TKS WAVE Issue 02 2022

TKS WAVE ISSUE 02 2022

U19 Girls Football

20-player squad team

TKS celebrates World Creativity & Innovation Week

#RobotoKAUST Uni Acceptances DP Visual Arts Exhibition

Keep Rolling in!

Sharing is Caring

MS Drone Club

final session of the year!

Let’s read in Arabic

‫ﻫﻴﺎ ﻧﻘﺮأ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬

#TKSWave

C U R I O S I T Y

INSPIRE CREATIVITY

Contents Page

INVESTIGATE

IGNITE

S O L U T I O N S

3.

5.

9.

Director’s Message 3. Welcome

PAC Meeting 5. In a Nutshell

Counselors Corner 9. College Counseling Activities 11. University Acceptances

13.

From Kindergarten

29.

From Elementary

37.

From Secondary

69.

All School

13. KG Principal Message 15. #RobotoKAUST 19. Educational Consultant Visit 21. Inquiry into Colors 23. KG TA’s 25. Let’s Read Arabic 27. KG Earth Day

29. GES Principal Message 31. Construction & Modelling 35. World Creativity & Innovation Week

37. GSS Principal Message 39. Design: Grade 6 41. Design: Grade 7 43. Design: Grade 8 45. Middle School Drone Club 47. DP Visual Arts Exhibition 49. A Great Badminton Season 51. Cross Country 55. Track & Field 57. Girls Netball Team 59. U14 Girls Football 61. U19 Girls Football 63. U16 Basketball 65. TKS MUN

69. Director’s Overview 71. Autism Week 73. Teacher Development Program (TDP) 77. Sharing is Caring

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Ramadan Kareem!

Looking back at that very special time of year for deep introspection and gratitude. As we reflect on our blessings of the school year so far, there are many to mention. Throughout this school year, there has remained a level of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic and I could not be more grateful for the adaptability of our teachers and students. We have moved into brief periods of online learning, and both classes and individuals have had to manage through periods of quarantine.

We are thankful that now it feels as though we may be finally moving into a more stable future.

The greatest thing we have learned is that we can be adaptable in our approach to education and that students have the capacity to be very independent in their learning when provided with the proper support.

Dr. Michelle Remington Director The KAUST School

Director’s Letter

In a Nutshell Summaries from the Parent Advisory Councils (PAC) Meetings Thank you to the Parent Advisory Councils (PAC) from across our divisions, for their continued support and feedback, as we work together to provide an outstanding learning environment for our students. We’re so grateful for their contribution.

KG PAC Meetings Plans for upgrading the KG outdoor environments.

Overview of consultants working with KG faculty Plans for staff appreciation Feedback on KG report cards How the attendance policy is applied in the current context Upcoming events including KG Parent Education Sessions, International Week, Creativity and Innovation Week

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GES PAC Meetings Educational technology support survey

Activities program review

The Educational Technology Director joined our meeting to introduce the technology support survey. We asked members of our Parent Advisory Council to support a review of the Educational Technology resources (tools, websites, subscriptions) that GES use and to encourage feedback from parents. We need your input to influence the technology tools we use and inform possible adjustments.

Thanks to our PAC, who gave valuable feedback about our after-school activities. This included the variety of activities we offer to students across the grades. As a next step, specific activities were recommended, such as dancing and taekwondo. As part of this, we discussed methods to encourage community members and parents to support leading activities, as they may have expertise in areas that are missing from the program.

Ramadan programming

Enhancing parent engagement

We discussed the upcoming adjustments to programming during the Holy Month of Ramadan, including changes to the schedule, after-school activities, and provision for fasting students. PAC members helped inform what should be included and clarified in the message to families ahead of Ramadan.

We discussed how to improve parent engagement in the school, in light of recent Health and Safety guidelines, which have limited how we’ve been able to work together over the past two years. We plan to add more opportunities for parents to visit the school and get involved with their child’s learning. As an example, we will launch open house events for children to share learning with parents and Family Math Night on May 11.

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GSS PAC Meetings Sciences

Teacher retention

Parents asked about the possibility for students in Grades 11 and 12 to study three science courses.

The school explained that

Parents asked a question about the teacher retention rate at TKS. The school answered that the retention rate of teachers at TKS is significantly higher than at other international schools. The graph below shows that annually fewer teachers leave KAUST than at other international schools.

Students may take two science IB courses, combined with a third science at TKS level. At the moment, we offer Design as a Science at TKS level but we will start offering more sciences at TKS level after next year.

There are very few universities in the world that require students to have studied three sciences at IB level.

The IB does not provide the option to study three sciences at diploma level as the IB believes in a holistic development of the student. However, they expect wide science exposure across the MYP in grades 9 and 10 and then into the DP. The IB does however allow, upon specific request, a student to take three sciences if the university they will study at requires three sciences. This request will have to be supported with evidence.

Experience at other schools has demonstrated that studying three sciences at IB level is typically too demanding for students.

TKS has a special arrangement with AISJeddah that TKS students can undertake AP exams at their school. In the past we had a few students who wanted to study a third science. Those students did their AP exam at AISJ as their third science. They did that exam in Grade 11, allowing the student to focus on the remaining IB subjects in Grade 12.

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Islamic Studies options for Gr 9 and 10 students Parents asked about Islamic Studies in Grade 9 and 10. The school answered that students in these grades can choose to study Islamic Studies during flex block and there is also an after-school club for Islamic Studies.

Tutoring program Parents asked about the new tutoring program.

The new tutoring program started in February and will end in May. It runs after school. Some parents whether tutors are familiar with the IB programs. Other parents don't expect the tutor to understand the IB curriculum as they want only general skill development in maths or reading.

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Talented students Parents asked whether there was enough support in the school for talented students and whether enough staff were available in the school to support talented students. The school provided details about the number of talented students that the school is working with through differentiation within the class, through specialized online programs and inside flex block. The program has significantly expanded this year. Next year, the school expects to be able to sustain the expansion of the program.

