TASIS Commencement eTASIS · 2017-04-05 · 2 eTASIS Spring 2015 3 In 2010, a fleeting discussion...
Transcript of TASIS Commencement eTASIS · 2017-04-05 · 2 eTASIS Spring 2015 3 In 2010, a fleeting discussion...
PB eTASIS Spring 2015 1eTASIS Spring 2015
An e-magazine for Alumni & Friends of The American School In Switzerland
TASIS CommencementMay 30, 2015
2 eTASIS Spring 2015 3
In 2010, a fleeting discussion about sharing stories resulted in eTASIS, an e-magazine bringing tales small and big to the
global TASIS community. Over the years, eTASIS has chronicled annual events such as International Week and watched a
one-off event (the Walk for Water) become an annual event on the TASIS service-learning calendar. We’ve introduced our
five new buildings [such as Lanterna] and watched changes to older ones [Coach House]. We’ve highlighted many of the
people who make up our unique global community, from chefs to athletes to philanthropists. We’ve done our best to show
glimpses into the lives of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, bringing a little bit of the magic of the Collina d’Oro into
your world, wherever you are.
Starting this fall, we’ll be sharing TASIS stories through an interactive monthly newsletter, which will take advantage of our
new responsive website, launching later this summer. This means you’ll be able to easily read and explore these stories on
your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Thank you for your support and for reading eTASIS.
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Congratulations to the Class of 2015!
04 Campus News
TASISThe American School in Switzerland
14 The Year in Photos
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An Event-full Week
Commencement
End-of-the-year celebrations and events
A look back
Story Highlights
Drones, selfies, the X Factor, and more!22 Loving Poetry
An essay on the importance of poetry
24 Mad About Science Gala
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The Sweet Sixteen
From CDE to the Classroom
A look back on five years of eTASIS
How CDE inspires future teachers
Meet the artist behind the whimsical drawings
Stay connected with TASIS!
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campus news
A Campus Flyover
{ I started with a GoPro Hero 3 because it was a birthday gift from my father. I was hooked and quickly began exploring and experimenting with it.
College Counselors from the Swiss Group
of International Schools (SGIS) meet
annually in the spring to discuss trends in
college admissions as well as changes in
admissions policies and standardized testing.
They also share ideas on how to better
serve their diverse international student
bodies and families. “We face the same
challenges,” says Greg Birk, Director of
College Counseling. “It’s great to sit down
once a year and bounce ideas, problems,
and concerns off each other, and share ideas
about how we can best help our students.”
College Counselors Unite!
By Rron Lluka ’16
My first GoPro was a birthday gift from my father. I was hooked and quickly began
exploring and experimenting with it. The first videos I made were for snowboarding. A year
later I bought the drone and made the first ever drone video of my city, Prishtina, Kosovo.
I keep going because people enjoy
watching my videos and I get a lot of
support! Every corner of TASIS inspires
me to make a new video. This summer I
plan to work on a video to promote the
beauty of the Albanian mountains.
I use a GoPro Hero 4 Black edition,
a GoPro Hero 3 Black edition, and a
Phantom 2 drone. I use FinalCut Pro X
editing software which I learned using
Lynda.com, and I also use GoPro Studio
and Adobe AfterEffect CC 2014.
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TASIS students aren’t the only award-winning
athletes on the Collina d’Oro! 11th Grade
Dean Kevin (KC) McKee spent his spring
weekends playing defense for the Milano
Painkillers Lacrosse Club. The team placed
3rd in the Italian Cup in May by holding
on to a 1-point advantage against the Torino
Tauruses, thanks to KC’s stellar defending in
the final moments — despite two broken ribs!
KC is also one of the TASIS Boys Lacrosse
coaches. His involvement with lacrosse
spans 28 years and includes playing in high
school and college and coaching at some
of the US’s top lacrosse high schools. He is
also one of Switzerland’s certified officials.
In the News TASIS dominated the European Sport
Conference (ESC) championship right
from the start with team captain
Alfred Stauder PG’15 destroying the
competition with his ESC and personal
best in the 110m hurdles (16 seconds).
Immediately after winning that race, Alfred
got himself ready for the grueling 3000m. He
started the race in the lead and never looked
back, winning his second gold medal. He
repeated his gold medal performances three
more times in the 400m, 4x100m relay and
4x400m relay. Alfred’s excellent performances
were topped by him winning the MVP award
for the championships. Congratulations!
campus news
A number of TASIS teachers are IB and AP
exam readers. English Department chair
Todd Matthew was recently in Louisville,
Kentucky for a week of reading AP English
Literature tests. Art Department chair
Martyn Dukes has been busy evaluating IB
art portfolios, and Head of the High School
Dr. Rob Pierce was involved in marking IB
Business Management. By reading exams
and talking with other examiners, teachers
return with a greater idea of what is being
done worldwide in their subject areas.
{Our inspiration is to document the changes in culture and landscape along the route
Congratulations to Marianna Barbieri ’15,
who auditioned for the 2015 season of The X
Factor UK! She’s waiting to hear if she has been
chosen to try out in front of Simon Cowell.
