AOSR News February 2003 February Calendar A Gift to AOSR is Saturday, 1: *AOSR Fine Arts Ball, Borgo Bam- boccio, 7:30 pm a Gift to all Students *Basketball at Livorno By Dr. Larry Dougherty, Headmaster *Med. Wrestling Champ., at In private schools in the United States, fundraising is taken for Vicenza *MUN Trip, students return granted as part of the culture of the school. Gifts, grants, annual funds, Monday, 3: auctions, fairs, alumni reunions, and capital campaigns are critical to *Pre-K Parent Conferences, thru the survival, growth and continued improvement of independent Friday schools. Wednesday, 5: Many families at the American Overseas School of Rome fre- *MS/HS 1st Semester Report Cards quently ask me why we appear to always be asking for money. These Distributed families often come from a tradition of outstanding public schools Thursday, 6: where all expenses, from teachers’ salaries to the costs of new build- *HS Faculty Meeting ings, are covered by local or state taxes. They assume that the money * Med. Basketball Champ at Avi- that is provided by their government agency, their company or out of ano, thru Sat. their own pocket covers all of the expenses of the school. Some inter- Saturday, 8: national parents assume that because we are an American school, we *ACT are like the local French or German schools, which receive large sub- Monday, 10: *PTO Meeting, 9:15 am Boutique (Continued on page 21) Wednesday, 12: *PPAC Meeting, 9:15 am Boutique * Thursday, 13: Is There a Michael Jordan *MS faculty meeting Friday, 14: In Your House, Parents? *Pre-K Concert, 9:30 am *Dismissal 3:20 pm By Joanne Reykdal, Principal *No after school activities The second half of our school year has just started. This is *Boarders leave residence often the time of year when students begin feeling less motivated to *European Wrestling Champ., thru engage themselves in the learning process. As parents you may see Sat. Sunday, 16: this in the behavior they exhibit when they are doing their homework, *MS Ski Trip begins particularly in subjects that are difficult for them. Monday, 17: You can help them avoid some of the lethargy by encouraging *No School, Winter Break them to continue working no matter how difficult the homework is Thursday, 20: for them. Your role is not unlike that of a coach who encourages each *European Basketball Champ, thru member on his team to never give up. In fact, you may even need to Sat. (Continued on page 2) Sunday, 23: Contents *Boarders arrive at residence 3 pm Monday, 24: From the Headmaster 1 MS News 6 Sports 15 *School Reconvenes Thursday, 27: Principal’s Office 1 PTO’s Corner 7 Counselor News 16 *ES Faculty Meeting Friday, 28: Latest News 3 ES, Pre-K News 9 Rome ‘n About 18 *Progress Reports Distributed Booster Bar News 4 PPAC 14 Good Eats and Caffe’ 20 *HS Winter Formal 7:30 pm 1 (Continued from page 1) Is There a Michael... encourage your son or daughter to go to the teacher to get extra help if you cannot provide it. However, the single most important thing that you can do during this period is to empha- size the importance of perseverance. I love the story of the high school bas- ketball coach who was attempting to motivate his players to persevere through a difficult sea- son. Halfway through the season he stood be- fore his team and said, “Did Michael Jordan ever quit?” The team responded, “No!” He yelled, “What about the Wright brothers? Did they every give up?” “No!” the team hollered. “Did Michelangelo ever quit?” The Falcon Flyer is a monthly Again the team yelled, “No!” publication of the American “Did Elmer McAllister ever quit?” Overseas School of Rome (AOSR) There was a long silence. Finally one player was bold enough to ask, “Who’s Elmer Via Cassia 811 McAllister? We never heard of him.” 00189 Rome The coach snapped back, “Of course Italy you’ve never heard of him – he quit!” Telephone: 06-334-381 Remember, perseverance does not al- Fax: 06-3326-2608 ways mean sticking to the same thing forever. It Internet: www.aosr.org means giving full concentration and effort to whatever you are doing right now. And, right To make comments or suggestions, or to submit now our students need to be giving full concen- an article to the Falcon Flyer, call editor Cam tration and effort to their school work. Rossie at 06-3324-8295, or send an email to [email protected]. A Flyer submission box is also located in the Principal’s office. DIRECTORY UPDATE For contributions to: Rome ‘n About, email Igor Yasno at Please make the following changes in [email protected].; your AOSR Directory. Corrections or Good Eats and Caffe’, email Sue Berton at changes to your phone numbers or [email protected] email addresses should be sent to Joanne Hoberg in the main school of- fice. Next Deadline 2-24-03 KNEELAND, The deadline for submission of articles Douglas and Millie for the March Falcon Flyer is Monday, Feb. 24. This is a late deadline due to the White Jillian, 6th Grade Week break, so please have all articles in by Joshua, 9th Grade that date. We will be looking for news of re- cent activities and of upcoming events through New Phone Number: 06-3326-1369 the end of March. 