2016/17 Issues 14 & 15 May 18, 2017 Phoenix Flyer

Korea International School

In This Issue: • KIS: Service Learning • SC: Battle Of The Books • ES: International Day • MS: Fiji And Thailand • HS: Cambodia And Australia • Athletics: Girls Soccer • Pride: HS Teacher Of The Year • Pride: HS Principal’s Assistants KIS Spotlight Explaining The CIA Cycle

The Center for Teaching and Learning at KIS is al- that content is aligned grade to grade and to other ways a busy place. Aptly located at the center of the subject areas within the grade. The CIA cycle is a school, teachers come and go, sometimes to get cof- big step to reaching our school-wide goal centered fee, use the microwave, or grab a piece of candy for around curriculum and assessment. The school ad- a quick energy boost. More often, however, teach- ministration and teacher-leaders have done great ers are coming in to collaborate and learn, always work to revise and improve the KIS CIA cycle. The striving to improve the art of teaching. Teachers at new cycle will continue to improve our work, which KIS are exceptional; they practice a growth mind- in turn will make KIS an even better learning experi- set. A growth mindset is a concept coined by Carol ence for our students. Dewick, “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learn- ing and a resilience that is essential for great accom- Tara Verenna plishment.” Just as teachers foster the concept of Director of a growth mindset with their students, they also em- Teaching & Learning body this philosophy in their professional and per- sonal lives.

Teaching and learning is big work, and The Center at KIS helps to steer that work. One of the school-wide goals at KIS is to continue to document our guar- anteed and viable curriculum, develop assessment systems that inform instruction, and improve report- ing practices school-wide. The grade level and de- partment heads, in conjunction with the school lead- ership, has created a revised Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment cycle (CIA Cycle) for KIS. The CIA cycle is a systematic approach to reviewing and re- vising our curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems. The CIA cycle is designed to give teach- ers a different area of teaching and learning to focus on annually. There are six phases of the CIA cycle, and the content areas are divided up evenly among the phases. Allowing teachers to focus their work on curriculum, instruction, or assessment for an entire year will enable them to make more meaningful pro- gress in the identified area.

The revised CIA cycle will be used to drive the pro- fessional development for our faculty to ensure they have the resources needed to implement the outlined tasks. Next year, teachers will have time to work in both vertical and horizontal teams to ensure

1 | www.kis.kr Service, Service, Everywhere!

On a cold afternoon in February of 2016, seven Grade 10 students and I finished our meeting at the Suji Boys’ Town Orphanage. We were working on developing another KIS, student-led, community-partner pro- gram which supports the particular needs of our client.

Let’s now fast forward this month: May of 2017.

KIS now has 10 sustainable, student-led, community-partner programs, with 109 KIS students involved. We serve on these from Monday through Saturday (KIS Weekly Calendar) on a weekly, biweekly, and monthly basis. We endeavor to serve our clients’ needs on a sustainable and integral level as global citizens. Also, among these 10 community partners, we now have our very first Middle School and High School communi- ty-partner program at the Suwon Orphanage.

Student leaders meet every month through the “Sustainable Service Volunteer Committee” (SSVC), where they reflect, share ideas, and develop progressive plans for the future. KIS is looking to develop further by having our first Elementary School, Middle School and High School community-partner program, along with two more potential sustainable programs.

We can also celebrate our first year of the KIS Pangyo Internship Semester Two Program, where High School students currently intern for a variety of faculty members on a mutually-agreed service contract. Interns will be receiving their “Acknowledgement of Service Program” (AoSP) Statement at High School Graduation later this month. KIS student service volunteers will also receive AoSPs, of different achievement levels.

If you are interested in serving your community, please go to the above link to read about the many oppor- tunities of service volunteerism. After that, contact the appropriate student leader listed on that site. Alter- natively, you can email [email protected] for a chat.

Andrew Kennedy Service Learning Coordinator KIS Sustainable Service Learning Continuum

Charity Volunteerism Service Service Learning is our is our first step allows us to is an academic chance to raise to help others apply our learning approach to plan, resources to by giving of our and serve others reflect, & apply support others. time Inside & in the world learning to make outside of KIS. around us. meaningful contributions.

Volunteerism is Service provides the Service Learning Charity provides serving others chance to reflect connects our an opportunity to with integrity and and make improved teaching, learning, deliver those dedicated changes for high and assessments to resources in person commitment on a impact and sustained make sustainable and ask, “How else sustainable community change. pragmatic can KIS support?” regular basis. change within our community. Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4

Together we are stronger and can make a positive difference as global citizens!

Design Your Future | 2 Seoul CampusHighlights Elementary School Buddy Bench Fundraiser “Raising money is hard work!” This was the consen- sus of Seoul Campus’ First Grade students as they reflected on how their Buddy Bench Fundraising Party went.

This trimester, First Graders are working on a trans- disciplinary unit themed around overcoming chal- lenges. A challenge they felt many of them faced from time to time on the playground was finding friends to play with. In an effort to combat loneliness and to assist friends in finding someone to play with, they came up with the idea to purchase two buddy benches. Buddy benches, also known as friendship benches, are specially decorated benches where a child can sit if they are feeling lonely and in need of a friend. Sitting in one of these benches is a signal to the kids on the playground to come and ask that child to play.

Although their idea was attained, First Graders now faced a secondary challenge: how would they come up with the money to purchase these benches? They put their heads together and came up with the idea of hosting a fundraising party. Their teachers put them in charge of designing and running various activities, including tattoos, bracelet making, obstacle cours- es, jump roping, hula hooping, ball tossing, and pin- ning a smile on a face. One of the most memorable activities was karaoke. Guests at the party sang their hearts out to pop songs and Disney hits like “Let it Go”, and “How Far I’ll Go”. First graders sent out an invitation to all lower years students, PK to Second Grade, and asked each student to contribute a small donation toward their benches.

The event was a huge success! Their guests had a fabulous time and the First Graders were able to surpass their fundraising goals! Their final steps will include choosing how to decorate their bench. Seoul Campus looks forward to the grand unveiling of two new buddy benches on the rooftop playground and lower field, coming later this spring! Way to go First Jamie Koch Grade! Seoul Elementary Grade Two Teacher

3 | www.kis.kr Trip To IBK Bank & St. &ndrew’s Coffee Shop

On Friday, March 10th, the Fifth Graders went to a brief field trip to IBK bank and St. &drew’s coffee shop to have a better understanding of what they were doing in Social Studies: planning a coffee shop themselves.

At IBK bank, the Fifth Graders had a special meeting with the banker and gained a lot of information. For example, they learned about guarantees, interests, credits, and credit levels. The Fifth Graders learned that interests are the two-to-three percent that increases the amount of money you have to owe back to the bank. They learned about the credit levels from A, B, C, D, E, and F, and that they are also divided these into three more levels (A, double A, Triple A). These credit levels increase when you pay the money back to the bank (A) and decrease when you pay back late (F). They also learned about guarantees which are things or places you exchange with money in case you have to owe money, pay for a sick family member, and lots more.

After their short trip to IBK, the Fifth Graders headed to St. &drew’s Coffee where they gained some helpful information. They learned about how the founder of the shop, Mr. Kim, came up with ideas to make a coffee shop and how long it took for him to design the logo and make the slogan. They learned that it took multiple procedures for him to design the shop’s logo, and that he even had to recruit a design team to help him. This showed the Fifth Graders that making a shop is not easy work, and that they have to put in a lot of effort when starting their own businesses.

Overall, the Fifth Graders state that going to the bank and the coffee shop was a great experience, because they learned the basics of owning an individual shop.

Dione & Sean Seoul Elementary Grade 5 Students

KIS Basketball Jamboree At Pangyo

Early in the day of Saturday, April 15th, KIS Pangyo kimbap on tables outside of the gym that were pre- held several friendly basketball matches in their low- pared by the Parent Teacher Organization. All of the er, upper, and Phoenix gyms. The schools that took participants thoroughly enjoyed the food, because I part in this friendly tournament included: Chadwick don’t think that food can taste any better after a long International, Taejon Christian International School, day of exercise. Dalton, KIS Seoul, and KIS Pangyo.