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Counselors Corner University Fairs and Internship Preparations

By Brett Bowring College Counselor Saudi University Fair On March 21, the Student Support Team in TKS Secondary School put on the fourth Annual Saudi University Fair. This online event gave students and parents the opportunity to hear from 12 of Saudi Arabia’s top universities, as they shared information about their application processes, academic programs, student life, and much more.

The event concluded with a presentation from the Saudi Arabian MOE Education & Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC), where they shared updates on the Saudi Arabian high school exams.

In-person US Fair Live visits from US university representatives returned to TKS on March 22, as we hosted nine US-based universities in the GSS Flag Pavilion.

The university reps, from the top 4% of schools throughout the USA, shared information on their application processes, academic programs, financial aid, student life, and much more.

WISE Prep To help prepare our students for the WISE application process, the college counseling office offered students in Grades 10-12, the opportunity to participate in both a CV workshop, as well as an interview skills workshop. The workshops were offered during flex blocks, as well as after school, in the weeks leading up to the March 31 WISE Internship application deadline.

The interview skills workshop reviewed appropriate interview attire, the different types of interview questions that students may face, successful follow-up strategies, and gave students the opportunity to engage in a mock interview.

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Counselors Corner University Acceptances

By Brett Bowring College Counselor As students from our Class of 2022 start to conclude their studies at TKS, many have already received university admissions acceptances. Each student has their unique post-secondary plan.

Numerous students are still awaiting admissions results, with others yet to apply, and still others are planning to take a gap year.

Scan the QR Code to see student university acceptances.

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Note from KG Principal Tiffany Hill This quarter, TKS has joined the wider KAUST community in celebrating world awareness days such as World Happiness Day, World Autism Awareness Day, World Creativity and Innovation Day, and Earth Day. In the Kindergarten, we have thought carefully about how to make these important global concepts meaningful for our youngest community members.

For our 3-6 year-olds, such fundamental concepts are best learned through ongoing, hands-on experiences woven into our curriculum across the year. Teachers design learning engagements to help children reflect on what happiness feels like, looks like, sounds like to them, and what they can do to help others feel happy. Throughout the year, teachers help children consider the ways in which they are similar and different to each other and what it means to be included and inclusive. An appreciation of nature and a respect for our planet is embedded into our curriculum through grade-level inquiries into Sharing The Planet. Most recently, Kindergarten hosted an exhibition of children’s creativity and innovation.

We welcome these opportunities to connect with the rest of TKS and the wider KAUST community through participating in mutually significant global events in a way that makes sense for our Kindergarten children. It is one of the things we value so highly about our unique setting in the heart of the rich, diverse, inclusive community that is KAUST. Tiffany Hill Kindergarten Principal

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By Candace Taylor-Weber & Elaine Manalastas Information & Digital Literacy Coaches - Kindergarten One of the many wonderful things about learning at TKS is the opportunity to collaborate with the KAUST community. In February and March, Kindergarten students were part of the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy, where they showcased their research alongside University researchers. It was an event with participants of all ages and provided a unique opportunity for families: “I enjoyed having the opportunity for my son to see me "at work" sharing my research. I would not be surprised if this is the first time that a father working on his PhD was able to present his research in the same event as his three-year old son, and I am very thankful to TKS, the RISC lab, and KAUST for helping to create this special memory.” -Brian Parrott, KG parent.

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Kindergarten Contribute to the

#RobotoKAUST Research Conference

There were over 100 submissions from the Kindergarten’s three to five-year-olds, which expressed their ideas about how robots can help the sea.

These young learners proudly shared their creations with their parents and described what their robots could do.

I think the event was a great way to help children see themselves as scientists, robotic engineers, and responsible members of the community. Reilly felt proud and that his efforts were valued." -Janelle Simpkins, KG Parent.

The KG's contributions to this conference were the result of an ongoing partnership between TKS KG and the Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control Lab (RISC Lab) and Red Sea Research Center. These departments supported various learning initiatives such as volunteering during Computer Science Education Week with robotics, creating a video provocation to introduce students to the robotics challenge, and supplying resources for the creation of little Red Sea Research Libraries in the KG buildings. Such collaboration has given KG educators more opportunities to design authentic experiences, helping young children explore these big ideas.

Kindergarten Contribute to the

#RobotoKAUST Research Conference

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Educational Consultant Visits

Kindergarten

By Tasha Cowdy KG Pedagogical Coordinator AT TKS, we pride ourselves on being a community of learners. Adults, as well as children, are on a life-long learning journey. Our teachers and school administrators constantly strive to keep abreast of the latest thinking around educational pedagogy and practice.

This year, we have been fortunate to work with an international consultant, Tania Lattanzio, to consider how we can ensure that our teaching and learning approach lays the best possible foundations for our children’s future. Due to Covid travel restrictions, our work with Tania last semester was online. To our great delight, we were able to welcome Tania to our TKS campus in person a few weeks ago.

Tania worked with Kindergarten teachers and parents to look at how education is changing in the 21st century, and what it is that our youngest learners will need to know, understand, and do when they graduate, whether from KAUST or from somewhere else, 12-15 years from now. In a parent workshop.

Tania shared the top ten skills that the World Economic Forum has identified as essential in the workforce of 2025 and talked about some of the ways that schools around the world are changing and adapting to prepare children for the future.

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Tania met with teams of Kindergarten teachers to focus on creating engaging and challenging learning experiences to extend children’s thinking and help them connect new knowledge and understanding to what they already know. Teachers met in grade-level teams to take an in-depth look at one of their units of inquiry. Our work with Tania highlighted for us how much science we do in Kindergarten–not surprising given our wonderful and unique location in the midst of a Science and Technology university!

