitational Math Exam (AIME), which took place on February 17. Those five are seniors Hyun Soo Kim and Zubin Chand, juniors Jong Chan Kim and Kelly Zhang and sophomore Phillip Lee. This is a threehour, 15-question exam.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Standardized Testing in Grades 3-8 at SAS

By Jeff Devens, Ph.D., School Psycholgist

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ach year students at SAS in grades 3-8 take part in standardized testing via the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). These scores, in addition to daily and quarterly academic marks and teacher feedback, provide valuable information to parents and educators regarding a child’s academic progress. The primary objectives of the ITBS include describing a student’s developmental level within a test area, identifying a student’s relative strengths and weaknesses in subject areas, monitoring year-to-year progress and identifying areas of relative strength and weaknesses in the performance of groups (e.g. classes), which may have implications for curriculum change.

The most commonly referred to scores are percentiles. A student’s percentile rank score indicates the percent of students in a particular group that earned lower raw scores on a test than the student did. This score shows the student’s relative position or rank in a group of students who are in the same grade and who were tested at the same time of the year. For example, if sixth grader Mario earned a percentile rank of 80 on the Core Math Total, he scored higher than 80 percent of the students in the group with which he is being compared. Of course, it also means that 20 percent of the group scored higher than he did.

Percentile ranks range from 1 to 99.

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A student’s percentile rank may vary markedly relative to the group that he or she is being compared to (i.e., classmates, similar schools or nations).

For example, when comparing SAS student percentile scores to National Student and Private Schools Norms, the profile of the SAS student body changes with respect to overall percentile rank, but what does this mean? The folks at Riverside do not publish comparisons of other international schools so no direct SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

comparisons of similar populations are possible. Elementary school psychologist and ITBS coordinator Bill Hanagan notes: “Although the ITBS is a good objective measure of several important basic academic skills, one should avoid over-interpretation. The ITBS is not a measure of day to day performance in the classroom. There are students who do not perform particularly well on the ITBS, who are better able to demonstrate their abilities through more applied academic tasks, such as long term projects, essays, speeches, demonstrations, group discussion and novel problem solving. In contrast, there are students who perform very well on the ITBS but do not excel in the classroom or on academic tasks that involve planning, organization and ability to work with others.

Furthermore, the ITBS does not include a measure of writing ability, a skill that includes several very different components and is difficult to assess objectively. The language subtests from the ITBS are limited to measuring a few narrow aspects of writing, which include knowledge of rules and recognition of correct spelling, conventions, grammar and usage. While the reading comprehension and math subtests tend to have a stronger relevance to classroom expectations, even those scores do not have a perfect correlation.”

Sadly, some academic institutions, and even parents, use standardized data, such as the ITBS, solely to evaluate the effectiveness of a school’s overall academic program; however, this is not the intended purpose of the ITBS. Riverside Publishing, the folks who created the ITBS note, “All who wish to interpret test scores must be made aware of the intended uses of the scores, the limitations of the scores and the most common misunderstandings about them.”

Chiefly noted among the misuses is when scores are used to evaluate the effectiveness of an entire school program. “A school’s curriculum is made up of many subjectmatter components. Achievement in some of them can be measured by standardized achievement batteries, but in others, achievement may never be assessed on a building- or district-wide basis.”

Because state funding is often tied to “test” outcomes, many schools in the United States have adopted educational models that “teach-to-the-test.” When used in this way innovation and creativity

are supplemented with regurgitation of facts. While ITBS results are an important gauge in measuring student performance, they should not be used solely to measure curriculum outcomes or overall student learning. Under the direction of Assistant Superintendent Mark Boyer, SAS has made significant strides in the development, training and implementation of curriculum-based outcomes that measure day-to-day learning while simultaneously addressing skills that are assessed with standardized measures such as the ITBS. The development of academic skills is a continuous process, however; the rate of skill development differs widely among children of the same age group.

This is influenced by a number of factors including genetics, social transmission, emotion development, maturation and educational exposure. In my work with parents, teachers and students, standardized scores are referenced to provide a richer understanding of a child’s general strengths and weaknesses relative to a normed population, but they are by no means the sole criteria.

Past academic performance, curriculum based assessments, teacher observations and parent feedback, as well as student performance in daily classroom activities, are also referenced.