The participants of each team included boys and girls in Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades. The beauty of this tournament was that scores were not record- ed, which meant that everyone could play without worrying about making mistakes. Rather, they got to test their skills against other students from a dif- ferent school. This stress-free environment lead to friendships being made across schools. The smiles on everyone’s face were proof that each person was having a blast.

After a long day of playing and sweating, there were Sean Seoul Elementary scrumptious snacks including ramen, hot dogs, and Grade 5 Student

Design Your Future | 4 Jamboree!

Over the weekend, KIS Seoul Campus hosted a mi- hausted, and we faced no major injuries. We were ni-jamboree for our PK-Grade Two students. The day fortunate enough and thankful for all the volunteers was quite eventful with over 100 students from KIS that helped with the event. The event was a success Seoul Campus, KIS Pangyo, Seoul Foreign School, because of all the people who helped, and this is and Chadwick International. The weather turned out very appreciated. We look forward to improving the to be great; the pollution was luckily a non-factor for event for our students, and we can not wait until next the day, and with Justin O’Connor manning the grill, Spring to host again! everyone ate really well!

Our main goal for the jamboree was to provide a fun and energetic atmosphere for the younger stu- dents who do not get to participate in as many jam- William Suker borees as our older students. We had one mini-field Seoul Elementary PE Teacher that was dedicated for the PK and JK games. We noticed plenty of laughs, celebration, teaching, and chaos all in one space. Some of these students have never played soccer before, but it was great to see the students working together to give guidance pa- tiently while they received the help they needed. Our JK and KA division of students were able to compete as teams with students of all abilities! The students from all schools showed great sportsmanship, where some teams had only three to four students!

Finally, the G1 and G2 games were very well played and coached. The students were more familiar with proper rules such as throw-ins and corner kicks. The competition was at the highest on this field with kids celebrating the results with their teams. Overall, the day was great. Every student left ex-

5 | www.kis.kr Seoul Campus Kindergarten TDU Writing Away Our Problems

To start off the third trimester, Kindergarteners have launched a new TDU, or Trans-Disciplinary Unit, on how they can make the world a better place. Stu- dents will learn that through their writing, they can notice problems around them and, “write away their problems.”

Ms. Riedel launched the unit by thinking about prob- lems that we have have in our community that she could solve through her writing. One of the problems that she saw was that there is too much trash on her way to school. She wrote all about why this was a big problem and then made a plan to solve it. The students followed Ms. Riedel’s plan by picking up the trash on the sidewalks around the school. They ended up searching for trash like Easter eggs. They filled about five gift bags with the trash that they picked up. It was very exciting to watch! This was their entry-event to the third trimester Trans-Disci- plinary Unit.

Since the students saw that writing helps us solve our problems, Kindergarteners are now working on opinion writing pieces about problems they notice and that, if solved, will make the world a better place. This will be presented in the showcase, as well as lots of other topics, such as learning about the farm, and the animals living on the farm.

The students are putting in a lot of effort into their TDU work, so we hope that you will visit the third trimester showcase, which will happen at the end of the school year. Through this showcase, students will show off their hard work to parents, teachers, rel- atives, and any other people visiting the showcase. We hope that these young and creative minds will inspire you to look around and see what problems are waiting for you to write away!

Lucas & Lauren Seoul Elementary Grade 5 Students

Design Your Future | 6 Grade One Explores The Botanical Garden

Swish, swish! Splash, splash! First graders from Seoul Campus were exploring the Seoul Botanical Gardens with a purpose. Getting out of the class- room and into nature is almost always a good choice. Especially when the sun is out and the air is fresh!

The services provided at the park were so wonder- ful. Throughout the day, we had two different events, planned by volunteers and experts. At the first event, our students were able to splish and splash in the water with all sorts of wildlife. We learned about wetlands, and all of the living things that thrive liv- ing in this environment. With Mr. Shaw, our amaz- ing Science teacher, our students have already been exploring what it means to have special traits and adaptations that help them live in different habitats. This was the perfect way for our students to explore this concept! Students started digging into this in- formation by touching tadpoles, looking at fish, and finding lizards. They ended their exploration by re- leasing their specimens back into the swamp.

At our second activity, students were able to plant their own drought-resistant plant! Since it was earth day, we talked about why drought-resistant plants are a good choice for our environment and how to care for them. We learned about what makes these plants so special and we even got to take them home! We can’t wait to see how they grow.

To end an amazing day, we split into groups and went on a scavenger hunt. Students were using phones and cameras to take pictures of all sorts of things that they found around the park. They found flowers that attracted butterflies, insects bigger than their eyes, and some of them even got their parents to hold a bug!! Eek!

We always love taking the things that we’ve been learning in the classroom out into the field. We had amazing parents, volunteers, teachers, and experts that were guiding lights to help us take risks and solve problems. Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip a success!

Jaclyn Hanna Seoul Elementary Grade Two Teacher

7 | www.kis.kr Battle Of The Books

Have you ever participated in a book competition that includes 19 teams from nine schools? The Bat- tle of the Books is a competition that reviews five Newbery Award books and another five books which are similar to the Newbery Award books. The com- petition was held on Saturday, April 8th, 2017 at Seoul Foreign School.

Korea International School’s participants practiced and quizzed each other about different books start- ing at the beginning of January. After reading all ten books, the members got to choose their expert book. Each member’s priority was to focus and give more attention on their expert book. The KIS Seoul team was coached by three teachers: Ms. Wright, Ms. Kim, and Ms. Kathlyn. KIS Pangyo was coached by: Ms. Nakauchi, Ms. Merriman, and Mrs. Greene. KIS Jeju also travelled by plane to participate in the competition.

There are two rounds in the competition: the battle round; and the lighting round. In the battle round, teams had to answer what had happened in the book in a certain situation. In contrast, the teams had to guess the books’ names in the lighting round. Each round lasted for approximately 30 minutes: 12 minutes in the battle round, and 12 minutes in the lighting round. In between, there are five minutes of break time.

On Saturday, the Battle of the Books members hopped on the bus to go to Seoul Foreign School. They had five rounds of answering questions. All KIS teams were very successful during the competition and were extremely pleased with how well they’ve done. Every team did a great job of showcasing their hard work in preparing for the competition. All teams won several rounds of the competition. Eventually, KIS Seoul went up to the semifinals after they won four out of five rounds in the main competition and arrived at third place. The team was extremely proud of themselves and all agreed that they all had earned the honor of third place thanks to their teamwork, their coaches, and their teammates. Way to go KIS for all the great work! Dione, Erin, & Alexander Seoul Elementary Grade 5 Students

Design Your Future | 8 Visitors From Hong Kong

On Thursday, April 13th, students from Wu Siu Kui ter eating, they played soccer. Gifts were presented Memorial Primary School in Hong Kong came to KIS from the heads of each school and we took a group Seoul Campus. The purpose of this visit was to do a photo. But, before they could leave, they needed to cultural exchange and to learn a little about life in Ko- solve a human knot. What is a human knot? A ‘Hu- rea. They also shared about life and school in Hong man Knot’ is a game where everybody holds hands Kong. All the KIS students were waiting on the field and it can’t be the same person and you can’t hold for the visitors, and each had a partner whom they the person next to you. Then a knot will appear and had to take care of and show around the school. you need to solve it. That was the ticket for the Hong Kong kids to go back, also it was a ticket for KIS Each buddy-team taught what they do in their student to go back to class. It was a great cultural classes. Fifth Graders did a math game rotation exchange for both the students from Hong Kong and with the Hong Kong students. Then, they went to our own Seoul Campus students. Korean class and Chinese class. The Third Graders Aiden & Sean answered the questions that the Hong Kong kids Seoul Elementary Grade 5 Students asked about Korean International School. They also read picture books to the Hong Kong students. The Fourth Graders played a game called ‘Never Have I Ever.’ The game is about getting to know each other. When you start, you have five fingers up, and one player asks a question to other players. For example, someone asked, “Have you ever eaten a dumpling?” Then, the Chinese students had to fold their fingers if they had eaten a dumpling before. The purpose of this game was to learn about each other. After play- ing that game, the Fourth Graders gave a school tour to the Hong Kong students.