2 It’s Finally Here! Fine Arts Benefit Ball Is Saturday, Feb. 1st P Now that you’ve got your tickets for the Ball in hand — you do, right?? — it’s time to start loosening those hips. The AOSR social event of the season is Saturday night. a Maurizio Massimi and his 7-piece orchestra are al- ready warming up to keep you dancing to the music from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s into the early hours of the morning The event is at the Hotel & Resort Borgo Bamboc- cio, at Via della Giustiniana 990, just 500 meters from the g Via Cassia. Cocktails start at 7:30 pm and a delicious 5- course dinner will be served at 8:30 pm. There’s plenty of parking at Borgo Bamboccio and, yes, we will accept credit cards for the silent auction. See page 24 for a preliminary list of auction items. e MS Ski Trip Begins Feb. 16 A total of 51 Middle School students and their teachers will depart in mid-month for this year’s Ski Trip to the Dolomites. That’s one of the biggest groups to go on the Mr. Mancini- organized trip in quite awhile. Be ready students. Your bus leaves bright and early on Feb. 16, so you’ll need to be in the school parking lot by 6:45 IN THE MORNING!! This year’s trip promises to be an exciting time for all, with a variety of great activities T planned in addition to several days of skiing, ski lessons and snowboarding. Have fun everyone! HS Winter Formal Valentine’s Day h Will Be Feb. 28 Concert The AOSR High School Winter Formal will be held on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Villa St. Planned in the Pre- r Dominique on via Cassia. (other nights known as the dorm) All high school students are invited to dress up for an elegant evening of dining and K dancing. Parents, don’t miss the Pre-K Details are still e being worked out by the Student Council, Parents and students, but it promises to be a It’s time once again magical evening for to sign up for after-school all. So watch for the e posters at school that activities. will announce the time See the article on Page 12 and the price of tickets. for more information. 3 Booster Bar Profits They’re Friday at Three, Wish They Were Free Support Programs When we think of Friday afternoons at All Around AOSR AOSR we think of our very own delicious fresh food at the Booster Bar!!! Students, parents and Have you seen the new basketball uniforms teachers alike can’t forget the Friday Booster Bar the AOSR Falcons are sporting these days? Has your as the mouth-watering smell of the BBQ drifts photo been captured by the Year Book staff’s new through the quad. The Booster Bar is open for digital camera? Have you read about the wonderful business from 3:00 – 5:00 on most Fridays with experiences shared by our 6th, 7th and 8th grade stu- fresh grilled hamburgers and chicken/turkey hot- dents during the Middle School trips? dogs, sweets, chips and soft drinks on sale. These items and experiences have all been Some sponsors even sell fresh baked supported by the money raised at the AOSR Booster goods, that’s entirely up to you and your organi- Bars! From the beginning of this school year until zation. the end of December, €5,100 has been raised di- The Friday schedule and sponsors for rectly by organizations around the school to support February and March is as follows: their needs and activities. Feb 7th - AVAILABLE Does your organization need some cash for a Feb 14th - No after-school ac- worthwhile cause? Can you round up enough volun- tivities teers to provide about 5 workers per hour? They Feb 21st - No Booster Bar due augment the PTO volunteers who are responsible for to vacation shopping, inventories and storage. Together, it's a Feb 28th - Tennis winning combination for your team and March 7th - National Honor AOSR. Sign up in Mrs. Reykdal's office now! Society Don’t wait as soon there may not be any Mar 14th - 2nd Grade and in- spots left for the rest of the year.