Learning is a multifaceted process. Using a number solely to define a population (or a single student) is a dangerous proposition. While standardized tests are important tools for schools and parents, they by no means should be the sole basis by which we draw definitive conclusions regarding our children or the quality of a school. Parents, if you have questions regarding the outcome of your child’s ITBS scores and what they “mean” relative his or her overall learning, I encourage you to speak with your child’s teacher and counselor.

Reading Language Arts/English Curriculum “Study Year”

By Louise Perdana, Director of Curriculum

Since the commencement of this school year at Singapore American School, we have been conducting a comprehensive “Study Year” of our Preschool-12 Reading Language Arts/English programs as part of our ongoing curriculum cycle of review and renewal.

This review has provided the opportunity to dig deeper and more specifically into the current standards-based RLA/English curriculum to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.

Data sources for our review included input from parents, students, subject and support services faculty, administration, external consultants and accrediting bodies, and additional information such as standardized test scores. Specifically, the review process involved: • • • • • • • • •

Analyzing stakeholder feedback from parents, faculty, and students in grades 5-12 gathered through surveys, parent coffees at all divisions, various meetings and discussions Examining relevant aspects of the WASC self-study Eliciting evaluation and advice from external consultants Reviewing course offerings Referencing exemplary curriculum models and “best practices” Sending faculty to conferences, such as the National Council of English Teachers Conference, to gather information on current best practices Identifying areas for professional development Analyzing external assessment data – SAT, ACT, AP, ITBS Evaluating resources in terms of supporting “best practices”

The outcomes of the RLA/English Study Year are presented below as Commendations, affirming those aspects of the current curriculum that have emerged as strengths, and Recommendations, identifying areas for further enhancement and refinement.

Specific details of divisional findings relating to these can be found in the full RLA/English Review Report under Quick Links on the SAS website homepage.

School-wide Commendations: • • • •

Overall RLA/English Program – The overall Singapore American School RLA/English program is rated as a strength by parents, students and faculty.

Reading Program – Students are provided many, varied and purposeful opportunities to develop as effective readers.

Common Writing Language – The writing process and Six Traits for writing provide a K-12 common language for discussing writing.

Oral Presentations – Students are given numerous and varied opportunities at all grade levels to develop speaking skills and gain confidence through oral presentations.

School-wide Recommendations: • • • • •

Essential Agreements and Expectations – Refine the RLA/English Philosophy and curriculum to clearly reflect essential agreements of what is most important for students to know, understand and be able to do within an exemplary program.

Articulation – Review and revise the curriculum to ensure appropriate scope, sequence and consistency of learning across grade levels through clear articulation within and between divisions.

Academic Rigor – Ensure all students are appropriately challenged.

Assessment FOR Learning and Assessment OF Learning – Consolidate assessment practices to ensure assessment effectively informs learning as well as measures learning.

Communication – Continue to optimize ways to effectively communicate information relating to RLA/English.

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of all members of the school community who took part in this review process.

A special thank you to Primary and Intermediate Literacy Coaches Louise Donaghey and Jodi Bonnette and Middle and High School Department Chairs, Scott Riley and Jeri Kett, for the time and commitment invested in spearheading the review in their respective divisions.

With the review process complete, we have a clear road map for our curriculum work as we move into the 2010-2011 RLA/English Development Year.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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All smiles from Calin Brown and Ashley Lau at GIN

We Can. We Will

By Calin Brown , Grade 12 , Secretary of SAVE Photos by Martha Began

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t’s a common misconception that young people don’t care about the world. We are accused of denial, apathy and ignorance. Instead of reading the newspaper or watching CNN to enlighten ourselves about the world outside our sheltered homes, we plug our ears into iPods, glue our eyes to “reality” television and remain unaware of the real issues – other than how our teachers “abuse” us with too much homework.

However, there are many young, intelligent people who understand the real issues at hand. We realize that we will inherit the Earth in the future – the Earth, which comes in a package complete with air pollution, poverty and world hunger, as well as racial and sexual inequalities.

We understand the need for change.

