SCIS-HIS Communitas magazine Second Quarter 2015

Shanghai Community International School & Hangzhou International School

Second Quar ter 2015

Passion for the Arts at SCIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS Features

P. 32-33 // Theme Feature P. 12-13 & 48-49 // Special Feature

Passion for the Arts at SCIS

United Nations Day Speech The Nightingale

“The aim of art is to represent not the P. 20 // Director’s Letter outward appearance of things, but their Meet our new Director of inward significance.” – Aristotle Admissions Ben Voegele P. 38-39 // Art Gallery

Hongqiao Campus P. 4 // Superintendent’s Letter P. 5 // Editor’s Letter P. 8-11 & P. 14-17 // Curriculum:

What is Visual Art? What is Performing Art? 2

P. 58-59 // Host Culture

Chinese Group Activities and Teamwork

Campus Highlights

P. 28-29 // Pudong

Everyone’s an Artist at SCIS Pudong!!

P. 22-25 // Hangzhou

P. 44-45 // Hongqiao ECE

Feel the Force

MUSIC AT THE ECE CAMPUS Singing, playing, moving, creating P. 34-37 // Hongqiao

THE BRAIN MUSEUM The Benefits of Chamber Music Performance Shanghai, I Love You Three SCIS Scripts Selected!

P. 14-15 // Educational Insights

The Art and Science of Play P. 26-27, 40-41 & 56-57 // Community Feature

P. 50-51 // Student Spotlight

A Sit Down with Multi-talented Musician Nemo Dong

The PAFA International Food Fair 2015 – A Fair Full Of ‘First’ P. 65 // Coach Corner

Halloween Fun at the Hangzhou Campus

P.30-31// Teacher Spotlight

Looking Back at Six Years with SCIS Doug and Anne Gribble P. 42-43 // Sports Recap

Debunking the MYTH Meet Olivia Hartman P. 52-53 // Alumni Interview

Nicole Kim Pursuing a lifelong dream P. 54-55 // The Librarian Corner

Book Recommendations for Lower School

P. 46-47 // Technology

Supporting the Arts with Technology

Golden Dragons: Meet the Machan Family P. 62-64 // PAFA

Strengthening Literacy Practices with Matt Glover

Chinese Folktale Comes to Live

P. 60-62 // Family Spotlight

Community

P. 59 & 66-68 // Partner

Stress Management and Reduction To Reduce Your Stress – DING HAN TCM CLINIC Royal Event Dutch School ‘De Oranje Draak’ Art is Not About Talent – Prep Zone

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SUPERINTENDENT ‘S LETTER

Dear SCIS-HIS Community and Friends, Since 1996, our organization has grown from a small community school in the Changning district of Shanghai into the unique sisterhood of schools represented on four campuses in Shanghai and Hangzhou. Now celebrating our twentieth year since its beginnings as one of the first international schools in the region, our schools continue to provide access to educational excellence within the most diverse of school communities. And true to our humble beginnings, we still maintain an individualized and caring approach to learning. In this edition of Communitas, I invite you to enjoy the rich colors and unique spirit of the SCIS-HIS community as we celebrate our twentieth year and share our “Passion for the Arts”.

With over 2200 students from 63 nationalities at our SCIS-HIS schools, there is great diversity in language, culture and previous schooling background. This diversity is celebrated as we nurture a multicultural learning environment where students and teachers value the contributions of our different identities and experiences. In particular, students are given the opportunities to express themselves through strong visual and performing arts programs. The Arts have a unique capacity to inspire passiondriven learning and to help students make more meaningful connections to the self, the community, and the world we live in.

At SCIS-HIS schools, students follow a creative cycle in the arts that allows them to approach a task by gathering information from any of the subject fields, planning and creating, and ultimately evaluating and reflecting on the entire artistic process. Some might believe this sounds like a task in high school IB Visual Arts, but ask an early childhood student to show you some artwork they have done and describe how he or she made the work and whether it is one of their favorites. You are sure to get an earful. SCIS-HIS schools have a commitment to the arts because we know students need to follow their interests and be curious, and to develop a lifelong passion in any pursuit. This is especially true for our future generations where design-thinking, creative problem-solving, thoughtful expression and effective communication will be highly valued in a more interdependent global community.

In order for students to feel free to express themselves and develop a passion for the arts, a school must have strong transition programs that ultimately establish a safe and supportive learning environment for new and returning students. Our schools make this a top priority given the diversity and transitory circumstances of many of our families. Even with all this diversity, SCIS-HIS 4

schools really feel like home for its teachers, parents, and students. At our schools, we celebrate what makes us unique as much as we value what brings us together. We work hard to appreciate both what makes us different and what makes us one. The result of these efforts is evident as soon as one enters our school campuses. It is truly an exceptional experience to be a part of such a diverse center for community activity and involvement, and much of this should be credited to our parent volunteers, country ambassadors, PAFA international event coordinators, mother tongue programs, and cultural liaisons.

Our focus in maintaining a strong caring community throughout our growth has also enabled SCIS-HIS schools to continue expanding educational choices to its students. Our robust academic and extracurricular programs allow students of varying backgrounds and talents to further explore and develop their strengths as learners. In addition to a strong core academic program, we also expect our students to be musical and explore other visual and performing arts, to widen awareness and appreciation for the host country, and to develop an appreciation for fitness and health. We also believe that students need opportunities to give back and apply themselves to the wider community through service learning. While the unique and diverse learning environment within the safety of the school walls allows for students to develop their skills, take risks, and explore new concepts, it is important that they learn to apply these skills to the world outside those walls so they may become the problem solvers and leaders, not the contributors, to the global issues and concerns of our future.

These are great schools and it is a great time to be an SCIS-HIS Dragon. I will conclude by summing up our diversity and this milestone in our development, so we can continue to celebrate on: SCIS-HIS schools- 2200 students, 63 nationalities, one vision… providing students with opportunities to pursue academic and personal excellence in nurturing, international community environments.

Congratulations, enjoy, and Goooo Dragons!

Jeffry R. Stubbs Superintendent of Schools

EDITOR’S LETTER

Second Quarter 2015 Editor Mikael Masson Perez Art Director Mun Yee Choo ...............................................

The Communitas Magazine is published four times per year catered primarily for the SCIS-HIS community and our friends, but also the larger Shanghai-Hangzhou community in general.

Everyone involved in the making of the Communitas magazine work diligently to bring enlightening and interesting content to our readers, however we are always open to opinions and suggestions as we are constantly looking for ways in which we can improve.

Moreover, we greatly welcome submissions to our magazine and we will willingly include contributions to future issues.

Should you have any commentary, observations, wish to submit articles or inquire as to ways to collaborate, feel free to send all inquiries/correspondence to the Communitas editor via email at mmasson@scis-his.org.

From the Editor A

s we head into the closing stages of the first semester and look forward to a well deserved winter break, we have decided it would be an opportune moment to go beyond purely academic qualities and highlight a distinctive facet of educational focus at SCIS-HIS. The study and active participation of arts - including music, theatre, dance, painting, digital imagery, film and much more- plays an integral part of the well-rounded curriculum available at our schools.

Here, we strive to inspire a passion for the arts in students to search the numerous avenues of art and discover ways in which they can express themselves, regardless of talent or level of mastery.

“Passion is the very fuel of inspiration.”

- Carole Katchen The concept of passion is a complex and multi-dimensional one which entails a wide spectrum of meaning – passionate individuals can be devoted, diligent, but also lustful. Therefore, our art educators focus on igniting and then channeling passion within students for them to find artistic expressions that best resonate with them.

What follows are stories from teachers, actors, musicians, and writers who believe that the arts not only have intrinsic societal value, but also multiple roles in youth education and healthy development.

Once again, our gratitude goes out to all contributing authors and photographers who make the Communitas magazine possible and as always, I hope you will enjoy reading each entry as much as I have. From all of us here at SCIS-HIS we wish you all the best over the winter break ahead and hope you enjoy, long overdue, family reunions. Stay warm and we’ll see you in 2016!

Sincerely,

Mikael Masson Perez Editor

We are social! Feel free to visit us on the web at www.scis-his.org and follow us

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SCHOOL NEWS

ECE Girl Scouts Breast Cancer Fundraiser (Oct) October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as part of US Girl Scout traditions, girls worked hard through the whole month to raise awareness and money to support breast cancer education and research. Over the course of October, more than 150 Girl Scouts participated in fundraising RMB 50,000 in total, of which RMB 14,000 was raised by SCIS Girl Scouts alone! All proceeds for this fundraise have been donated to the HK Breast Cancer Foundation.

Author Sef Townsend Visits Hangzhou School (Oct 14-15th) Over the course of two days Hangzhou International School had the pleasure of hosting international storyteller, Sef Townsend. Having worked with many schools and a diverse community, Sef has collected and crafted stories and songs from around the world to share in an engaging, interactive way to help build upon literacy programmes. He conducted performances and workshops in participatory storytelling, song and ‘join-in’ music games with Elementary and middle School classes. Brought to us by Dream on Productions.

Back to the Future Day! (Oct 21st) October, 21st 2015 marked the day when Doc Brown and Marty McFly arrived in the future in the fictional 1989 “Back to the Future” movie sequel. A day for fans around the world to compare the vision of the future with the realities of 2015. Most, however, were disappointed to find that hover-boards, holograms and self-lacing shoes didn’t quite live up to the predictions set out in the film!

Visiting Authors Speak at Hongqiao Campus (Nov 5-6th) As part of the M Literary Festival organized by the M restaurant group, we had the opportunity to host authors Musa Okwonga and Leta Hong Fincher at our Hongqiao campus. Musa, a multi-talented poet, journalist, and musician based in Berlin spoke to students about finding one’s passion, writing and poetry.

Leta, an award-winning former journalist with extensive experience in China and the United States, gave a presentation about her views on women’s roles in contemporary China and also shared valuable insight on the main issues women face in modern times.

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SCHOOL NEWS

HIS Students Achieve Wu Shu Certificates (Nov) No less than 14 students (Kindergarten -Grade 3) from Hangzhou International School were recipients of the Wushu (武术) certificate from the Chinese Wushu Association. Wushu (武术) is a form of Chinese martials arts that blends both elements of performance and martial application, where a practitioner must combine flexibility with strength, speed and technique.

Congratulations to all the future master Wushu practitioners! Go Dragons!

Shanghai I Love You, Three Student Scripts Selected (Dec) SCIS Film students participated in the 2nd Shanghai, I Love You film symposium hosted by Cities of Love. Students from eighteen schools in and around Shanghai submitted eighty-six scripts judged by a jury. Scripts were 6-7 pages and had to interpret love in a district in and around Shanghai. Fifteen scripts were selected for production, professional mentoring and services.

Congratulations to SCIS Hongqiao film students Amy Calafiura (G.10), Karl Lee (G.10) & Amy Wu (G.10)! Their respective scripts ‘That Feeling’, ‘Young Love in Shanghai’, and ‘Cutting of the Red Paper’ were winners. Amy, Karl and Amy will assemble film crews, cast actors and begin pre-production offering opportunities for students to be involved in a multitude of capacities.

Photography Session with Artist in Residence (Oct & Dec) SCIS Pudong, with the kind support of the Upper School Parents and Friends Association (PAFA), have been sponsoring British Photographer, Liz Hingley, as she works with Upper School students on a Photography Project. A photographer and social anthropologist, the artist has won numerous awards including the 2013 Photophilanthropy award, 2012 Prix Virginia and 2011 Getty Editorial Grant. She regularly develops projects with Universities and other educational institutions and is currently based in Shanghai as a Visiting Scholar of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. On two separate occasions, Liz has led students on an investigative journey into the theme of language and translation looking at Chinese language and expressing ideas through photography.

Anticipating our 20 Years Anniversary In anticipation of the turn of a new year, we have begun a very special celebratory campaign.

2016 marks the twenty year anniversary of SCIS since it’s establishment in 1996! In commemoration of such an important milestone, a dedicated logo has been designed to celebrate the continued commitment displayed towards what makes SCIS so special, its community. More recently, a banner was created to immortalize the milestone, using our very own twin students each holding up their hands to count 20! Go Dragons!

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What is Visual Art ?

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N

othing beats the unbridled passion and creativity of our young. Working with Kindergarten kids through to adolescents and beyond, encouraging them and providing opportunities and challenges to unleash their creative fires in the visual arts is very rewarding as a visual arts educator. Robert J Sternberg provides an interesting description of the role teachers, parents society and schools have in the creative lives of children.

“The most powerful way to develop creativity in your students is to be a role model. Children develop creativity not when you tell them to, but when you show them.” Robert J. Sternberg in How to develop student creativity

Its an interesting simplistic statement when paralleled to school situations where students find they have to adapt to timetables and specific times when they have to do particular subjects.

I have always been impressed at how positively reactive and responsive young kids are to the creative imaginative dimensions you can conjure up in their minds. Recently I worked with Kindergarten and year ones on insects and “the under the grass world”. Obviously showing an excerpt from “A Bug’s Life” helped provide the “hook/ entry point” for these students along with doing large whiteboard humanized insect caricatures in front of their eyes. The students raced into their own imaginative representations of a bug’s world. Whilst some of the students are of an age barely out of the scribbling stage their artwork saw a vast array of results.

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Being the age they are of course they pose numerous questions and are in an unfiltered and open honest state of mind as they describe what they are doing. It didn’t always look like an insect or bug but in their mind it was.

Questions such as “how many should I do?” pose interesting inter-disciplinary (subject) opportunities. If you respond with do at least 15-20, you find your helping their Mathematics because they engage in active counting as they go along. That’s got to be a positive outcome.

That brings me to a key aspect of how Visual Arts in the curriculum has a vital collaborative role and relationship between students and to other subjects.

“Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together.” (Wikipedia) This is a simple definition applicable to only students but it is vital that schools, teachers and the curriculum actively and creatively collaborate across the learning years.

Art teachers need to be passionate themselves on ensuring this happens. Whilst we all get over-busy and pressured as teachers, sometimes it only takes a quick collaborative chat with other year level classroom teachers to stimulate directions and ideas for students to focus on.

A recent example was where the year one teachers at SCIS- Pudong simply conveyed they were focusing on “weather”, that simple word stimulated a more than gener-

ous range of possibilities for students to be artistically creative.

As students move through their schooling the concern is are their passions and creative fires being slowly extinguished? It seems to a degree true for many students.

“If intrinsic motivation is one key to a child’s creativity, the crucial element in cultivating it is time: open-ended time for the child to savor and explore a particular activity or material to make it her own. Perhaps one of the greatest crimes adults commit against a child’s creativity is robbing the child of such time.” From Goleman, Kaufman and Ray (1992) The creative spirit.

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Goleman, Kaufman and Ray use quite dramatic language in saying adults are responsible for one of the greatest crimes against creativity. In this sense they surely don’t mean parents only, but society and schools more appropriately. Fortunately, at an International School like SCIS-Pudong it sees its whole school environment have generous displays of Visual Art and Photography, and Arts events. This can only be seen as a huge stimulator to encourage passion for the arts in the students.

Curriculums in schools are a hard balancing act to maintain high numbers of students in the arts maintaining their passion and keeping their creative fires burning and developing. One of our

greatest challenges to creativity is social media and smartphone/ tablets, and the sheer amount of time young people and adults are spending with it seemingly glued to their hands. But that’s another topic for discussion. Fortunately, Kindergarten to mid elementary kids seem to be more naïve to this issue and that is a good thing.

I will finish with something that has always been important to me; “The essence of creativity and passion is to create things that have never existed before”.

