Leopard's Tale
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 Quest University, Canada Zelio has been notified that her application to Quest University in British Columbia, Canada to study for the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences has been successful. Quest is unique. Its groundbreaking approach to postsecondary education began as an experiment. Today, Quest University is one of Canada’s important institutions of higher learning. It is Canada’s first independent, not-for-profit, secular liberal arts and science university, devoted entirely to excellence in undergraduate education. Quest seeks to reinvent the undergraduate liberal arts and sciences, using an innovative philosophy and novel curriculum. This is based on the university’s belief in teaching skills that work in the real world, and in preparing students for any endeavor they choose, from graduate school to professional programs, and from traditional careers to independent paths. Quest offers an environment of intellectual rigor and personal enrichment, where students help design their own education and delve deep into topics they are passionate about. At Quest, students don’t take four classes at once, and their courses don’t run for a whole semester or quarter. Instead, they take one Block at a time, a single course that meets for three hours each weekday for about a month. The benefits of this ‘Block Plan’ include: full immersion in a single subject; close interaction between faculty and students; highly interactive classrooms; seminar-style learning with never more than 20 students in a class; and scheduling flexibility where students can take a Block off without missing multiple courses. The Block Plan appeals to Zelio and is one of the reasons that she applied to Quest. Quest University Canada is accredited by the Degree Quality Assessment Board of the province of British Columbia, and is a member of the Education Quality Assurance. www.questu.ca  President’s Scholarship
Zelio has been awarded Quest University’s President’s Scholarship. Presidential Scholarships are awarded to students who have distinguished themselves not only through their academic performance but also through their curiosity, ability to lead, and willingness to contribute to their community. The award is based upon Zelio’s performance in high school, but also the testament to her character that was submitted by her teachers and the college counselor. Well done Zelio! University of Bristol, UK
Max learned this week that he has been accepted to his first-choice university: the University of Bristol. He will take the International Foundation Programme, and then progress to the Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering. The University of Bristol is a highly ranked Russell Group university with a fantastic reputation. It is one of the most popular and successful universities in the UK, ranked in the world's top 50 in the QS World University Rankings 2020. A Bristol degree is highly attractive to employers: it offers students a high-quality, research-led education, and is enhanced by Bristol’s global reputation of recruiting the best academics. Bristol is ranked fourth in a list of universities targeted by leading graduate employers (The Graduate Market in 2018: High Fliers Research). The courses at Bristol are shaped by the very latest thinking, and students work on real-life projects with academics who are experts in their field. As well as teaching the facts, Bristol’s researchers pass on their knowledge, enthusiasm and experience. The University of Bristol is small enough to feel warm and friendly, with Wellbeing Advisers in both University residences and academic schools to support students, personal tutors, and additional support services. It's also big enough to provide outstanding extracurricular opportunities, including a host of clubs, sporting activities, and community and volunteering groups. Max will join a global community of students from more than 150 countries, and enjoy life in one of the UK’s most exciting cities. (His sister is also at the University of Bristol studying Veterinary Medicine). The Bachelor of Engineering course at Bristol begins with a common core in the first two years, with teaching based on four main themes: design and manufacture; dynamics and control; materials; and thermofluids. Years one and two cover the fundamental principles of mechanical engineering and include lectures, laboratories, design classes, and short projects in modelling and manufacturing. The third year builds on this foundation and applies the principles covered in years one and two to more realistic and complex engineering applications. A major element of the third year is an open-ended individual research project that requires students to demonstrate independent and creative thinking. This course is fully accredited by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and, on completion, graduates will have already met part of the benchmark academic requirements for becoming an Incorporated (IEng) or Chartered Engineer (CEng). www.bristol.ac.uk  Some of the titles in NPR's Best of 2019 Lists The holiday season doesn’t truly start for me until NPR’s (National Public Radio) annual book lists are revealed, beginning in late November. If you are a book geek, and I know for a fact that there are a number of you in our community, you have probably already begun to compile your list of titles to read for 2020.