After introducing the school and answering ques- tions, KIS students and the students from Hong Kong went to the cafeteria to eat. Everyone got their food and trays and went out to the field to eat. Af-

9 | www.kis.kr PK Community Walk

Exploring the world at an early age teaches young kids to inquire about, and appreciate, the world. Pre- Kindergarten (PK) students and Ms. O. went on a community walk so they could experience the out- door community, and who is in our outdoor commu- nity. At the end, the kids will be able to take all they had learned and use this for their showcase.

PK students went down by the river on Friday morn- ing during their weekly outdoor education lesson. The students were fascinated with walking down near nature, and seeing plants and animals. So, what did they see? They saw birds of many colors, dogs walking about, and ants crawling around on the ground. While butterflies flew in the air, and roots grew in the ground, the plants were sprouting like the students’ minds. When near the river, the children saw many insects, so why not keep one as a class pet? Ms. O. luckily caught a fly and now PK has a pet fly to watch all day long.

Now, PK is incorporating the pieces they have found and using them in their Transdisciplinary Unit Three (TDU3) showcase. They will make habitats out of re- cycled materials, with live plants and stickers for ani- mals. This will be the part of their TDU3 showcase to show their community and that they are also a part of the community. Lauren & Emilee Seoul Elementary Grade 5 Students

Design Your Future | 10 Pangyo CampusHighlights Elementary School KoLAB Korner

During the week of February 13th to 17th, we had Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week at Pangyo El- ementary. You might be wondering what RAK Week is. Well, we’ll tell you what it is all about. Lots of people celebrate RAK Week all over the world. Busi- nessmen, doctors, schools, lots of adults and lots of kids celebrate this very kind week! Whew, kindness really is contagious.

The Student Ambassadors worked hard to make posters to encourage kindness all around Pangyo Elementary! Four colorful posters to encourage kind- ness were hung on the first floor of the Elementary building near the main stairwell. Students and teach- ers put bright-neon sticky notes onto the posters to tell what acts of kindness somebody did for them. All RAK Week, people could stop by the signs to read about all of the acts of kindness happening at school.

Ms. Stella helped the Ambassadors order a balloon arch to help make the hallway look more festive, and boy did it encourage tons of kindness all around school! The Student Ambassadors also helped or- ganize some treats for the Elementary students at KIS to thank them for all the kindness that they spread during the week. Mrs. Rich also helped pur- chase some coffee for the teachers to thank them as well for all the kindness that they spread.

We hope that kindness doesn’t only happen for one week, but for the rest of the year and forever more because kindness should be an everyday thing.

Becca Goess Pangyo Elementary Science Teacher

11 | www.kis.kr Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following students whose Thank you to every student who entered their de- designs were chosen as winners for the Pangyo El- signs. ementary School Library’s Bookmark Design Con- test. This year, Grade Five students were invited to Thank you to all students and staff for taking the time participate in the First Annual contest as a part of the to vote. ‘Reading Around the World’ Celebration. After sub- mitting their work, designs were put on display, al- We hope you enjoy your new lowing all students and staff to vote for their favorite. bookmark! This year, four designs were chosen to be profes- sionally printed and distributed to all KIS Elementary students, staff, and community members to enjoy. Megan Greene Pangyo Elementary Library

Design Your Future | 12 Fifth Graders Adopt Book Talk Café The students of 5B have completed numerous book Over cups of hot cocoa, bowls of chips, and some projects this year, though the most recent was the chocolate chip cookies, the students of 5B demon- most favorite. Taking inspiration from KIS Middle strated their growth in summarizing and analyzing School and High School teachers, Ms. Ramsey and texts this year. The casual conversation was light and Ms. O’Dell respectively, the Fifth Graders hosted fun, but at the same time intellectual. Students were teacher and administrative guests last week to share proud of their first café experience, and are looking in literature discussion. forward to another event. We hope to have more visitors for our next Book Talk Café in May, when Students chose a realistic fiction novel and shared we read and discuss historical fiction novels and the short summaries, read snippets of their favorite sec- true events which inspired them. tions, and helped classmates learn about new books that they might enjoy themselves. In addition, stu- dents created character masks that were designed to show protagonists’ emotions, traits, and internal conflicts. Student masks and summaries are- cur David Archer rently on display on the bulletin board outside the Pangyo Elementary Elementary library. Grade 5 Teacher

13 | www.kis.kr Second Grade ​This trimester, Second Graders are practicing the art sprouts already, and I think the growth is because of of writing lab reports. Although lab reports may seem the greenhouse cover I made for my experiment. It dense and dull, our Second Graders are finding the kept all the moisture in. You can even see the con- joy in using research, experimentation, and obser- densation!” vation to answer important scientific questions. In fact, Second Graders at Korea International School Nicole (G2) discusses what she would like to change, Pangyo are gleefully getting their hands dirty in the “My procedure didn’t work very name of science! well. I followed a video’s advice for planting pepper seeds, and it didn’t In 2D, our young scientists are researching a ques- work. Next time, I will use soil, and tion they are extremely interested in: “Can we grow I will use a cover like Andrew’s to a pepper plant from the seeds found in Ms. Norton’s make a greenhouse.” Leann Norton pepper that she eats for a snack?” Once the students Pangyo Elementary agreed upon the question, they began researching. Grade 2 Teacher Student read articles, watched short videos, and even emailed experts to learn more about the pro- cess of growing a pepper plant. Using this informa- tion, students created a procedural plan for growing pepper plants. They followed their plans, and they’re now patiently awaiting the fruits of their labor.

Understanding the scientific process allows stu- dents to think creatively and reason critically, which is a core value at Korea International School. In this unit, students are applying knowledge to a real world situation, and they’re observing the results. As the students reflect upon this unit, they are celebrating their successes, fixing up misunderstandings, and asking additional questions. This process allows stu- dents to circle back to our original question: “Can we grow pepper plants from Ms. Norton’s snack pep- per?” With a little more time, water, and sunshine, we will have our answer!

Andrew (G2) reflected upon his success, “I have two

Design Your Future | 14 KoLAB The end of the year is upon us, and Elementary In Fifth Grade, students have been exploring the School students are finishing their final transdisci- concepts of gravity in Science and Design. They are plinary units! The KoLAB classrooms have been a building a safe landing system for a Mars Rover in busy place, and our halls are again being filled with Design class; and exploring the relationship between amazing student projects. mass, weight, and gravity in Science. They will im- plement these skills, in addition to many other ex- In Kindergarten, while learning about the needs of ploration techniques, next month during their final- plants and animals, as well as the interrelationships project culmination day: “Are You the Next Martian?” that exist between them, students have created planters into which they have sown seeds that have Stay tuned for our last KoLAB Korner that will high- germinated. This has been a study in both control- light the final design projects in the Elementary ling excitement and patience. Plants, so we have School! experienced, do not always do what we want them to (ie. survive) and so we have done an awful lot of troubleshooting.

In First Grade, students have designed a tool that uses sound to communicate. They have been study- Elizabeth DiRenzo Gene MacLachlan ing light and sound in Science class, and how com- Pangyo Elementary Pangyo Elementary munication has evolved in Social Studies. Their com- Science Teacher Science Teacher municated devices have been tested and refined so that their messages are received loud and clear!

Second Grade, similarly to Kindergarten, has been learning about plants; specifically about pollination and seed dispersal. Armed with their understanding of how these two processes work, each student is in the stage of designing and building a game or toy inspired by these processes; while concurrently tak- ing into consideration the desires of their target audi- ences (Grade One and Kindergarten students).