By Mark Thomas, Pudong Campus K-8 Art Teacher 11

SPECIAL FEATURE

United Nations Day Speech “Dear parents, respectable directors, praised teachers, fellow lower, middle and high schoolers, ladies and gentlemen…

I am honored to have the opportunity to speak to you today. I come here today not as a 12th grader, nor as an authority or as a Brazilian. I come here today as a representative of our international community. A community that is composed of more than 50 nations from all over the world. A community whose members speak English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese and much more. But most importantly, a community that despite its cultural and linguistic differences, coexists together by sharing the same school, interacting with the same teachers and, to an extent, living the same lifestyle.

Living in our current complicated and diverse world, I believe I’ve seen some unfortunate things: I’ve seen conflicts from all over the world that destroyed people’s cultures, destroyed 12

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people’s families, destroyed people’s lives. I’ve seen religious wars, that make me wonder if any god would approve of what us humans are doing to one another. I’ve seen people cursing, kicking and killing each other because of their gender, religion or skin color. And most unfortunate, I’ve seen a world without any faith, without any hope.

(Crumples paper from which he was reading from, tosses it and then proceeds to point at it) That right there is what I used to see.

But now, let me tell you what I see today, what I see right now.

Looking at this community, I see people’s cultures, families and lives united together, in a school with people from all over the world. I see Buddhist, Christian and Islamic people playing soccer together or joining each other for a school project. I see people

supporting, caring and loving each other regardless of their gender, religion or skin color. But most important, this community proves that there is still hope. There is still hope that our generation will replace hate, hopelessness and sadness by love, faith and happiness.

So, dear SCIS community, the real United Nations spirit and meaning is present in its own name: United Nations. Let’s take today not only to celebrate that we are citizens of our nations, but also to commemorate that we are all citizens of the world.

Therefore, stay together, stay joint, stay united, because this way we are not only going to make this community better, we will make the world a better place to live in.”

By Giovanni Scaranello Hongqiao Campus 12th grader Student 13

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS

The Art and Science of Play

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tella Maris Maruso’s Health Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to bio-psychosocial studies and services. It gives medical assistance to people facing severe crisis and offers them a personalized health improvement plan. Among the foundation’s most outstanding work is an activity which is an integral part of the daily activities of students at Hangzhou International School. The activity is essentially, how to have fun!

In this pursuit students invest their free time to practice, much like as professionals, and achieve the objectives without reservation.

Fun is not just about walking the dog, although that is also a possibility if it generates pleasure and positive distraction.

Diversion is a vital aspect in evolutionary development and a fundamental element of being human, and something we need to consciously promote for both adults and children. In essence it can be a rediscovery of how to enjoy ourselves. To enjoy oneself comes from the capacity to not only do different things but also transform usual activities in ways to allow us to emerge from them with renewed energy. This ability is not only beneficial for oneself but also those with whom we work with and for whom we care for. It helps us face loss, disease, and aging, and find meaning and purpose in our lives through feeling creative, and able to express ourselves in healthy ways. One should consciously develop this capacity rather than only calling upon it when we suffer an illness or when a crisis knocks at our door.

An essential tool according to Maruso, although as simple and absurd as it may sound, is to simply go back to being children and play. To play is to do activities that give us pleasure without any other result, no competition, no financial gain, no extrinsic rewards. To play is to do something that is directly and solely connected with joy. This strengthens our internal chemistry and helps us continue to evolve as humans. Maruso’s studies have demonstrated that adults who spend time playing (defined as engaging in new or funny experiences) have a powerful tool to

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promote their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

Among findings associated with the benefits of play is how it enhances the immune system. Studies have found that adults engaged in play are more relaxed and thus their need for oxygen is reduced and there is also an increase in alpha brain waves associated with creativity. This also lowers the heart rate and lactic acid in the blood, a substance produced by metabolism when suffering from anxiety. Laughing when at at play causes a tremendous release of hormones known as endorphins as well as serotonin, dopamine and adrenaline. This “explosion” of positively charged hormones causes something akin to ecstasy, it brings vitality, energy and increases brain activity. Laughter is even a form of exercise as it shakes many muscles in our body that otherwise remain inactive. This in turn is an effective stimulus against stress, depression and sadness.

When at play we move. We exercise and biochemically burn off stress, lower our blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels. Exercise Is an antidepressant that produces a biochemical discharge that increases levels of endorphins. Our body temperature rises and there is an increase in the production of T and B cells and B that are responsible for developing our immunity to disease. In essence, play and humor serve as internal safety valves that allow us to release tension, alleviate concerns and relax, develop our body’s defenses and improve our quality of life.

As adults we are often caught in a battle with the clock and can easily fall to the fallacy that play is a waste of time. However, it is widely known that stress is a major contributor to ill health.

The simplest, most effective treatment for stress is to simply stop working and return for a while each day to our childhood and simply play.

By Jannet Molina HIS ECE Rhythm and Movement Teacher

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS

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What is

Performing

Art?

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The Importance of

Musical Ensembles in Education

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n the midst of a time when the very core of education is changing, it is vital to reflect upon the important place that playing in a musical ensemble should have in education. In school, where much emphasis is placed upon ‘knowing’, great educators are always looking for ways to help students to ‘do’ as well. One of the many benefits of a performing music class is that students must continuously ‘know’ and ‘do’ simultaneously in order to create music with their peers. This is the reason why classes such as choir, orchestra and band have weathered the test of time, and have remained a key part of successful schools for ages, and hopefully for ages more to come.

Students who actively participate in their school’s performing music program experience many benefits as a result. One of these benefits is an accelerated development of the brain. In a study from the University of California, it was found that students who received lessons on a musical instrument scored “34% higher” on tests, indicating that learning a musical instrument can enhance the brain function related to mathematics and science. This same study also found a correlation between preschool children who had been given six months of musical instrument lessons and dramatically improved abstract thinking skills. Another study from the University of Toronto demonstrated that after nine months of weekly instrumental or vocal lessons, students’ IQ rose almost three points higher than their non-musical colleagues.

The key component to the benefits mentioned above is the fact that students were learning music through the medium of an instrument or their voice. One advantage that a performing music classroom has over a non-performing class is the link that must be created between cognitive knowledge and physical movement. This is why research shows time and time again that playing a musical instrument or developing vocal technique has a profound positive impact on the young mind.

The many benefits of a musical ensemble can not simply be limited to cognitive development, as there are numerous social and emotional benefits as well. A study from the McGill University

led to the discovery that students with three years of musical instrument instruction had higher self-esteem than students who did not. Another study from the International Journal of Music Education showed that playing a musical instrument reduces stress and anxiety. The Houston Chronicle helped to confirm this by doing a study on college students, finding that college-age musicians are emotionally healthier than their non-musical peers.

In a school musical ensemble, students must work together to create a beautiful and positive outcome. This is a unique requirement, as classes that focus solely on the development of the individual miss out on this tremendous social benefit.

Students learn how to function as part of a greater community which teaches listening, communication, and teamwork.

In conclusion, one of the greatest experiences that a young student can have is to be part of his or her school’s performing musical ensemble. Students have the opportunity to depart school with so much more than knowledge, but with ideas, feelings and creative flexibility. While an education in music can take many forms, there is absolutely no substitute for the education that singing or playing a musical instrument will provide for a student.

By Jason Mott Hongqiao Campus Middle School Band & Guitar Teacher Sources http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/191036561.html http://www.jneurosci.org http://forbes.com/2004/07/15/cx_0715health.html http://www.amc-music.org/musicmaking/brain/munster.htm http://www.parents.com/kids/development/intellectual/benefitsof-music-lessons/ http://musiciansway.com/blog/2012/02/7-essentials-of-artisticinterpretation/ http://www.stacymarie.com/index. php?page=research&id=20#article http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/-lds/pdfs/DanaSpelke.pdf http://www.musiqclub.com/musicbrainresearch.php 17

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Just Dance!

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

thing is correct. All of the above are extremely important life skills.

As a high school dance educator for ten years, I have seen dance do many things for many students. Beyond the usual, it is a subject where students can be expressive and passionate and creative in ways their other subjects and activities cannot provide.

It is also a discipline whose advantages enable students to develop skills and abilities that would remain otherwise untapped.

The other area that Dance develops, beyond a doubt, is in the social arena. Students are required to work in teams, to cooperate with others they would not. The collaboration involved in Dance is fundamental and also gives students skills in participating and contributing, as well as giving and receiving feedback. Through working with a range of different people, students develop their patience and ability to see things from others’ viewpoints. The learning that happens as they negotiate decisions, decide on deadlines and encourage each other to give their best is exciting to see.

The most obvious benefit is physical. Dance fosters strength and flexibility as well as an ability for students to be expressive with their movement. The opportunity for students to be involved in regular physical activity is essential as we become more and more sedentary and dependent on technology. In Dance, the positions required to balance, as well as the muscle memory required, all help to improve our physical health.

There are, however, other benefits to participating in Dance.

Some of these are personal, such as being able to express emotion, gaining self-confidence and a more positive self-image, and improving self-discipline. My greatest joy as a Dance educator is seeing students performing on stage who didn’t think they would ever be able to do so. The outlet of expression that Dance offers is so important for teenagers as they navigate their way through an often confusing and scary period of their lives. The stories I have seen my students tell through dance have made both their peers and myself laugh and cry – sometimes simultaneously! Having a strong sense of self-discipline gives students the confidence to say no to social outings when they have work to complete and the skills to persevere until some18

During the first week of May, SCIS Hongqiao will hold our full school dance show, with students from Grades 2-12 participating.

A small group of high school students have been given the task of organizing this show, with guidance from their teachers. As they continue to go through this process, they will utilize all of the skills mentioned above. This experience of project managing is invaluable and the students will gain skills that are transferable to other aspects of their school life and beyond.

It has been a pleasure watching my students at SCIS grow in confidence over the past year and a half. They have shown enthusiasm and willingness to try different genres of dance and experience new processes of choreography and this, in turn, has allowed them to create some beautiful work. Please come and support their efforts on Thursday 5th and Friday 6th of May!

By Claire O’Fee Hongqiao Campus High School Dance Teacher

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“You Don’t Need Permission to be Talented” I

don’t like talking about talent, but as a music and drama teacher, it is impossible to avoid. On the first day of class, a student inevitably states, “I’m not talented.” Sometimes students inform me just how talented they are. The finality of both claims equally frustrate me. I have no problem with evaluating one’s talent in the arts. I do, however, take issue with the way that we talk about talent, often confusing and collapsing within that one word the opposing ideas of artistic skill and intrinsic aptitude. For me, discussing talent is like discussing beauty or intelligence; they are unquantifiable, subjective, complicated, and personal topics that I feel are never tactfully handled in conversation. As an educational institution, it is our responsibility to carefully craft the way we talk about talent and build a positive environment for creative bravery.

When I asked my middle and high school students, “What is talent?”, they provided a variety of definitions. 20% of students used the word “natural” in their responses and 28% suggested it was an inherent state. In contrast, 24% of students said talent is earned through work or practice. 40% answered that talent depends on how one compares to others, explaining that talent is when one possesses something others do not or when someone has more ability that anyone else. So, what is talent, exactly?

Is it something natural we are born with, inherited from our parents, and have no control over? Or is talent more like skill, an ability that we learn and develop over time?

Whichever way we choose to define “talent,” I don’t like talking about it is because it can be used to divide us into the “haves” and the “have-nots.” I’ve seen strong, capable students reduced to tears over insecurities about their talent, wondering whether or not they have what it takes. My point is, we all have it. It’s simply a matter of whether our talent has been encouraged, cultivated, and celebrated by educators, families, and communities.

If in discourse we treat artistic talent as a inherent possession, then it is easy for students to give up on learning a subject like music, art, or drama believing that it is futile to even try. When talent prevents the pursuit of artistic learning, when it deters students from joining a music class or auditioning for a play, it doesn’t allow for productive movement or change, the very thing that I strive for as an educator.

This may seem a semantic debate, but take a moment to imagine the potential for a shift in thinking if students stop saying, “I’m not talented” and instead walked into the classroom saying, “My talent has been neglected, but I’m here to do something about that!” We will all benefit from learning to discuss talent as a dynamic, responsive state of being in contrast to a fixed quality that an individual either has or does not have. One student said it well: “I think talent is something that you and other people all have and

that you can be good or bad but you can always get better.” It is students like this one that shade the creative culture at SCIS. I asked my choir and drama students to reflect on their own talent.

67% of students surveyed said they had “some talent” while 22% identified themselves as having “little talent” and 11% identified as having “a lot of talent.” Nobody answered that they have “no talent.” When asked how many students at SCIS are talented, 56% of students surveyed said that 75-100% of SCIS students are talented, 41% said 50-75% of SCIS students are talented, and only 4% said fewer than 25-50% are talented. I am impressed with the support I have seen exchanged between students in class as they have cheered each other on through self-revealing drama activities, challenging performances, and creative outpourings that expose vulnerabilities. This kind of atmosphere is not only beneficial in building healthy communities, it is essential for engendering capable, creative and creating students.

When I was two years old, my mother had me in line at the grocery store and I was singing tunes from cassette tapes I listened to in the car. As I ran up and down the rudimentary major scale the man in line behind stressed to my mother how rare it was for a young child to sing scales with such accuracy. His name was Itzhak Perlman, the world- renowned violinist. My mother loves telling that story. That moment in which my “talent” was identified represented a rite of passage curated by a great artist, recognizing that I too had musical talent. I wonder to this day, if Itzhak Perlman hadn’t said anything, would I have received the same encouragement to become a singer?

It is my job as a performing arts educator to help my students to recognize themselves as talented, and there is no better way than by setting high standards and guiding students to meet those goals. Achievements allow learners to think of themselves as talented individuals rather than wait for society to label them as talented. When asked, “Can you become more talented?”, 33% of surveyed SCIS students said “yes, definitely,” 60% said “yes, maybe,” and only 7% said “no.” To preserve and encourage this positive mindset, the entire SCIS community should discuss talent so that it is conducive to learning, striving, growing, and changing. If we do, students will not need permission from anyone else to label themselves as talented, but will simply be talented and put energy into developing their talent. “Talent for me isn’t just how good you are,” explains one SCIS student, “but its the ability to take responsibility for improving yourself, and not taking criticism personally, but learning from your mistakes.”

by Katharine Enoch Pudong Campus Upper School Choir and Drama Teacher 19

DIRECTOR’S LETTER

Meet our new Director of Admissions

Ben Voegele

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reetings! Currently in my first year as the system wide Director of Admissions at SCIS-HIS, my background was initially in professional sports before making the switch to the education world full-time. Originally from Boise, Idaho, I grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan and have always had an itch to come back to Asia. Ironically, of all the traveling I did as a kid, I’d never been to Shanghai prior to moving here five months ago. I spent the last thirteen years teaching at the elementary level (mainly grade 6, but also grades 3, 4, and 5) while also coaching high school baseball and basketball in West Valley City, Utah. I do miss the classroom and the direct interaction with students, but I have enjoyed meeting with both prospective and current SCIS-HIS families while giving tours and discussing our school brand.

Getting the opportunity to learn the story of each family and their backgrounds, while sharing my own international upbringing tales, is the best part of my job. I understand the fears, struggles, challenges and excitements that families face when moving overseas. As a former teacher, I can also relate to the teaching and educational side of things at SCIS-HIS as well. Admissions blends both of those worlds together, which has been a great fit for my personality. While I’ve only been in town for five short months, I continue to be impressed by how friendly the faculty, students, and families have been at all campuses.

My own educational credentials consist of earning a Bachelors of Science Degree in Education from Boise State University (Go Broncos!), having an active teaching license from the State of Utah, teaching endorsements in Elementary Education, ESOL, Secondary Health & Physical Education and an MBA in Marketing from Columbia Southern University.

