 What a Difference a Year Makes
I realized just yesterday that this time last year my husband and I were quarantining and working virtually from a hotel room in London. Who would ever have thought that would be a way anyone would exit an international school. This time last year, the community here was on the verge of another big wave, leading to subsequent COVID closures. Fear was still a huge factor. Much of our world is in a better place a year on, at least from a COVID perspective and as a community when we can begin to come together again. My hope is that next year we can have a year of deep community building. And Lest We Forget…WORLDWIDE COVID NUMBERS May 17, 2022
Owing to personal circumstances, Mark Hoffman will be leaving AISL on 20 May. Therefore this year the sports awards will be handed out in conjunction with the divisional grade level awards in Secondary and the final PALS assembly in Primary. More details out nearer the time. A more formal evening of celebration will resume in the next school year. AISL Board Election - Registration Required for Each Parent Voting The Board of Directors will be holding our annual Election General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday, 26 May at 18:00 hours. You will need to register via Zoom here by Wednesday, 25 May to be granted access to vote on Thursday the 26th. The meeting will be offered in person and virtually streamed in Zoom; however, the voting will be virtual in Election Runner. You are welcome to attend in person in the Tiyende Padmodzi Theatre and vote on your device or attend virtually with your personal zoom link emailed after registration. The EGM meeting is open to all parents or legal guardians of students, students and staff at AISL; however, only parents/guardians may vote. Each parent must: 1. Register and 2. be present at the meeting in person or virtually to vote. This year, we have three vacancies on the board to serve 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. In accordance with the school’s Articles of Association, one of these vacancies must be filled by a parent who is affiliated with the U.S. government. The second vacancy is open to any school parent. We have many strong candidates for these positions, please see the Candidate Slate. If you have any questions for the candidates or in general please send them in advance also by Wednesday to the board@aislusaka.org. Save the Date. The AISL PTA Car Boot Sale is Back! Now that restrictions have been lifted significantly, the PTA requested for the annual PTA Car Boot sale to be back on campus. And so there will be one this year on 4 June. Details to follow in the PTA portal. Wishing you all a fun weekend and hoping to see many of the community at the PTA May Ball this Saturday. Looks set to be a fun evening. Thank you to the PTA for the organizing of this event over many months. With kind regards, Dr. Oli Tooher-Hancock Director Grade 11 Visual Arts students celebrated International Museum Day on May 18th by attending two fantastic exhibitions on display at the National Museum, Lusaka. It is important to experience art in person and to participate in the rich artistic culture of Zambia. The exhibitions were truly international:
     Visual Arts students attended Virtual ISSEA Art organised by IST on April 22nd. They spent the day in the art room and participated in three online workshops: Making sculptures from cardboard, Illustrating a storybook and Drawing with ball point pens. Well done!! Grade 11: Vivian, Louis, Rachael, Samyra, Andrea and Joy Grade10: Gaia, Nana and Teddy Grade 9 Amara, Abby and Caleb.      Advisory is an important part of the school day here at AISL. Today Grade 6 worked on their critical thinking and collaborative skills through a variety of activities set up by the wonderful Grade 6 team: Mr. Potter, Ms. Conte, Ms. van Rensburg, and Mr. Thompson.     The Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2022 will take place in the Tiyende Pamodzi Theater on Saturday 28th May, 2022.
Members of the school community who wish to attend may collect an invitation from the secondary school office. Please note that due to social distancing restrictions there are limited invitations available and so they will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. All graduates and their families have been issued invitations. Dear parents, So, the week of weeks is upon us. In the next week or so we will have the following events: Friday Market, May Ball, Washing Machine Week, Grade 5 Transition Parent Information session, Africa Day, School Board Elections, Senior Walk, Grade 12 Awards (including Grade 12 Sports Awards) AND Graduation. It’s a busy time to be a Leopard. A hearty thanks to all the parents, students, teachers and staff who did their utmost this year to get all of these events planned, and executed. It is so wonderful to work in a community like AISL! One thing of note, please note that the “Prom” planned for 21 May is NOT an AISL sponsored event. Proms take a long time to plan, usually starting near the beginning of the first semester. That being said, when the kids approached me at the beginning of this year to see if Prom was an option, the COVID situation was very different from now, and I could not greenlight a dance that did not adhere to the strict COVID approach of the school at that time. So, any prom that occurs is not an AISL prom, officially. So, while we do not have any responsibility for this year’s “alt-prom”, and we forfeit in the glory of its sure success, I do feel the need to remind everyone to be wise, and remember that you are still leopards. Also, I want to congratulate the Grade 12s for their completion of their IB exams, and to the faculty who took their time to invigilate the exams. Special thanks and appreciation to Ms. Monica Murphy, our DP Coordinator, for enduring what is the most hectic time of her year. Lastly, a hearty helping of gratitude to the PTA from the Secondary faculty! Have a wonderful weekend! Dr. Rick Odum    University of Groningen, Netherlands While holding university offers from the UK and Canada, Rajman has now also been offered a place to study in the Netherlands. The University of Groningen has accepted Rajman’s application to study for the Bachelor of Science in human Geography and Planning. During this programme, students learn to investigate society in its spatial context. They learn to explain regional and local differences in societal developments in relation to the place and time in which they occur. For example, why do some regions benefit more from globalisation than others? Or, what are the consequences of population decline for those that remain living in shrinking regions? And, how can people work together with