ISSUE #3 APRIL 2014 AOSR Falcon Flyer Content submitted by AOSR faculty & students AOSR LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE By: Brian B. (Grade 12, NHS President) I pledge to maintain high scholastic standing, to On March 1st, a rainy Saturday morning, the First hold as fundamental and worthy an untarnished AOSR Leadership Conference was held. Leaders character, to endeavor intelligently and from the fields of medicine, youth work, education, courageously, to be a leader, and to give of myself diplomacy and world organizations shared their freely in service to others. In so doing I shall prove wisdom with an audience of over one hundred myself worthy of a place in the National Honor students, teachers and parents. We learned the Society. importance of being open to different experiences and of not forgetting our dreams because we will This is the pledge that is made by National Honor never know when the opportunity will come, from Society members at their induction ceremony. Ms. Joanne Martin, Chair of the AOSR Board of This year, the AOSR NHS Chapter organized Trustees. The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, a Leadership Conference to promote one of its Kenneth F. Hackett, spoke of two exemplary leaders: principles and to bring the school community Pope Francis and Colin Powell. together through a student led event. Continued on page 2 Inside This Issue: PAGES 4-10: Elementary School News PAGE 12-14: Middle School News Saturday, May 10: Mayfair Celebration PAGE 16-20: AOSR News Thursday/Friday, May 22, 23: Annual Shakespeare Festival PAGE 20-25: High School News PAGE 26-28: Alumni Friday, May 30: Commencement, Class of 2014 AOSR Leadership Conference (continued) page 2 AOSR LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Dr. Yaya Olaniran, Nigerian Ambassador to UN agencies, recounted the importance of childhood experiences, planting seeds, and of being courageous. Dr. Dan Gustafson, Deputy Director General of Operations at FAO, spoke of working in teams, and how successful teams are composed of members with different talents: the specialist, the visionary, the team builder, and the one with a holistic view. Using the metaphor of a stack of coins, one coin for each decision, Mr. Luca Crivellari, a youth worker and Peace Camp representative, reminded us the importance of being aligned with our core values. Professor Emilio Iodice, Vice President of Loyola University Chicago and Director of the Rome Center, spoke of leaders from Napoleon to Pelé; on the importance of vision, and basing our actions on facts. Marja Pronk, MD, Founder and Managing Director of Europe- ExPro, shared her story, both professional and personal, to emphasize how having the courage to listen to our inner voice, disregarding other people’s points of view, can be life changing. She highlighted how an idea once developed must be guided by knowledge, a supportive network of people and by listening to our inner voice. We learned the importance of education, hard work and delayed gratification from Dr. Prof. Festus Akinnifesi, Chief of FAO’s South-South Cooperation: “Preparation, preparation, preparation.” Last but not least, Mr. James T. Johnston, Officer in Command, Engineering Security Office of the US embassy, spoke of recognizing the humanity of people in the workplace and that leaders need to primarily develop themselves as individuals. Being an engineer he said that a machine can be built and broken, but most importantly it can be repaired. The conference ended with a panel discussion stimulated by thought provoking questions from the audience. The speakers’ presentations were filmed and are available on our school’s website and livestreaming at “new. livestream.com/aosronline.” As a follow-up to the conference, Ambassador Hackett sent us a powerpoint presentation on the attributes of Colin Powell, and Prof. Emilio Iodice, presented his book on Leadership to the school. It is now available in our HS library. The First AOSR Leadership Conference would not have been possible without the members of the National Honor Society working together as a team and without the support of these important people: our advisor Ms. Telmon, Mr. Kunin, Dr. Pfannl, Members of the Board of Trustees and the PTO, Anna Chiara, Ing. Piccioni, Ms. Arnold, Mr. Miller, Mr. Desideri, and the Maintenance Staff. Thank you all for contributing to this memorable event. Comments from students that attended the leadership conference: The Leadership Conference was one of this year’s highlights. At school we are given the tools to enrich our education, but it is really hard for a school to provide for “real talk” simulation. The Leadership Conference filled in that blank.