We look forward to continuing this work with Tania and are already planning our next follow-up consultation with her in June when we can share with her how her work is coming alive in classrooms and get her expert feedback on the action we have taken as a result of her March visit.

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Inquiry

into

Colors

The greatest scientists are artists as well.

- Albert Einstein The children investigated, developed, and tested theories during our How the World Works unit in K2.

By Kate Adaci Homeroom Teacher Our class delved into how else we can use watercolors as open-ended materials for inquiry purposes and not just for creating artworks. Initiated by our children, this research led us to weeks of several experiments where they mixed, layered, deconstructed, and played with colors in combination with liquid materials, such as water and oil. Our favorite part was leaving our specimens to settle overnight or even for a few days and then revisiting these to observe any changes. The question, “What is happening here?” has been asked in many instances, which gave the children opportunities to develop new theories to test and investigate, so the whole process begins. It was inevitable that visual arts became the aftermath of this inquiry when the act of experimenting created some stunning works of art on our specimen discs, jars, and on different surfaces such as dry and wet sand..

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Kindergarten Teaching Assistants dive into Loose Parts Pedagogy

By Kate Adaci and Samantha Wilson KG Teachers Did you know that in 1972, architect Simon Nicholson developed the Theory of Loose Parts? He promoted the idea that loose parts – materials that can be moved around, designed and redesigned, and tinkered with – create infinitely more opportunities for creative engagement than static materials and environments.

Last month, a K1-K3 classroom and specialist TAs gathered together to inquire how we seamlessly incorporate Loose Parts into our KG program.

We delved deeper into using open-ended materials to support children’s learning across many domains. We looked at ways to provoke inquiry by inviting children to manipulate and work with thoughtfully-selected materials. Through their hands-on experience, it was evident how students were actively engaged.

We all agree that there is no better way to encourage children to wonder, research and test their theories than by embracing encounters with loose parts!

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Let’s Read in Arabic

‫ﻫﻴﺎ ﻧﻘﺮأ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬

By Wid Alsulaimani KG Teacher

At our Kindergarten, we go above and beyond to make our students look forward to learning. There is always something extra special about a book fair that makes them grin from ear-to-ear!

On the week of March 13 the TKS Kindergarten partnered with The Reader Child Arabic publishing house to host an amazing book fair. A variety of texts were on display and each student found something to spark their interests and had the chance to explore the various books and resources available. This was the first time KG has hosted a book fair of this nature and certainly won’t be the last!

Having children experience a book fair gives them the power to choose books that they are interested in. Whether they choose a story that takes them on an adventure or one that is relatable, it is their story that they picked out. When students choose their own books, they are more likely to pick up the book themselves and fall in love with reading.

It was a well-organized event that encouraged our young readers, both native and non-native Arabic speakers, to read and explore books. Thank you to all the parents who dropped by and made it a huge success. We look forward to hosting several book fairs in the years ahead.

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Kindergarten

Earth Day

By Tasha Cowdy KG Pedagogical Coordinator AT TKS, we pride ourselves on being a community of learners. Adults, as well as children, are on a life-long learning journey. Our teachers and school administrators constantly strive to keep abreast of the latest thinking around educational pedagogy and practice.

This year, we have been fortunate to work with an international consultant, Tania Lattanzio, to consider how we can ensure that our teaching and learning approach lays the best possible foundations for our children’s future. Due to Covid travel restrictions, our work with Tania last semester was online. To our great delight, we were able to welcome Tania to our TKS campus in person a few weeks ago.

Tania worked with Kindergarten teachers and parents to look at how education is changing in the 21st century, and what it is that our youngest learners will need to know, understand, and do when they graduate, whether from KAUST or from somewhere else, 12-15 years from now. In a parent workshop.

Tania shared the top ten skills that the World Economic Forum has identified as essential in the workforce of 2025 and talked about some of the ways that schools around the world are changing and adapting to prepare children for the future.

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Kindergarten

Earth Day

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Note from GES Principal Jeff Woodcock In March, our Grade 5 students presented their PYP exhibition to the school community. The PYPX is seen as a culmination of students’ time in the Primary Years Program (PYP) and is a chance for them to share their understanding of a real-life issue or topic into which they have inquired. The circumstances of the past two years have limited the opportunities for Grade 5 students to share their learning and celebrate the hard work they put into the exhibition. In 2020, our PYPX was completely online, and last year, we could allow only a limited audience to view the student presentations. However, this year we were nearly back to normal with a large audience from the KAUST community.

As part of the exhibition, students choose topics that they are passionate about or that are relevant to them. One of the wonderful things about the PYP Exhibition at TKS is that so many of our students benefit from local experts in KAUST who help support their inquiries. Some of the topics this year included deforestation, inexpensive medical technology for developing economies, personal finance for young girls, and celebrating the beauty of Arabic. We are so proud of the Grade 5 students and deeply grateful to the teachers, parents and community members for supporting their learning.

One of the other outstanding aspects of this year’s exhibition was that Grade 4 students could once again join as audience members. Classes were invited to view the presentations and ask questions of the Grade 5 presenters. This is a great opportunity for Grade 4 students to learn about the exhibition in advance. Many of these students are already thinking about possible topics for next year’s exhibition.

TKS would like to pass on their thanks to the countless community members who served as experts to our students as they sought out sources of information to support their research. Many of the exhibition presentations were enriched by field trips to KAUST or interviews with community members.

Jeffery Woodcock Elementary School Principal TKS Wave

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Constructing & Modeling Explanations in Grade 4 Science

By Jamie House Transdisciplinary Unit Lead for Grade 4 What do manatees in Florida, Hawksbill turtles in the Red Sea, and barley plants in the courtyard outside of our Grade 4 classrooms have in common? All three cases involve living things that need to adapt to conditions in their environment, and all three connect through our unit of inquiry.