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At the 2nd Annual Asia Global Issues Network Conference in mid-March, ten officers from the high school environment club, SAVE, traveled to the International School of Bangkok (ISB) and spent three days networking with young people who understand that need for change. The Global Issues Network program was founded by teachers and students from six international schools in Europe and was based on the book, High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them, by Jean Francois Rischard. This program’s key mission is to allow youths to realize that they, too, can make a difference and to empower them to work together internationally on global problems.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

SAS Delegation standing infront of International School of Bangkok

The mantra of this year’s conference was “We can, we will,” a powerfully simple assurance that young people can and will create a wave of change.

purely voluntary; thus, it is much more difficult for SAVE Club to obtain the necessary volunteers, a problem the club has struggled with for twenty years.

For months prior to the conference, SAVE officers spent hours preparing two presentations to share at the conference. One was on solid waste minimization and Singapore’s waste management system. The presenters highlighted our school’s successful recycling program, the high school’s recent plastic recycling program and the plastic water bottle reduction and SIGG bottle campaign. The other presentation was about SAVE Club’s accomplishments and how to inspire peers to volunteer and participate in creating a sustainable future. We decided that SAVE Club was in a unique situation compared to other environmental clubs because unlike schools with integrated mandatory community service programs, our community service is

Besides presenting our workshops, we watched six other peer presentations of our choice prepared by international school students around Asia. The topics ranged from nuclear proliferation, sustainability and AIDS and HIV awareness to the issue of sexism and racism in our society. All the presentations reflected the considerable efforts of these high school students to teach their communities about global issues. It was amazing to be surrounded by students who frankly put, care. Equally inspiring were the featured guest speakers who traveled from all over the world. The most notable of all wasn’t John Liu, who helped implement sustainable agriculture around the world, or Tony Banbury from the UN World Food Program, but a 17-year-old boy named Ryan Hreljac.

At the age of six, Ryan decided that no one in this world deserves to live a day without water, and he began to raise money to build wells. While I’ve often opened National Geographic to read articles on issues such as the milehigh child mortality rates in Sierra Leone, where the entire country relies on just 65 trained doctors, I’ve sighed and wondered how someone my age, with a lack of finance, knowledge and creditability, can improve these people’s lives. But here was a kid, my age, who has accomplished so much because he knew that there was something wrong with the world and actually did something about

it. While some community service clubs at the SAS high school do little more than cushion a student’s transcript and are more talk than action, this boy has raised enough money to build close to 500 wells in Africa and by providing villages with fresh drinking water, has also enabled many children to attend school during the day instead of fetching water, as well as prevented the spread of waterborne diseases.(http://www.ryanswell.ca/) What it all boiled down to of course is passion. In his workshop, Ryan stressed that anything can be accomplished if you have the passion to pursue it. His

words were emphasized by Lek Chailert, who spoke about the abuse of domestic elephants in the Thai tourist industry. ( http://www.elephantnaturefoundation. org/) Despite her broken English, we felt for her and the elephants she loves so much because of her heart-felt pleas to spread the message and her video of the inhumane treatment that the elephants endure when they are not performing tricks for tourists. Through passion for an issue, we not only CAN address these global issues, but WILL. This is the message that I and the hundred other people received at the conference, and we returned with the hope to spread it.

Due to the economic downturn, the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) is postponing the 3-day EYE on Asia Youth Summit, scheduled for June 5-7. Instead, SAS will host a 1-day, low cost ($20 per person, including lunch) on Saturday, June 6. The new event will be similar to the original, except that it will not bring in international speakers. The event will be held at SAS and is open to everyone. Students in Singapore of ALL ages and teachers and parents will still have the opportunity to hear Dr. Jane and multiple local speakers.

Stay tuned for more information to follow. Mark your calendars on Friday evening, June 5, 6:30 to 8:30pm for a Green Generation Concert at the Singapore Botanic Gardens Symphony Stage. Come enjoy local bands, including our very own teacher bands, One Degree North, featuring Jerry Szombathy, Brian White, Steve Zielinski, Carmine Filice, and Raising Cane, featuring Tracy Meyer and Carmine Filice. Join us for plenty of entertainment, hear Dr. Jane speak, meet Ms. Earth Singapore, all in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Singapore Botanic Gardens. This event is free and open to all!

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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CIRQUE DE LA NUIT

By Emma Sheldon, grade 12

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he grand opening of Cirque De La Nuit, the masquerade-carnival AP Art Show, was an event not to be missed.