We wish her luck!
Great news! In March, TASIS was noted as
being the top Swiss Group of International
Schools (SGIS) school on Twitter. Don’t miss a
tweet! Follow us!
Videographer and TASIS Global Service
Program assistant Milo Zanecchia ’08 and
photographer Robin Gilli ’08 will soon
embark on an adventure. Their trip, Latitude
45, begins on June 22 and will take them on
an overland journey through a dozen countries
ending in Mongolia in mid-September. “Our
inspiration is to document the changes in
culture and landscape along the route,” Milo
says. “We are looking for what ties people
together in these diverse places.” Keep an eye
on the TASIS Facebook page for the Latitude
45 website link and updates from their travels.
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TASIS Elementary School opened its doors
as the first English-language elementary
school in Ticino in the fall of 2005. TASIS
is a Core Knowledge school and includes an
Italian Section for Ticino residents. Since its
inception, the Elementary School has grown
to over 200 children with an international
mix of over 20 nationalities and 21 different
languages, exposing our young students to a
global community. Watch the new Elementary
School video here.
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campus news
To give some perspective: this year, a
completely rookie squad of students created
a 250-page book, containing 19,776
words and 2,448 photos - an enormous
accomplishment, similar to winning a league
championship without ever having played the
sport before. This dedicated group gave up
their free time on nights and weekends to edit
photos, build pages, and study on lynda.com,
and in the process they learned valuable skills
in photography and graphic design.
A lot of work goes unnoticed at TASIS.
The yearbook staff are just a few of the
unsung heroes in the TASIS community.
Congratulations!
Proud parents of a brand new bouncing yearbook! All Roads Lead to TASIS
Affectionately known as ‘TASIS Roads’, this
microblog was started by students and has
continued for two years. With over 150 posts
featuring 315 students, faculty, and alumni,
TASIS roads tells stories of the community.
Recent posts include:
Mrs. Aeschliman, do you often take selfies?
This is the very first selfie I have ever had taken!
You four are this year’s TASIS post grads, aren’t you? Has it been a good year?
Yes! It has been fantastic. We all have traveled, been involved with sports teams, music, and of course classes. It has been a great way to spend the year before heading off to college. We all feel better prepared, and the experiences and friends we have made will last a lifetime.
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campus news
photos
Password required.Contact the ES office.
Everybody Wants to be a Cat...
Over a weekend in May, the Palmer Center
stage was home to dancing, singing, and lots of
purring! Thirty-five energetic Elementary School
students performed The Aristocats, an entertaining
production of the Disney classic. The show
features alley cats, aristocratic cats, and even an
odd horse and pig. The children gave sparkling
performances and can be proud of their efforts!
The Aristocats was Elementary and Middle
School Drama Director Gillian Eames’s final
performance after seven years with TASIS.
She and her husband are moving back to New
York. We appreciate Gillian’s commitment to
TASIS and her endless energy and dedication
to her students and the performing arts. The
success of her performances are testament
to her professionalism even when working
with very young actors. We will miss her!
Enjoy a gallery of images from many of Gillian’s Elementary and Middle School Productions over the years.
The Aristocats
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campus news
Khan-Page Master Teacher Award 2015 - Mario d’Azzo
{ As regards my own philosophy of education, I consider myself an open and flexible person, conscious that patience and enthusiasm beside solid preparation can be a guarantee of high results.
As legions of students, and faculty members, will attest, Mario’s
love of teaching and the Italian language is manifest in all
he does, and it serves to both inspire and motivate them in
their studies. He is a Renaissance man whose musical talents,
athletic interests, and commitment to family and TASIS flow
together in a life well led.
- taken from the Headmaster’s citation
Former Khan-Page Master Teacher Award winners
2009 Carolyn Heard - English-as-a-Additional Language
2010 Mark Aeschliman - Art History/Architecture and Design
2011 Cynthia Whisenant - English
2012 Brigitte Cazebonne - French
2013 Giorgio Volpi - Physical Education
2014 Dr. Brett Merritt - Science
The Khan-Page TASIS Master Teacher Award is named after two outstanding teachers who taught for many years in both TASIS schools: the late Akbar Khan (in Mathematics) and Max P. Page (in English). The award recognizes an outstanding teacher who represents a high standard of professional pedagogy, subject-area knowledge, a capacity to convey the joy and importance of learning to students, and fundamental sympathy with the aims and goals of TASIS as expressed in the Paideia.
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campus news
Nojus Marcinkevicius ’16 and Rron Lluka ’16
Armed with the vision to increase school
spirit on campus,
Rron and Nojus have
designed and built
new TASIS logo
products. Using some
of their classmates’
talents in art and
design, our two
entrepreneurs initially
created a jacket for their dorm. Lucky Hadsall
residents proudly wear them on campus. Nojus
and Rron have since received requests from
other dorms to have their own apparel items.
However, as School-wide merchandise, they
are focusing on a line of stationery products.