In Third Grade, our students have been learning about animal survival and the impact of environmen- tal problems. They selected an endangered species, and then worked on designing an ideal habitat for its survival. They are becoming quite the environmen- tal advocates, and are using their research to design strong arguments against various environmental problems to help their animals survive.

Fourth Grade is now well into their final unit that looks at structures of plants and animals, and how they help them to survive. The unit will culminate with stu- dents making connections between the structures of animals and the servos and sensors found on a ro- bot. They will build a robot and program it, in order to fulfil their orders as secret agents on a recovery mission.

15 | www.kis.kr Around The World In 80 Minutes! The KIS Conference Hall was transformed into The Little League of Nations as Pangyo Elementary held its third annual International Day on Friday, April 28th. The cultures of six continents all blended together to create a delightfully crazy cacophony of sight, sound, and delicious smells!

Students and parents alike had a wonderful time getting their “passports” stamped from a record 19 coun- tries as they played traditional games, learned fun facts, and ate delicious food. Kids got “VeggiMite Face” in Australia. They shot the puck past the five hole in Canada, and they posed as ninjas in Japan. They de- voured samosas in India, and they lived (if only for a moment) like Pharaohs in Egypt. Each new thing they touched, tasted, or tried connected our students to people and places all over the globe. And, they never had to hassle with customs, baggage claims, or airline food! “A journey, “ said Outside Magazine founder Tim Cahil, “is best measured in friends rather than miles.” Could there be a better summary of the time we had?! Travis Peterson Pangyo Elementary Associate Principal

Design Your Future | 16 ECE Music Concert

“Hello, hello, hello my friends. Hello my friends, hello. Students proudly bid their parents farewell, using It is so nice to see you again. Hello my friends, hello.” the same tune as that which began the concert, but changing the words to say, “Goodbye, so long, fare- Sung in a melodic unison, these words were the first well, my friends. Goodbye, so long, farewell. We’ll words heard from our sweet Early Childhood Educa- see you soon, again, my friends. Goodbye, so long, tion (ECE) students during their 2017 spring concert. farewell.” Judging by the big smiles Tuesday, April 25th was a big day for the Pangyo and happy voices, these students Campus ECE Students as they debuted their musi- are just as excited for their next mu- cal review, “A Year in the Life of a Young Musician,” sical performance on the stage! on stage in the conference hall. For many students, Lindsey Cayer this was their first musical performance at KIS, and Pangyo Elementary the excitement in the room could easily be seen and Music Teacher felt from both parents and student performers.

Students sang, danced, played instruments, and spoke into the microphone to help spectators un- derstand what early childhood music means and what types of things we learn throughout a year. Students helped show parents our comparatives: high/low, loud/soft, and fast/slow, as well as making sure everyone knew all about the four different types of voices we use throughout the day. (Quiz Time: The four voices are called: singing voice, speaking voice, whisper voice, and shouting voice.) We con- tinued to teach parents about what it means to keep a steady beat by performing both on our bodies and on pitched and unpitched instruments. Students did a great job of learning 14 different songs and speech activities to impress their parents. It took a lot of hard work and concentration, but the day was quite the success!

17 | www.kis.kr Science Writer’s Workshop: Erin Twamley

Pangyo Elementary students in Grades Four and Five had the unique opportunity of working closely with author Erin Twamley during a recent Writing Les- son. Erin Twamley, a former Department of Energy employee, has co-authored two books with Joshua Sneideman, including Renewable Energy: Discover the Fuel of the Future With 20 Projects (Build It Your- self), and Climate Change: Discover How It Impacts Spaceship Earth (Build It Yourself).

During her lesson, Discovering Text Features: Bring- ing Facts to Life!, Erin shared her personal experi- ences as an author and how she advances through the writing process with her own work. Erin also taught students about different types of text features as well as analyzing the purpose for each text fea- ture. Students were immediately able to apply their learning and put their new knowledge to use as they worked to add text features of their own into their current writing pieces for the informational writing topics they are studying.

We look forward to working more with Erin into next school year as she becomes an expert for our Trimester Two Sci- ence and Design units in Grades Four and Five. Until then, be sure to stop by the Elementary Library to check out Erin’s books! Megan Greene Pangyo Elementary Library

Design Your Future | 18 Pangyo CampusHighlights Middle School Using Social Media And Apps To Explore Math

What do social injustice, Angry Birds, and Instagram find the best flight path of the birds that would al- all have in common? They are all tools being used in low them to capture the pigs and retrieve the eggs. Eighth Grade to teach mathematical concepts and They created posters showing the flight path of the awareness. birds, by finding the highest point the birds would reach and the distance travelled. Once they created March was Women’s History Month, and as students their posters, students acted-out scenarios showing discussed social injustice in their English classes, how they found their information and if they got their we decided to bring those discussions into the Math eggs back in a creative way. classrooms. Students examined how throughout history women have made substantial contributions Math Eight students also used Instagram to highlight to the mathematical world, and yet, they have often famous mathematicians, this time to bring Pythago- been overlooked. To help right this wrong, students ras back to life. Students pretended that they were picked famous female mathematicians, and then Pythagoras, and created an account that would created their own Instagram accounts highlighting showcase his work in the mathematical field. They their contributions to mathematics. posted notes about the Pythago- rean Theorem and other things that In Algebra, after learning all about quadratics, what might have caught his eye. The pro- better way to see who has mastered the concepts ject allowed students to see that than by launching angry birds at devilish pigs?! An- the theorem can be highlighted in gry Birds is a popular game where players catapult so many different places outside of Kelly Dunn birds into the air at pigs who have stolen their eggs. the classroom. Middle School Math Teacher Students used their understanding of quadratics to

19 | www.kis.kr Unmotivated? As we quickly approach the middle of the last quar- of the school year. Take short breaks between work/ ter of the 2016/2017 school year, students often projects to help remain focused. You should do fre- become restless or less-motivated than they once quent check-ins (with open ended questions), so were. This can be due to a number of reasons (look- your child knows what is expected, when it is ex- ing forward to summer break or just tired of the “eve- pected, and is held accountable when you follow-up. ryday” routine, etc.) This should be matched with continued encouragement and support. And last, but certainly not least, allow your child some “down time” when they can simply have some You, the student’s biggest cheerleader, can help your fun (this may vary from child to child as one may child finish off the year highly motivated and encour- want to read while another may want aged by helping them see ‘the tree’ instead of the to listen to music or watch televi- overwhelming forrest. Meaning, help him/her break sion or play games outside with their down tasks into smaller manageable pieces. friends). Don’t forget to ask “What motivates you?” Have him/her set up SMART (Specific, Measurable, Dr. Elethia Rhoden Achievable, Realistic and Timed) goals that outline Middle School Counselor areas that should be worked on for the remainder

Students Run For Global Citizenship! On May 22nd and 23rd, the Middle School Parent ner and fundraiser will get to visit Teacher Organization and Physical Education De- the new Sports Monster at Starfield partment will co-host the 5th annual Fun Run! Park! Stay tuned for more info com- ing in the next few weeks! The Fun Run will take place during each student’s Alyson Kelley PE block. Students have the opportunity to raise Middle School money two different ways: they can ask for a lump PE Teacher sum donation (where the money is donated all at once) or they can receive a per lap donation (Exam- ple: If it is 1000krw for one lap, and the student runs 30 laps, then they raised 30,000krw from that donor). All money raised will be dispersed to several chari- ties that KIS works closely with, such as: Nyaka Aids Orphan Project, Luang Prabang Orphanage in Laos, and the local Suwon Orphanage. In addition, our MS StuCo will be given 500,000krw, and they will get to choose a charity of their choice to donate too! The Fun Run does a great job of teaching our students about what philanthropy is!