But just in case you didn’t stop by the Riady Performing Arts Center, let me fill you in: the artists were all Advance Placement students, and the work on display is their best of the year. With 59 featured artists, there were over 400 pieces of quality art on display, a truly impressive feat. Many of these students soon will be attending some of the finest university art programs in the world, and even those who do not major in art still possess the passion and the skill that are evident in this amazing show.

With all this incredible artwork, the show has outgrown its old home, the American Club, and has a new venue, the Riady Performing Arts Center. The beautifully design area was perfect for the show as it has three floors, one for each section of the AP program. The Visual and Performing Arts moms went all out in their decorations of and entertainment: organza cascaded from

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

the ceiling in flowing shapes reminiscent of a circus tent, a popcorn and a cotton candy machine supplied tasty snacks, and a captivating fire-breather and balloon-artist entertained the crowds.

The artists stood out from the masses, as each one wore a masquerade-style mask, either of their own or painted on by the Theatre Make-Up Club.

Despite the razzle-dazzle, the art and the artists shone the brightest at this event.

It was our night, and each student had worked incredibly hard to get there.

CIRQUE DE LA NUIT

Eugene Wong

Nanami Oki

Patrina Chan

AP Studio Art 3D

AP Studio Art Drawing

AP Studio Art Drawing

Victoria Rushton

Cindy Cherng

Chloe Dundedale

AP Studio Art Drawing

AP Studio Art Drawing

AP Studio Art Drawing

Aditi Gang

You Na Kim

AP Studio Art Drawing

AP Studio Art Drawing

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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MS Music Festival 2009jg

By Brian White, Rebecca Davidson, Darrell Townshend, Leanne Pepple

Southern Harmony “Howdy! How y’all doing! I have an accent so if you can’t understand me, just raise your hand and ask questions!”

This was the enthusiastic Tennessee greeting our band students received from this year’s guest director, Dr. Nola Jones. Born and raised in the Southern US and now working at the University of Tennessee at Martin, Dr. Jones is a true southerner. She brought a fiery spirit, a “tell it like it is” attitude, and a big heart to the podium. “After spending the first day with Dr. Jones, I felt like we had already known each other for many years. She has a way of connecting with colleagues and students that is refreshing” said Middle school band director, Brian White. Since the bands performed first festival week (Thursday night), the band directors opted to bring Dr. Jones in on the Friday before the festival week began. Even then, the rehearsals had to

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be fast and furious. “With seven different bands and over 460 students to rehearse, we kept Dr. Jones very busy” said HS director Brian Hill. Despite the jet lag, Dr. Jones approached every rehearsal with energy and excitement. She worked long days helping our students prepare for the festival concert and the results were fantastic. Her breadth of knowledge was inspiring to the SAS directors too. IS director Melissa Cain said, “One day Dr. Jones was showing a 5th grade student how to play a B-flat and then ten minutes later she was in a HS wind ensemble rehearsal working out the intricacies of connecting phrases in a challenging piece called Puzsta. Rebecca Davidson, MS band director said, “Dr. Jones is a music educator at heart as she was comfortable working with all grade levels. This isn’t always the case with many professional conductors.” Dr. Jones really connected

with students, too. Her admonition to students to “scooty booty” was a catchy way to remind them to sit forward in their seats with good posture. During the 6th grade selection “A Prehistoric Suite”, Dr. Jones encouraged students to watch the conductor, and noted “Good Stegosauruses always watch the conductor! I’ve never known a single Stegosaurus who didn’t watch the conductor.” One sixth grade band student’s concert reflection summed up one of the major goals of the music festival is for SAS students: “I feel that I really learned how to adjust to playing with a different band and conductor.

I also learned a lot about balance, articulation, dynamics and blending, all to make the music more than just notes, but a musical experience.” And indeed, a musical experience was had by all!

From Despair to Victory!

Our annual Strings Festival for Friday, 13th March seemed doomed. Such an inauspicious date heralded the fear of an unspecified reprisal for tempting fate, and fate dealt its hand! Conductor Graham Abbott, a previous conductor at our Festivals became ill and was unable to fly to Singapore for our Festival.

Where could Stephen Bonnette, High School Department Arts Chair, find an internationally acclaimed conductor who at short notice could work with school –age students and conduct most works at sight?

What were he to do? Our school’s good fortune is that such a conductor currently is working in the High School. A professional symphony orchestra conductor, choral conductor, former Principal Cello of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Phillip Green is currently working with High School choral students.