Building a business from scratch is not a
small undertaking. Yet, without any business
classes on their transcript, they tackled
supply chain, marketing strategies, cost of
sales and net income by themselves, and
had the instinct to seek appropriate help in
and out of our community when needed.
They contacted potential suppliers in Turkey,
Lithuania and Kosovo requesting estimates and
sample products. They worked on shipping
expenses, pricing, and tax implications.
They negotiated terms and contracts
with suppliers, with the TASIS Parent
Association, and the TASIS administration.
We look forward to the official launch of
their new TASIS logo product line next year.
TASIS Leadership Academy Capstone Projects
Jillian Streit ’15
Jillian loves and is committed to ecology and
service to others, and her leadership project
consisted in adding a new dimension to
the work of TASIS in Kenya with WISER.
During her trip there last spring, she realized
the amount of waste from used plastic bags.
She also noticed that locals work with ropes
in all kinds of chores. Her creativity led her
to recycle those plastic bags by using them
to make ropes, which can hold weight up to
70kg. Her initiative is not only allowing the
school in Kenya to help the environment by
reducing waste, but also distributes working
tools to the community. She is training the
WISER Global Service group at TASIS to
implement her project on future trips.
Edoardo Italia ’16
As part of his dream of becoming an engineer,
Edoardo has created a Science Competition
at TASIS to share his love for the sciences.
Since last fall, he tirelessly worked with
science teachers, alumni, and administration,
both in the middle and high schools, as well
as with students, to organize and launch the
event during the Inaugural Convocation of
our new Campo Science building in April.
Over twenty participants responded to
the challenge and participated in the Quiz
Bowl. Congratulations to Team Tesla for
winning the first TASIS Science Competition!
Edoardo would like to make the Science
Competition an annual event at TASIS.
Defne Şahenk ’16
Defne’s passion for healthy nutrition has
led her to introduce smoothies on campus.
After investigating the eating habits and
needs of the boarding community and the
TASIS kitchen, she worked hard to convince
the Snack Bar on campus to offer smoothies
for students and staff. She created a healthy
smoothie menu using fresh, seasonal fruits,
as well as trained the
staff. The needs of those
with special diets such
as lactose or gluten
intolerance, or those who
want to stay away from
refined sugar, have also been addressed. With
such delicious, healthy, and refreshing snack
alternatives, who wants a plain fruit juice?
{ The Science Competition was a great success, and I think that the teachers and parents present would have loved to have been on a team!
This year our inaugural TASIS Leadership Academy (TLA) students are completing their Capstone Projects, putting two years of learning about leadership and entrepreneurship to practical use. Congratulations to our TLA students on completing this special program!
Teacher Dan Schiff
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Looking backImages tell the stories of the 2014-15 academic year
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Click to view more photographs or videos!u
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You must exercise your curiosity. Maintain a sense of adventure, set up challenges. There is no excuse for being bored in a world with so many wonderful places, populated by such fabulous people. - M. Crist Fleming{
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The TASIS SmugMug site houses
hundreds of photographs available
to view and purchase.
The ES galleries are
password-protected;
please contact the
ES office for the password.
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photos
The buzz of the final week before graduation is
exhilarating! It begins with the stress of examinations
as our seniors who are not taking IB and AP courses
complete their final classes of high school. Then
students must pack up their dorm rooms, often an
exhausting and emotional experience as many of our
seniors have attended TASIS for four or more years,
and the School truly feels like home. Families begin to
arrive mid-week and students often move in to local
hotels for their final days at TASIS.
Wednesday night features a boat ride on Lake
Lugano with dancing and dinner – which featured a
delicious sushi buffet this year. The evening serves as
a welcoming into the TASIS alumni community, and
an introduction to the new class agents.
An Event-full WeekSenior Boat outing, Prom, and the Senior Banquet
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Thursday night is the annual Senior Prom.
One of the traditions is the pre-prom photo
extravaganza, where students gather on the lawn
outside Casa Fleming to admire one another’s
attire and take photographs before boarding the
buses for the prom venue.
Friday is the Senior Banquet, celebrating the
students’ final night together as a class.
This year’s Senior Banquet filled the Palestra with
a record 500 guests to enjoy the food and hear the
speeches celebrating the senior class. Speakers this
year included: Mindy Chen, Marianna Barbieri,
Pavel Artemov, Nathaniel Brener, and Master of
Ceremonies Tomson Carroll.
Senior Boat outing, Prom, and the Senior Banquet
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’
Moving On, Moving UpFrom 5th grade to Middle School, from Middle School to High School, and starting college...
You can’t wait for it to happen, and when it does, reality begins to
sink in: I’m in middle school! I’m finally in high school! Then, My TASIS
life is over…what awaits me? Each division at TASIS celebrates this
shift with a ceremony to recognize and honor the students and the
families who support them through their education. View images
from these ceremonies on the following pages.
The Class of 2015 was graced with a beautiful Saturday for their
emotional Graduation ceremony. TASIS had been home to many of
our seniors for as many as nine years, and although all graduates felt ready
to face their next steps, the day was bittersweet. The TASIS community
is unlike any they will be a part of ever again; an institution with the
purpose of preparing students for higher education, yet which introduces
them to so much more.