This year, for the Fun Run, we will be bringing back all the fun activities, prizes AND more!!! Students can expect to see the giant bouncy house, the slip n’ slide, and all participants receive a Fun Run wrist- band! In addition to last year’s prizes of cookies, ic- ing teachers, and pie-ing teachers in the face, we have added a new prize! The top grade-level run-

Design Your Future | 20 Greenhouse Update The greenhouse has come alive with students over the KIS Pangyo campus. Sustainability students will the last couple of weeks. We have a crop full of herbs soon begin coordinating with the Design classes to growing in the horizontal system thanks to our Sev- create lighting and water systems to enhance the enth Grade students. The herbs look and smell fan- growing of the vegetables and herbs. The Sustain- tastic! ability students are proposing a greenhouse outside of a greenhouse, where they will plant vegetables We have had Kindergarten A (KA) and Kindergarten and herbs in every available space at KIS, such as B (KB) come for a tour. The KA and KB classes came classrooms, the sky-bridges, and the walls. We will to learn more about what plants require in order to start in the Middle School buildings, and we are look- grow and thrive. The Kindergarten students had a ing for people from the KIS commu- relay race where they had to place all of the parts nity to help us. If you are interested of a plant and all the of the things a plant needs to in helping make KIS become more live on a poster to create a model. Inside the green- sustainable with the CAA initiative, house, the KA and KB students were able to see please email Hannah Hopkin at how the aquaponic and hydroponic systems work [email protected]. Hannah Hopkin Middle School and the differences between them. KA and KB stu- Science Teacher dents also had the opportunity to germinate seeds. They were able to choose between lettuce, spinach, and beans. The seeds have started to germinate and will be ready to move to one of our aquaponic sys- tems soon.

I am happy to announce that three of our Middle School Sustainability class teams were awarded 100,000 won grants from the Middle School Parent Teacher Organization (MS-PTO) towards their pro- jects of creating a more sustainable Korea Interna- tional School (KIS). The Sustainability students’ goal is to build more spaces to grow vegetables and herbs on the KIS campus, involve the community, and also incorporate service learning into this endeavor. Sus- tainability students are asking if our community, stu- dents, parents, faculty, and staff would be interested in sponsoring Community Assisted Agriculture (CAA). CAA is when the whole community contributes what is needed to create a garden, and everyone benefits. Members of the community can contribute anything that is needed, such as seeds, materials like wood, lighting, time, money, knowledge, etc. Each mem- ber of the community that contributes to the gardens will receive a share of the produce grown. The Sus- tainability class will also be working towards making charitable donations of the vegetables they grow to people of the Bundang community that need help providing healthy food for their families.

As part of the CAA initiative the Sustainability stu- dents are designing vertical, hanging, and spheri- cal gardens that will hopefully be set up all around

21 | www.kis.kr Bula! ...Fiji Trip, 2017 This past spring break, 12 Grade Six and Seven boys in a hotel. Experiential Education is dependant on and girls, along with Ms. Stephanie Abel and Prof. the richness of these experiences. Fiji was an experi- Eric Nelson, left Seoul, South Korea for a six-day ence of a lifetime. journey to the southern hemisphere island nation of Fiji. Fiji is a unique island in that most of the nation’s One week after we arrived, we woke up early on population is Melanesian genetically, but Polynesian our final Saturday morning. We said goodbye to our culturally. In the last 100 years, Fijians have become hosts, boarded our plane to Hong Kong, made it more diverse by absorbing a large Indian population, through Hong Kong in record setting time, caught along with a growing mix of New Zealanders and our flight to Seoul, and arrived back home late Satur- Chinese. Representatives of Rustic Pathways, along day night. We were grateful to be home (some were with Fijian locals, welcomed KIS with open arms af- even more grateful to have wifi again), but the warm ter a long flight that included a layover in Hong Kong. memories of Fiji will stay with us for a lifetime. Bula!

Wasting no time, we hit base camp, got oriented, switched into bathing suits, and spent our first few hours on a Fijian beach. A hearty meal and a kava welcoming ceremony rounded out our first day in Fiji. We woke the next day to tropical sunshine and an Stephanie Abel Eric Nelson exploration of a mangrove mudflat at low tide. After Middle School Middle School only the slightest of hesitations, the students began Science Teacher Science Teacher to shed their big-city sensibilities and literally began to dig in. Smelling the mud, picking up crabs, and allowing starfish to be placed onto their bare skins, our students explored a part of their world in ways they would never have imagined just two days after leaving home.

The rest of the week was devoted to a range of ac- tivities. Our students worked and played with Fijian students their same age, while also getting to see and compare the resources and facilities KIS sup- plies as compared to what the Fijian students have. Our Middle School students got to “give back” to the community by spending part of a day helping build a new dining and meeting hall for a school near our base camp. Additionally, we spent part of another day cooking and serving meals to disadvantaged women at Hope House. We also went kayaking in a mangrove estuary, and were able to experience snorkeling on a tropical reef. An additional highlight of the week was a chance to visit the thermal mud baths of Fiji.

There were also some challenges to overcome. The tropical sun brought with it a few small cases of sun- burn. The tropical heat brought bugs. New food, new experiences, and being away from home gave our students a chance to grow and learn things they never would have had if they’d stayed at home, or

Design Your Future | 22 Grade Eight Terrific Thai Trip During the last week of March, 63 Grade Eight stu- great dance show too. On Friday, we took a city tour dents enjoyed their international Experiential Edu- of Udon Thani, had dinner on Base, then headed to cation trip to Thailand with four KIS Middle School the airport for an overnight flight back to Incheon. faculty: Mr. Jacobsen, Mr. Mijares, Dr. Rhoden, and We arrived back at KIS on Saturday morning, March me too. We stayed at the beautiful Rustic Pathways 31st. Ricefields Base just outside the city of Udon Thani (which is close to the Laos border, south of Vienti- As Mr. Jacobsen’s recent video of the trip shows, ane). I knew that the sunsets and Thai food would we had a great time in a beautiful country with very be worth the trip, but there was so much more that friendly and caring people. We en- made every day great. courage Grade Eight students to go next school year too. Leaving KIS early on Saturday morning, March 26th, we arrived at the Ricefields Base in time for a late Graham Willard dinner—after our first seong taew trip. A seong taew KIS is a two-bench design on a pickup truck, and we Utility Teacher would travel this way to each daily activity (with the students djing their favorite songs). For the next four days, we engaged in seven service learning and cul- tural experiences:

1) Welcome Homes: We helped build the walls of a new home for a local family, learning how to make and apply cement. 2) Fish Farms: We toured an active fish farm, and then helped make a new fish farm for a local family. 3) Hands In The Dirt: We helped plant long rows of seeds for an elderly, local family. 4) Meals On Flip Flops: We bought food at an open- air food market, made Thai dishes, and distributed the meals to neighboring families in-need. 5) Bobbing And Floating: We taught swimming les- sons to local Thai kids, in the beautiful pool on the Ricefields Base. 6) Muay Thai: We learned and practiced Thai kick- boxing with legendary teachers. 7) Buddhist Life: We visited a temple, learned about Thai Buddhism, and helped on the grounds.

In the evenings, we also had other activities. Sunday night, we learned about Thai cooking, Thai dancing, Burmese culture, and Thai culture. On Monday and Tuesday, we split into two groups and either went for a massage and a smoothie, or to bowling. On Wednesday, we all went to a large night market to- gether.

On Thursday, we travelled north to the Mekong River for a river-side lunch (after visiting a silk market and temple). That night, back on Base, we watched a

23 | www.kis.kr Parents Beware Parents Beware: KIS Middle School students are se- changed their expectations on how an argument riously persuasive! Whether writing to convince their should be drawn up. target audience that they should travel internation- ally at least once in their life, or penning an argument So parents, if you hear your student say, “Listen for why their family should get its first dog, students Mom and Dad, we should go to the Maldives for have developed a strong ability to harness the power summer vacation for the following of ethos, pathos and logos to sway their audience to three reasons…” proceed slowly into their side. that conversation, or you might find yourself at an overwater villa soaking During the MagnaVende product pitch, students up the sun! Nate Samuelson demonstrated their knowledge of propaganda tech- Middle School niques like weasel words and the bandwagon ef- English Teacher fect to encourage investors to invest in their new product. Prototypes, logos, and slogans were all tools that these young innovators used to increase the “cool factor” of their new inventions. In the end, many stubborn investors were separated from their hard-earned money.