On campus already Phillip readily agreed to conduct the Festival, as had done back in 2004. The Festival itself gives all strings students the opportunity to prepare and perform music with a conductor of repute, and is a focal point for our program. Drawing students from across the school into one concert is a powerful experience where performance joins in cross-divisional learning. Mr. Green was able to bring out the best in our students with little time to work with them!

Our program showcased work from grades 5 through 12. From beginner pieces to Irish jigs, sedate British counterpoint to jubilant Hungarian dances, Jewish seriousness to Singaporean multiculturalism, our students all showed their strength of tone and love of music through the many shades of colour, cultural and historical nuance and varieties of emotional change found in these pieces of music. Mr. Green’s love of music was powerfully imbued into students as the

week progressed. The students responded with energy on the concert. Friday 13th could have, would have been a disaster.

Instead, it was a triumph for our school’s string community beset by a problem and overcoming it in victorious style!

Good Things Come in Pairs The choirs from Grade 5 through Grade 12 were fortunate to work with Janeal Krehbiel and Marilyn Epp. Their enthusiasm, passion, and expertise drew upon the talents and skills that these students have been working on throughout the year. Janeal and Marilyn are sisters who have devoted their lives to teaching and coaching children’s choirs.

They brought with them many years’ experience and the progress they were able to make with SAS singers in one short week was nothing short of miraculous!

On Saturday afternoon, March 14th, the

Treblemakers performed whimsical pieces that encouraged the audience to float on the Syllabub sea, imagine precious gems and treasure troves, and find horrid mountain gnomes hidden in the dark. With the lighting and thunder crashing outside of the theater, the MS Singers amazed the audience with a native forest filled with bird calls and raindrops. The HS choirs sparkled with the technical skills and musical finesse needed to perform the complex music of Handel. To culminate the week’s rehearsals and to show unity and breadth throughout the Grades 5-12 Choir, all 300 plus student musicians joined together on stage to perform three mass pieces. The audience was mesmerized as the singers chanted in Swahili and sang in beautiful 4 part harmony as they ended their musical journey that afternoon with Janeal Krehbiel.

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009 Time: 7:00pm Venue: Auditorium Celebration of JV badminton, tennis, softball and track and field and varsity badminton, softball and track & field.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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M Tiger Band Students Participate in AMIS Festival P

by Brian White

Photos by Brian White & Rebecca Davidson

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his February, a record number of students from the Tiger Band program participated in the 2009 AMIS Asian Middle School Honor Band. AMIS is the Association for Music in International Schools. In all, 17 students travelled with directors Brian White and Rebecca Davidson to the International School of Manila for the four-day festival.

At the end of the festival, students were asked to reflect on their experiences in an essay. Here are some of their thoughts:

The Audition Process

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r. White told us that there was a shortage of euphoniums trying out for AMIS and that he thought we should audition. I was hopeful, but I had a feeling that I just wasn’t good enough. But as I practiced more, I became more and more convinced that I could succeed. Still, when I heard I had been accepted into AMIS, I was stunned. I knew it would be a lot of work, but I was sure that it would be an experience I would never forget.”

Alex Gentry, grade 7, euphonium

The guest conductor and rehearsals: Jerry Luckhardt, University of Minnesota

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t first, I thought that our guest conductor had this musical power to make us sound world class, but then I knew that it was our musical ability that made the concert sound so great. Our motivation to do the best job came from Mr. Luckhardt’s excitement and emotions. I noticed that he really liked our playing just by looking at his conducting.

The emotions he had for the music made us put in more effort and do everything he asked us to do. By communicating through music, we had a better understanding of the conductor and what he wanted. Joseph Min, grade 8, clarinet.

During AMIS, I learned many new things and I felt that this was a great opportunity to work with Mr. Luckhardt ... He taught me many different ways to sound better as an individual and in a band. During this trip, I also got the chance to work with different band directors from other schools. I was with the low reeds section, and we worked with Mr. Nathan Long from the International School of Beijing. He helped us with difficult parts of the songs. This was a really good thing because then all the sections knew their parts and could play them really well, and the band sounded better as a whole.

Jane Foo, grade 8, bassoo.