Away from work, I’m a big fan of being outside and staying active. I’ve been known to do a lot of hiking, camping, traveling (I’m looking forward to getting to a few Asian cities I haven’t been to while here), and sports (both playing and coaching). I’ve also been known to dabble in writing and have been published a few times (most recently with a book I wrote regarding an adolescents guide to overseas living). When I wasn’t teaching and coaching, I also worked part time as a medic in Utah, so emergency preparation and emergency services is also something I’m passionate about. I was fortunate to be stationed at the arena the Utah Jazz play at, so lucky for me, I saw my fair share of NBA games and concerts! That all said, please feel free to contact me with any admissions questions you may have, and on behalf of the entire Admissions Department, happy holidays!

Ben Voegele Director of Admission

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Admissions

It’s Time for Re-enrollment!

SCIS-HIS Parents

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e-enrollment for the 2016-2017 academic year is just around the corner. Parents will only have the option to re-enroll their children through PowerSchool. We encourage parents to participate in early re–enrollment of their children through PowerSchool because of its ease and efficiency. If you are unsure of your username and password, or have forgotten it, please contact your campus secretary for assistance (see the list below for your reference). The early re-enrollment period for PowerSchool will be announced in December.

We anticipate full classes at many grade levels and wish to ensure all of our current families have first priority.

Please let the admissions office know if we can assist you in any way through the re-enrollment process. We look forward to your continued support and involvement in our school community and hope to welcome your family for yet another successful school year.

Hongqiao ECE Campus: (Nursery-Grade 1) Name

Job Title

Email

Ext

Maggie Yang

School Secretary/Admissions

maggie.yang@scis-his.org

7004

Hongqiao Main Campus: (Grades 2-12) Name

Job Title

Email

Ext

Alice Dai Miranda Chen

Lower School (Grade 2-Grade 5)

adai@scis-his.org mchen@scis-his.org

5131 5133

Sunny Jiang Lisa Ni

Middle School (Grade 6- Grade 8)

sjiang@scis-his.org lni@scis-his.org

3155 3153

Sarah Jin Elaine Lim

High School (Grade 9-Grade 12)

sarah_jin@scis-his.org elim@scis-his.org

3103 3115

Pudong Campus: (Nursery-Grade 12) Name

Job Title

Email

Ext

Joanna Zhou

Lower School Secretary (Nursery-Grade 5)

jzhou@scis-his.org

6501

Jelly Ling

Upper School Secretary (Grade 6- Grade 12)

jling@scis-his.org

6015

Hangzhou International School: (Nursery-Grade 12) Name

Job Title

Email

Ext

Kerri Lang

School Secretary/Admissions

kliang@scis-his.org

86-571-8669-0045 21

HANGZHOU HIGHLIGHT

Feel the Force Various experiments were conducted in the past month. Students tested the friction of ice cubes compared to sugar cubes, created a marble run on different surfaces around the school, measured the effect of gravity on certain objects, learned about the buoyancy of items in water, and discovered the magnetic forces of different objects. The investigations were fun and student-centered.

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n second grade, students are naturally curious and eager to learn so our days are filled with questions, discovery and inquiry. Our current IPC unit called “Feel the Force� provides opportunities for students to design investigations, make predictions, collect evidence, and draw conclusions. The emphasis is on students actively thinking about how and why they should conduct their investigations. Students collaboratively design experiments to test ideas that are meaningful to them.

We integrated this theme with our non-fiction Writer’s Workshop unit on lab reports. Students move through the writing process and practice how to write like a scientist. During the mini-lessons, students learn writing skills and strategies to create a lab report. The goal is for students to develop a love for informational writing. Motivation has been at an all time high and it has been so great to see their passion for writing grow.

During the past month, students have been examining the different forces that exist in our world.

Our Entry Point to the unit consisted of a tug-of-war challenge to get students excited and thinking about the forces that act on our world. As a class, we discussed what we knew and asked questions about what we were curious about. From that point, students created ideas for how to plan investigations and carry out procedures.

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Although the product and final results are important goals for the students, we want the focus to be on the learning process. Students practice self-assessment and peer-assessment in order to improve and further their learning. Assessment for learning strategies promote reflection and revision so that students are gaining a deeper level of understanding. Higher level thinking skills such as analyzing, evaluating and reflection are crucial even at a young age.

Through guided opportunities, students discover what it means to conduct a fair test and how to evaluate results and draw conclusions. Teachers must give students the freedom to make mistakes so that they can learn from them. When students are encouraged to reflect on their errors, they develop a stronger understanding of the concepts. There were definitely times when students had to revise their investigations and re-test their ideas. The thinking and questioning process that drives learning is critical in all classrooms.

As educators, we want students to discover knowledge, acquire skills and develop meaningful understandings.

We want students to be able to transfer what they have learned to other authentic tasks. When students are engaged in authentic tasks, given opportunities to inquire and encouraged to think about their learning, students are more likely to be life-long learners.

By Julie Ly HIS Grade 2 Teacher

HANGZHOU HIGHLIGHT

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HANGZHOU HIGHLIGHT

Hangzhou’s “Big Kids” Heroes!

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here she is! There she is! Ms. Becca do you see her over there? My enthusiastic students yell to me as they see Apoorva walking to the cafeteria with her classmates. Apoorva waves to the class as they giggle with delight and ask if they can go to give her a hug. Then, nineteen kindergarten students dash across the playground to hug and high five their favorite volleyball player. As a kindergarten teacher and varsity volleyball coach I often spoke to my class about my volleyball team and spoke to my team about my class. They would both ask questions and wonder who I was talking about. Working at HIS has provided the opportunity to teach lower school and coach upper school. HIS is lucky to have one campus which houses nursery through grade 12.

It was the end of the season and the varsity boy’s and girl’s volleyball teams were headed to Hong Kong for our ACAMIS tournament. The teams were already excited but as a coach I wanted the players to feel the support from the school who would be cheering them on back in Hangzhou. A pep rally was planned with a few surprises from lower school. Three weeks in advance, a list was sent out that assigned the twenty players to a lower school class. Then it was up to the teachers and students to display their support for their volleyball player. Their job was to make cards, signs, and letters for their player.

It was Wednesday afternoon as the players changed into their uniforms anxious for the surprises that I had mentioned to them.

The volleyball net was set up, We Will Rock You was playing on the speakers, and kindergarten through grade 12 students were filling the gym. As the teams enter the gym a roar erupts from

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the lower school classes! They are cheering, pointing, waving banners, holding signs, and screaming for their class’ volleyball player. The teams lined up and each player was introduced by the sports captain. Next the teams set up a hitting drill to show of their skills. Each class screamed and cheered as their player approached to hit. After both the teams had a chance to show off their skills, the teams lined up facing the crowd. I announced for the teachers to send up the two students picked to represent their class. This was the surprise! The players were going to be wrapped like mummies. The boys and girls ran to get two rolls of toilet paper each and stood next to their assigned player. The ACAMIS tournament was the same weekend as Halloween and the teams would miss celebrating at school. The lower school students were given one minute to wrap their player in toilet paper. The crowd cheered as the faces and uniforms were covered in toilet paper. Every person in the gym had a big smile spread across their face.

It is now a month later, and the lower school students still adore the “big kids”! On any given day you can see and hear lower school students pointing out the players and waving. A few of the high school students joke about being HIS celebrities. The teams took this excitement into the tournaments and played their hearts out. As a student athlete myself, I have many stories that I still share today. I hope in the end, that both the girl’s and boy’s teams will carry these memories and feelings with them.

By Rebecca Hamernik HIS Kindergarten Teacher

HANGZHOU HIGHLIGHT

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COMMUNITY FEATURE

Strengthening

Literacy Practices T

with Matt Glover

he ECE campus was delighted to welcome author and literacy consultant, Matt Glover, to our campus in early November. Once the principal of an early years campus, Mr. Glover now spends his time researching reading and writing development of young children, sharing his findings with teachers and parents across the globe.

Mr. Glover’s visit commenced with a two day EARCOS (East Asia Regional Council of Schools) weekend workshop attended by early childhood educators from all over Asia. Glover’s ideas of honoring approximations and nudging, rather than pushing students in literacy development, were the focus of these two days.

Throughout the workshop, Mr. Glover used examples of student writing and videos of writing conferences to demonstrate that all forms of writing express meaning and that students as young as three are indeed writing for meaning long before conventions begin to emerge. Mr. Glover spoke about the need for a balance in focus on content, composition and conventions in writing, noting that conventions often receive the majority of attention at the expense of composition in a young writer’s work. Mr. Glover emphasized the importance of honoring all approximations of writing as writing, prompting teachers to reflect on their views of writing in the early years.

Mr. Glover also encouraged participants to consider their definition of reading. He stressed that reading is making meaning from both text and pictures, and that young children understand text long before they can say the words on the page. Mr. Glover discussed numerous ways educators and other adults can support children in developing identities as readers. Participants reviewed familiar (books read often), unfamiliar (books previously unread), and informational texts and were encouraged to consider all the ways they could support students before they begin decoding. He stressed the importance of continuing to support students in reading unfamiliar books as they begin to read conventionally, as individuals at any age will need skills necessary to make meaning from unfamiliar texts.

The days between the weekend workshop and Mr. Glover’s two-day consultation on campus, provided teams with time to consider ways to bring these ideas to their classrooms and generate additional questions to discuss with Mr. Glover. Teachers at the ECE met in grade level teams to discuss the big ideas they took away from the workshop and how to begin implementing these in their classrooms. The Pre-school and Pre-Kindergarten team considered how to incorporate book making into their daily routine while Kindergarten and Grade 1 teachers discussed how to make their writing conferences more effective.

During his campus consultation, Mr. Glover met with grade 26

level teams, Mandarin Assistants and administration to focus on writing instruction practices in our classrooms. Teams attended sessions in classrooms at each grade level with Mr. Glover demonstrating writing focused read alouds, writing conferences, and student book shares. The teams discussed their observations and how they could put this information into practice within their class. Grade level collaboration will continue throughout the school year as the Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten teams develop a yearly plan for writing focused read alouds, and the Kindergarten and Grade 1 teams focus on finding additional mentor texts to support their writing units.

Mr. Glover also shared his expertise with parents during a workshop that provided ways they could support their developing writers at home. Through videos demonstrating writing conferences with children and examples of student writing, Mr. Glover provided participants with a wider definition of writing and how to support children in developing composition skills as well as conventions. He shared with parents the same message teachers received at his earlier training: honor writing approximations and nudge rather than push children throughout their writing development.

On his final day at the ECE, Mr. Glover met with a group of teachers who had participated in a study of his book I Am Reading.

This session focused on supporting students as readers before they are able to read words on the page. Teachers shared how they had been successfully implementing techniques from Mr. Glover’s book into their classes.

Throughout Mr. Glover’s visit, the ECE team developed a greater understanding of how to support students’ writing development and how to build children’s identities as writers. Mr. Glover’s visit to the ECE campus will have a lasting impact, both in terms of writing instruction and how we view ourselves as researchers and life-long learners. If you are interested in learning more about how to support your child’s writing development, please speak to your child’s teacher or contact the ECE Vice Principal, Heather Knight at hknight@scis-his.org.

Quote: “The key is that regardless of whether there are words on the page or not, or how approximated the writing appears, the child is conveying a thought, through symbols and pictures on a page and is therefore writing.” Matt Glover, Engaging Young Writers: Preschool- Grade 1

By Heather Knight Hongqiao ECE Campus Vice-Principal

COMMUNITY FEATURE

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PUDONG HIGHLIGHT

Everyone’s an Artist at SCIS Pudong!!

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he fall semester has been another busy and rewarding time for the music department at SCIS Pudong. We have presented 16 performances from a variety of groups, allowing nearly every student on the campus to participate in at least one performance. This is a feat that speaks volumes about our passion for the arts at SCIS! It is inspiring to think that even though we have less than five hundred students on our campus, we are still able to support concert bands, orchestras, rock bands, choirs, brass ensembles, jazz bands, pep bands, and more!

The school year began right away with excitement for our newly renovated campus. At the opening ceremony the Pudong Dragon Pep Band performed many exciting songs including the SCIS School Song, written by Jessica Miller. The words have caught on as a true point of pride for our community! A few weeks later the pep band was heard supporting our volleyball teams in the Pudong Dragon’s Lair, helping to inspire the teams to victory. This ensemble has been a lot of fun for the students. The performances allow them to be front and center in our community, celebrating the spirit of our campus while making music together.

The Pudong High School Jazz Band has also been incredibly active this fall. On October 17 they once again performed for an enthusiastic crowd at the JZ Jazz Festival. This was our seventh year in a row representing the Dragons at this amazing world renowned event. This make SCIS Pudong the longest running school group at the festival! That said, this was our best performance yet! The weather was amazing as we played right in front of the water and Shanghai skyline, and the energy of the festival on Saturday night was electrifying! Our dragons poured their souls into their music, producing an energy that was so captivating that we drew an audience whose size rivaled some of the professional acts that were performing on neighboring stages! Our set included music from famous jazz giants like Ray Charles and

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Duke Ellington. Our soloist included Eaton Huang, Robin Cho, Owen Lee, and Nanako Higuchi. I was so proud to present the hard work of our musicians, and I could tell that they were proud of themselves! This festival is a highlight of every year, but this year was especially memorable.

The Pudong String Orchestra held its annual performance at the Halloween Dance on the Pudong campus. This performance has become a tradition because of the great energy and fun music that the ensemble produces. Songs such as Shadows of Venice and Attack of the Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space always put the crowd in the mood for Halloween. The Pudong Campus is very proud of this group, as it was founded only three school years ago. The first orchestra concert on our campus included only 6 students. We now have over 25 students that actively participate in orchestra!

Finally, our winter concert series this year was entitled, “Dragons Play the Holidays!!” This two-night event included performances by every ensemble including the middle and high school choirs, the high school jazz band, beginning strings, intermediate strings, beginning band, intermediate band, and the high school concert band. The visual arts students also premiered their semester’s work in our beautiful gallery. It was an amazing celebration of our community, allowing all of our students, parents, and staff members to enjoy the artistic successes of one another.

As I said before, it was a busy, yet very rewarding semester of music and art at SCIS Pudong. Hats off to all of our students and teachers!

By Mark Miller Pudong Campus Head of Performing Arts/Instrumental Music

PUDONG HIGHLIGHT

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TEACHER SPOTLIGHT

Looking back at Six YEars with SCIS

Doug and Anne Gribble enjoying the California sunshine, beaches, mountains, healthy living and newfound friends. We can’t wait to see them both at the winter holiday this December when we’ll all venture off to Vietnam to learn about some of our American war history, a subject they both missed going to an international school, by climbing into some fox holes.

Where do the Gribbles hail from? Where has your journey taken you from to get you here?

We, the Gribble family, come from a small, lakeside city east of Seattle, Washington, in the USA called - Kirkland. Yes, it’s home to Costco and their Kirkland brand name, Google, Microsoft, and down the street we have the original Starbucks and a little plane maker called Boeing. Our journey to Shanghai took us away from our nearby hometowns where we’ve lived most of our lives. (Mr. G had a six year teaching stint in Alaska, where there may be prospects for gold, but not a wife, so he headed back down south where he met Mrs. G. at the copy machine at her first job fresh out of college.)

Can you share a little about your family and where/what everyone is up to now?

When we arrived in Shanghai in 2010, there were four of us going to SCIS every day: Joey (2013 SCIS graduate), now is our 20-year-old junior at University of California at Davis majoring in computer science and Mandarin; and Hailey (2015 SCIS graduate), now is our 19-year-old freshman at California Poly-Tech in San Luis Obispo majoring in communications. (She’s the beautiful blonde spokesperson on the most recent SCIS marketing video!)