In a final demonstration of their ability to formulate and deliver a concise argument, students engaged in a few different debates. After arguing about saving the pandas, colonizing Mars, and the age at which adulthood should begin, it is clear that students have

Design Your Future | 24 Pangyo CampusHighlights High School KIS Choirs Continue Tradition: Top Awards At KIMEA/KAIAC Festival

KIS’s auditioned choirs represented the school well The judges mentioned that the choir sang with excel- at the KIMEA/KAIAC Large Group Choral Festival at lent choral tone and diction, and especially compli- Seoul American High School on Tuesday, March 21st. mented the choir on their expressiveness. One of the Middle School Blue Harmony, High School Phoenix judges said he put his pen down and stopped writing Chamber Singers, and High School Nightingales A commentary, just so he could enjoy watching and lis- Cappella Vocal Jazz, all won the highest ratings given tening to the performance. in the Middle School and High School divisions. And the Nightingales Jazz group finished out a great For the fifth year in a row, Blue Harmony was award- day for KIS choirs with a platinum rating in their first ed a gold rating, the highest rating any middle school time ever attending this festival. They sang “Autumn choir has ever won at this festival. They performed Leaves” (solos by Stacy and James, arranged by Martin’s “Come To The Music”, Mozart’s “Due Pupille O’Connell and Brown); “A Nightingale Sang in Berk- Amabili”, and Schram’s “Kyrie” (based on Dvorak’s ley Square” (arranged by Puerling); and “Walkin’ My ninth symphony largo movement). Michelle and Baby Back Home” (solos by Justin and Christy, ar- Audrey (G8), and Claire (G7), sang solos in “Kyrie.” ranged by Buchholz). The judges complimented the Sejoon (G8) accompanied the choirs on piano. group on their expressive singing, particularly in the last song, and on their ability to maintain difficult jazz The judges were particularly complimentary of the harmonies and chord progressions. Only three high choir’s dynamic contrasts and their maturity of cho- school choirs received a platinum rating at this year’s ral tone. Only one other Middle School choir was festival, and two of them were from KIS. awarded a gold rating. Blue Harmony is the only Mid- dle School choir that has been awarded gold for five Congratulations to all members of these KIS choirs consecutive years. who excelled not only at the craft of music, but also at the artistry of And for the fourth year in a row, Chamber Singers it, and in leading KIS to such great was awarded a platinum rating, the highest rat- success. ing category possible. In 2013, Chamber Singers was one of only two choirs to receive a gold rating Jack Brown at the festival. In 2014, Chamber Singers and the Middle & High School Choir Director Seoul Foreign School high school choir became the first choirs in Korea ever to receive an until-then un- achieved platinum rating. Now, KIS Chamber Singers is the only group ever to achieve this highest rating for four consecutive years. They performed Daw- son’s “Ain’t That Good News”, McKennitt’s “Tango To Evora” (arranged by Washburn), Mozart’s “Lacry- mosa”, and Sirett’s “Barter.” Tahee sang a solo on “Tango”, Christy played piano on “Lacrymosa”, and Selena played piano on “Barter,” while a KIS string quartet also accompanied.

25 | www.kis.kr Spring Means Growing New Secondary Library Programs Spring has finally arrived, and with it comes big im- Since the opening of the new section, the Secondary provements in the KIS Secondary Library. If you’ve Librarians have also hosted a library orientation for stopped by recently, you might have noticed our new rising Sixth Graders from the KIS Elementary School. Fantasy/Science Fiction department with over 1,500 Using the inspiration found in the Chris Grabenstein’s fantastic reads now available for checkout. The new novel “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library,” Ms. section makes it much easier for library patrons to Green and Ms. Chong prepared a scavenger hunt select books, and many students are already read- for teams of Fifth Graders to complete. The students ing more from this popular genre. Please come see may think they are just playing a game, but in actual- the new section and the beautiful decorations during ity they are already learning how to use the features your next trip to KIS. and tools found in the Secondary Library. Acquir- ing these skills now will help students as they make On Friday, April 21st, the Secondary Library along that important transition from elementary to middle with the Middle School Parent-Teacher Organiza- school. tion hosted a Fantastic Party complete with a cos- tume contest, a Harry Potter photo booth, delicious As we approach the end of the 2016-17 school year, snacks, new book displays, fantasy movies and mu- it is important to return all borrowed library materi- sical accompaniment from Dr. Mi Hye Kang’s string als. The deadline for returning materials or paying students. At this party, Dr. David Lovelin honored for lost/damaged items is Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017. four winners from our KIS March Madness Reading If you need help with your library account, please feel Incentive: free to stop by the Secondary Library on Mondays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. or Tues- • Heewon (Grade 8) - First Place March Madness day through Friday from 7:30 a.m. Top Reader to 5:00 p.m. • Roori (Grade 8) - March Madness Honor Reader • Kelly Dunn - March Madness Top Reader (Fac- ulty) Kristi Green Middle & High School • Hannah Hopkin - March Madness Honor Read- Library er (Faculty)

Design Your Future | 26 Cambodia EE Trip Over Spring Break, I went to Cambodia with eight He was only nine, but he could plant one tree per other students through the Rustic Pathways’ pro- second and do it for hours on end. On the last night gram. I never thought that the trip would be so full of of the trip, our group gave every kid at the school and experiences. There was almost no hype for this trip, village a sandwich with some drinks, followed by a but it ended up being one of the best trips I have ever huge dance party. Brom went on the stage and broke been on. out these crazy dance moves; he and Jared had a dance off for an hour. Rustic Pathways did a great job of mixing fun and work, and building purpose for us as volunteers in a Finally, the kids, the trees, the history, and the fun country that has seen so much violence in its recent times shared by everyone who went, all made Cam- history. Before the volunteering began, the guides bodia a very memorable trip, giving me way more ex- took us to S21 Prison and the Killing Fields--definite- periences than I had anticipated. ly the saddest part of the trip--to educate us about Gabe these atrocities, and making clear how much help is Grade 9 Student still needed in parts of the country.

After this experience, we drove north of Phnom Penh and were introduced to the Buddhism for Social De- velopment Action (BSDA), a community service or- ganization run by Buddhist monks which helps local kids. Here, our true work began. Over the next couple of days, we finished a project for planting lime trees in a field by the BSDA: a project that will give the surrounding village food and items to sell. As a non- profit organization that runs on donations, the BSDA is hoping to build a sustainable source of income for its local projects.

After the work was done, the fun began. The BSDA houses a small orphanage, and runs a small school program for the village children. We got to play with kids, teaching them short words and phrases in Eng- lish and learning from them as well. For me, both of the these experiences--planting the trees and play- ing with the kids--were equally valuable. Planting the trees was really cool, because every tree I planted was helping this community grow, and it just made me feel good that I was doing something useful for them. Playing with the kids was just awesome, be- cause the kids’ faces would light up with curiosity, and they were so much fun. There was a kid named Kai who was the world’s fastest pattycake player ever, and his face would break into a big smile every time we played.

I have to make special mention about one of the coolest kids I have ever met, Brom. A village kid, he would always come out and work with us and enter- tain us with his goofiness. Every time we arrived at the village, he would come running up to greet us.

27 | www.kis.kr ¡Buen provecho! a la Feria de Tapas Middle and High School Spanish Two students treat- ed fellow Spanish students and Spanish-speaking staff to a treat on a spring Monday, when they hosted a Tapas Fair. After studying traditional tapas (a unique, culinary tradition in which small bite-sized portions of food are served individually in Tapas restaurants throughout Spain) students were charged with the challenge of creating their own one-of-a-kind Fusion Tapa, blending traditional Spanish and Korean ingre- dients to make a brand-new dish.