In our Grade 4 unit, Sharing the Planet: Living things adapt to meet needs based on available resources and environmental conditions, students explore the big idea around the characteristics and needs of living things within environments, causes of animal and plant adaptation, and consider how human impact on environments compels us to intervene in more responsible ways.

A skill we focus on is constructing cause and effect explanations, often by modeling thinking to analyze and make sense of phenomena. In our earth sciences unit in November, cause and effect models were seemingly straightforward. In this unit, however, looking at physical characteristics, behaviors, and ecosystems, we found that we often had to speculate and develop our cause and effect webs, much of it from consensus, while still wondering what we might not be seeing.

Students looked at the specific form and function of body parts and behaviors of living things, working towards developing rich explanations of what their role in survival is. We had expert guidance from Alexa Foster, a graduate student in the Reef Ecology Lab. She opened our thinking around where birds spend their time and how their specific body parts are adapted for their activity.

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We also explored animals' social interactions and group behavior, making specific inferences around how being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes. Students chose particular animal groups to study and observed how they specifically interact as examples that exemplify these categories.

Grade 4 examined evidence of common ancestry and diversity, noting that some kinds of plants and animals that once lived on earth are no longer found anywhere — looking at how fossils provide evidence about the types of organisms that lived long ago and their natural environments.

Students grew quinoa and barley with supplies provided by the Center for Desert Agriculture and the Plant Growth Core Lab. CDA scientist, Dongryung Lee, provided us with ground support to get our plant growth running. Students grew both plant types under different conditions such as sun + water, sun + saltwater, and shade + water. We collected and organized data, graphing it to derive meaning.

Although there was much variability in our results, we concluded that quinoa needed less water than barley, and too much sun was not good for either plant. Saltwater treatments required more diluted seawater to grow a healthier specimen.

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Constructing & Modeling Explanations in Grade 4 Science Ultimately, we looked at the human impact on environments and what our responsibility can be in different contexts. When the environments change to affect a place's physical characteristics, temperature, or availability of resources, some organisms survive and reproduce, others move to new locations, others move into the transformed environment, and some die. Presentations from graduate students Lyndsey Tanabe (turtles) and Alexa Foster (seabirds) exemplified how to identify problems human activity presents.

Presentations: Alexa Foster (Reef Ecology Lab) - Seabirds past and present: adapting to a changing world Lyndsey Tanabe (Reef Ecology Lab) - Climate change impacts on turtles in the Red Sea Field Trips: Alexa Foster and Alex Kattan (Reef Ecology Lab) Observing KAUST bird adaptations at the Monument Karen Carty - KROW (coordination) On-site support: Dr. Dongryung Lee (CDA) - Providing on-site support and advice on seeds for growing quinoa and barley.

Dr. Angelo Gallone (Core Labs Greenhouse) Provides potting and soil.

The big takeaway from our unit is that much of what we infer in form, function, and causation of living things in their environments is speculative and requires detailed support when making claims — claims that can inform others and lead to positive interventions and impacts.

Coordination: Dr. Vanessa Melino and Anna Rautek (CDA) - consulGrade 4 would like to thank all the KAUST scientists tation and people that supported us in the following units Burgundy Powell (BESE) - coordination this year.

Grade 4 Team: Pete Loucks, Brad Traynor, Rupal How the world works: Understanding Earth's Joshi, Patrick Horgan, Susan Mirabello, Christopher processes enables people to respond and design Box, and Jamie House. solutions: Presentations: Colleen Campbell (Reef Ecology Lab) - Physical Geography: Earth Systems and Earth Changes Dr. Olaf Zielke (Earthquake Seismology) - Earthquakes and Tectonics Dr. Yu-Hsuan Tu (WDRC) -The Power of Remote Sensing Sharing the Planet: Living things adapt to meet needs based on available resources and environmental conditions.

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GES Future Heroes’

Design Challenge

By Laura Pendergast, GES Pedagogical Coordinator Adam Llevo, GES EdTech Coach World Creativity & Innovation Day Learning Celebration GES students exhibited their ideas in an exciting design-thinking challenge in April. Children from Grade 1 through 5 honed their creative problem-solving to consider potential solutions to dynamic global challenges in a two-week process, culminating in the exhibition on April 21, in honor of World Creativity & Innovation Day. The initiative was made possible through a joint partnership supported by TKS Office of Engagement and Enrichment members of TKS, KAUST Smart and the Office of Sustainability. The aim of the challenge was for students to select one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a problem associated with that goal and take it through the design-thinking process, through collaborative ideation and prototyping.

Parents and community members came along to look at the proposed solutions students had created. Students explored the inspirational ideas of others as well as taking the opportunity to learn about some of the exciting innovations used by our Security department and within KAUST Smart.

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Note from GSS Principal David Tigchelaar Ramadan is always a festive and special time in the year. Just before Ramadan we typically have many evening events filling up the school calendar, which makes it a busy time of the year. After Ramadan starts, a calmer pace starts.

We look back on many special events like the athletics season including basketball, track and field, cross country, tennis and swimming. The Grade 12’s are very close to their last day of school and participated in the camp out, the Gala and the photoshoot. The students have been receiving acceptances at many great universities. The Grade 10’s completed their Personal Project, Arts students shared their learning during the Arts nights and International Week celebrated the diversity of the community.

We are now starting the final stretch of the year with the biggest events being the DP, MYP and Grade 11 Exams, the Graduation, which will be held in the Auditorium. We will also host a music night in which the vocal and instrumental ensembles will share their music skills with a student and parent audience. The teachers always keep teaching and the students always keep learning until the end of the year. The engagements might be different but the learning will remain our focus until the last day of school.

