Letter from the Director/High School Principal, Mr Tom Egerton

28 January 2011

Dear Parents,

The second semester has

begun positively for ISM

and we have some

significant events coming

up in the next few weeks.

Next Monday, January

31, 8:30am, we will be holding an information session for

parents on how to use the internet and social networking

sites responsibly. Our high school computer teacher Ms

Sarah Cornelius will be talking about facebook and what

you can do as parents to help students navigate the

internet safely. The workshop will be in the high school

computer lab at 8.30am and I look forward to seeing

many parent in attendance.

Our fun fair is to be held on the 19th February. We have a

committee working hard to ensure the day is indeed a

“fun” day. Again, I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Work is progressing well on our new elementary school.

We hope to open the school at the beginning of next

school year and at this stage we are planning to have four

sections in grades three to five.

At this time of the year I am busily recruiting teachers for

next school year. Ms Stacey and I attended a teacher fair

in Bangkok and I will be attending teacher fairs in the

States and Thailand, trying to get the best possible

teachers for ISM.

With best wishes,

Tom

REMINDER

FEBRUARY 24: Half Day for students. There will be

Teacher Professional Development in the afternoon.

Page 2 28 January 2011

From the Middle School Principal, Mr William Bianchi

Principal’s Leadership Team members for the 2nd

Quarter have worked diligently to share

recommendations and thoughts with the administration

and School Board for improvements in the Middle

School for 2011/2012. The sixth grade team has

written a letter supporting improved security for the

middle school when it moves to the elementary building.

The seventh grade team has written a letter advocating

for larger lockers with built in locks for the middle school

next year. The eighth grade team has designed a new

logo to propose for future ISM student uniforms. The

team ideas will be shared with the School Board in the

coming week.

It has been a pleasure working with the Leadership

Teams this past quarter. On behalf of the middle school

community I would like to thank and recognize the

following students for their participation and the honor

of being chosen as leaders by their teachers.

6th Grade

Pamela Phoo Pwint Khine David@ Myo Thiha Hazel@ Hla Yadanar Soe

7th Grade

Leo@ Lin Htet Oo Zaw Myo Win

Joshua@ Su A Cho

8th Grade

Swan Htet

Cynthia@ Theint Thinzar Soe

Valarie@ Phyo Thandar

Principal’s Leadership Team nominations for the 3rd

Quarter are being submitted by MS teachers now. New

members will receive Leadership training before going

forward to collect ideas from classmates and developing

a project to work on during the grading period. The

project’s aim is to promote leadership opportunities for

our students.

Dear Parents…

Happy New Year! I would like to take a

moment to say Thank You to all of our parents

and community members who have been

attending the Grade 4 and 5 Basketball

tournament. The finals will be held next week

Monday and Wednesday.

Also, thank you to those parents who

were able to visit our Scholastic Book Fair in the

Elementary Library this past week. There were

so many good books – it was great to see our

students excited to purchase these new books

for home.

Finally, thank you to those parents who

take the time to attend our Student of the

Month Assemblies. We often have great

performances and the students love sharing their

successes with everyone, plus it is great to see

all of the seats filled!

Mark your calendar with the annual Fun

Fair on February 19. More information will be

coming home soon with details about the day

and the need for donations for the lucky draw…

Also, please pay attention to the notice

that we will have a ½ day of school on February

24. Our teachers will be engaged in

professional development that afternoon.

School will be dismissed at 12:00.

If you have concerns, questions or just

want to discuss school and your student, do not

hesitate to contact me. zagstacey@gmail.com.

As always, thank you for sharing your children

with us. It is an honor to watch them grow into

independent, productive and responsible

citizens.

Warm Regards,

Stacey

Elementary News from Elementary School Principal, Ms Stacey Gailey

Page 3 28 January 2011

Page 4 28 January 2011

What’s going on in ElEmEntary stuCo? by Thon Thon, Elementary School Student Council Secretary

This year, Elementary StuCo has planned a lot of things

for a fun year. So far, we have created Teacher of the

Month, a Goosebumps movie night, a spirit day every

month, and contests for older kids and younger kids that

are about to start at the January assembly. Now we are

planning for Valentine’s roses with community service,

the coming quarter three all-school-assembly, and the

Fun Fair with our ES StuCo booth. We are also trying to

plan charity basketball and soccer, and invited

Mr. Edward to our meeting to talk about it.