Joey is currently the business operations manager of a new start-up app called “JoyRun.” (It’s like a Sherpa food delivery service and Uber combined for college campuses.) After living in China and learning to travel, he’s continually looking for new places to visit with his roommate, also a former SCIS graduate, during their college vacations. Their last trip was to South Africa, Morocco, and Turkey where he stayed at our very own Mrs. Cimen’s (IB Biology) home while exploring Istanbul. Hailey is 30

Hailey and Joey both attended and graduated from SCIS (correct me if I’m wrong) How was it being both SCIS teachers and SCIS parents at the same time?

It’s been nothing but a joy. We’ve been extremely fortunate to watch them grow up in many capacities. Since we’ve all been at the same school we were able to see them give student council speeches, perform on stage, dance in productions, and participate in various activities. It was so fun to be able to attend (and in Doug’s case, assistant coach) Hailey’s basketball, soccer, and volleyball games. During those formative teen years, as fun as it was for us to be at the same school with them and their friends, it may not have been as fun for them to run into us at their breaks or lunch-time. We had to be conscious about backing off and keeping our paws out of their cookie jars so they would still want to eat dinner with us at night. However, it sure was memorable surprising Hailey and Joey on their birthdays with songs from our classes and embarrassing baby photo posters around the school.

You have both been teaching at SCIS for 6 years, wow!

How has your experience working and living in China been in general?

AWESOME. We love SCIS and China. The school has been nothing but good to us and our family. It was a family decision to leave our “home” in Washington and come to Shanghai to work and live six years ago, one that none of us could have ever imagined would be so enriching. Our kids embraced the idea of living overseas from the beginning and we all jumped in with both feet – so glad we did! We absolutely love China and never tire of the culture and fascinating things that we see on a daily basis. We find ourselves in awe as we walk to work or exploring the gritty back alleys around town on the weekends. We have found the people here to be kind, giving and forgiving of our “bu hao” Mandarin. (You’d think it would be better after six years – it’s embarrassing.)

What keeps you coming back year after year?

The great SCIS package. The people. Our colleagues. The

TEACHER SPOTLIGHT

students. The parents. The facilities. The big city. The food.

The travel. The massages. The Nail Salons. The restaurants.

(Our amazing ayi!) AND… NO taxes or tipping!

Most importantly, our children became an integral part of SCIS and loved their international friends and experiences that went along with their IB education. We were able to watch them grow into amazing individuals in an environment that could have never been replaced somewhere else. We are forever grateful to Joey and Hailey’s teachers for shaping them into the people they have become today.

Thoughts about how long you will stay and what lays ahead?

This is it! This is our last year at SCIS. As empty nesters, we are

now ready to spread our wings and fly to another country. We are currently in the job search process, hoping to land a job in another exciting location. (We are looking for warm climate and good health care.) We’ll see where we end up! (Hopefully not in our parents’ basement.)

It’s with much gratitude that we would like to thank the board, administration and wonderful friends for supporting us during our time here at SCIS. We’ve had a great ride; one we’ll never forget. Xie-Xie!

By Mikael Masson Perez Communitas Editor 31

THEME FEATURE

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle A

s a High School visual arts teacher, my passion for art extends to a passion for helping students find within themselves the truth of Aristotle’s statement. They do this through their experiences of developing ideas, realizing their intentions through making artworks, presenting developed artworks to an audience, and reflecting on their experiences.

This curriculum places an equal importance on the creative process and reflection, alongside skill development and the products created.

I enjoy working with this age group because High School students are developing the confidence to assert more independence as learners. My work is to support their development and their emerging independence as creative thinkers. I always enjoy guiding them through their journey and celebrate with them their successes. By the end of a project, students have deepened their understanding of themselves and the world.

When we think of the visual arts, we often think of skills acquisition. However, skill development alone will not result in the development of a creative and critical thinker. In my classroom, students will engage with an open-ended problem that takes them on a journey of discovery. My students are encouraged to explore their ideas and take creative risks. Will they encounter failure? Yes! I hope they do, because only then will they learn

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that failure is necessary. They will learn to use its lessons, as Bill Gates said, “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” And in the words of Robert Kennedy, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Persistence through failure to success is one of the most important lessons the arts can provide. Of all the arts, the visual arts may be particularly intimidating, since we all have notions about what makes a “good” artwork, and many of us believe that talent is necessary to avoid failure. In my classroom, students will discover that engagement and persistence are more likely to result in success than the perfection of an art skill.

Students keep a visual journal to document their discoveries.

These process journals encompass their ideas development, their research on artists and cultures, their experiments with different media, their idea sketches, their chosen process, their failures, and their reflections on final outcomes. These journals are the heart of the visual arts course. They contain within them the evidence of the students emerging critical and creative thinking.

Critical and creative thinking is the essential transferable skill that the arts will cultivate in our students. “…Learning to think critically and creatively enables us to analyze situations, revisit challenges, create possible solutions, and innovate our way into a better future. Providing students with the tools for

THEME FEATURE

generating creative thought and encouraging creative behaviors will allow students to develop their creativity across all subject groups and foster lifelong learning…” MYP Arts Guide 2014 As learners we are lucky to be living in Shanghai where we can experience a wealth of art and culture. Because there is no substitute for viewing visual arts in person, our students regularly have opportunities to engage with the arts beyond the walls of the school. The experience of seeing the works firsthand, rather than through a digital medium, even when the artwork is digitally constructed, helps students understand the artist’s intentions and the context of the artwork. The experience of going to a museum or gallery also helps students to understand the function of arts institutions in cultures, and the professional roles of curator and gallery director, the people who shape our institutions.

Our city also provides access to professional artists. Through the generous support of our Parents and Friends Association, our students have worked with several professional artists over the last few years. We hosted Brian Michael Reed as an artistin-residence last school year, and this year we are lucky to have Elizabeth Hingley, a social anthropologist and professional photographer. Liz will be guiding photography students on a journey of discovery to produce a photographic essay in book form, a visual story that will unfold as each student explores the etymology of one Chinese character of their choosing.

Visual Art does not end with the school day. Our students can participate in a student led visual arts club after school. This group designs and completes projects that benefit the school community.

I look forward to each and every journey with art students. May their arts experiences ignite a life long passion for creative and critical thinking that contributes to their future well-being.

By Chandler Dayton Pudong Campus Visual Arts Head, IBDP Visual Art, HS Art Bibliography: MYP Arts Guide, 2014 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_failure. html#qAL5jkceSifoClgS.99 http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/failure

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THE BRAIN MUSEUM

HONGQIAO HIGHLIGHT

The Psychology students have been studying the brain!

Year One DP Psychology introduces students to different approaches to analyze and understand human behavior. Ranging from biological factors to the impact of culture, the students gain a deep understand of the many things that influence our behavior. Students become experts in the research process and develop evaluative skills as they draw conclusions about this research.

As a part of the unit “The Biological Level of Analysis”, students learn about the specialized functions of the brain and their impact on behavior. For a week, our classroom was transformed to a “brain museum”. Each student chose a region of the brain and investigated its function. Students created a model and display about this part of the brain. Through the art of creating, students gained a deep understanding into localization of function. This hands-on activity helped the student gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the brain.

As students learn, the opportunity to make choices, investigate, and create gives students the ability to think critically about the material by examining connections. This also helps students to develop creative (flexible) thinking as they approach problems.

“Being able to put what we’ve learned to use and create something helps me learn. It lets me use the knowledge and reinforce my understanding in another way than by simply memorizing for the exam.”

Mikayla Kaptzan (G11) “Our brain museum project gave me the opportunity to learn in a fun and efficient way. I was able to get a clear understanding of our part of the brain and then compare it to others. It was exciting to learn from my peers and hear multiple perspectives.”

Emma Chui (G11) “I liked this project because it helped me understand the structure of the brain through mapping out the sections and learning in depth about the hippocampus. It was engaging and fun, we mastered each section of the brain and learned from our classmates.”

Joshua Chen (G11)

By Julie Arnold Hongqiao Campus Upper School IB Psychology teacher Resources http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/educational-psychology-20-things-educators-need-to-know-about-how-students-learn/

Here is what some students had to say about the project: “I enjoyed the brain museum project because it helped me organize the information and understand how to study other research. It was fun to look at all of the details of Broca’s area and my presentation helped me be clear on all of the information.”

Seung Mo Yoo (G11)

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http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-key-to-creative-classrooms-melissagoodwin http://www.edutopia.org/blog/changemakers-science-practice-ofcreativity-diane-cadiergue

HONGQIAO HIGHLIGHT

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HONGQIAO HIGHLIGHT

The Benefits of Chamber Music Performance conductor, the onus of literature selection, rehearsal, management, and performance practice of the music falls on the musicians.

Musicians work hard to maintain balance and tempo with one another and music raises their aural awareness to produce music successfully. The violinist Jennifer Cho concurs, saying “it’s great to be challenged and to push each other to find different aspects of beauty in the music in sometimes unexpected places.”

The benefits of performing chamber music are vast. The study of chamber music promotes teamwork, encourages the exchange of musical ideas, improves listening skills, develops a responsibility to practice, and inspires and emboldens. Further, instead of one person’s musician vision, everyone gets a chance to contribute to the success of the group. Jennifer Cho comments “the combined performance is always better because you are bringing two, three, or four people’s expertise into one piece.”

Further, the famed cellist Paul Katz explains: “in chamber music, we are part of something larger than ourselves, and yet allowed, required, to contribute our own imagination, individuality and artistry.”

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hen one thinks of the live performance of music, either as the performer or audience, many examples come to mind. For many, the lush timbre of the orchestra springs to mind; for others, the excitement of a rock band in an amplified arena is the prominent image. However, chamber music, which Merriam-Webster defines as “music and especially instrumental ensemble music intended for performance in a private room or small auditorium and usually having one performer for each part.” In more practical terms, chamber music is usually small group performances of classical music without a conductor.

The most famous example of chamber music is the string quartet, which has had a large volume of music written for it by composers famous and small. A string quartet consists of two violins, one viola (which is similar to a violin but larger and lower) and a cello. At SCIS, we have already have had a history of chamber music here. It started with the High School Select quartet, which started with four members in the spring of 2013. It then progressed with the Middle School Select Quartet, which started in 2014. Finally, this year we have had the ability to create a class that consists of a quartet with its current members Chika Kishi, Sonic Yao, Angela Zhang, and Hun-Hee Yoo. The same four students also have combined with our talented music assistant Imelda Wiryoutomo to form a quintet, which has performed for the fall theater production of White Snake.

Quite often, a student learns music in a variety of different ways.

For many in the American educational system, they first learn music from their school; often, this involves playing an instrument or singing in their school’s band, orchestra, or choir. For many other students around the world, they learn music from a private tutor. While piano is the most prevalent example, students learn instruments of all different types this way. Finally, students sometimes learn music in a self-taught manner. Frequently, music of the more pop variety (rock, country, electronic, and world music) is at times learned this way.

The transformation that has already occurred with the four student musicians has been incredible. Their self-confidence has strengthened and their increasing involvement in rehearsing and music selection is inspiring. As a music educator, one of the ultimate goals is to develop students’ musical literacy so that the teacher can start limiting their role as a teacher and instead start serving as a coach. When a program can have an ensemble that is partially or fully self-directed and the teacher can simply provide feedback for improvement, it has reached a high level.

This current high school quartet is currently heading towards that direction of independence and it makes for an exciting chapter for our strings program.

However, chamber music raises level of responsibility and benefit of performing music for the musicians involved. Without a

By Lee Pophal Hongqiao Campus High School and Middle School Strings Teacher

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HONGQIAO HIGHLIGHT

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HONGQIAO ARt Gallery

Camille Lauras, Grade 12

Katie Li, Grade 11

Chae-Yeon Seo, Grade 11 38

Amy Wu, Grade 10

Shi Shuan Tiffany Wu, Grade 11

William Ai, Grade 10

HONGQIAO ARt Gallery

Daisy Everitt, Grade 9

Dylan Kramer, Grade 9

Christina Zhu, Grade 9 39

COMMUNITY FEATURE

Halloween fun at the Hangzhou Campus field, each class filed out dressed in their holiday finest.

From the nursery classes whose pint-sized bunny, doggy, and princess costumes just dripped with cuteness, to the middle school shock-effect costumes complete with missing limbs and snarling faces, to the unique, and quite impressive high school imaginations, every manner and assortment of individual filled the soccer field creating a sea of color and wowing the throngs of parents snapping pictures at an incredible rate.

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n October 30 the Hangzhou International School campus was transformed into all things scary, funny and cute. Halloween once again came to our school! With the creative know-how and hard work of PAFA volunteers HIS classrooms and grounds became a place of silly spooky fun. Although to some that didn’t experience the enjoyment of costumes, Jack O’lanterns, and “trick or treating” door to door for candy may find Halloween strange and bizarre, children from all over the world revel in it’s fun.

At HIS children of all ages took part in Halloween events that spanned the length of the day. The morning started with the annual Halloween Parade and “Spirit” contest. While songs like “Monster Mash” and “Thriller” reverberated over the soccer

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After the parade it was time to Trick or Treat! As vital to costumes are to Halloween, so is the act of trick or treating. Traditionally, costumed children will knock on doors Halloween night, bag in hand, yelling “TRICK OR TREAT” in the hopes of collecting some candy or toys. We recreated this fun activity HIS style. Lower schools traveled with their class to designated and decorated areas throughout the campus and after yelling the required “TRICK OR TREAT” received their treats from costumed PAFA volunteers. Much fun was had by all.

In years past there would be several large-scale activities such as a haunted house. This year we opted to do something different. Classes used the afternoons to create their own in-class activities. Once school was out, however, the Halloween fun began again in the form of after school movies. Popcorn and soda in hand, Lower School was treated to Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride”, while Upper School jumped and

COMMUNITY FEATURE

shrieked to an early eighties classic “Poltergeist”.

This led into the evening events.

Lower School students and their families were able to attend Hangzhou International School’s first Fantasy Ball! As a means to raise money for their “Little Mermaid” musical which will be performed in the spring, teachers, staff, and musical cast members transformed themselves into Disney princesses and super heroes. The gym became a magical wonderland. Kids could shoot silly string like Spiderman, dig for buried treasure, get their picture taken with Jasmine and Aladdin, create ice castles, and make pirate swords. They were also treated to a story telling session with the princesses themselves! For any child who imagines being a superhero and saving the world or being a princess and having the world, this was definitely the place to be.

Upper School created their own fantasy night in the form of an Upper School Dance. This event

was (almost) entirely organized and run by the student council. Students decorated the Performance Space, served pizza and snacks, and rocked out to their favorite songs. I cannot report much on this event however since I am not a teenager or a parent of a teenager so the dance was shrouded in secrecy for me, as many teenage activities tend to be. My understanding, however, is that is was a great success.

In years past Halloween was quite a foreign concept to many in our school. With every year that goes by, more kids look forward to the silliness of the day, and more families get involved. Halloween 2015 was a fun filled all-day event for the students, families, and faculty of Hangzhou International School. I venture to say, that Halloween 2016 will be even more so.

By Gretchen Montey HIS PAFA Volunteer

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SPORTS RECAP

Fall Sports Highlight SCIS-Hongqiao Campus for offense and defense, and court awareness helped the girls earn confidence in their volleyball skills. Positive leadership and encouraging and effective communication allowed the girls to build trust in one another and a strong sense of team.

Swimming:

Varsity Boys Volleyball:

Coach: Kathryn Clouthier Captains: Alexei Von Wahl (G12); Paul Howorka (G12); Kevin Reimer (G11) The Varsity boys went undefeated in the regular season going 6 – 0 before finishing 4th at Shanghai’s SISAC tournament. They finished the season strong by placing first to win ACAMIS in Hong Kong!