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hen you hear seven hours of blowing through a trumpet, you may not be so thrilled to audition for next year’s band festival. Everyone would think it is a boring and exhausting waste of time. Actually, only part of that was true. Yes, it was exhausting, but not for one second did I regret auditioning for the band for two main reasons; one, the fabulous music, and second, the extraordinary conductor -- Mr. Jerry Luckhardt.” Vijay Rajkumar, grade 8, trumpet.

Before trying to know us or beginning to conduct, the conductor emphasized harmony and cooperation. At the end, he simply added that working together is a magical thing. True enough, I’ve changed since my first day of rehearsal. I tried my best to blend into the sound of the musicians around me, and after all the hard work, we indeed created a miracle, not as individuals, but as a group.”

Samuel Kim, grade 8, clarinet.

Making New Friends

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Even though we had loads of hours to rehearse, time passed quickly. This was because I was making countless friends and learning myriad things from my peers and the conductor. The friends I made were not all people from different schools; I also made much better relationships with everyone in the SAS group. I discovered many sides of the SAS people that I would’ve never realized at school. Anna Kook grade 8, flute/piccolo SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

As well as having an amazing conductor, I met lots of new people. I got to know so many people while getting closer to the people from my own school. We discovered how alike we are, even though we live on other sides of the world. Mr. Lukckhardt pointed out, “you don’t know each other by name, but you know each other on a deeper level, a musical level, because you have all played together.”

Elina Filice, grade 8, tuba

The last and perhaps the most important reason to remember this year’s AMIS Honor Band Festival was the friendships that were forged. Most of us met other kids in rehearsals who were complete strangers.

By the end of the first day, we felt like we had known them for years. Paraphrasing Mr. Luckhardt, ‘the synthesis of music is a very powerful thing that can break cultural boundaries between two strangers.’” Ryan Dunn, grade 8, tenor sax

Middle School Tiger Band Goes High Tech

By Brian White

Smart Music

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n the fall of this school year, band directors Brian White and Rebecca Davidson began using a web-based software package called Smart Music with the MS Advanced Band. “We had been considering using it with all middle school band members but thought we should pilot the use of this program with our top ensemble first. So far the results have been very good,” said White.

Smart Music program helps students to practice more efficiently. Once it is installed properly, students may use the program in several different ways: • •

• •

•

Play any of the 10,000 different technical exercises (scales, arpeggios…)

Play along with real recordings of over 1,000 different concert band pieces. This includes the ability to play any part (ex. Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Clarinet 3…)

Learn to improvise with five different jazz improvisation method books Play along with any of the 130 or so lines of music from over 15 different band method books (another 2,000 exercises) Play along with over 5,000 different solos for individual instruments.

What makes Smart Music different from just playing along with a CD is that the program has the ability to “hear” the performer. With the use of a microphone, Smart Music listens to the student and assesses his or her performance. It shows students which notes they played correctly. If they make a mistake, it shows them the error. When playing a solo, the “live” piano accompanist will slow down and speed up with the performer.

Davidson, an accomplished piano player, said, “We had several students use Smart Music during the annual Solo and Ensemble Festival in October. Instead of having a human accompanist, we hooked

up a microphone, and the computer played the piano part. This saved the parents from having to hire a piano player. It also allowed children to practice with their “accompanist” any time they wanted.”

In the classroom, White gives quarterly assignments that include scales and a major concert piece. “I make the assignment at the beginning of the quarter, and students can submit it any time they are ready.

Many treat it like a video game; they keep playing the assignment over and over until they get the score they want. Every one of their performances has immediate feedback so it’s like having a music teacher at home. In a recent survey about the program, students said the following: “I think the best feature is the tuner because it tells you if you’re too sharp or to flat while playing a note.”

“Smart Music has got tons of songs and is always adding more and more in each week. I like how Smart Music provides the music on screen for concert band pieces. it really helps us learn how to play the piece must faster.”

“In my opinion, I think the best feature of the Smart Music program is that you can repeat sections of a song, to make harder parts easier.”

Next year the band program will require all band students to use this program. Instructions on how to access the web based program will be sent out to all current band members in the 6th and intermediate bands as well as incoming 5th grade band students later this spring. This program will also work for strings and voice students. If your child is not involved in the MS band, you can find more information at http://www.smartmusic.com.

YouTube While not really “high tech” anymore, the Tiger Bands have their own You Tube channel. After every concert, director Brian White, uploads the students’ performances onto the site.