We have meetings on available Fridays, including

snacks! Congratulations to the teachers who have

Teacher of the Month awards! And we would like the ISM

family to have a brilliant year!

Page 5 28 January 2011

Dear Leslie,

My daughter is lying to me. I feel cheated and disappointed and

there is a really bad atmosphere at home. Why is all this going on?

Because I made a rule which said that internet can only be used

after homework is done. She says it is done but then I find out that

it isn’t yet there she is on the internet. It’s weird because it is like I care more about her

homework and grades than she does!

Signed,

A perhaps overcontrolling but caring mother

Dear Perhaps Overcontrolling,

Often people lie when they feel in some way trapped or cornered,

particularly in respect to an addictive behaviour-and the internet

can be addictive, especially for young people. I understand that

you feel it is your responsibility as a parent to make sure your

daughter gives school work her best shot. At the same time I

wonder if she might feel like you own the situation more than she

does? Find a good time and place to talk and tell her how you

feel. Those feelings might include; frustrated, deceived and

worried. Ask her what she suggests as a fair agreement about

homework and internet use. Discuss what a fair consequence

would be if the agreement is broken. A consequence is different

from a punishment as the latter often has no logical connection

to the unacceptable behaviour and has not been negotiated.

Planning together helps her feel respected, allows her to feel

greater ownership of the situation and as a result she won’t be as

tempted to lie or use subterfuge. Additionally make sure you find

ways to encourage her by mentioning what you sincerely

appreciate about her. This is a time when our children need lots

of genuine positives because self confidence can be low due to

the physical and emotional changes taking place.

Remember to encourage yourself as well!

Leslie

(Letters from students or parents to ‘Dear Leslie’ can be sent to

me at school.)

Page 6 28 January 2011

Ski Trip in Switzerland

by Mr Dave Mulholland

On the 14

th January, 14 ISM students,

Ms. Rikki and Mr. Dave departed

Yangon on route for Vi l lars,

Switzerland. The group contained

students from Grade’s 6-11 and none

had ever been to Europe before – it

was sure to be a great adventure, full

of new sights, smells, skills and

experiences.

We landed at a very cold Geneva

airport and headed straight for our ski

lodge in the Swiss Alps mountain

range. After getting our skis and

snowboards fitted we headed out for

a tour of the town, Villars. It is a very small town with many expensive shops – Switzerland is one the

World’s most expensive countries where a hot chocolate can cost more than $6!!

We spent 5 days learning to ski and snowboard, having snowball fights, swimming, eating new kinds of

food, ice-skating, shopping, visiting the Olympic Games Museum in Lausanne, and walking through

the forest at night time with flaming torches to guide our way.

Our ski instructors were all very impressed with the progress we made during the week, saying that ISM

students were one of the best schools that had ever had. They also said they would be very happy if

we went back to stay with them next year!

FRUITS VS VEGETABLE VILLAINS by Htet Nyi Nyi, 5R “KA-BOOM!” The Cucumber Man shot his sticky cucumber seed at Orange Man. They were shooting each other with their powerful weapons. Then, Banana Man said,”Archers! Attack!” Rambutan Man took out his spiky hair and the spiky hair went straight into Tomato Man. He was unconscious. Then, Potato Man said, “Let’s retreat!” So the Vegetable Villains backed up, but the Fruits still wanted to defeat the Vegetable Villains so they gathered men again. Somehow the Vegetable Villains found the Fruits’ Top Secret Room. There were four elements they were EARTH, FIRE, WATER, and AIR. Water is the best. There were balls and you can eat it and if you eat all four elements you can get those powers, but the Fruits were very smart so they wrote a sign that says “ DON’T EAT THE BALLS OR YOU WILL EXPLODE!” So the bad guys didn’t eat them. Then, the Fruits saw them and said, “Not so fast!” The Fruits ate four balls