Students explored menús by the well-known fusion chef, José Andrés, and experimented with various traditional ingredients in order to develop their own recipes. At the fair, students displayed their writ- ten recipes, and explained how they prepared their dishes in Spanish to their guests. Taste-testing was a favorite pastime at the fair, as well as learning about how the new tapas represented both Spanish and Korean gastronomies. A former chef, George Boh- cali, was invited to judge each tapa on its taste, pres- entation, and creative design. Awards were also pre- sented later on in the week.

On behalf of Señora Bohcali, Señora Sellars, and my- self, we want to thank all of the parents and staff for their support of this event, and the students for all their hard work and preparation. We appreciate all you did to make this event a success!

Annie Yousey High School Spanish Teacher

Design Your Future | 28 KIS Mock Trial

“Objection, your Honor!”

Instantly, the court hushes in anticipation, as a wild tension radiates from the two attorneys: each facing the judge with a surreal calm.

“May I be heard, your Honor?”

Over the recent years, KIS Mock Trial has grown to become a concrete establishment among the KIS public speaking clubs. From witness accent-battles to real world case studies, Buzzfeed Unsolved, and ethics debates, Mock Trial provides an array of activities to learn about related fields and prepare for competitions.

Most recently, on Saturday, April 8th, KIS hosted the first Korea Interscholastic Invitational Mock Trial Tour- nament (KISMT). Three international schools, YISS, SIS, and KIS, all came together for a full day of intense rounds. Teary-eyed witnesses mesmerized the court with their realistic acting skills; while the attorneys battled through objections, unresponsive witnesses, and spontaneous speeches. At the end of the day, SIS and YISS respectively took 1st and 2nd, with KIS following up in 3rd place. Staying true to our core values in growth and progress, our student officers collaborated with three amazing judges--Ms. Ramsey, Mr. Smea- ton, and Ms. Celestin--to provide pages of feedback for each of the participants.

KISMT marks a new step towards establishing a firm interscholastic Mock Trial cooperation, and we hope to see more exchanges in the coming years! None of this would’ve been possible without our amazing ad- visors, Ms. Celestin and Ms. LaRue, our incredible veteran volunteers, and our dedicated student officers: Sally, Suahn, Ricky, Hope, and me.

As many schools voiced, “KISMT was the best interscholastic tournament yet.”

“Your Honor, this is hearsay as it is being offered to prove the truth of the matter!” Yu-Jeong Grade 12 Student

29 | www.kis.kr Australia EE Trip Over spring break, 12 KIS students and two chaper- one involved. We saw a beautiful small corner of the ones traveled to Australia to participate in a program world, and we were able to have special experiences designed for us by the Rustic Pathways team. We and memories that will last us all for a lifetime. had the opportunity to explore the wonderful city of Brisbane and the beautiful surrounding countryside in Queensland.

The journey began with a beautiful day in Brisbane. The majority of the group went on a bike ride along Kent Reschke Lauren Cuellar the shoreline of the city, while the other crew went High School High School on a walking tour of a museum and through the city. Social Studies Teacher Theatre Teacher We explored the gardens, shopping area, and central park over the course of the day. We left in the after- noon to head into the outback for two nights on the farm. Upon arrival, we were greeted by our gracious host, Richard, and a number of his animals. The KIS team spent the next two nights sleeping in the open air underneath the stars. While at the farm, we had practice with training horses, played with a pet snake, learned how to crack a whip, throw a lasso, throw a boomerang, play a didgeridoo, try out our archery skills, and had countless hours playing fetch with the best dog in the world, named Wally. Need- less to say, we had an eventful few days in the out- back of Australia.

Following the farm, we had the unique experience of trying to avoid the cyclone that was coming through Queensland. The eye of the storm was far away from us, but we had steady rainfall and winds for the next few days. The students made the best out of the rain and the power going out at our base-camp house. During the rain, we enjoyed going bowling and hav- ing a spontaneous talent show that turned into a dance party by the end of the night.

When the storm had passed, we were welcomed by a few days of ideal weather that we took full advantage of. One of our first stops was the Australia Zoo that was founded by The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. The students also had the chance to do a few service learning activities with Grade Five and Six students at a local school. No Australia trip would be complete without a trip to the beach. All of us enjoyed playing on the beach and in the water before heading into town on our last night for a nice dinner. On our last day, we visited one of the largest markets in Queens- land to fit in some last-minute souvenir shopping.

Australia was a memorable experience for every-

Design Your Future | 30 Choirs Prepare For May 10th Pops Concert

They’ve brought gold and platinum awards back to only occasional assistance or suggestions from Mr. KIS for their outstanding performances of more seri- Brown. It is the ultimate in student-centered and ous choral repertoire. They’ve traveled the world to student-directed learning, with the students having perform in honor choirs that sing a variety of multi- acquired the necessary skills for this through all of cultural repertoire. And now, for the final concert of the months of of learning and performing standard the school year, KIS choirs are preparing their pop repertoire during the first three quarters of the school music repertoire. This concert, usually one of the year. There are many students who assume leader- most-attended concerts of the year, will take place ship roles during this time of year, but chief among on Wednesday, May 10th, from approximately 5:30- them this year are seniors Stacy, Daniel, and Christy, 7:00 p.m., in the KIS PAC. with great assistance from Justin, Sara, Selena, Se- Bin, Danny, and Sooji. At the other three concerts presented throughout the year, students perform music chosen and taught by Mr. Brown will also present award- Mr. Brown, KIS Choir Director. Mr. Brown chooses certificates at the concert for the the music based on learning goals and objectives top students in each choir. as well as performance variety. But, at the final con- Jack Brown cert, it is the students in the performing groups who Middle & High School choose the songs. The movie “La La Land” is a pop- Choir Director ular source this year, with High School Concert Choir selecting “City of Stars” and Middle School Blue Harmony choosing “Another Day of Sun”. Adele’s music will be featured by both Blue Harmony (“Sky- fall”) and Middle School Girls Choir (“Rolling in the Deep”). There will also be repeats of student choices from previous concerts, with “Just the Way You Are” (Pitch Perfect version), “Lucky” (Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillat), and “Counting Stars” (OneRepublic) having been selected by this year’s choirs, as well as other choirs from previous May concerts.

Much of the music at the May concert is also ar- ranged by students, or by Mr. Brown collaborating with students. The Middle School Girls Choir and Boys Choir both helped make decisions regarding harmony, rhythm, and solos in their songs. Blue Har- mony and Concert Choir went even further, with stu- dents creating harmonies, solos, duets, and improvi- sations independent of Mr. Brown.

High School Chamber Singers, the top auditioned vocal group at KIS, takes this concept to the maxi- mum every year. They split into three groups to put together the A Cappella Project. The students in the three groups not only choose all songs; they also ar- range all melodies, harmonies, rhythms, solos, and beatboxing — all without any instrumental accom- paniment. Student leaders in the groups work on the arrangements outside of class time, then teach the arrangements during Chamber Singers class with