This way, relatives from around the world may watch the concert! “What I find really interesting,” said White, “is that through You Tube, I have been contacted by directors at international schools in Mexico, Israel, and Japan.

They said that they showed our videos to their band students as examples of how the pieces should be played! I’ve also had a few Singaporean students come to our concerts because they enjoyed what they saw on our You Tube channel.” Concert videos can be found at: http://pop.youtube.com/ user/brianwhite79 .

Trading Post on the SAS website

The Trading Post is a non-commercial courtesy classified ad service for SAS parents, students and teachers published online. To find the previous issue of Trading Post, go to “School Publications” on the main menu of the SAS website. Please send notices for next month’s Trading Post to trade@sas.edu.sg before May 13. Feedback and questions should be directed to communications@sas.edu.sg.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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Track Girls Break Record in National Meet

From Left: Annie Lydene, Linda Kim, Jerry Alberts & Ruby Hohensee.

At the SPH Schools Relay Championships, SAS track stars Annie Lydens, Linda Kim, Jenny Alberts and Ruby Hohensee won the 4x800m relay in the A Division with a time of 10:07.59. They beat the 2008 SAS win by 10 seconds and broke the event record for the third year in a row.

Charity Soccer Game: Teachers vs. Varsity Boys!

By Mark Forgeron

Third Annual Kamal Cup on Thursday April 30th at 3:15 pm

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t 3:15 pm on Thursday April 30, the SAS men’s staff and the SAS boys’ varsity soccer team will play the third annual Kamal Cup soccer game in memory of Mohamed Kamal.

Born on April 24, 1965, Mohamed Kamal was a humble, dedicated and loving friend and father. He was actively involved in sports during his school days, and soccer was his favorite. Upon joining the Singapore American School in 1997, he was delighted to learn that SAS had a soccer team, and he joined without hesitation. Although he left SAS in 2001, Kamal was still active as goalie with the SAS staff team until shortly before he passed away. Kamal died while he was playing for his local club team in the summer of 2005. He left behind his wife and four young children.

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SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

Please join us, as a donor and as a fan, in this special fund-raising event. The boys’ team won the first Kamal Cup game, and the teachers won last year’s game. A collection will be taken at the game. Donations may also be given to the HS, MS or IS secretaries. Any questions may be directed to Mark Forgeron in the Middle School, room M217.

Singapore brings home the hardware

By Coach Dan Crosswell Photos by Lai Fan , Lorrie Heiken , Andrea Fulton fashion. Manila won the remaining trophy and placed teams in all five finals.

SEAYBST Seniors Team From Left: Coach Dan Crosswell, Paul Cordes, Evan Petty, Josh Block, Matt Lang, Jamison Soybel, Alex Bryans, Keigo Sasaki, Michael Chang, Michael Szopiak, Coach Bill Fulton, Billy Fulton, Nick Devine, Matt Crema, Matthew Fay.

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anila played host to teams from Jakarta, Perth, Bangkok, and Singapore in the annual weeklong South East Asia Youth Baseball and Softball Tournament (SEAYBST) held at the Ateneo de Manila University grounds. After a pretty abysmal showing

last year at home, Singapore surprised everyone by breaking Manila’s threeyear hold on the Commissioner’s Cup. The cup is awarded to the city with the best overall placement in five divisions.

Singapore placed teams in four finals, winning three of them, two in dramatic

SEAYBST Majors Team Standing (L - R): Coach Kevin Alberts, Suresh Limbu, Kwanghyun Oh, David Starkey, Jack Alberts, Coach Brad West (partially hidden), Kyushik Nam, Spencer Koh, Coach Bart Broadman; Front row (L - R): Jared Broadman, Matthew Thomas, Bo Hamby, Max West, Austin Edwards, Nick Lund

SEAYBST Minors Team Row 1: Daniel McConaghy,Jack Devins, Ryan Pond, Antonio Crema, Bart West,Craig Broadman,Jack Hogan; Row 2: Matt Heiken, Daniel Brundage,Ryan Chang, Sam Devine,Aaron Lund, Bradley Tinger, Nic LaBranche; Row 3: Coaches: Rich Pond, Jim Heiken, Chris Hogan, Jeff LaBranche

After pounding on the other teams all week, the Singapore Minors had all they could handle from Manila in the finals. Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning, the Minors rallied to a tie on hits by Daniel McConaghy and Matt Heiken. Bart West threw three scoreless innings, keeping Singapore in the game. In the bottom of the 6th with the bases loaded and down to his last strike, Heiken drove in Jack Devins the winning run in a 5-4 nail-biter.