David Tigchelaar Secondary School Principal

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Grade 6

Robotics Project

By Murari Gubba G6 Student The SumoBots project was to build a Lego robot to battle in the sumo ring with no faults with the build or the code during an assembly and help increase school spirit. We all built the robot from the instruction book and we made a tournament with no robot modifications. After this we built modifications onto the robot, like a spinning hammer or a chainsaw and many more weapons for offense and defense, and we played a tournament. We learnt how to follow instructions thoroughly, how to use block coding, how to plan and build our bots, how to make the ultrasonic sensor and the light sensor perfect so the robot can see. The fun thing about this project was the robots and the tournaments and the fact that my group won one whole tournament and we fought like real warriors in the second tournament. The saddest part of the project was disassembling the bots.

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Grade 7

Woodworking

By Anna Joshi G7 Student During this unit in design, Grade 7 built and designed their own boxes. We started out with four long planes of wood. With Mr Johnson and Mr McEwen guiding us, we learned how to measure, saw, sand, and glue the pieces of wood together to build a box. We used machines such as the chop saw, saw table, and drill table to cut through our wood. We then used the palm and belt sanders to perfect our boxes. Although we got to use these machines, the part that I enjoyed most was that we got to design our boxes. Everyone had a lid that was unique to them and their interests. We had the options of rastering, vectoring, painting, or inlaying our lid. I saw someone that loves M&Ms vector the M&M logo onto the lid of their box. Someone else painted a dark blue background with stars, and another peer vectored on a dragon!

Not only was it very engaging to design our own boxes, but I think Grade 7 really benefited from the independence the teachers gave the students. It allowed us to be more creative and use our critical thinking skills. For example, Mr Johnson let us use different machines. Many of my peers got to use the chop saw to saw their wood. And I used a variety of different machines to sand my box. These included the belt and palm sanders.

I used my critical thinking skills because I had to decide which one I would need to use and why. We developed our creativity when we thought about what our box should look like. I had to ask questions such as, "What colors go well together? Should I raster or vector?" and, "How should I sand my edges to achieve the look I'm going for?". The flexibility the teachers gave the students allowed us to solve our problems and manage our time. We can transfer these skills to other subjects, which will, in turn, equip us for the challenges to come.

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Grade 8

Mousetrap Cars

By Ariana Jankovic G8 Student In our current unit in design, we designed and built mousetrap cars.

Essentially, mousetrap cars are pieces of balsa wood glued together for the body with CD wheels connected by axles and a mousetrap that turns and powers the axle. In this unit, our challenge was to innovate, make modifications and create adjustments to our original design by increasing the speed or distance of the car through analyzing results of test trials, which helped us explore what worked best. We designed our car, chose its functionality: either speed, distance, or aesthetics, and spent classes building it.

I enjoyed the building aspect of this unit because it was engaging.

Other students said they liked the freedom to innovate and were satisfied when their cars began to come together. Others enjoyed the race finale at the end because it was low pressure, had many laughs, and motivated students to build their cars well. We were not given a lot of direction in this unit which encouraged students to become independent. As described by a student, we “explored a way of learning we had not previously unlocked,” meaning that we took initiative into our own hands, analyzed results, and applied the knowledge we understood to help develop the cars. This process allowed us to practice skills that helped us build critical thinking and independence skills that would be very important for the real world

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DESIGN

& BUILD

Middle School Drone Club

By Reece Lennon EdTech Coach

They’re learning to fly, but they ain’t got wings The Middle School new drone club recently had their final session of the year. Students who were lucky enough to participate in this club were introduced to various new terms, concepts, and skill development over an eight-week period.

Students worked together as pilot/co-pilots as they learned how to fly our micro drones using manual controls.

Pilots were introduced to DroneBlocks, a coding interface that allowed them to automate the flight controls in a simulator and microdrones.

By the end of the eight-week session, students were designing and constructing challenges. One pilot volunteered to film a mousetrap car race organized by the eighth-grade design classes.

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DP Visual Arts Exhibition

By Jecton O. Were DP Visual Arts Teacher

The Visual Arts course encourages students to challenge the boundaries. It is a thought-provoking course where students

gent thinking skills while working towards technical proficien

exploring and comparing visual arts from different artists, cu

engage in, experiment with, and critically reflect upon a wide

This year, nine TKS students showcased a variety of artworks

in three art-making areas: two-dimensional work, three-dime

Congratulations to all students!

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eir own creative and cultural expectations and develop analytical, problem-solving, and diver-

Scan the QR code for the Virtual Exihibition

ncy and confidence as art-makers. In addition to

ultures, and contexts, students are expected to

e range of art-making practices and media.

s in all conventional and unconventional media

ensional work, and digital media.

Scan the QR code for the full presentation

As a group during t regular training, we David Tigchelaar, as

A Great

Badminton Season

By Martin Acevedorey G7 Student

The coaches and th old beginner skills a smash (except Vikto The main highlights Jeddah (BISJ) and th a challenge to us as where we played bo ly, and most import

the Red Sea Athletics Conference (RSAC), Saudi Arabian Intra-Kingdom Athletics Conference (SAIKAC), and just our e have had an excellent once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, thanks to the coaches Andre Henriques, Reiner Garz, and s well as TKS, which organized the activity.

he students have seen significant improvements in our badminton game throughout the season. We got better at both and new skills that we had never heard about. Nevertheless, the best skill that the whole group got better at was the or because he is a child prodigy and can do anything to perfection). s of the season are 100% getting the chance to go to RSAC and SAIKAC, thanks to the British International School heir students. The TKS boys’ badminton team had a lot of fun there competing with new kids from BISJ, who proposed s we were used to playing against the coach and each other during training. At the end of the SAIKAC tournament, oth singles and doubles, TKS came out in first and second place, adding a new win to the school's reputation. But finaltantly, the best highlight of all during this badminton season was doing the Viktor pose after we won the tournament.