Varsity Girls Volleyball:

Coach: Brad Newell Captains: Moe Yamagishi (G11), Olivia Newcomb (G12) This year the 2015 Varsity Girls Volleyball team had a very successful season winning all but one game in the regular season.

During ACAMIS in Hong Kong the girls simply dominated the tournament and were crowned champions with perfect 14-0 set record. To finish the season, the girls went to SISAC and ending up finishing in 2nd place in a tough final against SAS Puxi. Congratulations to the following girls on a fun and successful season.

Coach: Noah Randall Seniors: Penny Sorret & Ivanhoe Chou In the first 2 meets alone, the Hongqiao swimming team set no less than 247 personal best times! New records were set by Chloe Ng-Triquet with a time of 29.42 in the 50-meter freestyle, breaking the record set in March of 2015 by Andrea Belin, Alice Choi (15 & over girls) with a time of 1:23.69 in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking the record set in September of 2010 by Sidney Pinger, and Blenda Loberg, Chloe Ng-Triquet, Alice Choi and Brynn Algstam (15 & Over Girls) with a time of 2:18.56 in the 200-meter Medley Relay, breaking the record set in February of 2015 at the Asian All-stars meet.

Rugby

Coach: Ross Orchard and Brendan Newman Captains: Elliott De Bellescize (G12), John Athanasopoulos(G12) The boys Rugby team had a fantastic season throughout which culminated in their inaugural entry into ACAMIS. The highlight of the season involved the team travelling to SAS Puxi where this year’s SISAC Rugby Tournament was held. International schools from all over Shanghai fielded their best rugby men and teams were pitted against each other throughout the day. After hard-fought games and plenty of bruises, the boys came out victorious in the 3rd place play-offs to bring home a trophy!

Junior Varsity Boys Volleyball: Coach: Richard Forbes Captain: Henrique Vieria (G10)

Going undefeated (6-0) throughout the 2015 regular season, the JV Boys volleyball team finished first place in the SISAC West Conference, defeating #1 East ranked Concordia to cap off an outstanding season of incredible skill development.

Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball: Coach: Melissa Kirwin Captains: Lucy Feng (G10)

The D2 Girl’s Volleyball team had a great season of learning new skills and building teamwork. New playing positions, strategies 42

Cross-Country:

Coaches: Rachel Punter and Andrew Shearer This season the senior cross-country team practiced twice a week in all weather at Yilli Park, improving their speed and stamina by gradually increasing the distances ran each week.

We alternated shorter runs to improve speed and longer runs for stamina, building up to the SISAC meet in Pudong. All of the runners performed really well against some very strong competition and many students considerably improved upon their personal records. The fastest time for SCIS was set by Andy Wong who finished in 21:16.

SPORTS RECAP

SCIS-Pudong Campus Varsity Boys Volleyball:

Coach: Trevor Mrak The Varsity Boys, with lot of new faces, faced their inexperience with plenty of effort. Highlights of the season including two wins and the sportsmanship award at the opening Dragon Cup hosted by SCIS Hongqiao and an impressive showing at the 2nd Annual Husky Growl at the Canadian International School in Singapore.

Hosting the ACAMIS Orange division was also a highlight, as the boys had the pleasure of playing in front of the home crowd all weekend. It was an exciting season, and our returning players are already looking forward to next year!

Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball:

Coach: Mike DeNeef Playing the most league games of any SCISPD High school team the D2 Volleyball Lady Dragons finished league play undefeated and in 1st place. Highlights of play this year have included strong overhand serving, three hit attacks, funky cheers and my favorite - consistent group thank-yous for the referee. The ladies want to thank all who have come out to cheer them on it certainly helped in the close games t have a sea of green.

Varsity Girls Volleyball:

Coach: Sara Sokola The SCIS Pudong Ladies Varsity Volleyball team had a great season.

From an invitational tournament in Singapore, to claiming 1st in SISAC’s Plate division, skills were developed and character matured.

Junior Varsity Boys Volleyball:

Coach: Marin Dobson Captains: Javier Castro Sanchez (G10); Eaton Huang (G10) The JV Boys worked hard towards improving our overhand serve percentage, serve receive consistency, being loud and positive in our on-court communication, and going for the aggressive third hit on offense. At the SISAC Cup tournament the JV Boys played their highest level volleyball, including a great 3 set match against SAS-Puxi.

Aquatics:

Coach: Gary MacDonald Captaims: Sandra Rautavuori (G12), Joseph Barett (G11) 55 Personal best swims in the past two meets and a team overall average improvement of 36%. 6 Pool records were broken by swimmers Joseph Barett (50 Fly – 31.65; 100 Fly – 1:14.86; 50 Free – 28.26), Alessia Minatta (200 IM – 2:44.94; 400 Free – 5:15.64; 100 Free – 1:06.09) and Kim Jae Young (50 Fly – 39.58; 50 Free – 34.39). Additionally, we have started the Red Cross Lifeguarding programme with 8 SCIS Pudong students, and it has been running for the entire semester culminating with a theory and practical exam in December.

Hangzhou International School season on a high having grown both personally and mentally.

Varsity Girls Volleyball: Coach: Rebecca Hamernik Captain: Xenia Niesel (G11) Co-Captain: Alessandra Beelen (G11)

The 2015 HIS girl’s varsity volleyball team is all about their strengths! Each player worked hard to develop their skills and make each other better. The were determined and fought hard to the end. It was a fantastic season!

Varsity Boys Volleyball:

Coach: David Watts Captains: Ali Al-Alawadi (G12); Tanay Bapna (G10) The varsity boys endured throughout the season to finish with a 3-6 record, placing 6th in SISAC and 5th in ACAMIS tournaments respectively. Beyond statistics, the team learned the values of teamwork, dedication and perseverance and concluded the

Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball:

Coach: Julie Mullen We were thrilled to have our largest turnout of volleyball players in the history of HIS this season. The JV girls volleyball team participated in the annual Dragon Cup and SISAC tournaments in Shanghai. It was exciting to see the first time volleyball players work together with the veteran players as one cohesive team.

We are proud of the dedication, effort, and sportsmanship of our athletes.

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HONGQIAO ECE HIGHLIGHT

MUSIC AT THE ECE CAMPUS Singing, playing, moving, creating H

ongqiao ECE music students showcased their learning through their annual winter concert, the first of two ECE concerts held each year. Students in kindergarten and grade one were able to perform on the big stage of the HQ main campus auditorium on December 3rd, while students in pre-kindergarten showcased their learning on the stage in the ECE campus gymnasium on December 9th. In the weeks leading up to the concerts, students eagerly prepared by creating, singing, moving, listening, and playing with music.

Students in grade one greeted families with a traditional African song of welcome while singing, moving and playing along, followed by a classic nursery rhyme that was brought to life through movement, voice, and an accompaniment of xylophones. The talented grade one students taught their audience how to dance using classic dance moves from the 1960s. They certainly showed how to “mash potato” and “do the twist.” Lastly, they shared their knowledge of the ascending scale and the Solfeg hand signs with the audience.

Students in kindergarten brought the energy showcasing their ability to “jig, jig, jiggle,” followed by singing a classic folk song from England. They also shared with the audience their ability to listen and follow along while performing their rendition of a famous Nutcracker song using special movements and playing instruments. Finally, the kindergarten classes made a song about rainbows really exciting with the help of dancing ribbons, xylophones, and self-choreographed movements.

Bringing the concert to a close, grade one and kindergarten students proudly came together for a special grand finale. Singing a classic song, made famous by Shirley Temple in 1936, the students went out on a high note. The audience had to listen intently as the students had changed some of the lyrics to make this grand finale extra special for the ECE community.

At the pre-kindergarten concert, the students began by demonstrating for the audience one of their favorite warm-up activities that they commonly do to begin music classes. Following their warm up, they sang a favorite song about little ducks and another about warm and cozy mittens. Throughout the concert, students had many opportunities to showcase their ability to listen to and play musical instruments.

Finally, to end the concert, students shared one of their favorite stories from music class. Through singing, moving, and playing instruments, the talented prekindergarteners brought this story to life for their audience.

Throughout both ECE concerts, these little musicians took their audiences on a journey of their learning by making music come to life through energetic and thoughtful singing, moving, and instrumentation. They helped choose the songs to perform and created many of the accompanying movements and instrumental parts. The goal of these concerts was for students to showcase their learning, and this was certainly achieved. Thank you to all from the ECE community who came out to support these young musicians and, of course, a huge round of applause for our pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and grade one students.

By Erin Babb ECE Campus Music Specialist 44

HONGQIAO ECE HIGHLIGHT

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TECHNOLOGY

Supporting the Arts with Technology use of technology, the benefits are great. Garageband produces a waveform that gives students a visual representation of their sound recording allowing them to not only hear themselves play but to visually compare their recording against the metronome to judge how well their timing is. In addition, the student may not be satisfied with his or her recording, self-critiquing it as they listen, and may record it until they are. This leads to the student spending more time practicing. Having students turn in their digital recording also gives the teacher the opportunity to hear and give feedback to each student, freeing up class time for new learning.

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hile walking the halls at SCIS Pudong, one can’t miss seeing teachers and students using technology in creative and meaningful ways. You’ll notice pockets of students gathering around a computer creating a movie presentation or collaborating on an assignment. Teachers are seen demonstrating how to digitize a piece of art or musical score. The whir of a 3D printer can be heard as it processes a replica of a student’s CAD drawing. It’s fascinating to see the variety of ways that technology is supporting the Arts.

SCIS prides itself on providing ubiquitous access to many forms of technology with the main purpose of enhancing and supporting student achievement. It also excels at using this technology in an integrated manner rather than making it the prime focus of learning. Technology as a tool can help teachers differentiate their instruction and help meet the needs of various learning styles. As the world of technology rapidly expands, our students and teachers are exposed to many exciting resources making each day an opportunity for new learning.

My journey through our campus begins in our Music department where on any given day, melodies can be heard echoing through the halls long before you reach the classroom door. Today, though, things are silent. Instead of holding their instruments, I see high school students, laptops out, writing music aided by the use of computer software. Sibelius is the program and students are using it to learn about music theory. The immediate feedback that the software provides promotes the learning process by giving students a sense of where their progress is and allows them to quickly make necessary adjustments so they can reach their goal.

Next door, middle school music students use their laptops to record their practice sessions at home and are saving their audio files to the server. While this approach may seem like a simple

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Creativity becomes visible as I head upstairs to the Visual Arts department. What catches my eye isn’t the dazzling array of student work decorating the walls, but the ways kids are using technology to create it. Take digital photography for example, where students’ exploration of the camera settings leads to new discoveries and learning resulting in some amazing shots. Editing software programs like Adobe’s Photoshop or Lightroom are used to take the creativity to the next level but isn’t the focus of their learning, nor is the drawing tablet they are writing on. The technology is seamlessly integrated into the learning process and acts as just another tool, like a pencil or brush, and a means to completing their assignment. Technology has the power to redefine students’ creative expression and SCIS is poised to support it and see it grow.

Down the hall, 3D objects are being digitally designed and printed in Modular Technology class. 3D printing has seen exponential growth in popularity in all sorts of industries. At SCIS, we feel that exposing students to 3D design gives them not only another avenue to creatively express their ideas, but it builds higher-level thinking skills, preparing them for a future filled with innovative technologies.

I enjoy my role as campus Technology Coordinator because it fuels my desire to be a life-long learner. Teachers come to me seeking new ideas, tips on using a particular piece of software, or suggestions on using their current technologies more effectively.

By helping teachers and students integrate technology, we are not only providing experiences that broaden their creativity to create new products, but we are giving them opportunities to also develop their computer literacy. I applaud our faculty and their support of our mission at SCIS to provide students with opportunities for academic and personal excellence, and with the support of technology, our arts program is thriving!

By Barry Johnson Pudong Campus Technology Coordinator

TECHNOLOGY

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SPECIAL FEATURE

The Nightingale S

eventh graders taking a special class of Dance/Theatre are producing an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, The Nightingale. Complete with song, dance, and audience participation, these students pack up their costumes, sets, props, and musical instruments and have taken their show to the Hongqiao ECE campus and Tianyi Primary, a local school.

This very unique class, is co-taught by Middle School Dance teacher Fiona Sherwood and Middle School Drama teacher Fursey Gotuaco in an effort to give students a real-world experience. Students go through a wide variety of dance and movement strategies that include Yoga, formal reflection, relaxation, and traditional choreography. Students began by spending a great deal of time in front of the dance mirrors on specially padded flooring in the basement dance room. At first, the focus was on isolations and careful attention to posture and alignment. Though some students had taken dance in the past, for many, this was a new experience. Ms. Sherwood wanted to challenge students’ understanding of how the body can be used in performance

They were first exposed to posture, alignment and extension.

The aim was to get students to realize the importance of being ready to move, to be able to have the skills to move appropriately and the confidence to extend that movement so it enhances their performance. We looked at where we could add elements of the physical training, how we could use our breath not only to project our voice but also to use our body. Over time the students became aware of the expectation to use their body, they stepped out of their comfort zone and began to use their arms and their legs to emphasize meaning and mime. They incorporated speed and dynamic changes in their movements during class exercises and then within performances. They practiced keeping control of their limbs and tension in their body.

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In addition to their precise body movements the students also had to work diligently on their vocal skills. They knew that every space they performed in would have acoustic challenges. The greatest of these would be Tianyi Primary school where they would have to perform outside. Poy Thiamolet, who was cast as one of the gods describes her process, “During the rehearsal I felt like I was super loud but Mr.G kept telling me to be louder.

I didn’t have the nerves to go louder because I was scared I might get something wrong and I was shy. But Mr.G gave me great advice about how to be louder than I usually am. At first I thought that I was loud enough but then I quickly realized that he was right and I started listening to him. I thought that I was louder than usual during the last rehearsal.”

Students worked hard to learn their lines of dialogue and their choreography. Others like Maisie Liu who played the musician, had to focus on musical cues to heighten the action of the play.

Being an accomplished Piano and Clarinet player, Maisie used an assortment of musical instruments, including a Chinese gong to cue the actors and cue the audience. She explains, “It is a great experience for me and in the future of my life. A great journey and a wonderful learning field trip!”

SPECIAL FEATURE

The production required sets, props, costumes and sound. All of which had to be brought with them from one site to another.

But it became a labor of love for some and a source of esprit de corps. As Sevillana Ettinger says, “The best thing about the experience was not performing, but the touring. Singing songs on the bus, telling funny stories, lifting heavy objects in and out of the school’s- those are the things that really brought us together.

For me, that’s something that meant a lot- teamwork and the special friendship that only comes with theater.”

and it brought us closer together and we made a lot of fun doing this. Mia Sabay finished the project saying, “If I ever got an opportunity again I would say YES!” Since then, in preparation for their Shakespeare scenes, the students have been working on the power of rhythm in movement.

They have enjoyed finding the rhythm in music, passing a rhythm around the group and making rhythms using their body as well as their voice. These co-taught classes have given students a healthy balance of the value in both vocal and physical training and has had a great deal of positive impact on students’ performances on the stage.

As the performance date came, the students loaded everything into a 15-person van for the day’s long adventure. Their excitement was palpable. Eve Lelievre, who helped play the character of ‘DEATH’ describes, “Before the performance is probably the most nervous I get, and then while I was performing it felt easier and I was less stressed. Performing was very fun because all we worked on was leading up to that moment, and it feels really good.”