different institutions to plan and build suitable residential areas? Students will learn to answer such questions and use this knowledge to create new ideas and develop the places we live in today and in the future. This programme covers a wide variety of topics, including urban development, globalisation and labour markets, migration, and urban and regional planning. Geographers and planners combine these topics with a spatial perspective to make the world we live in a better place; making places better together. The University of Groningen is a research university with a global outlook, deeply rooted in Groningen, City of Talent. Quality has had top priority for four hundred years, and with success: the University is currently in or around the top 100 on several influential ranking lists. www.rug.nl   University of Waterloo, Canada Jerry learned recently that he has been accepted to attend the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. This is to study for the Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, leading to a major in Computer Science. Every company and industry needs logical thinkers like mathematicians and computer scientists to solve their everyday problems. In 1957, the University of Waterloo opened its doors to 74 engineering students with co-operative education as its cornerstone. Today, with more than 42,000+ students attending annually, Waterloo is #1 in Canada for experiential learning and employer-student connections. With a global network spanning more than 220,000 alumni in 151 countries, Waterloo attracts world-class scholars including a Nobel Laureate, leads in providing work-integrated learning opportunities with 7,100+ active co-op employers, and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit that’s created 5,000+ jobs through Velocity alone, Canada’s most productive startup incubator by private investment. www.uwaterloo.ca   This week marks the end of Grade 12 IB DP exams - a huge milestone for our students! The exam session has gone very smoothly overall, with none of the challenges on the listening exams that we experienced during Mocks. For Grade 10 parents thinking about their child’s upcoming transition into Grade 11, we invite you to a parent information session on Wednesday 1 June from 8:00-8:45 in the Protea Room (and online via this link for anyone who can’t make it in person). Hosted by High School Counsellor Julie Baldry and DP Coordinator Monica Murphy, this is an informal Q&A/check-in session. If you have any questions, ideas, or concerns you’d like Monica and Julie to address, please add them to this form by next Friday 27 May.  “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men - No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it. The saying is adapted from a line in “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns. And of course in these days of uncertainty, we can’t always expect plans to play out - BUT we are excited here at AISL to relay that our MUN students are hoping to go to Barcelona to the 10th annual American International School’s BCNMUN conference. Information will be up soon on this website.
This conference takes place from 23 - 25 November which will mean that we could go from weekend to weekend as only three days of school would be missed because this trip falls over Thanksgiving. This is crucial for our Grade 12s - fewer days off school was obviously a major factor in the decision to take part in this conference. The conference was selected because students expressed interest in this particular conference, it is not overly large so our students will be able to participate more confidently, and we may be able to keep costs down with a homestay. Currently, we estimate costs to be $2000 including conference fees, flights, hotel stay, food and sightseeing. We would leave around Friday 18th and return around the 26/27th We can now make a deposit for the conference as we have had an expression of interest from 15 students - thank you to parents and students who made that decision so timeously! The good news is is that we can accommodate 5 more students and we welcome students who are passionate about making a difference to the world around them. Students who have formerly been part of MUN could rejoin in August 2022 in the new school year or students completely new to MUN could join but they need to speak with Mr. Potter or Ms. Turner now about that and the conference trip. From August through November, we will be preparing for the conference through debate practice, writing of opening speeches, research to write position papers and forming resolutions. Works Cited “Definition of The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Awry | Dictionary.Com.” Www.Dictionary.Com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men-often-go-awry. Accessed 18 May 2022.  As we near the end of the school year, we would like to share a few key dates in May and June that may directly apply to your child(ren) in Primary:
May: 20-21: Please join us for one of our Primary Play performances, either Friday or Saturday, at 14:30 in the Tiyende Pamodzi Theater. The students will be performing, “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life on Earth”. Please remember to wear a face mask while inside the theater. 27: All books due back to the Library so we can complete our inventory before opening up our summer checkout to students and families. 27: G5 Parent Session about the introduction to Middle School. This session will be from 7:30-8:15. More details to follow from the Secondary Leadership team. 30: This week, parents with children in ELC-G1 are invited to come and observe a PE lesson. More details will be sent shortly by Ms. Luwisha. June: 2: G4 French/Spanish Cultural market. More details to follow from Madame Cartron and Ms. Elisa. 3: ASA Session 4 ends today. 8: KG Celebration of Learning from 13:15-14:15 in the Kindergarten Classroom. 9: G4 Market Day today! 9: Class lists shared with ELC-G4 returning families and students. 10: G5 Transition Ceremony from 11:30-12:30 in the Tiyende Pamodzi Theater. 14: ELC-G5 Fly-up Day. This is the opportunity to visit the next grade level, meet the new teachers, and hear more about what is happening in the year ahead. 15: PALS Farewell Assemblies: KG, G2 and G4 from 8:00-8:20; G1, G3, G5 from 8:25-8:45 in the Tiyende Pamodzi Theater. If your family is leaving AISL at the end of the year, we invite you to attend this assembly as your child will be sharing his/her memories of AISL, messages to teachers and friends, and sharing what they are looking forward to in their next school. Please join us for the time that your child has his/her assembly slot. Thank you. |
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