of elements and they got all of the powers. Then, the battle began. Potato Man was running and Banana Man was chasing. While Banana Man was chasing, he was blowing fire at Potato Man’s bottom. While Potato Man was running, he was rubbing his sore bottom. Then the Vegetable Villains decided to put TNT Bombs around the Fruits’ house, the Vegetable Villains clicked the red button and the bomb exploded, but the Fruits’ house didn’t explode. They decided to shoot nuclear power, but later when the Fruits knew, they carried the nuclear to the Villains’ house and said, “FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!!!!!” and the bomb went straight to the leader of the Villains room, but the Villains weren’t at their house they were robbing the banks. The main thing was they needed to destroy the houses first, then, you know what, the houses exploded. The Fruits had won. Fruits cheered, “YAY! AT LAST VICTORY!!!!!!” The Villains said, “SOMEDAY WE WILL GET REVENGEEE!!!”

Students’ Page

Page 7 28 January 2011

Year of the Rabbit In the year of the rabbit . . . I wish the earth will not get sick. I hope that people give things to the needy peoples. I would like people not to kill others. It would be great that this year got very good! !! I like that people make Myanmar very nice. I think families and friends never fight. I wish that my families and friends are helpful. ~ by Harrison, 2C ~

Year of the Rabbit In the year of the rabbit . . . I hope that my sister is helpful. I wish that my grandparents are healthy. I would like my father to be happy. It would be great if my family and I get new clothes and tous. I hope that there is no anger and sadness in my house. I hope that my friends get new books. I would like my family and friends to get good luck. I hope that my family will be very peaceful. ~ by En En, 2C ~

Proud of 5S!

by Pahul Singh Bhasin, 5S

Our teacher said, “I’m very proud of 5S because 5S d e m o n s t r a t e d g o o d sportsmanship.” I realized why she said that because we didn’t cry when we lost the basketball match. Usually most students can’t handle it and start crying or do something really mad. Like jeer. I also think that our teacher said that because we also didn’t push or cheated or booed at our opponents while playing the game which also makes me proud of 5S and of myself.

DIARY OF A

WIMPY KID

by Jeff Kinney

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”

is a great book. It is

about Greg going to

Middle School. This

book is filled with

humor and friendship.

Greg has some high

and low points in his

life. This is a book

that you should read!

Rating:

by Clay, 4J

SURF’S UP, GERONIMO!

by Geronimo Stilton

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is a great book. It is about Greg

going to Middle School. This book is filled with humor

and friendship. Greg has some high and low points in

his life. This is a book that you should read!

Rating: by Shwe Einthe, 4J

THE COLORFUL MOUSE

by Julie Durrell

The story is really good. It rains and the sun comes out. The character

is bored but he is happy when the sun comes out. I like the book

because the story is good. My favorite part is when the rainbow comes

out because I love the colors. I would tell my friends to read this book.

Rating: by Mary, 2T

Page 8 28 January 2011

Athletics & Activities Mr Vern Nicholas “Coach Nich”, Athletics Director

Let’s

go

s!

Friday High School basketball returned to ISM for the rivalry game

against ISY on January 21st and it did not disappoint! With a

packed gym, spirited band, and the Dragon basketball teams fired

up; it provided the energetic atmosphere for some great basketball.

The first game got off to a great start with Boys’ team lighting up the

scoreboard with 3 pointers and tough defense led by Rex and Swan.

After an 8-0 early lead ISY began to settle in and finally took the

lead into the 4th quarter. ISM boys ran into a tough defense at the

end and got into foul trouble unable to finish what they started.

The Lady Dragons on the other hand, got off to a slow start! Once the nerves went away, the HS

Girls’ team scored 10 unanswered points to finish the third quarter led by Erica Su and never

turned back. It was a nail biter to the end with

an up and down finish and the Lady Dragons

walked away victorious with a rematch with ISY

set up for the YAC Tournament opening game.

MS Soccer is in full stride with games beginning

at the end of January for both the Boys and

Girls team. The MS Dragons look very strong

with the “B” team Boys getting a victory over an

older squad from MIS.

HS and MS Badminton will have try outs after a

record number of sign ups and look to be very

competitive in the upcoming matches.

Finally, congrats to the HS Lady Dragons

Softball team for their first Yangon softball

league victory and close matches with some

very good local competition! Nice job and Go

Dragons!

Upcoming Events for FEBRUARY 2011

Coach Cam and the Lady Dragons working on our

base running