At the end of the long day, through a very sophisticated reflection strategy led by Ms. Sherwood, the students took a moment to process their work and their emotions. Jihan McNaughton verbalizes her thoughts with, “I think that the Nightingale was awesome because this was probably a one in lifetime opportunity

By Fiona Sherwood, Hongqiao Campus MS Dance Teacher Fursey Gotuaco, Hongqaio Campus MS Drama Teacher 49

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

A Sit Down with Multi-talented Musician

Nemo Dong Amidst his piano recitals, swimming lessons, and studying time, we had a chance to squeeze into Nemo’s busy schedule to have a chat with him about his achievements in and outside of school.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Hi I’m Nemo and I am an eighth grader in the Hongqiao Campus. I am originally from Shanghai. I can speak Shanghainese although a lot Shanghai kids don’t know how to speak this dialect currently, so I am sort of like a friend with the ayis (“aunt”, “auntie”) in the school cafeteria because they like chatting with me in Shanghainese! Besides the academic study, I once wanted to be a stunning athlete in school but I quickly realized that I was not very gifted in sports, so instead I am taking efforts in learning the piano and trying to be a good music performer.

Since when did you start learning to play the piano? What grade level in music are you in?

I started learning to play the piano when I was seven years old. Now I am in ABRSM (Associated Board Royale School of Music, Britain) Piano Grade 8.

Do you learn any other music instrument apart from piano?

Yes, I choose guitar as my Performing Art class in school.

How much time do you spend on practicing music each day?

For the first 3 years, I only practiced for 20 minutes each day because the concentration for a little boy couldn’t last beyond it. With my skills getting more advanced and the length of the music getting longer, I have had to increase my practice time. So now, on average, I practice for about 30-45 minutes each school day, and up to 1-1.5 hours daily during holidays.

How do you balance your time between study and all other activities?

Besides playing the piano, I am/used to be a member of several activities in school including Math Counts, Science Club, Swim Team, Social Committee, and NJHS. For a student, I think “study” should always come first. So no matter how busy the activities are, I always finish my homework efficiently and on time and stay focused in classes.

My mother is crazily fond of making schedules, so I have been trained by her to make schedules for a day, a week or even a month. I think it’s quite helpful to make me ensure what I have to do and how I should arrange my time.

How long have you been studying in SCIS? What brought you to SCIS? I came to SCIS when I was a fifth grader. I didn’t really have any idea which school I should go to at that time. My parents did. They brought me to SCIS, Hongqiao Campus in the summer holiday of 2012. The school was on holiday, so we only met the admission staffs. The kindness of the admission staff, the bright environment of the campus and the clean classrooms really impressed me. Now I feel so lucky that my parents had chosen SCIS for me. We have excellent teachers, amazing friends, great academic environment and an awesome community here, and I am enjoying every school day!

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

We heard you got to participate in the “ABRSM Shanghai High Score Concert” Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

It was a really a big challenge for me. All the performers in this concert have been strictly selected from the candidates (in Shanghai and the East-China area) who obtained “distinction” level in ABRSM exam. I was totally surprised when I heard that I was selected. This was my first time performing on a big stage in a formal concert. The concert was a big success, while I felt a bit nervous and was not very satisfied with my performance that day, it was definitely a great and precious experience for me. I met a number of really talented young pianists and was inspired a lot by them. I realized that success is only for the people who are very well-prepared. I am looking forward to the next opportunity where I will do my best to achieve a perfect performance.

Are there any other music performances or concerts you have attended before?

Not really. I performed in school assemblies and in senior citizens’ homes, if they count. My piano teacher wants to recommend me to attend an international piano contest to be held in California, USA next February, but I don’t want to be absent from school. Anyway, I will positively consider about participating in more concerts or contests in the future.

Do you have a favorite class and/or teachers? Why? My favorite classes are math, science and social studies. I like logical thinking. In these classes you do not only memorize the knowledge on the textbook or what the teachers tell you, you need to analyze and solve the problems based on your own logical thinking, and it is very interesting to me.

I like all my teachers in this school. Mr. Zimmerman, who was my 5th grade homeroom teacher, was patient and nice to me when I was totally new in SCIS. Mr. La Londe (my math teacher), Mr. Dittman (my science teacher), Mr. Forbes (my social studies teacher) let me have interests in these subjects.

And, they are not only my teachers but also my mentors, who give me precious help with my academic and other aspects.

How’s middle school been doing for you so far? Has it been more challenging than your previous year?

I think I am doing petty well in middle school so far. Eighth grade is a bit challenging because we are applying MYP courses, therefore we need to learn and understand a number of new concepts. And another exciting thing is only an 8th grader is eligible to be a house captain, and I have been fortunately selected.

So I can be a teacher’s assistant and instruct the seventh and sixth graders on what to do.

Two years ago, during the invention convention season, you invented an auto-page turning device, that’s pretty cool!

Have you been using it since then when you practice music?

Not really because the auto-page turning device needs a lot of improvement. It can only flip one page, but now I am playing multi-page music, so it is not really working. Another problem

is the loud noises while turning the page. Furthermore, I need to reduce the size of the main button, thus making the action of pressing the button more comfortable and smooth. Maybe that can be my summer holiday task with the help from my dad who is a genius of electrics and mechanics.

Outside of school, what do you like to do?

Doing homework, going to the piano lessons, swimming, doing fitness exercises (now on diet), visiting my grandparents, traveling with my parents, listening to my father’s lectures about life, reading, day dreaming, and doing some housework (because my parents think mastering the basic housework will benefit me when I leave home for college and need to take care of myself.)

Lastly, is there any one person who has inspired/encouraged your passion in music?

My parents are encouraging me all the time. They love music and lead me to listen to a various kinds of music. My current piano teacher, Mr. Jay Wang inspired me a lot. He is an excellent piano teacher as well as a highly talented pianist. He teaches me to regard what I am playing as “music” and not only as the “notes on the music books.” He tells me the stories behind the music.

He has allowed me to enjoy the emotional expression of the music I play. I think his instruction has led me up to a new step.

By Mun Yee Choo Marketing and Communications Manager 51

ALUMNI INTERVIEW

Nicole Kim Pursuing a lifelong dream

Tell us a little about yourself (where are you from, where did you grow up, etc.)

My name is Nicole Kim. I was born and raised in Korea until 9th grade and then, moved to Shanghai with family.

After graduating from SCIS, I decided to study at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York where I currently reside. Presently, I am a Teacher Assistant of the department chair’s class while also undertaking an internship from the chair’s office.

How long did you study at SCIS? I studied at SCIS from 9th grade to senior year.

You are currently in your third year at the School of Visual Arts in New York, how is everything going so far?

I am in my junior year at SVA studying towards a double major in Graphic Design and Interaction design. First, I am learning about overall graphic design and interaction design which is designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services. It encompasses a broad range but well known examples include mobile app designs and interface design. I am also studying motion graphics. All professors are currently working in the fields. For example, I am taking an interaction class in Google’s New York headquarters and in this year, I got an opportunity to take Ivan Chermayeff /Thomas Geismar/ Sagi Haviv’s honors class (Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv is a New York-based branding and graphic design firm known for having designed logos for the likes of Mobil Oil, NBC, National Geographic, etc) Can you tell us a little about your decision to pursue this major?

Since childhood, I’ve been in an environment close to art because of family’s support. Based on this, I naturally decided to pursue an art related career. During my high school years, I took both IB and AP art and this eventually helped me decide on a specific area of art. Also, before going into 11th grade, I took a pre-college course in SVA and this experience helped me a lot to focus on my goal and it also brought a lot of enthusiasm to my life.

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ALUMNI INTERVIEW

How well prepared did you feel coming from SCIS? Before getting into college, I had a clear goal and major in mind. I think the reasons are first, I worked really hard during my time in high school. Doing both IB and AP was tough at that time but it helped a lot to think deeper not only about studying but also about myself. Second, I met Ms. Dayton, who is my favorite art teacher, in SCIS. She was the first person who saw my talent and led me to grow as an artist and as a person.

How would you describe your style of art?

It’s little hard to define my style yet but I love exploring and experimenting new things. Although my major is design, I try to combine many colors and incorporate change into my art style.

Have you had any recent work selected for exhibition lately?

My work has been selected everywhere from small to larger-sized exhibitions in both school and university.

about students and we received lots of energy from their support. Also, I had good environment to explore what I wanted to do and what I was good at.

Most memorable moment?

My most memorable moment is definitely with Ms. Dayton.

Like I mentioned before, I can’t imagine my high school life without her. She taught me so much not only as a student but also as a human being. Until now, she is the best teacher whom I have had the opportunity to meet and learn under.

Any advice to high school students who are currently preparing to go to university?

I think finding a goal and dream is the most important thing during high school. When you get into university, time goes by really fast and many things happen. To reduce big mistakes in university, I think that finding the right pathway (about life) is important. Moreover, spend time with your family and find friends who like you for who you are. When you get into university, you don’t have enough time to spend with family and later on, you will miss that memory. Also, I am not sure yet because I am still on the way, I believe it will be hard to find real friend in the real world. During high school, I think it is the best time to meet friends who really understand and share your thoughts.

Have you thought about where you see yourself in the future?

Right before graduating high school, I had written my future resume in school. I still read that resume today and although it has really high expectation I am trying to follow it as close as possible as I can. After graduating from university I want to get into Google (hopefully) where I wish to stay for a while. While working, I am thinking of studying towards a graduate degree as well and after that, I wish to bring my parents into New York to be able to live together again J

Favorite part about going to SCIS? I really enjoyed my high school life in SCIS and it brought me a lot of valuable memories. My favorite part was how warm – hearted the SCIS community was. Teachers were really caring

By Mikael Masson PEREZ Communitas Editor

The Alumni Association Alumni Mission: The SCIS-HIS Alumni Association has been established in order to foster the continued cordial relations of the SCIS-HIS community. It’s goal was, and continues to be, to link alumni with the School and with each other, and to support and maintain such forged relationships. It strives to provide ample avenues and opportunities to encourage alumni to participate actively in the SCIS-HIS community.

Alumni Contact: Mikael Masson Perez mmasson@scis-his.org Alumni Requirements: 1. Graduated from a SCIS-HIS school OR

Social Media facebook site: http://www.facebook. com/SCISandHIS-alumni Linkedin site: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ SCISHIS-Alumni-4757677

2. Went to school here for at least one year AND be over 18 53

THE LIBRARIAN CORNER

Book Recommendations for Lower School Book Title: Amulet: The Stonekeeper Author: Kazu Kibuishi Illustrator: Kazu Kibuishi Age Range: Grade 3 and up Summary: Following the tragic death of their father, siblings Emily and Navin move to the abandoned home of their great grandfather along with their mother. In a dramatic turn of events, they find themselves transported to an alternative world populated with elves, talking animals and a robot rabbit named Miskit, and set off on an adventure trying to rescue their mother who has been captured by a giant blob.

Mr. Zimmerman’s take: Right now this is the single most popular series in the Lower School Library. We currently have the first six books of this series in our collection and its an unusual occurrence for one of them to last longer than an hour on shelf after being returned. Readers will enjoy travelling with Emily and Navin as they set off to rescue their mother in a giant walking house.

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Book Title: The Book with No Pictures Author: B.J. Novak Age Range: Any Summary: The New York Times Bestselling work by author B.J. Novak, who many parents will recognize from his work on the television show, The Office. Instead of illustrations, this highly creative book makes use of colors and sizes of fonts, some very creative words, and is very clearly meant to be read to an audience.

Mr. Zimmerman’s take: My current favorite read-aloud. A dramatic failure as a bedtimes story that sent my daughter into hysterical laughter and delayed her actually sleeping by an hour as I was forced to read it several times more and then struggled to get her to stop teasing me about the name of the hippo who is apparently my only friend in the world. Anyone in need of some silliness and a good giggle should pick this up.

THE LIBRARIAN CORNER

Book Title: Ottoline and the

Yellow Cat

Author: Chris Riddell Illustrator: Chris Riddell Awards: Nestle Children’s Book Prize (Gold), Red House Children’s Book Award for Younger Readers Age Range: Grade 3 and up Summary: Ottoline lives on the twenty-fourth floor of the Pepperpot Building. Her parents travel the world collecting interesting things, so Ottoline is frequently left in the company of her best friend Mr. Munroe, a small hairy creature from a bog in Norway. In this, the first book of her adventures, Ottoline investigates a string of daring burglaries involving missing lapdogs.

Mr. Zimmerman’s take: This is the first book in the Ottoline series and the intricate illustrations, creative characters, and fun plot line immediately hooked me. The use of a hairy troll as a sidekick is particularly delightful, especially the recurring element of Ottoline brushing his hair (which he hates) when she needs to think or formulate one of her big plans.

Book Title: Locomotive Author: Brian Floca Illustrator: Brian Floca Awards: Caldecot Medal Winner,

Silbert Honor Book Age Range: Grade 2 and up Summary: Set in 1869, this story takes readers on a journey aboard America’s transcontinental railroad. Readers are shown the train line in all aspects, from construction of the tracks to the workers and passengers on board as well as the sights that they would see.

Mr. Zimmerman’s take: This is author Floca’s follow up to his critically acclaimed Moonshot, about the Apollo 11 mission.

Beautifully illustrated, it takes readers on a virtual journey across the United States as they journey from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco. Along the way you meet the workers on the train and other passengers while learning about how the train works and the country that it passes through. The illustrations will draw the youngest of readers to this book, and simultaneously, this book contains detail and a story that will appeal to older children as well as adults.

By Dan Zimmerman Hongqiao Campus Lower School Librarian 55

Community Feature

White Snake (白蛇传)

T

Chinese Folk Tale Comes to Life

he White Snake is one of the “four great folktales” of ancient China, existing in oral tradition since the Ming Dynasty.

It tells the story of White Snake/Lady Bai (Sophie Nettesheim), an ancient creature living atop a mountain, who has grown restless in her search for enlightenment. She and her feisty companion Greenie (Neela Rochet) transform themselves into humans and travel to Hangzhou to experience worldly pleasures. Lady Bai unexpectedly meets and falls in love with a man named Xu Xian (Karl Lee). Together they open a pharmacy and start a family. An evil monk named Fai Ha (Hayden Lelievre) discovers her true identity and, believing their love to be unnatural, does everything in his power to tear them apart.

The SCIS Theatre, Music, and Dance students worked together to bring this mystical fable to life. The music was performed live by SCIS string and percussion students. Middle and high school Drama students spent weeks building and painting sets, and creating props. Our high school and middle school student actors rehearsed for more than two months to learn their lines and perfect their parts. The students on the technical crew, led by Stage Manager Omer Segal, learned new skills as they labored to create the backstage magic of the production. More than 100 students worked together to bring this magical story of love to life.

By Jennifer Lawless, Hongqiao Campus Upper School Drama Teacher

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Community Feature

57

HOST Culture

Chinese Group Activities and Teamwork A

s a huge country with the world’s largest population, I would argue that China has the most diversity in terms of its own culture. However, I always hear that Chinese people are extraordinary individuals but are not very good at teamwork.

The Olympic games is a good evidence of such. I have always wondered whether this is true, because in my opinion if we Chinese people are truly not good at teamwork, then how did we last for thousands of years as an entire country? I suppose that the truth is Chinese people do have good teamwork in our own cultural way. I would like to highlight three activities which are very popular in China nowadays and try to prove my own ideas about Chinese unity.

Marathon Running---I can’t remember when Marathon running became popular in China. However, I remember I did it about 10 years ago, at a time when seldom people knew about it, let alone joined. In the past two to three years, we have begun to see many people run regularly in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. Nowadays, if you want to run a Marathon in China during spring or fall, which are consider the best seasons to run, 58

you are able to do so nearly every week. I can’t imagine this can happen in any other country! Why? I suppose that more and more Chinese people are becoming concerned about living healthier lives.

To be healthier has become a big goal, making different groups of individuals focus on the same goal, hence teamwork naturally occurs.