People often ask me what some of my favorite lists are, so here are some to consider, in no particular order: NPR’s Book Concierge: easy to search, “best of” lists for every conceivable category WWB (Words Without Borders) The Best Translated Books You Missed in 2019: there are some absolute gems on this list and I love its inclusiveness and scope. For many in our community, you could read the original work rather than the work in translation. Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of 2019: great lists divided into the following age groups: under 5, 5-9, 9-12, 12-14, 14 and up. Bank Street College “recognizes the importance of diversity in children’s literature and acknowledges and celebrates the voices and cultures of all of our readers” (from “Bank Street College Diversity Statement”). Book Riot: “Always books, never boring” is Book Riot’s slogan and they deliver on this mission! BR has fantastic lists for every possible subject with witty write-ups. They recently posted this year’s Read Harder Challenge, which might be a fun endeavor for those looking to expand the scope of their reading or for some of our local book clubs to try. New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2019 - easy to search by genre and carefully chosen books. NYT is a great source for book recommendations of all types. This is but one list among many that they publish. Literary Hub’s The Ultimate Best Books of 2019 List- I like how this list from Literary Hub shows you how many times each work appeared on other “best of” lists. Topping the charts by appearing in 21 “best of” lists are Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (that title!) and Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. GoodReads 2019 Reader’s Choice Awards- Goodreads has thousands upon thousands of lists and is an easy to use site that is also fantastic for tracking your own reading, finding book recommendations, and loads more. Their 11th annual Reader’s Choice Awards is a good source for popular titles. African Arguments: Best Books by African Writers in 2019 So Far- this list and content on this site is published by the Royal African Society, which has close links with SOAS Centre for African Studies at the University of London. This is a great list that should be updated soon. Enjoy the holiday and happy reading! Please pass along the names of your favorite reads to our library team and send any pictures of your children or family reading to either me at tmaguire@aislusaka.org or to the Primary School Librarian, Ms. Jill Daley (for pictures of primary students and their families) at jdaley@aislusaka.org. See you in 2020! University College Roosevelt, Netherlands
Laura learned yesterday that she has been accepted to study the Pre-Medical Program at University College Roosevelt at Middelburg, in the Netherlands. For students interested in pursuing a career within medicine, but also want to look beyond that into other academic discipline, the Pre-Med program is a great option. Pre-Med students combine the Biomedical and Life Sciences tracks, and incorporate them into the Liberal Arts and Sciences program that University College Roosevelt has to offer. Though it is not a specific training program, Pre-Med gives students the opportunity to study Medicine alongside Psychology, Law, Ethics, Computer Science, or even History. As a doctor, this could help graduates with developing a new drug while being aware of any ethical implications during the testing phase, or effectively delivering bad news by using techniques from psychology that may not be taught in regular training programs. UCR also offer courses in world history, world literature, Asian religion, anthropology, human rights law, international relations, modern languages and culture, sustainability, energy transition, and so much more. UCR has many international teaching and research collaborations and is also strongly connected to the province of Zeeland and Utrecht University. This is also reflected in the strong belief that facing humanity’s challenges requires a focus on both the local places in which they are experienced and a truly global approach to understanding and answering them. UCR’s greatest capital in joining the global and the local is that its students come from over 50 different nations and live and study together. Discussing challenges of sea level rise, migration, world trade agreements and more, in a classroom with students from a dozen different countries offers an entirely different, and much stronger, context for learning than a less diverse setting would. The city center of Middelburg dates as far back as 800CE and many shops, pubs, and restaurants are spread throughout the town. Middelburg is a city that is both busy and vibrant enough to always have something to offer, and quiet and small enough so that its residents are not constantly distracted from their studies. Middelburg is the largest city in Zeeland, well-connected by public transport to big cities like Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Antwerp, and merely a half hour bike ride away from one of the many beaches in Zeeland. In the city of Middleburg, students are surrounded by over 1,100 monumental buildings. The most notable of these monuments is the former city hall, now the main university building, but there is much more to see. What about the Abbey Square and the Lange Jan (the eleventh highest church tower in the country) the Oostkerk (one of the few circular churches ever built), or the Kuiperspoort (the most beautiful street in the city, which has been used in several Dutch movies)? There is plenty to see and do in and around Middelburg, and it is guaranteed that its inhabitants will not have seen every one of its charms once they graduate. www.ucr.nl We celebrated Computer Science Education Week in the library across this week. The theme of this year’s Computer Science Education Week is #CSforGood- which centers around an exploration of the ways that computer science can be used to create a “more equitable and sustainable world” (CSforGood). Many students created short videos they posted to a closed video-sharing platform called Flipgrid in answer to these questions:
 Image by Richard Balog on Unsplash The roof repairs to the library are now complete and beginning this Thursday, 5 December, we will be welcoming everyone back to our renovated space! Thank you to all our community members for your patience with this process. Our coffee bar will be ready by the end of the week, too!