Read the thoughts of 2012 graduates about their time at TASIS here. View a
list of the colleges and universities where the Class of 2015 is attending.
{ The time spent at TASIS will be a memory that we will hold to dearly until the end of our days.
- Noe Manuli ’15
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photos video
Commencement 2015
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Our Middle School end-of-year celebrations included the annual Farewell
Assembly, which gives all MS students the chance to thank departing teachers
and view a slide show of their time together. The following day’s Moving Up
Ceremony in the Palmer Center featured a beautiful rendition of “The Water is
Wide” by members of the MS Choir as well as student speeches that celebrated
this special class.
Middle School
{I know that the friendships I have developed this year will last forever. Given the international background of everybody here, who knows where each of us will be on this planet in 10 or 20 years? - Iñaki Alvarez Arocha ’19
photosMS
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photosES
The Elementary School Moving Up Ceremony
was a joyous celebration of moving to the Middle
School. Preparations of our 5th graders began with
a Shadow Day, when each student ‘shadowed’ a
Middle Schooler for a day, and also included a
special dinner with their future school-mates. The
Moving Up Ceremony featured a slide show of ‘guess
the quote’ featuring every 5th grader and delightful
musical performances of “We Are the World” and
“Together”. Special thanks to Joan Lutton, Interim
ES Head, who helped guide this group of students
through their final year!
Elementary School
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I started memorizing poetry before I knew what I was doing. I think it started
when my grandma and mom would sing to me. Every morning I’d wake to
the sound of “London Bridge” or one of Shel Silverstein’s ditties. Nursery
rhymes. Gospel hymns. Old Civil War songs. Cowboy poems, too. I liked
anything that sounded musical. Alliterative, bouncy sound bites clung to my
memory like alphabetic Saran wrap. Perhaps it is no accident that I grew up to
become an English teacher. I mean, my love affair with words began about as
soon as I could utter them. Then again, maybe my love of poetry has nothing
to do with my profession. I’m a big believer in the somewhat unpopular idea
that poetry is for everyone. Poetry can be found in a rap artist’s lyrics or in a
dancer’s somatic aria. What I like most about poetry, though, in all its forms, is
its rhythm.
I couldn’t have known it when I was a kid, but later at university I heard a
theory from a beloved professor regarding why I loved the songs and poems
that I loved. It turns out
that my favorite poems and
songs follow a “rhythm
of three,” or an anapestic
meter. (An anapest is a
three-syllable poetic foot with two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed
syllable, like “T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house…”)
Like most of the songs my family sang in the car on cross-country road trips,
Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark” had a rhythm that I could move
to, which meant that I could remember it without having to think too hard.
It was one of my favorite poems as a kid. A British professor once told me that
I probably liked the “rhythm of three” poems because I was American—and
what’s more, I was Texan. What does geography have to do with my poetry
preferences? I thought. The gallop of the horse has influenced and shaped
the American imagination for hundreds of years, he claimed, and that’s
why American poets—like Edgar Allan Poe and T.S. Eliot, for example—
sometimes use rhythms of three rather than the more-British rhythms of two
(such as iambic pentameter, which we associate so closely with Shakespeare).
Whether or not the galloping horse has had any influence on my poetic
preferences, I may never know. But I like the idea, being fond of horses and all.
If you think about your favorite musical artists, your favorite songs on the
radio, or your favorite sport, they probably all follow a rhythm that is pleasing
to you. That’s why I know that poetry is still relevant to our lives today, though
the rhythms have taken on other forms that move us beyond the written
word. Today, pop music has so thoroughly replaced poetry in our lives that we
often forget its origin, which was in the song. Poetry was an oral tradition that
gradually became lost as it was written down, its rhythms two-dimensionalized
and flattened into a board—I mean bored—format.
Now, I face the dilemma of making Shakespeare relevant to students who
know the stories well but who maybe never saw a live performance or heard
the lines spoken out loud. That’s why I ask students to memorize a sonnet’s
worth (14 lines) of poetry as part of their test on Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet. At first, it feels like a pointless exercise in retro-rote education, but I
know from experience that in this age of external hard drives and Google-
search impulses, it is nice to have something in your brain that can be recalled
at any time. We do it for math: we learn our multiplication tables. Poetry is
the easiest and most pleasant bit of information to keep in mind, and once
memorized, a poem is like a family heirloom that cannot be taken away from
you. It can seldom be lost, even to Alzheimer’s. These days, we spend too
much time and energy consuming and not enough producing. Where is the
satisfaction in gobbling up
pop songs and movies and
not contributing anything
in return? Memorizing
poetry is building a
foundation for future creative output.
I joke with my students that they should memorize a poem just so they have
something to think about in an extremely unfortunate situation. What if
you end up in jail for hours, days, weeks? What will you do to fill your time?
What if you find yourself stuck in an elevator and start to go insane under
the pressure? Or strapped in an MRI machine for 45 minutes? How will
you cope? Poetry gives us focus—a sense of individuality and community.