- Charles, Grade 11. The Leadership Conference was a well organized school event and I liked what the speakers had to say. -Cooper, Grade 11. The Leadership Conference was very interesting. There were many different leaders who reached their positions, thanks to their knowledge and experience. This was very important for us as we learned key factors which generated these leaders. One leader who surprised me for his story was Mr. Akinnifesi. Thanks to his determination in accomplishing his studies he became a great leader. -Mattia, Grade 11. The Leadership Conference was a fascinating event. I very much liked the variety of speakers present. -Sofia, Grade12. The Leadership Conference was a very useful experience. I found that the speakers gave very good advice to all of us. -Alice, Grade 12. The Leadership Conference is one of the most inspiring events that I have experienced. The speakers shared important advice that motivated me to become an influential leader. -YiMing, Grade 12. page 2 AOSR News SPECIAL VISITOR ON The Geometric Mosaic Found at AOSR in 1959 CAMPUS By: Dr. Richard Hodges OBE, BY: DR. BETH PFANNL, HEAD OF SCHOOL President of the American University of Rome The American Overseas School at Rome lay exactly Last month, Dr. Richard Hodges, President within the fork of the junction of the Via Cassia and of the American University of Rome, visited the Via Veientana, depicted on the 4th-century map, the AOSR for the first time. He took over as Peutinger Table. Overlooking the abandoned Etruscan the president of AUR in 2012. Knowing that capital of Vieii, the building discovered in 1959 in the Dr. Hodges was an eminent archeologist, I present school car park was excavated by John Ward- showed him the geometric mosaic hanging Perkins, at that time Director of the British School at by our elementary school library. I was so Rome, a wartime Monuments’ Man, and a distinguished excited when he immediately recognized the classical archaeologist. According to his published report, piece as part of a floor from an ancient Roman the building formed part of a villa, but it is likelier that villa that had been discovered in the school this was a mansio, a roadside hostelry for visitors coming parking lot back in the 1950s. Read what Dr. to Rome. This building almost certainly extends from the Hodges has to say about our treasured mosaic. present Via Cassia to some point under the school to the line of the original Via Cassia. Coins and ceramics found in the dig indicate that the stone and brick building dates to the early to mid 1st century AD, the time of the Emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius, and in common with many such properties in South Etruria was refurbished in the 3rd century. The simple black and white, geometric mosaic, made of decently cut tesserae, found in room 1, is a typical pavement for a functional room – corridors, service quarters etc. The white tesserae are of limestone and the black are of blue-black volcanic basalt. Curiously, the mosaic did not quite fit the room, and bits of stone and ceramics filled the narrow gap between it and the walls. J. Ward-Perkins, Excavation of a Roman building near ‘Tomba di Nerone’ on the Via Cassia, Papers of the British School at Rome 27 (1959): 131-59. Comments from students that attended the leadership conference: AOSR Parent Academy Don’t miss our final two Parent Academy sessions of the 2013-2014 school year! Wednesday, May 7: Moving On and Transitions (for middle school and high school parents) 9:20-10:20 in the cafeteria Wednesday, May 14: Summer Reading (for elementary school parents) 14:20-15:20 in the elementary school library page 3 Elementary School News page 4 PRE-K CELEBRATES FATHERS’ & SPECIAL FRIENDS’ BREAKFAST The Pre-K children celebrated dads and special friends at our annual Fathers’ and Special Friends’ Breakfast on March 19th. The Butterflies and Frogs were very busy as they prepared for the breakfast. In the science center, and during small group time, they baked yogurt cake, mixed pancake batter and made their own butter by shaking cream. In the language center, each child prepared a special poem about his or her dad and in art they created and painted a clay pencil holder to give as a gift to their guest. As they arrived at school, the Butterflies and Frogs had breakfast with their guests and then spent time playing together in the various learning centers. The children were proud of all their hard work to get ready for this special event and we were happy to have so many dads and special friends join us! page 4 KINDERGARTEN VISITS BRIDGES AND MARKETS OF ROME WITH GRADE 9 BUDDIES On January 22, we went on a field trip to Ponte Milvio with our ninth grade buddies in Mr. Schipper’s class to learn about the bridges and markets of Rome. “First we took a bus to Ponte Milvio. The bus was really big!” cried Scout H. Our ninth grade buddies taught us about the famous bridge and how it was built.