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Cross Country

Cross Country

By Samuel Paterson G11 Student Every Sunday and Tuesday, the cross country team meets to train. Training for cross country is rarely fun, although the coaches work hard to make the workout fun. Running for extended periods is somewhat torturous. There’s no strategizing with other teammates; there’s no communication, no advanced skill. Running cross country may be one of the most demanding sports; you can’t talk to anyone, you can’t show off any cool tricks, you just have to run. You keep running, alone with your thoughts. When you run, you run kilometers at a time, you only rely on your thoughts to motivate you, to force you to keep running. In a race, you often collapse by the time you get to the end.

When I run for thousands of meters, I always see people so many meters ahead. Some people stay in my sight, and some people go beyond. I always keep my eye trained on the closest person ahead of me. In the moment, I am already so tired. I can’t imagine reaching him, so near to me but still so far. I cannot stop yet, though. That would be embarrassing. I have to keep going; I can only ignore the painful breaths scratching in and out of my lungs. I have to go faster, so I do. I decide that I have to forget what I can and can’t do. I just have to get ahead of this guy in front of me. He notices me trying to get around him, so he blocks me. I decide to stay right behind him.

I see the person even farther ahead of this guy is slowing down ever so slightly, getting tired. After the next corner, I decide I have to get ahead. I speed up around him to get to the person out in front. I instantly regret it. I just wasted so much energy getting around one guy. My breathing is raspy by the time I reach this guy, but this is the last corner. Just a hundred meters away is the end. As I’m getting even closer to him, he keeps glancing back at me. I decide I have to run so much faster on the last stretch now. So I do, and I make it to the end. I then collapse.

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Track & Field

By Sama Hammad G12 Student This year was my last in track and field, and I was elected to team captain.

The adrenaline rush of race day and teamwork kept me going through all my years on this team.

I have trained alongside Coach Johnson since Grade 7. She has pushed me to continue through the harshness of this sport. I participated in track from a young age, and looking back on the memories and relationships I have built, I would say the pain was worth it!

Practices never got any easier. I always had soreness in my hamstrings and quads, I always pushed myself over my maximum limit, and there was always the feeling of my lungs burning when I sprinted the 200 meters and 400-meter races.

But, through it all, the people on the team were the highlight.

As I am growing up and moving to a new stage in life, I started watching the young Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers with a keen eye, trying to help them improve, just like I got support from the older generation of high schoolers. There has been tremendous growth from all the individuals on this team.

Many have quit this sport because of the exhaustion they face and surrounding themselves with the excuse of "I have no time." However, I kept striving to become a better sprinter with all that influence around me, until I reached first place in all of my races this year.

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I looked forward to track and field annually because of how competitive I was with myself. I had never felt welcomed in team sports, even when I put all of my efforts into becoming a player that could be trusted. I ran on the court without getting the ball passed for two years when I practiced basketball. I was kept on the bench in volleyball because my coaches saw that I could not play well. Soccer was always my weakest sport, so I didn't bother to keep up with the team anymore. However, when I joined track and field and raced for my life, Coach Johnson was always there, running and cheering beside me as if I were her own daughter. Her support kept me in this sport, and although keeping up with my studies and running was hard, it made High School enjoyable, as I found a second family on that team every year with many new faces.

It has been an honor to become a team captain in my last year, and I can't wait to see this torch passed on to a new captain who will keep this team together and help them push themselves, just like how I tried to do so.

This netball season ing to the game. Thi

TKS Girls

Netball Team

By Maya Hasanain & Aalia Ebrahim G8 Students

We learned to work foster team spirit. A

Each practice would the court; while pra

At SAIKAC, we place

We want to take thi better players, on a We hope that next

was one to remember. The interest in netball at GSS has continued to grow, and we welcomed a lot of new players and those returnis season, we traveled for our first Saudi Arabian Intra-Kingdom Activities Conference (SAIKAC) tournament as Middle School players.

k well with each other during our time together and grow our netball skills. In addition, each training session was used to bond and As a result, our gameplay has improved considerably, together with our sportsmanship and love for the game.

d begin with drills that would help us with our speed, agility, reaction time, and coordination. These skills were vital when playing on acticing our positional play, we were given many tips and strategies that would help us prepare for the tournament.

ed third against tough opponents. Congratulations to all players for their hard work and commitment throughout the season.

is opportunity to say a special thank you to our coaches, Ms Teddy and Ms Clarke. Both have been instrumental in helping us become and off the court. season the interest in growing netball at TKS continues. Go Sharks!

TKS Sharks U14 Girls Football

By TKS1 Captain Aalia Ebrahim (G8), TKS2 Captain Mariam Alattas (G7), Haya Abugosh (G7), and Andrew Wright, Football Coach

For the first time at TKS, the U14 girls’ football season ran simultaneously alongside the U16 and U19 squads, and saw 30 players sign up to train with Coach McClarn, Coach Saleem, Coach Wright and Coach Shorooq, who plays left-back for KAUST’s own Magpies women’s football club. This meant we had two teams, TKS1 and TKS2, and could play friendlies against the U16 and U19 teams to help us prepare for Saudi Arabian Intra-Kingdom Activities Conference (SAIKAC). This helped us significantly, giving us more time to practice and gain confidence, techniques, skills, and strategies to improve our performance and our game.

We feel so profoundly proud of our teams for how well we played and worked together. We put in a lot of effort to try to play our best and it paid off, as we were able to play very well throughout both tournaments. We were definitely able to see growth with how we played and communicated. Our team grew and learned to cooperate with each other in order to play well, with that we learned to help each other as well as give feedback so that we all get better and play our best.

Haya Abugosh said: “I think I did well this year. I have improved a lot this season and I say this because of my coaches who have taught me, and never gave up on me. In SAIKAC I scored a goal that got us to the semi-finals. Without that goal, I felt like I would’ve let the whole team down. I think that this shows that giving up never leads you to success.”