It is both personal and shared. For these reasons, memorizing poetry is
useful to everyone, even today. Start with a couplet (two end-rhymed lines).
Memorize two lines each day. Slow and easy does it. (and the rhyme helps with
memorization) Professional athletes know that there is such a thing as muscle
memory—a deeper kind of knowing that happens when our bodies think for
us. When a poem is repeated to the point of memorization, it becomes second
nature to say it aloud. Then, when a poem is yours, no one can take it away
from you. Not confined spaces, not an estranged friend, not war, not old age.
It is yours always.
A Case For Memorizing PoetryBy Andra Yount - TASIS EAL Faculty
Andra Yount, TASIS EAL and IB teacher, has always loved poetry, and wrote this essay about what it means to her as a person and teacher. Along with her teaching, Andra is completing her doctorate in Humanities with an emphasis in aesthetic studies.
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The last day of April is “Poem in your Pocket” day, a part of the National Poetry Month initiative started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets.
TASIS students and faculty were encouraged to carry poems in their pockets and share them with each other. Our 3rd graders gave high school students
poems to carry, and our entire community found boxes of poems throughout campus to take and share.
photos
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It was a weekend of learned discussions and a wonderful night of food and dining! The weekend commemorating the opening of Science Campo had something for everyone. Guest lecturer Dr. Benjiman Schumacher discussed and challenged Middle School and High School students alike. He was challenging the middle school students with a problem he and his colleagues had come across in their reseach of ______ . The students quickly tried to figure out what the answer might be, but it was Prash
Eduardo Italia ‘16 coordinated and worked with physics teacher Matt Walker a science competition for students right after Dr. Schumacher’s opening address. The questions were tough, the teams were made up of both MS/HS students, and it was all Eduardo could do to keep the parents from joining in. Seniors Pavel Artemov and Anton Allyakin were determined to take home first place. They argued a few points, and Mr. Walker grudgingly agreed the boys were right.
David Mayernik also spoke about the ‘spaces in between’ to architecture and other interested students on Friday morning.
Mad About Science GalaThis year’s fabulous TASIS Parent Association Gala raised CHF
120,000 to pay for a lab in Campo Science. Delicious food and an
exciting auction were highlights, as were the delightful drawings
adorning the table names and invitations to the event. We spoke
with TASIS parent and artist Simona Garelli Zampa about her
drawings.
How long have you been an artist?
I have probably always been an artist as I am self-taught. I have
loved drawing and coloring since I was a child. I started writing and
illustrating books professionally in 2008, after a decade working in
finance.
How did you get involved with the TASIS gala?
TPA President Muriel Aciman asked me to make some drawings for
the gala and I loved the idea.
Where else can we see your work?
You can see my work in a few illustrated books. I wrote and
illustrated the series of books about the fictional Krapiz family
published by Francesco Brioschi Editore. I also illustrated books
written by Don Antonio Mazzi for Edizioni San Paolo. In addition
to the books, I love to draw cards, calendars, and invitations.
Why do you enjoy doing these sort of projects?
I love children and I love science. I am happy that TASIS is growing
and I believe the new science building will be extremely stimulating
for the students. Also my passion is portraiture and I adore drawing
interesting people!
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Learning aboutButterflies
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photos
One of the best parts of the Core Knowledge science
curriculum is the hands-on projects that let children
see science in action. Recently, our Kindergarten
students learned about the life cycle of butterflies.
They watched as the animals morphed from egg
to caterpillar to chrysalis and, finally, to butterfly.
The students made shadow boxes with windows
so they could observe the cycles, culminating in a
special afternoon when they set the butterflies free.
“We learned that caterpillars eat mallow,” one
child said, “and we gave the butterflies sugar
water for nectar.” Another was delighted when
“a butterfly landed on my shoulder! We put it
on the flowers, and then it flew down and up.
I named my butterflies Rick and Stevie.”
This experiment covers a few
Core Knowledge units, giving
children a chance to connect
the science knowledge they’ve
learned throughout the year.
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spotlight on service
Spring Break ServiceThis April TASIS sent students and faculty to India, Nepal, and Zambia as part of the Global Service Program
India - Gram Vikas
Click on the image above to view a video of the Gram Vikas trip.
By Taina Barrau ’16
This spring break a group of thirteen students journeyed to Orissa, a region
of India, to help the organization Gram Vikas. We worked with the founder
of the organization, Joe Madiath, and his team to see how and what Gram
Vikas does for the people in the region of Orissa. By visiting several villages
we saw the adaptation of the program based on the needs of the people. In
these villages we interacted with communities composed of ‘untouchables’
and others composed of all five castes. In a village that had people from
all five castes we saw how Gram Vikas uses water and sanitation to unite
these rural communities. Gram Vikas has extended its impact beyond
water and sanitation to develop the educational opportunities for the tribal
children and other children in these rural villages. Read more >>>
...I remember looking around me to see laughter and happiness caused by little more than running and throwing a ball around. It really changes one’s perspective on the things that should make you happy in your daily life, things that you might not even notice usually. {
In mid-March, TASIS was fortunate to welcome Joe Madiath, founder of Gram Vikas, our newest Global Service Program group. Mr. Madiath spoke to the student body about his India-based organization, which promotes sustainable, socially-inclusive and gender-equitable processes to help the poor achieve a better quality of life. His TED talk on sanitation has been viewed by nearly a million people.