We will be OPEN this Saturday for our usual Saturday hours: 9:00-14:00 Please take advantage of this amazing community resource and come with the whole family. We have something for everyone, including board games, a Lego creation area, books for all ages (including board books for tiny humans and lots of adult fiction and non-fiction). We also have air con for the hot days so you can be comfortable while enjoying the space. Next week we will be celebrating Computer Science Education Week (this used to be Hour of Code Week) in the library. Come have a peek and feel welcome to play with any of the tech tools and activities we will have on offer, including 3-Doodler pens, robotics kits, Cubelets, MakeyMakeys, circuitry kits, augmented reality coloring, and more. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in to our library.  Class of 2021 DP juniors shared their "Excitements, Questions, and Concerns" as they embark on the EE writing process. Our Grade 12 DP students recently shared their Extended Essay findings with Grade 11 students, who are now beginning their EE (extended essay) journeys! The extended essay is an in-depth, 4000 word (max) study of a focused topic chosen from one of the student’s IB Diploma subjects. For many of our students this research influences their choice of university studies and careers. Ms. Murphy, DP Coordinator & EE Coordinator, and Ms. Maguire, Secondary School Librarian & EE Co-Coordinator, have already had two extended essay support classes for the Grade 11 students to introduce them to the nature of the extended essay and to begin interest inventories to help students decide upon a subject area. By January students will have preliminary research questions. Over the next year, the Grade 11 DP students will have more than twenty support classes, focusing on the following topics:
 Class of 2020 DP Senior, Scout, shares her Language & Literature EE findings with Class of 2021 students.  We celebrated the successful completion of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, level Bronze at our assembly on Tuesday, 12 November. Twaambo Chikoye (Director of the DofE award, Zambia), Mwaba Mwila (board member, DofE award, Zambia) and Driekie Smith (DofE award leader, AISL) issued students with their well-deserved certificates and badges.   Image by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash. In honour of the completion of their Extended Essays (EE’s), the Class of 2020 would like to invite you to a celebration of their completed research on Monday 18 November! Students will share their research questions, key findings, and reflections on the process during short presentations. All AISL community members are welcome to attend. Coffee, tea, biscuits, and cupcakes will be offered as we celebrate our seniors' achievement of this milestone. Times and locations are below. We hope to see many community members there!  Jill, Sam, Lunyunge, and I extend our deep gratitude to the many parents and students who volunteered hours of their time to help us sort and reshelve nearly 25,000 books across this Monday to Wednesday. My grandmother always said "many hands make labor light" and I appreciate her wisdom more than ever in light of what we accomplished as a community, which allowed us to speed the process along. Even more important than books are the people in the library and we are excited to have you rejoin us in our renovated space! We still have several projects that we will execute in the weeks ahead now that the building has been officially handed over to us. These projects include re-construction of the coffee bar and the building of treehouse / loft spaces for primary and secondary students. We will also construct some new shelving that will fit underneath the larger windows. If you are new to AISL and have only visited us in our temporary Palm Pavilion space, please be sure to come see us now that we have moved back in. The space is bright, inviting, and comfortable! We have something for everyone! - Terry Maguire, Secondary School Librarian |
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Office Hours: Monday - Thursday: 07:15 - 15:45 / Friday: 07:15 - 14:30
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