In an excellent season for U14 Sharks girls’ football, TKS1, captained by midfield general Aalia Ebrahim, finished second at both RSAC and SAIKAC tournaments, while TKS2 finished fourth. TKS2 narrowly lost a nail-biting third-place penalty shootout 2-1 at SAIKAC to British International School Riyadh (BISR) that went down to nine penalties each. Striker Laiba Shah scored an incredible 13 goals in 10 games, followed by attacking playmaker Malia Tran with eight goals. Other scorers included Haya Abugosh, TKS2 captain Mariam Alattas, Marie-Chantal Arzel and Elodie Hoffman. Special mention goes to TKS2 goalkeeper Ryan Alhaji, who saved four penalties in the shootout.

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Whenever you make a mistake, that is the evidence you need to show that you are getting closer and closer to success.

- Haya Abugosh

TKS U14 Girls Football Team

U19 Girls

Football

By U19 Captain Aella Tsorpatzidi (G11), Vice-captain Mariana Rosado (G12), and Andrew Wright, Football Coach Our first proper U19 girls’ football season in well over a year started with an incredible 20 players signing up for the squad, to train with Coach Wright and Coach Dawn Burks, who plays left-wing for KAUST’s own Magpies women’s football club. There were lots of new faces and lots of returning players as we worked hard three times a week on all aspects of the game.

This season has been one of the most amazing yet progressive ones so far.

This was the first time we all played together as a team and not only did we improve so much with our football skills, but we also became good friends.

Sadly, a few of our players are leaving for university but they mentioned how this was a great way to finish off High School football.

Playing games was always fun and it made us feel accomplished for all the hard work we put in during practice. However, going to practices and laughing about our mistakes, and singing and dancing around was probably the biggest highlight of this season. Both of us recommend joining football. It is an amazing way to make friends and improve your football skills.

In what was very much a rebuilding year, the TKS Sharks finished third at RSAC and a very creditable fourth out of eight teams, at one of the biggest U19 Saudi Arabian Intra-Kingdom Activities Conference (SAIKAC) tournaments in recent memory, held right here at KAUST! Captain Aella Tsorpatzididi top-scored with five goals across all competitions, followed by striker Pearl Wright with four, while other scorers included Omamah Jamil (two), Mariana Rosado and Dunya Vink. In goal, authoritative keeper Mariam Hoteit (Grade 11) marshaled a committed defense of Donia Saad, Maya Porojan and Abhisri Vijayakumar, while Summeya Ali, Abigail du Plessis and Shahd Bakr all added speed and power from the bench.

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U16 Girls

Basketball

By Kate Auckland, U16 Girls Basketball SAIKAC Captain

Our U16 girls’ basketball team had a fun season working together and developing our skills. We placed third in the Plates Bracket at Saudi Arabian Intra-Kingdom Activities Conference (SAIKAC). Looking back over the season, our team felt that together we learned a lot of new basketball skills and moves, such as reacting in game situations, playing under pressure, and communicating as a team. It was great that all of us scored points in our games as it shows our cooperation and teamwork. In addition, other teams told us that we had great sportsmanship and a never-give-up attitude. It was a great season! Thank you to everyone who supported us!

TKS MUN

(Model United Nations)

By Kimberly Halverson Secondary Pedagogical Coordinator The sixth annual TKS MUN Conference in February was another major success. Nearly 300 people were involved in making this event happen. Once again, we invited students from around the Kingdom, which created a more dynamic and enriching environment. The 270 students involved were spread across ten committees, who debated: 1- General Assembly One –child trafficking, and recovery of war-torn countries in Africa 2- General Assembly Two – planning for a post-oil world, and accountability for human rights violations during crises 3- World Health Organization – access and distribution of feminine hygiene products, and reproductive rights 4- UN High Commission of Refugees – addressing gender-based violence on displaced women and girls, and attack on displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo 5- UN Commission of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice – drug trafficking, and abuse and the regulation of cryptocurrencies

6- World Trade Organization – debating the topics of digitalization and 7- Commission of Science and Technology – automation in jobs, and space commercialization 8- Security Council – preventing a large-scale China and Taiwan conflict, and the Kashmir conflict 9- Economic and Social Council – future commercialization of human space flight, and tackling global inflation and market volatility 10- Disarmament – prevention of terrorist group recruitment in failing states, and should nations stop the act of registering weapons to reduce savage attacks in public spaces?

A very interesting additional topic was the crisis. All committees needed to respond to updates about the rise of a Ukrainian rebel group that managed to get unique materials from space to alter human behavior.

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TKS MUN

(Model United Nations)

During the conference, students managed to pass many resolutions, such as: Security Council: "Joint Peace Talks Between India and Pakistan," which aimed to encourage peaceful discussion between the conflicting nations regarding Kashmir.

GA1 on the prevention of child trafficking.

GA2 passed a resolution submitted by the USA for the topic "Planning for a Post Oil World."

Disarmament called upon countries that do not undergo as much terrorist recruitment to help other countries in need.

WTO passed a resolution on cybersecurity and the restriction of cryptocurrency WTO passed a resolution by Brazil where least developed countries are finally given a fair chance to improve their economies WTO passed a resolution by China authorizing the placement of sanctions the US UNHCR passed a resolution. "Ukraine Resolution: Militarization of Ukraine Mainland (URMUM)" to evacuate refugees and protect the nation from further attacks The Security Council passed a treaty titled "Agreement for Joint Initiative for Anti-Rebel Operations in Ukraine" to aid Ukraine during this Crisis.

Russia in Security Council also vetoed the "Bilateral Operation Legitimizing Control in Kashmir Security (BLOCKS)," which attempted to bring peace to the Kashmir conflict.

The three days showed the students' creative thinking, collaboration, knowledge and improvisation skills.

Students showed their ability to solve some of the world's most pressing issues throughout the conference. Furthermore, they showed their resilience to overcome obstacles to solve these problems. We are excited to see MUN grow at TKS.