Global Service Update• 48 students and faculty took part in Global Service Program trips
during their spring break to work with a variety of organizations on two
continents.
• On June 10, two summer service trips left to work with Nuovo Fiore in
Ethiopia and Caring for Cambodia in Siam Reap, Cambodia.
• Learn more about our Global Service trips on the TASIS website or
read the Service Learning Blog which has posts about service learning in
all divisions.
Gram Vikas - India
Click on the u in a photograph to view photographs taken on that specific service trip.
See the Global Service YouTube playlist to view videos of various trips.
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{
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The culture is loving, welcoming, and kind. Going on this trip may not transform you into a perfect person, but I promise that it will lend you a new pair of eyes.
I learned to love the simplistic nature that the people in Tibet live in and grew to appreciate everything so much more. I will miss the food. I will miss the sparse lifestyle, the way the communities got along, both in the Tserok Camp in Mustang as well as the Tashiling Camp where we stayed with our Tibetan homestay hosts.
Nepal
Serving Southern Africa
Serving Southern Africa is perhaps TASIS’s longest-running service group.
Started by Howard Stickley over a decade ago, the group has spent between
two and three weeks annually in Zambia and Botswana.
The trip begins in Livingstone, Zambia. The group stays at a hotel which helps
subsidize an orphanage, where TASIS students organize an art workshop for
the children. The group takes a cycle tour of Livingstone which supports a
local pre-school, where TASIS students hold workshops, supply food, and
entertain the children with games and songs. They also attend a dinner made
by a local woman who is saving to put her daughter through college.
The next stop is Mwandi, a rural village two hours from Livingstone, where
the group builds mudhuts for homeless elderly people who look after
orphaned children. Read more >>>
By Isabella Piconi ’16
Nepal was the most memorable trip I have been on and I will miss everything
about it. During my two years in the Nepal group, I have been researching
the country and learned a lot from others who attended last year’s trip.
Learning about something in a classroom or hearing the stories of others is
one thing, but going out and experiencing Nepal for yourself is another.
We landed in Nepal from Delhi and got our first taste of what city life was
like in Kathmandu on the way to the hotel. The dirt roads were filled with
the sound of horns coming from every direction, people putting their lives at
risk crossing the dirt roads without traffic lights and encountering occasional
cows paying no attention to the chaos happening all around. Read more >>>
u
u
30 eTASIS Spring 2015 31
30 eTASIS Spring 2015 31
Spring Arts Festival 2015One of the things we’ve loved featuring in eTASIS is the annual
Arts Festival, a celebration of the extraordinary talent we have on
campus. This year’s four-day event featured over 3000 drawings,
paintings, sculptures, and photographs on display in the Palestra as
well as vocal concerts, instrumental recitals, drama performances,
artisan workshops, and an all-school closing concert.
A particularly special event was a conducting workshop for 5th graders
where every student was given a chance to conduct the Camerata dei
Castelli Chamber Orchestra. Three students were chosen from the
general workshop to conduct the orchestra during their Friday afternoon
performance of Vivaldi, Mozart, Grieg, and BartÓk in the Palestra.
The Arts Festival also coincides with the Middle School’s annual musical.
This year, the students performed My Son Pinocchio Jr., a delightful retelling
of the classic children’s fairy tale. For those lucky enough to get tickets, the
musical showcased an amazingly talented group of Middle School students!
Conducting workshopMS Musical
Arts Festival
32 eTASIS Spring 2015 33
Laura Fox began teaching with CDE in 2011. She recently graduated
with an MAT in Elementary Education. This summer she is serving as
Drama Coordinator in CDE’s new literature-based drama program. She is
then moving to Jeju Island, South Korea to teach in the elementary school at
Branksome Hall Asia.
I was an English major in college,
so I knew there were a lot of doors
open to me, but I still had NO
idea what I wanted to do when
I graduated in 2010. I thought
teaching might be a possibility, so
Matthew Lilly started working with CDE in 2011 and has taught French,
English, and Italian. He has just finished working as a language teaching
assistant in Nice, France, teaching 13 classes of children ages 6 to 11.
My time at CDE has really made me feel comfortable being in front of
groups of children. When you’re getting soaked during a water balloon
fight or having to dress up in flippers for a skit, you can’t really take
yourself too seriously. That’s a unique benefit of CDE that I was able
to take with me into the academic year. I’ve also really enjoyed finding
new ways to make language-learning fun. At this age we’re really just
establishing the foundation to make students want to continue with
the language. My favorite thing about CDE is watching children form
friendships with others who come from such different cultures. It’s what
I hope they take home from TASIS more than anything else.