Public Square Dancing---This popular Chinese activity is also focused on a healthy lifestyle. Unlike Marathon running which focuses on younger people as groups, public square dancing focuses more on the elder generation. I remember that many foreigners have told me that one of the most impressive concept about China when they first come is public square dancing. As a matter of fact, nearly every city in China, big or small, has this Chinese characteristic dancing. Why? A government survey concluded that China was seeing an increase in loneliness amongst older people living in cities due to China’s urbanization and one child policy imposed in the 1980s. As a response, elder members of the population are encouraged to join public

HOST Culture / Partners

square dancing, held every day in the evenings at all public parks and spaces. This has become a very popular activity which has brought people together to dance collectively as a team and have fun while doing it.

Hiking activities---Personally I like hiking a lot. However, it is very difficult for me to hike just by myself or always hike with the same people. But I can’t live without hiking even for a month. So how can I figure out this problem? It is easy nowadays in China.

I only need to go to internet and find a hiking forum or just join in the many mobile application groups such as wechat or QQ that exist! Then I can hike whenever I would like to! There will be leaders, first aiders, organizers and many others are there. Of course this kind of group won’t be perfect all the time, but every trip is a new experience. I have noticed that few of such types of activities exists amongst foreigner groups as most prefer hiking alone, in couples, or with friends and familiar acquaintances. This is different from Chinese hiking crowds which are big groups often composed of people who have never met before.

I guess, in fact, that Chinese people do like group activities and team work. We tend to look for people who have similar interests and then join together to become a group. Once the group is formed there will be no problem with teamwork. The strongest evidence is that China has been united for thousands of years as a whole country; any time invaders came to China, all of our people united together with the same goal of getting

the invaders out of the country. Therefore, when similar-minded groups form, great teamwork will follow! Anyway, all of which I have talked about above is my own opinion in my eyes, I cannot represent anybody else’s idea, or official ideas either. Please just read it for fun!

By Lin Li HIS Mandarin Teacher

Stress Management and Reduction

To Reduce Your Stress

T

o climb the higher mountains is easier than to live in this society. We are highly stressed because of our family, career, and school. Later on, the following conditions can occur such as insomnia, dizziness, headache, palpitation, sensitiveness to cold, constipation, fainting, loss of appetite, hair loss, menstrual irregularity, edema, poor memory, slow reactions, depressions, and loss of confidence.

Our stress management and reduction treatment is personalized by our certified TCM Doctors in order to cater to each individual’s unique response to stress. We use four inspections, basic theory to diagnose your constitution and provide instruments to deal with stressful situations.

2. Personal Plan: Our practitioners will design an individual treatment for you by diagnosing your constitution; 3. Matching Groups: Bosses, senior managers, office workers, housewives, exam applicants and highly stressed people.

By Dr. Evan Huang Integration of TCM and Western Medicine dept.

DING HAN TCM CLINIC Unit 101, Block B, Hongwell International Plaza, 1602 West Zhongshan Road, Xuhui, Shanghai. www.dh-medical.com dh@dhmedical.com.cn T: +86 21 6447 5959

Features: 1. The whole treatment includes: lymphatic drainage therapy, cupping, moxibustion, heat therapy and more; 59

FAMILY SPOTLIGHT

Golden Dragons

Machan Family Meet the

O

riginally from Calgary, Alberta province in Canada, Ron and Sandra Machan met at the University of Calgary where they were both attending.

After getting married, they moved to the United States where all three children, Waverly, Emily and Callum, were born over the period of 12 years. After returning to Canada for a short while, they eventually made the big move to China where they have lived for the past 11 years! I had the opportunity to sit down and interview the Machan family to hear more about their amazing story.

Tell us a little about yourself: Before Shanghai, where did the Machan family call home?

Sondra: Actually when you ask us where we’re from, my husband and I we moved to the US before having children. We got married, two days later we moved to the US and we thought we should start trying for a family and eventually had all three of our children in the US. We were living there for about 12yrs. So we went from Southern California (Fullerton) to Northern California (San Francisco), and to Washington State (Seattle).

And then came the big move?

Ron: And then we moved back to Calgary for about 11months. I left KPMG Consulting for whom I was working for in the US, went back up to Canada and started with another company and what happened is we found Calgary a little bit small after living abroad all this time.

Sondra: It was a big difference living in San Francisco, Seattle, then coming back to Calgary where the population was barely 1million at the time.

Who made the decision to make the move to China?

Ron: We were always moving quite a bit and then I came across an opportunity to re-join KPMG. They asked me what it would take to get me back and so I told them to find me an interesting role in an interesting place and I’ll consider it. So then they said, well we have a business in China that needs a lot of help.

And that was 11 years ago?

Sondra: Yeah it was, and it took us 2 seconds to decide.

Photos were taken in 2013 Ron Sandra Waverly (Sophomore at the University of the Arts London) Emily (11th Grade at SCIS Pudong) Callum (8th Grade at SCIS Pudong)

Ron: Haha literally, I was in London at the time, meeting with the CEO (of KPMG) and I said, let me call my wife to see what she thinks. Her response was “Yeah why not, let’s go!”. People think it’s a long decision, but it literally was: “Want to go to China?” and “Yeah, let’s do it now!”. I mean, we’ve always wanted to come to Asia as Sondra’s parents are originally from China, so there’s a heritage thing that influenced our decision.

Sondra: Yeah, let’s get back to my roots, we thought.

Ron: We also knew back then that Shanghai was going through a transformation

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FAMILY SPOTLIGHT

and that it would be an exciting thing to be a part of and witness first-hand. Of course we thought it would only be for 2 years!

Photo was taken when Callum was in pre-school

Photo was taken when Waverly was in grade 4 and Emily in grade 1

Biggest difference between here and back home (North America)?

Sondra: You know, Ron and I were talking about this in the car on the way over about the biggest difference, I would say in terms of family back home, even though we lived in the US, family was so close. Here when we do thanksgiving or Christmas dinners my family here would be our close friends here at SCIS and within the outer Shanghai community.

Ron: There’s huge differences culturally between China and N.A., but in some respects after many years you realize there’s more similarities, people are people, day to day stuff are very similar. But with the community, the biggest thing was back home you’re kind of focused on the area around you and it’s still quite localized in your thinking and then when you’re thrown in these expats communities and your family becomes these friends that are from all over the world it broadens your horizon. You think very differently of the world.

Mom and Dad, why did you choose to enroll your kids at SCIS? Sondra: We actually went and checked out a whole bunch of different schools and SCIS Pudong was our last stop. John Zurfluh was the one who brought us around campus at that time, classes were not in session and there was artwork still up everywhere and so we walked in and the whole feeling of that small community feel, it just hit me because our kids back in Calgary attend a small private school and that was what I was looking for.

Was it also not to traumatized the kids too much from already living in a completely foreign country?

Ron: Yeah I think it was a bit of that as well, and with the Emerald compound right next to the campus we thought it would be perfect, the kids could walk to school in the morning and living in houses which is what they were used to. We also liked to focus of SCIS on community, other schools were way too centered on academic, not that I mind, but the focus and pressure on that seemed not what we wanted, others were too big or too American curriculum (SAS).

Sondra: When we met Mr. Zurfluh I just found that the way he approached us was very warm and more comfortable to us, it was more of a conversation and not an advertisement of the school.

At SCIS they really want to embrace the children, their feelings and teach them to enjoy learning.

Now that you’ve joined us (Emily) can you share a little about your experience in SCIS so far?

Emily: SCIS is kind of like my home. It’s what I refer back to, I think of Shanghai and I immediately think of SCIS. We were talking about this in class today, how come the students here a much closer than other schools and we thought it was because if felt like we were more of a family here. We all come from different international backgrounds so we all have to accept each other and that’s what really helps us become better friends and a closer family.

Recent pictures of Callum, Emily and Waverly Callum, you are in 8th grade, so next year is High School, are you excited?

I am pretty excited about starting H.S., a new uniform to wear!

But really, it will be very different from middle school and the academic challenges that I will be faced with is what I look forward to.

Looking back at your time spent in Shanghai, how has it been to be able to live through such a fast-paced city and to witness such changes over the years?

Ron: At a business level as well as seeing Shanghai, is that we’ve got to witness such massive changes in China and that’s been wonderful to watch, be a part of. Shanghai used to be a much more difficult transition when we first moved here, but now it’s much easier, you have access to imported food, restaurants and improved transportation.

Sondra: I think the hardest thing when moving to a new country that is not familiar in terms of its food and culture, and that’s really just trying to embrace everything that the country has to offer whether its trying out new food or walking down the street or getting into a taxi even though you might not even know the language.

Ron: But that’s kind of the good point and bad point now is that you could come to Shanghai today, and eat food that you are used to back home and be completely ‘sheltered’ from the local culture.

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FAMILY SPOTLIGHT / PAFA

If you could go back in time to when you first arrived here, would you do anything differently?

Sondra: I don’t think I would, it really has been fantastic. I wouldn’t change anything, even the lows or those moments when you think to yourself, did we make the right choice, like when your child is upset because of the decision to move to a different country. There was a moment at the beginning with our eldest, she was struggling to cope but we all stuck with it and we are all glad we did.

Any advice to expats who are new to the city and to the international community?

Ron: For the people working here, it is quite consuming because you’re dealing with trying to do business in China, an unfamiliar culture, different dynamics at home because it’s an expat lifestyle.

The first couple of years is a huge adjustment and is pretty stressful, so I would say enjoy the moment rather than being too worried about some of this stuff.

Sondra: When you get here, don’t be overly consumed by the fact that you are in a totally different environment and just try to enjoy it for what it is, enjoy all the opportunities that it can provide you.

Ron: You have to have an open mind, and come here to learn,

enjoy and experience and if you have that attitude you’ll be fine.

Sondra: I think SCIS has provided us with that support, being in such a close-knit community, you get that type of feedback from other people and that was great.

Lastly, most memorable moment(s) at SCIS? Emily: I’ve had countless memorable moments at SCIS, too many to count and too difficult to choose just one. The most recent memorable moment is from my 11th grade China Trips. During a bonfire with the villagers we had a sing-off. The villagers started off with their song and then SCIS boys had their turn and then it was the girls. We continued to take our turns, but it eventually turned into a boys against girls sing-off. That was a lot of fun!

Callum: I don’t have a particular moment, but I do have great memories of hanging out with my friends from SCIS. Waverly: My most memorable moments at SCIS were during the yearly China Trips. They were always such great and unique experiences that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get otherwise.

By Mikael Masson PEREZ Communitas Editor

PAFA NEWS

SCIS-HIS has parent organizations called the Parents and Friends Association (PAFA) on each campus. PAFA serves as a way that parents can communicate ideas for the betterment of the school to the administration and Board. SCIS and HIS are proud of the high level of parents participation in their schools and value their partnership with the parent community. PAFA conducts various activities, from community events to charity fundraisers to volunteer support for teachers and students. Each campus has a PAFA board who works closely with each campus’ administrations to plan events that help to make SCIS-HIS schools a unique experience for families, faculty, and students alike. We are always welcoming new members!

For more information about PAFA, please contact us at:

Hangzhou International School

Hongqiao Main & ECE Campuses

President Gretchen Montey gretchen1124@yahoo.com

President/Treasurer: Rhonda Mahs pafapresident.scispafahq@gmail.com treasurer.scispafahq@hotmail.com

Vice President Carmen Freissmuth carmenfreissmuth@hotmail.com

Event Coordinator: Nicole Newcomb pafaevents.scispafahq@gmail.com

Secretary Crystal Wu jameswanshi@yahoo.com

Early Childhood Education (ECE): Ramya Rajagopal, ecevp.scispafahq@hotmail.com.com Yvonne Yeung, ecevp2.scispafahq@yahoo.com

Treasurer Ting Jin jin_reader@hotmail.com Social Chairperson Cristina Chen ruaichen@hotmail.com Events Chairperson Anu Metha anu7720@gmail.com

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Lower School (LS) Nina Han, ninah0095@gmail.com Ellen Ho, ellen_ho81@yahoo.com.tw Middle School (MS) Catrin Gustafsson, catrintell@gmail.com Marga van Tiggelen, tiggelsinvn@yahoo.com High School (HS) Carol Clark, hsvp.scispafahq@hotmail.com Heidi Casey, hsvp2.scispafahq@gmail.com Secretary/Public Relations Kristianna Foye, pr.scispafahq@gmail.com

Pudong Campus Lower School President Jennifer Davy pdpafals.president@scis-his.org Secretary Lourdes Hernandez pdpafals.secretary@scis-his.org Treasurer Katie Berkaw pdpafals.treasurer@scis-his.org Event Coordinator Qing Gao, gaoqing_gq@126.com Star Chu, starchu5159@gmail.com Upper School President Weili Vlas, vlasliu@yahoo.com Treasurer (Main) Heike Walther, heike.walther@gmail.com Treasurer Nancy Yen, 26lvmom@gmail.com Event Coordinator Sandra Machan, sandramachan@yahoo.com

PAFA

THE PAFA INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR 2015

A FAIR FULL OF ‘FIRSTS’ S

aturday October 24th proved the perfect autumnal day to hold the International Food Festival (‘IFF’), and it is a well-organized PAFA to have ordained it as such! Initially threatening rain, the weather instead maintained a perfect balance of cool yet balmy temperatures conducive to a funfilled, outdoor school fundraising event. And what an event it was despite a fair filled with ‘firsts’! PAFA raised a total of RMB 186,085 from the twenty country booths to be put towards enrichment items and activities at SCIS Hong Qiao schools. Additionally, the three SCIS campuses (ECE, Hongqiao and Pudong) raised RMB 4,800 for their charity booths Heart to Heart, the Animals Asia Foundation, and Oxfam America. This was the first year that each campus ran a booth selling items or provided a service (aside from food and beverage), keeping all funds to donate to their chosen charities. Other ‘firsts’ included a basket bid instead of a raffle, a first time events coordinator, and many new country ambassadors.

For a family who had just moved to Shanghai and new to SCIS (whose ‘first’ it was also, in attending this major event in the school calendar!), walking into the fair certainly left a great impression. The mix of nationalities represented, the family community and its sense of fun were all on display as groups gathered under the main tent with long shared tables or set up mini picnics on the grass. ECE and Lower School kids dominated the playground, and the free facepainting and manicure booth run by high school volunteers had hardly a free moment. Eight countries contributed unique games also run by student volunteers with fairgoers trying their hand at “Shuffleboard”, Bollywood Dancing and other international games. Each country booth, all of which lined the edges of the field was colourfully decorated with flags, national colours and props with some volunteers dressed to theme. A major part of the fair’s atmosphere was set by 11th Grade student DJs Daniel and Valentin, SCIS ‘spinners’ and producers with three year’s experience also hosted the SCIS Hongqiao Welcome Back BBQ and the Hong Qiao Games. They perfectly read the mood (and perhaps ages!) of the crowd ranging their music from the ‘old school’ to the international (contributed by various countries) and contemporary. They kept the ‘vibe’ of the fair going whether it was one of a party or winding down at the end of the day.

A unique feature of this year’s fundraising was that it was the first time there was a ‘basket bidding’ system instead of a lucky draw or raffles. In the past, you had to be present for the 63

PAFA

raffle, and there was a ‘red packet’ guaranteed win. This year, there were thirty “baskets of fun” with country-themed foods and wines contributed by various sponsors and a few fruit and kids baskets filled with toys and party supplies. People placed bid envelopes on the baskets they hoped to win. Heidi Casey, the PAFA committee member running the stall said that they wanted to try something new this year and she felt it was more fun this way as people knew what they were winning. It also got people to stay longer at the fair to find out if they won the basket, (even if they didn’t need to be) because they were bidding on something they wanted and it wasn’t a random donation. Indeed, Finnish family Johanna Toivonen together with her daughter four-year-old Aida stayed to the end and were lucky enough to walk away with a basket each.