31 | www.kis.kr KIS Athletics Girls Varsity Soccer: 2016-2017

As the soccer season of 2016-2017 comes to an end, role model to the underclassmen during games. Also, the Girls Varsity Soccer team has achieved numer- her passes have developed and are very strong and ous accomplishments, and successfully completed helpful in game situations. games and tournaments over the last few months. The soccer season is nearing an end, with only one The captains of this year’s Girls Varsity Soccer team game left, which is versus Gyeonggi Suwon Interna- are Michelle (Grade 11), Hannah (Grade 11), and tional School (GSIS), who beat the Girls Varsity Soc- Christine (Grade 12). With the help and guidance of cer team during our last match, causing our winning these three captains, the team is even better than streak to come to an end. Because of this, the team ever, pulling out win after win. One of the many signif- is much more eager to beat GSIS. Also coming up icant accomplishments this season was winning the soon, is the Korean-American Interscholastic Activi- Association of International Schools in Asia (AISA) ties Conference (KAIAC) competition at Chadwick In- tournament, coming in first place overall. ternational School. Our coaches and staff members of Korea International School, are very excited and However, more importantly than winning, our soccer they strongly support our Girls Varsity Soccer Team! players have improved and developed their soccer Your presence as teachers, students, and parents is playing skills throughout the season. The freshman greatly appreciated when you come out to support especially have gained soccer skills and more impor- both the Girls and Boys Varsity Soccer teams. We tantly, confidence, which they were lacking at in the hope to pull out another win for KIS during KAIAC, beginning of the season. Jasmin (Grade Nine), for ex- ending our season on a high note! ample, started off the season with little confidence, Sydney & Min and was shy when calling for the ball during a game; Grade 11 & 10 Students however, as the season has progressed, her new- found confidence has shined through on the field, with her scoring numerous goals and even assisting goals. In addition, Tahee (Grade Nine) has also im- proved her skills, including being verbal at all times and calling for the ball when she is open. She built on her ability to take the ball away from the oppos- ing team. Not only did the Girls Varsity Soccer team score many goals each game, they also were able to block and prevent the opposing team from scoring with the help of Christine (Grade 12), this year’s goal- ie. Christine has successfully blocked dozens upon dozens of shots, helping the team with their victories. She blocked one goal during the shootout versus Yo- kohama this one spring Saturday at AISA, allowing the Girls Varsity Soccer team to pull out yet another win. As a senior, Christine is extremely grateful for winning AISA one last time before her graduation, and same goes for Juliet (Grade 12). Juliet has been on the team since her sophomore year here at KIS, and has made astounding progress each and every year, this year, being her final season, was her best so far. Juliet has been a team player this year, being a

Design Your Future | 32 KIS Pride In celebration of the quickly-approaching Teacher’s Day (Monday, May 15th) and the annual KIS awards cer- emony, Minji (Grade 11) and Skyler (Grade 11) decided to interview Mr. Joo. He is a High School Chemistry teacher at KIS, and the recipient of last year’s Teacher of Distinction award, which was voted on by students. Since he teaches regular Chemistry, he usually teaches the KIS Sophomores, who call his class “Joochem.” In his classes, he has traditions such as Joopardy: a class game of jeopardy that includes random chemistry- related questions; paint ball outings; and, of course, Jootention, which are punishments for students who didn’t pay attention in class or didn’t turn-in their homework, such as cleaning cabinets or making solutions for the next lab. Outside of class, he involves himself in various activities such as coaching the boy’s Varsity Volleyball Team, and leading trips for Habitat for Humanity. Overall, Mr. Joo is a great teacher whom many Freshmen look forward to having, and many Juniors miss.

Jeong Joo: KIS HS Chemistry teacher

PF: How long have you been at KIS? JJ: I’ve been here since 2006.

PF: What did you do before coming to KIS? JJ: I taught chemistry in Irvine and Tustin, California for seven years at Beckman High School. I also worked in Osaka for a year, teaching English.

PF: What’s the best part of your job? JJ: My favorite part is that I can improve on the previous year whenever we’re starting a new one. I also like that there’s always a feeling of starting new. Furthermore, it’s great to get to know 100 new students each year.

PF: What’s the most challenging part of your job? JJ: The most challenging part is that it always feels like I’m playing catch-up with my job. For example, as soon as I’m done with one task, there are always a dozen more things to do lined up. There are moments when it feels like it’s a never-ending cycle.

PF: How did it feel when you won the Teacher of Distinction award last year? JJ: I felt like it was nice to know that my efforts were appreciated. I think what made it especial- ly meaningful was that it was the students who selected me.

Minji & Skyler Grade 11 Students

33 | www.kis.kr KIS Pride Greeting students and teachers with warm smiles and “hi’s,” High School secretaries play a major role in facilitating students’ learning and faculty support.

Transitioning from the Business Office to the High School Office two weeks ago, Esther Ahn is one of the newest faculty members in the High School. She is in charge of students’ attendance, checking in with ab- sence forms, graduation preparation, communicating with parents, and faculty support. Likewise, Sera Kim, the High School Associate Principal’s Assistant, helps Mr. Poullard and Dr. Bowie with preparing trips like the Experiential Education trips. She also does a lot of work with the Utility department and during AP testing, among other duties. To get a better insight into their opinions, Sarah (Grade 10) interviewed Esther Ahn and Sera Kim.

Esther Joo-Kyeong Ahn: HS Principal’s Secretary

1. What do you think makes your job different or special from others at KIS? “Working with faculty because they are all nice. I also like meeting new people and new students. Supporting faculty and students, and communicating with students, make me feel rewarded.”

2. What has been the most memorable part of your job? “Students are cute and they remind me of the past. When I see them, I think ‘I used to act like her too!’ I also like to see their bright and pure personalities, and help them out.”

3. What motivates you to work as a Principal’s Assistant? “Michelle Quirin, because she is the best. I think being a principal and taking care of the whole High School is really challenging, but she is doing a great job. She is also very humorous! Because of her, I want to help her and do more for the HS building.”

4. What are some difficulties that you face? “I have to do many things at the same time, because sometimes I have to do administrative activities while parents call and students and teachers enter the office. Also, checking the attendance takes a lot of time. So, please do not be late to school and call me in advance!”

5. How would you describe KIS High School students? “They are all kind and nice. I have faith and belief that they will do well.”

6. What do you think about KIS parents? “Parents are really active and I can feel that they want to support their children. They ask me to give them information, and I like to help them because that is for the students.

7. Do you have anything you would like to say to the students? “Don’t be late to school, bring your doctor’s note, call me in ad- vance, and fill out the sign-in and sign-out form when you come in late or leave early! Then you can cut my work in half.”

Design Your Future | 34 Sera Kim: HS Associate Principal’s Secretary

1. What do you think makes your job different or special from others at KIS? “I can work with students and the brightest and happiest people.”

2. What has been the most memorable part of your job? “It was during Christmas time when Jack Brown and his students came into this office to play and sing carols. And, also, when students come and say hi first to me. I felt great!”

3. What motivates you to work as an Assistant Principal’s Assistant? “As I meet students more often, I can see students change into more positive and open-minded people, which motivates me.”

4. What are some difficulties that you face? “I didn’t experience graduation, but I get so attached to students. So, when graduation comes, I find it dif- ficult saying goodbye to graduating students and departing faculty.”

5. How would you describe KIS High School students? “Energetic, hopeful, passionate, and lovely.”

6. What do you think about KIS parents? “I was surprised that not only mothers but also fathers are involved in their student’s academics. When I was in high school, fathers didn’t care that much, but here fathers care a lot about the students.”

35 | www.kis.kr

Nyaka Benefit Dinner @ KIS All are welcome!

Saturday, May 27, 2017 at KIS Conference Hall

5:30 - Student Performances 6:30 - Silent Auction/BBQ Dinner 7:30 - Mr. Kaguri Keynote address

50,000 KRW Dinner Ticket All proceeds will be given to The Nyaka Aids Orphan Project

Contact [email protected] for tickets or additional Info. Keynote Speaker: Jackson Kaguri • Founder & CEO Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project • Author of A School for My Village & The Price of Stones • Documentary Star of Cornerstone • CNN Hero 2012 • TED Talk Presenter - TEDx TraverseCity • Blogger for the Huffington Post Nyaka Benefit Dinner @ KIS All are welcome! Korea International School Saturday, May 27, 2017 at KIS Conference Hall

5:30 - Student Performances 6:30 - Silent Auction/BBQ Dinner 7:30 - Mr. Kaguri Keynote address

50,000 KRW Dinner Ticket All proceeds will be given to The Nyaka Aids Orphan Project

Contact [email protected] for tickets or additional Info. Keynote Speaker: Jackson Kaguri • Founder & CEO Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project • Author of A School for My Village & The Price of Stones • Documentary Star of Cornerstone • CNN Hero 2012 • TED Talk Presenter - TEDx TraverseCity • Blogger for the Huffington Post

Korea International School 27 Daewangpangyo-ro, 385 Beon-gil, Bundang-gu Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do Korea, 13543 www.kis.kr