Every summer, CDE hires young people ages 18 and over to work as counselors for our youngest Summer Program children. Some of these counselors find such joy in this job that it inspires them to become teachers! We spoke to a few CDE
veterans and current staff members about how CDE influenced their decision to teach.
Counselor to the Classroom
Taylor Sayward ’09 has worked at CDE since 2010. His first session was
with CDE and subsequent sessions have been with the Minnows, the youngest
CDE students ages 4 to 6. Last year he worked as a teaching assistant in
grades 4 and 5 at Nagoya International School, and in July 2015 he is
moving to Myanmar to teach Pre-Kindergarten.
I think all CDE staff members want to become teachers so their summers
are free to work in Lugano! Working at CDE made me see what a
challenge it is to
teach children.
It’s nice that the
kids push you to
work hard, and
it’s rewarding to
see your work pay
off for somebody
besides just
yourself. Betsy
[Newell] always
says the more you
France
Japan
I moved to a small town in France to teach English. Although it was a
great experience, I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue education until I
got to TASIS that summer. Walking onto campus you just feel this energy
all around you, from the teachers, the kids, and the beauty that surrounds
the School. Everyone at TASIS is excited about learning, and you can
feel it! You can see the kids’ progress and emotional growth happening
before your eyes. As a teacher, that’s always the goal. You want to see
your students bloom, and it’s incredible to see that happen at CDE every
summer. I applied for grad school education programs when I got home
from my first summer at TASIS. Adults refer to the language “barrier,” as
if language gets in the way. But kids don’t know anything about language
barriers. To them, language is just one form of communicating, and not
even the most important. You don’t need language to play football or
make friendship bracelets. They leave full of self-confidence and new
international friendships that often last a lifetime. How great is that?
32 eTASIS Spring 2015 33
Johannes Nelson ’07 was at CDE from 2007 to 2011. After working as
a teaching assistant in Venezuela and San Francisco, he is now teaching
4th grade at the International College in Beirut, Lebanon.
Plain and simple: CDE made working with kids fun. The structure
of summer school is such that unassessed, kind of ‘do-what-you-feel-
like fun’ is front and center, in and out of the classroom. You can see
this on the faces of the kids and on those of the adults shepherding
them around. The element of fun created room for me to develop a
relationship with the students that I taught at CDE as well as with
my colleagues that simply isn’t possible at during the academic year.
When my 27 4th graders here in Beirut are having 27 different,
irreconcilable problems and making a racket about each and every
one of them, I breathe deeply and remember some wise old adage-
Chris Nelson ’09 started
working as a Junior
Counselor at CDE the
summer after graduation.
From 2010-2012 he
worked with the Minnows
program. He teaches
5th grade English and
Social Studies at the
International School of
Manila, where he also coaches middle school basketball and varsity golf.
After spending the summers working with kids I already knew that
teaching was the way I wanted to go. But what CDE showed me and what
really helped was the dynamic between the staff members. The way that
they treated each other and interacted with the kids immediately bolstered
my desire to teach and be around more people like them.
Programs like CDE are great because the kids are really able to interact
and learn with other children from all over the world. This is a cultural
eye-opener for everyone at CDE — counselors and kids included —
because there are so many relationships and connections between borders
and continents that don’t really happen anywhere else. Often times great
connections are made between kids that don’t speak a common language
at all at the start of the summer. They teach and learn from each other
and find a way to communicate. Many of the kids arrive a little nervous
and might shed a few tears saying goodbye to Mom and Dad, but by the
end the tears are for the friends they don’t want to leave.
Philippines
Lebanon
put into it, the more you get out of it, which is the definitely the case
when you work with children.
I think the most important thing that CDE, TASIS, and really any
international school does for kids is to expose them to as much diversity
as possible — diversity in people, places, and experiences. The common
denominator is always international-mindedness or global citizenship;
when those kids grow up playing and working with people from all
around the world, compassion and acceptance of different cultures has a
way of developing very organically.
sounding thing that Betsy probably said, remember the sound of hundreds
of kids laughing at something, remember the two-teacher to five-student
classroom ratio…I remember all that and in so doing, remember that I
got into it for the fun, and I smile at all 27 of my students now, imagining
them in red shirts, telling myself, man I really ought to get back to Lugano
this summer for another dose of whatever it is that surrounds it. More
things should be fun.
34 eTASIS Spring 2015 35
The Sweet Sixteen
Click on any cover to reread the issue!
34 eTASIS Spring 2015 35
Tali Sandel: At the moment I am sitting with Bella Clark in Mallorca,
we are on a cruise after visiting Natasha Watson in Paris!
How did the independent travel you did together help shape who you
are now? For example, do you face new
situations more confidently, or are you
more flexible than others?
TS: Traveling together definitely made me
more independent and confident, traits
which have followed me and helped me
throughout my university career. It was
especially obvious my freshman year at
Boston University when many students
hadn’t even left the country. Traveling not
only helped me personally, but also academically and even professionally.
Professors and employers are extremely impressed to hear where I have
traveled and in awe when I tell them I did so with my friends and put
together such successful trips at such a young age.