So what exactly contributed to the success of this year’s IFF despite all its ‘firsts’? Not least the support of main sponsors Santa Fe (providing tents for the various booths) and Coca-Cola (providing drinks). It could not have been done without the generosity of the country ambassadors, their families and friends volunteering their time and efforts at the booths. Specific booth sponsors also played a part in some cases to provide foodstuff and other contributions. All the behind the scenes hard work and the logistics involved in pulling the event together was handled by the PAFA Committee headed by this year’s events coordinator Nicole Newcomb. They worked with other volunteers (some of them committee alma mater such as Donna Bose, last year’s events coordinator). One of the greatest challenges this year said Nicole, was that not only was she herself new, but only twenty percent of this year’s participants were returning ambassadors. Aside from the continent of Asia, every other country had a new ambassador, which meant fresh briefings and newly setting out the objectives and expectations of the IFF. Organising the event was therefore ‘an adventure’ but thoroughly enjoyable in getting to know the various countries. All the ‘newness’ also meant greater passion for the event, and there were an anticipated 3000 attendees vis-à-vis last year’s of 2000. In the end, there were approximately 2500 to 3000 attendees this year and another ‘first’ is that every single booth was sold out! Country ambassadors have already enthusiastically planned to return next year in testament to the fun and success of the 2015 IFF. A big thanks goes to PAFA for putting the ‘fun’ into fundraising at this year’s event for all those involved, and the willingness to try new ‘first’s’!

By Shirani Alfreds, Parent of Rachel Wafelbakker (Grade 1) FUN FOOD AND FAIR FACTS:

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• Korea was the first to sell out with 8074 tickets collected and everything at the booth was handmade; • Israel was one of the smallest booths but had the longest queue, selling out early with 600 falafels, handmade salad, tahini and hummous said representative Bosmat Mahal; • The Australian and New Zealand stall ‘could have easily had 100 more’ sausages said representative Ailan Gates after selling their 300; • The French stall, represented by four families had a ‘secret weapon’ volunteer who was a chef – he was wearing traditional Breton stripes; • China set up the most elaborate booth with bamboo props and had the most volunteers; • Japan made a conscious decision to serve vegetable sticks to counter the carbohydrates at the fair (they also had chicken Teriyaki sticks, Taiyaki, a type of red bean waffle and shaved ice); • The Danish stall had pastries sponsored by Baker & Spice (as well as frikadelle – open faced meatball sandwiches); • The Dutch stall went off the beaten track showing off market food from the Netherlands but also their ties with Indonesia. Indonesian restaurant Bumbu contributed 300 dishes to their stall; • India had the most popular international games with many people trying their hand at Bollywood dancing and getting Henna Tattoos.

COACHES CORNER

Debunk i n g t he MY T H

Meet Olivia Hartman

we were able to pull together as a group and learn from each other and win the championship. (Ed. Note: Olivia scored the game tying goal as time ran out - while severely injured, a truly heroic feat).

What do you think about the ‘dumb jock’ stereotype?

I don’t think it’s true. It does a disservice to all of the academically accomplished athletes out there. The majority of my teammates do very well in school. When we aren’t busy playing our sports we are studying. If we want to play we must do well academically and that is the goal for many athletes. Being involved in athletics teaches us time management, helps us relieve stress and invigorates our brains.

I think it is really important to do some sort of physical activity outside of school.

It really gives you a chance to think about something else, to clear your head so that you are ready to go back and do your work.

Do you think being an athlete helped you academically?

Being an athlete definitely helped me academically. I wouldn’t have time to procrastinate on my work because when I wasn’t at school I was out playing sports.

It forced me to take what extra time I had and use it to study. Also on tournament weekends you are always with your team and you have a chance to study with other people in your classes which can be really fun and actually helpful.

A

s an athletic director I continue to battle against an age old construct – ‘The Dumb Jock’ myth. Prevalent in pop culture as a source of comedy (ie: Moosehead in ‘Archie’ comics / Stifler from ‘American Pie’) – the idea of athletes not being smart – has become prevalent in our society. Not only is it not true, but science has been showing us that involvement in athletics actually boosts athletic and cognitive performance.

The book ‘Spark’ by Dr. John Ratey clearly outlines the proven academic benefits of young people being active and this information has been revolutionizing the educational industry. There is a strong connection between the body and the mind and it is important for parents and educators to ensure both are nourished

– if they are you should have a chance to develop ‘the brainy athlete’ – like SCIS PD grad – Olivia Hartman. These are the type of athletes that make-up our sports teams.

What do you consider your greatest academic accomplishment – why?

Being able to remain on honor roll throughout high school while taking IB classes even though I was on three sports teams and other ASA’s such as Jazz Band / Girl Talk / Musicals….

What do you consider your greatest athletic accomplishment – why?

Winning Acamis Soccer during our senior year. At the beginning of the year we were unsure about having a team and

Olivia Hartman (Pudong, Class of 2015) Reaching a GPA 3.7 (91 %), academic honor roll all four years of high school, Olivia was accepted to Michigan state university, Oakland university, Boston university, and Brandeis university.

An active athlete, she was Varsity soccer captain during her sophomore, junior and senior year, and Varsity volleyball captain senior year. She attained soccer Acamis all star in sophomore and senior year, volleyball Acamis all star in junior year and along with her team, won the Soccer Acamis championship in her senior year (2015). She also coached Middle school soccer in her junior and senior year.

Olivia is currently playing University Club Soccer and studying at Boston University.

By Michael Deneef Pudong Campus Athletic Director 65

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Plastic for Lunch:

Five Weird Things Animals Eat O

ur nature is full of incredible creatures and all of them have so many fascinating behaviors that we can only begin to understand. Sometimes they resemble us so much. But when it comes to eating habits, it’s doubtful we would share the love of dogs for pies made of mud, or stones—a regular snack for crocodiles. Unlike other natural components of animal diet, plastic is very dangerous as food. Find out what do SCIS uniforms with Waste2Wear labels have to do with protecting animals from eating plastic. First things first, what’s in today’s menu of strange meals?

5. Stones

Crocodiles are one of the planet’s oldest living creatures: scientists believe they appeared around 240 million years ago. It means that crocs were around when dinosaurs still roamed and even managed to outlive the mighty T-Rexes.

Crocodiles eat fish, reptiles and other mammals—nothing special, just a regular carnivor’s diet, right? Well, as crazy as it sounds, crocs are also known to eat stones just as usually. It may sound surprising at first, but Mother Nature really thought it through.

As crocodiles’ teeth are not designed for chewing, they swallow stones to grind food inside their stomachs.

4. Mud pies

Sometimes our pets have some strange ideas about what counts as food. We get it: eating canned food every day might motivate a culinary search for delicacies. But what do you say when your pooch turns his nose off a loaded plate to eat mud instead?

Dirt is not quite digestible, but a little bit of such ‘condiment’ is probably harmless. Dirt may contain a few minerals that dogs can use—such as potassium, zinc or iron, so your pet may be chowing down to correct a nutritional imbalance. However, as dirt also has the potential to contain nasty things like parasites, making a meal of mud pie on a regular basis can be a dangerous thing.

3. Grass

Cats know a lot of weird ways to amuse themselves, especially when their owners are not watching. Running into the yard to eat grass and then throw it up just happens to be one of them.

This eating preference with such a gross result has a simple reason behind it. Because cats, like other carnivores, end up eating a lot of indigestible stuff like fur (often their own), bones and feathers, they use grass as an effective way to clean out the stomach.

2. Tears

We know the myth that crocodiles cry of sadness when eating other creature. They actually do so, but only because their eyes bubble and froth when eating. Now, the sight of a butterfly swarm flocking at the eyes of crocodiles to get a sip of tears—is not mythical at all. A number of insects including moths, butterflies, and bees are known to drink tears, usually from mammals, but tear-feeding on reptiles has also been documented. However, scientists are not sure why dangerous reptiles, like crocs are OK with it. Why insects prefer a feast of tears is not a mystery, 66

though: these drops of liquid contain salty minerals like sodium, which are essential but not easy to find in some regions.

1. Plastic

We’ve heard that plastic creates a lot of severe problems. There’s so much plastic everywhere that a lot of it ends up in the rivers and eventually in the oceans.

When plastic bottles get into the oceans, fish and Photo: Yamamoto Biology/Creative birds can eat them thinking Commons they are food and die.

Scientists know 100 species of sea birds and 31 kinds of marine mammals that ingest plastic. For example, sea turtles eat plastic bags because they resemble jellyfish so much. The thing is, that unlike cats, there’s no way for turtles to get rid of a plastic bag, once swallowed. The other problem is when plastic enters an ocean, it can break down into barely visible particles called microplastics. Tiny microscopic animals called zooplankton are eating up the plastic particles at an alarming rate. As these small creatures are a vital food for many fish and mammals—even when sea animals don’t mistake plastic for food, they still end up eating it. This way, who knows if the fish on our plate is plastic-free?

Fortunately there are several ways we can reduce the amounts of plastic in the oceans, recycling is one of the effective ones.

The list of things we can make with recycled materials is endless but one of the amazing ones is clothes. In fact, some of the SCIS uniforms have a special Waste2Wear label, showing they are made of recycled plastic bottles. Maybe your school uniform has already saved the life of a fish or a bird! ___________________________________________________ Did you know that: • Small things can make a big difference helping to reduce plastic in the ocean. For example, why not carrying your water in a reusable bottle instead of buying a plastic bottle?

• Same goes for refusing single-use plastic bags: try to get a reusable bag next time you go to buy groceries.

• Take the next step—recycle! This means, not only that we put the bottles in a recycling bin, but that we also use them to make something new.

• If you have any questions about the environment, recycling or about your uniforms you can ask: info@waste2wear.com. ___________________________________________________

If you want to learn more check out this cool video or go to www.waste2wear.com.

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Royal Event Dutch School ‘De Oranje Draak’ T

he Dutch Royal Highness King Willem Alexander was visiting Shanghai on Wednesday the 28th of October. Busses left from Dulwich Suzhou, NAIS Pudong, WISS, SCIS ECE and SCIS main campus.

The Dutch children from The Orange Dragon were fortunate to attend the Royal Event at Chong Ming Island. Robin and Lara (students of The Orange Dragon) welcomed King Willem Alexander with flowers. All Dutch Kids were lined up and sang a famous Dutch children song. After the singing The King left and there was time for lunch and playing outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, and a very special day for all of us that will never be forgotten.

Robin and Lara Brenninkmeijer give flowers to The King You are always become to have a look at our Dutch classrooms (002 and 003) or have a chat with the director or one of the team members. For more information, check out our page on the SCIS official website under language schools: https://www. scis-his.org/community/language-schools or the Dutch website: http://www.deoranjedraak.com. Should you have any questions please email: directeur@deoranjedraak.com or phone 150-0211-4117.

Mirjam van der Geijs, Principal Group picture of The Orange Dragon kids

SCIS kids cheering for arrival of King Willem Alexander

Dutch kids form Shanghai waiting for arrival of King Willem Alexander

Principal of The Orange Dragon Mirjam van Geijs interviewed

by Dutch TV

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Art is Not About Talent This means that the task of the teacher is to teach you a method that enables you to become more of who you already are. It is in effect to release your gift by teaching you how to know your gift.

And in those moments when you realize your abilities -- what many artists have called a state of being, you will get a thrill, you will be moved, and your work will move others. It will be good.

What You Lose by Believing in Artistic Talent If, on the other hand, you believe that only a few can make art and this requires talent, you will always be trying to paint like, to meet some external standard outside of you in an effort to gain validation from someone else -- the gallery, the sale, the award.

You will always be correcting yourself, instead of being yourself.

You will be asking some master painting, “Do I measure up?”

S

tudents who want to apply to art programs will often send me images of their work and ask for my opinion. I can remember doing pretty much the same thing many years ago, when I was struggling with college application. It’s a very common thing to do. I think what it boils down to, at least it was for me when I presented my teacher with my latest effort in the hope of getting compliments, is that we are basically asking, “Do we have talent?” And often that means talent sufficient to be a professional artist, or in my students’ cases, are we good enough to be admitted by our dream schools, or are we just wasting our time?

As an admissions consultant at Prep Zone who has helped many students successfully get accepted by their dream schools, especially those interested in art programs, I would say that it’s the wrong question. In fact, if you are asking some master artist to confirm or deny your talent, you already are in a heap of trouble because it means you are not getting it. It’s not about talent. Talent is a dirty word because it assumes that only a few are able when it is quite the reverse.

We Are Born Artists, It Isn’t a Question of Talent Now, I’m not saying there is no such thing as talent. Just like any subject (Mathematics, Sports, English), some people are predisposed to specific skills. And that predisposition can lead people to their choices in school, and/or even a career. When students come to Prep Zone, my goal, as well as Prep Zone’s ultimate goal, is to help them discover their own passions– passions that will last beyond the college admissions process to carry them through college itself–and beyond.

We are born as artists. You, at this moment, have this creative force churning within you. You know it as an urge. Your challenge is always the same: it is to risk being you.

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Yes, it takes time and work but realizing more of what is inside you is what it is all about. Do you value your feelings? Do you value growth over some external measure? Can you let the thing go and move on? Can you peel back all those layers that now enshroud childhood wonder? Do you know it is about getting into a “state of being” more than it is about demonstrating skill?

If so, there is good news: you are already there. Show us. Show us what moves you. Drop the talent question; you were born with a gift. Find it. Reveal it. And present it to college admission officers.

The most impressive and interesting thing for a college is a student who has discovered his or her own motivation, who knows what he or she wants from a school, and not just that he or she should, for some reason or other, try to get into it.

Prep Zone is your best choice for SAT/ACT preparation & Ivy League admission because: • 10 years of experience in SAT & ACT preparation and Ivy League admission consulting • Trainers from the top 25 US Universities (99th percentile scores) • Proven track record with an improvement of 400+ points in SAT & 7+ in ACT 400 820 3861 www.prep-zone.cn

Room 1604, Tower 2, Hua Yi Plaza, 2020 Zhongshan (W) Road, Shanghai 200235, P. R. China

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Pursuing a Master of Science at University of Oxford in Contemporary Chinese Studies, focusing on China’s economy & financial structure

Completed Bachelor of Science at University of London, Royal Holloway Majored in Business/Accounting

Graduated from University of London with the highest average grade in the department’s class of 2015 (80% average - First Class Honours)

High School Cross Country, Volleyball and Soccer

I am SCIS “You can’t find a more international place to study at than SCIS. For me, it was the perfect way to gain an understanding of cultures from all over the world, which in turn allowed me to better understand my own culture and myself already as a 14-year old.

I truly enjoyed my 3 years at SCIS Hongqiao, during which I made friends from countries all over the world that I know I’ll keep in touch with for the rest of my life. I had the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects and I always felt that my teachers were experts in their fields. More than anything else, I always enjoyed being part of the SCIS community and all the extracurricular activities that came with that. I unquestionably developed some key academic and social skills at SCIS that I bring with me every day.”

– Adam Engdahl SCIS Class of 2011 – attended SCIS Hongqiao Campus for three years

SCIS is a truly international school. Our rigorous IB curriculum and excellent co-curricular opportunities promote high achievement. Our diverse community of over 60 nationalities and our caring environment promote future success. Visit us to discover for yourself the amazing SCIS community. No school does it better.

Tour our campuses by calling 86-21-6261-4338 ext.1

www.scis-his.org 70

The art and science of education since 1996

HONGQIAO • PUDONG NURSERY – GRADE 12