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TKS MUN

(Model United Nations)

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School

Improvement

Highlights

!

Our goal, to ‘adapt and expand our current academic offerings’, has resulted in 21 new courses in our Secondary School and a STEM program in the Elementary and Kindergarten. Additionally, our students now have many pathways towards their High School Diplo-

ma. Some pathways allow for an additional challenge beyond the IB Diploma program, and other pathways allow for students to receive the additional support they need to reach this milestone.

Did you know that since implementing our goal of ‘adopting internationally-benchmarked standards’ that TKS has gone from having 44% of our students above the world average to 66% in mathematics? Likewise, 56% of our students have gone above the world average in reading to 71%! This is amazing growth and we anticipate that these numbers will continue to grow in the future. This growth is also closely linked to another goal in our plan, which is to ‘develop our culture of data-informed decision making.’

These areas of growth are tied directly to our ambitious strategic plan. (add visual) I look forward to providing the school community a comprehensive report at the end of this school year, showing all the growth areas that the school has experienced by implementing changes and improvements since the plan was established in the spring of 2020.

Dr. Michelle Remington Director The KAUST School TKS Wave

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Autism

Acceptance Week (Celebrating our Differences)

By Dr. Paul O’Callaghan School Psychologist

April 2 marked World Autism Day. To mark this event, the Student Support Team, in conjunction with KAUST Health, the Student Counseling Service, the KAUST-TKS Engagement Team, and parent groups on campus, organized KAUST’s first ever Autism Acceptance Week.

The week aimed to raise awareness about autism, how common this social-communication condition is, and to remind our community members that difference does not mean deficit, but rather diversity. Diversity enriches all our lives, showing us alternative ways of viewing the world, and understanding what it means to be human, honest, and authentic.

During the week, TKS organized library displays on autism, shared a padlet of resources with the community, set up visual collaborative digital Jamboards and information bulletins to raise awareness, handed out ribbons, stickers and buttons, and organized a walk, a run, and a ‘wear blue to work day’. Elsewhere in the community, there were coffee mornings, retail deals, autism-friendly movie screenings, quiz night questions, and buildings illuminated in blue in solidarity with families and community members who are autistic.

We hope that our awareness raising can also provide encouragement to TKS families who have children identified with autism spectrum conditions to feel heard and accepted, safe in the knowledge that their children’s strengths and needs are welcomed and embraced by the community here at KAUST. Our dream is that long after the last poster for this event comes down, the message of the week lives on in people’s hearts. That our differences are truly our strengths, and when we can see each other’s uniqueness as super qualities, then can we truly value these gifts and the contributions they make to our world.

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TKS Celebrates

10 years of the

Teacher Development Program

By Yasmeen Ghunaim Advancement Lead On March 2, TKS celebrated the 10-year milestone of its prestigious Teacher Development Program. In partnership with the Office of the Provost, the evening recognized the achievements of our most recent graduating cohort: Lama Khalofa, Sara Alaslani, and Shorooq Alhazmi. The program included addresses by Dr. Michelle Remmington (TKS Director), Dr. Lawrence Carin (Provost), and a musical performance from the KAUST Office of the Arts.

Over the past decade, TKS has evolved as a teacher training center that offers long-term internships to fresh Saudi graduates. This internship is strongly founded on the support of mentor teachers and has successfully produced 18 highly-trained educators to date.

The TKS Advancement Department has supported Saudi nationals as they develop the knowledge, skills, and work experience they need to teach effectively – enabling them to contribute to the educational reforms called for in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision.

We are so proud of our graduates and what has been accomplished over the past 10 years. The success of the teacher development program has created opportunities for partnerships with the KAUST HR Elevate Program and NEOM. We look forward to welcoming more interns next year and the continued growth and success of the Saudi Advancement Department at TKS.

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TKS Celebrates

10 years of the

Teacher Development Program

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TDP

Embracing

the spirit of GIVING at

TKS

By Yasmeen Ghunaim Advancement Lead and Wejdan Khan Head of Islamic Studies TKS Sharks participate in the 7th annual Sharing is Caring initiative in partnership with KAUST’s Strategic National Advancement: Social Responsibility Department The Holy Month of Ramadan is the month of generosity and giving. On April 13, TKS students prepared food hampers for neighboring families in partnership with charitable associations in the Jeddah region.

The GSS flag pavilion was illuminated with positive energy as students (G6-12) displayed teamwork, organization skills and the spirit of coming together for a worthy cause.

Whether it was assembling boxes, sorting food items or participating in the assembly line, students were buzzing as they gave their best efforts to prepare over 130 food hampers. Students felt a sense of pride and humility as they completed the task.

“It was an experience I will never forget, because I know I did something that will help others and that is an amazing feeling. It made me feel how fortunate I am.”

Hamza AlQadi, Grade 9 Student The initiative was led by Maha Aldubayan, Director of Social Responsibility, and Hani Bojer, Social Responsibility Officer, with support from TKS Director, Michelle Remington; Director of Learning and Innovation, Julian Edwards; Advancement Lead, Yasmeen Ghunaim, and GSS Islamic Studies Head, Wejdan Khan.

“We started Sharing is Caring seven years ago as one of many ways in which KAUST gives back to our neighbors. It aims to bring together the KAUST community to share the joys of special seasons, such as Ramadan and Eid, with our neighbors. We are delighted with this year’s collaboration with TKS. The energy and enthusiasm of the students who stayed after school to pack over 130 hampers of food is a wonderful example of what it means to be a good neighbor. We thank all the TKS teachers and students that came together to spread the joy of the season in this year’s Sharing is Caring.”

Maha Aldubayan, Director of KAUST Social Responsibility TKS looks forward to partnering with KAUST Social Responsibility in the future to further extend and enrich our students’ experiences and foster even more connections with our neighboring communities.

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Sharing is Caring

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The Wave issue 02 2022

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