An ailing Kwang Oh took the hill for the Singapore Majors and left after pitching three innings without yielding a hit. Suresh Limbu posted four innings of masterful relief. Majors pitchers combined to throw a two-hit, one-run masterpiece. Max West, Kyushik Nam, Kwang Oh and Bo Hamby all fuelled a 17-hit and 14run offensive explosion but the big bat belonged to David Starkey who hit for the cycle – a homer, triple, double and single in reverse order – while tacking up 4 RBI. The Seniors’ cliffhanger 9-8 victory over Manila capped an exceptional season that saw Singapore win both the China Cup in Beijing and the SEAYBST crown.

Captain Billy Fulton went the distance to post his third victory in the competition.

Singapore got off to what looked like a commanding early lead only to allow the dangerous Manila squad back in the game with some mid game defense struggles. In the final inning a three-run homer drew Manila within one run; but their bid to tie the game literally fell just short – outfielder Keigo Sasaki hauled in the last out with his back against the wall.

Alex Bryans drove in what proved to be the winning run; Jamison Soybel, Nick Devine, Matt Fay and Michael Szopiak all chimed in with key hits to give Singapore enough to squeak through. The victory clinched the cup for Singapore.

Singapore pretty much carted off all the individual awards. Fulton and Jack Hogan of the Minors won respective MVP and Silver Slugger awards. West and Oh took home outstanding pitcher trophies. Singapore made a clean sweep in the Majors: in addition to Oh, Starkey garnered the Silver Bat while Jack Alberts earned MVP honors.

SAS NewsFlash – April 2009

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President’s letter Dear SAS parents, The PTA’s annual Staff Appreciation Day was held earlier this month for our teachers and staff. This event is an opportunity for the community to come together in an effort to show its appreciation for the hard-working people who keep SAS running day to day. During Staff Appreciation Day, the PTA not only provides the faculty and staff with meals throughout the day, but also presents each teacher and staff member with a gift.

Many thanks to PTA Hospitality Chairs Abha Kaul and Kate Irani along with all of the PTA’s division representatives, grade-level head parents and room parents for their efforts in organizing the donations and events for this day. We would also like to thank those who either worked a shift during the day or sent in food or money to help allow the staff to enjoy their special day. As always, these types of events could not be held without their support and generosity.

It is hard to believe, but we have only one more event on the PTA calendar for this school year. On Tuesday, May 19, we will hold our Volunteer Appreciation Tea from 10:00 am until 12:00 noon. E-mail invitations will be sent out soon with all the details, so please watch for this and mark the date on your calendars. This is our opportunity to thank all of you who do so much to help us throughout the year. We welcome everyone to attend, as this event is open to all SAS parents and staff.

For those of you who plan to be at SAS next school year and would like to get a start on planning your volunteer time, we would appreciate any information that you can provide on where you can help us in the future. There are many events to plan and hold, many committees to staff and a variety of PTA positions that need to be filled. The contribution of your talent, time and commitment will be appreciated by everyone in the SAS community. Please e-mail me to discuss volunteer opportunities with the PTA. Thank you.

Mae Anderson PTA President mae.anderson@mac.com

PTA Celebration Books CONGRATULATE…CELEBRATE…COMMEMORATE your graduating 8th grader or high school senior for a job well done, … that favorite teacher whose words have motivated you over the years, …a hard fought athletic accomplishment,…friends who are moving on, who’ve truly brought joy to you and your family during their time here in the SAS community,… or Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa for all their love and support from abroad.

The Celebration Books program, jointly sponsored by the PTA and the four SAS libraries, offers families an opportunity to honor and recognize that special person(s). For each S$35 donation, the library will receive a new book with a bookplate bearing the names of the person being honored and the donor and the event being recognized. Certificates will also be issued to the honoree and the donor.

Please see the PTA website for information on how to dedicate books and create a legacy that will additionally enrich our SAS students. http://pta.sas.edu.sg/CelebrationBooks/tabid/83/Default.aspx