Lauren Stephenson: I think all of us learned so much from the joys of
travel. It forced us to adapt quickly and efficiently to different situations.
We definitely take more initiative in trying to discover beautiful and
fun places and feel confident when we travel, because we know how to
communicate with others and know how to stick up for ourselves.
Bella Clark: The travel we did together made me more independent
and adaptable. It allowed us to grow and mature faster than some of
our peers, and gave us a sense of confidence that we brought with us to
university. Independent travel posed challenges for us that we overcame
together and allowed us to form a unique bond that we will cherish
forever.
Where have your travels taken you since
graduation?
TS: As for travels, the most significant
for me was spending summer 2013 in
Shanghai studying for three months. It
was definitely a culture shock as we lived
in a suburb of the city, and I wouldn’t
have made the decision to go without my
love of travel and confidence. Besides that,
I’ve taken a couple of trips to Paris to visit
Natasha, went to London and back to Lugano this past Thanksgiving
with Bella, and frequently visit New York to see Mel and Lauren. It’s
amazing how even after three years of living apart these girls are still my
best friends.
LS: I didn’t get to see Istanbul on academic travel like the other girls, so
I visited two years ago and loved it! Also, I traveled to Santorini, Greece
and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
This story, chronicling the adventures of five young women from the
Class of 2012 who took full advantage of weekend travel, resonated
with readers of all ages. We caught up with the girls we call ‘the easyJet
Set’ to ask if they are still filled with wanderlust. (eTASIS June 2012)
The easyJet Set: Where Are They Now?
eTASIS has covered a lot of things in five years. Many of the graduates from our inaugural
year have finished college and started their careers. We’ve said goodbye to beloved faculty
and staff and welcomed many new people to our community. The face of campus has
grown to include new buildings and spaces for our students to study, learn, and live. We
checked in with the subjects of some of our favorite stories to see where life has taken them.
36 eTASIS Spring 2015 37
BC: Since graduating from TASIS, I have continued to travel as much
as possible. I’ve been to Geneva, Ibiza, Palma Majorca, Marrakesh, Paris,
Istanbul, Izmir, Valletta, Sicily, Como, London, Hamburg, Munich, San
Salvador, Puerto Rico, Miami, LA, and NYC.
Thinking back, which of your trips were your favorites and why?
TS: It’s so hard to decide my favorite, we had such an amazing time
everywhere! For me, Mykonos was one of the stops after we graduated.
We had so much fun riding ATVs around the island and planning trips
to visit each other in the near future made it feel less like the end, which
it clearly wasn’t.
LS: I think we all have a soft spot for Dubai, because that was one of the
first trips we took at TASIS independently, and we had such a great time.
All of us girls shared a bed and a blow-up mattress and were basically
living on top of each other, but I’ve never giggled so much in my life.
We really were just so excited to be together and in such a beautiful place
with so many things to do.
BC: All of our trips were amazing and different, but one of my favorite
trips I guess was Mykonos or Dubai. I guess it would just be because of
the location. We were all in such a good state of mind and having the
times of our lives. We loved the food and culture in both places.
Where are you now?
TS: I am going into my senior year at Boston University, getting my BS
in marketing and informational systems planning on graduating may
2016. This summer I am interning for NBC in LA!
LS: NYC!
BC: I go to university in Washington, DC. Seeing as Tali, Lauren, and
Melissa all go to school on the East coast as well, I see the girls as much as
possible.
The easyJet Set are planning a trip to Dubai for New Year’s Eve 2016.
36 eTASIS Spring 2015 37
From TASIS to Beyond: UpdateOur ninth issue featured eight TASIS college freshmen sharing
their future plans with us. We caught up with a few of them
and asked them to reflect on their years since TASIS.
Lauren Stephenson ’12
I’m still at NYU and am at the Gallatin
School of Individualized Study, and
my concentration is Music Business
Management and Production. I absolutely
loved London [where she attended her
first year]! It was the best decision to study
abroad for as long as possible and I met
wonderful, international people who are
still close friends today! NYC is basically
home and it’s the best city in the world.
In NYC, I love going to concerts and shows with my friends, but I just
started interning for Late Night with Seth Meyers [a NBC talk show],
so that’s pretty occupying at the moment! Although my major is Music
Business, I really see myself working in film/TV production. I loved
studying theater at TASIS and it’s kept with me ever since. Working at
Late Night with Seth Meyers has been such a blast so far, so hopefully I’ll
be working at NBC when I graduate!
I think TASIS made me a more well-rounded person and really forced me
to adapt to certain situations and environments that are unfamiliar. Also,
TASIS made me so much more communicative and open to different
people and I believe these traits are so important in life and make you a
more genuine, loving human being.
Vittoria Vitali ’12I am studying fashion styling at Maragoni and have found my course
interesting and motivating. I’m graduating in June. I have no idea what’s
next, but I’ll start applying for jobs and I want to travel a bit to find
more and more inspiration.
When I’m not studying, I like to go out. Maragoni is in the center of
Milan and when I finish my classes I always walk around a bit. Milan is
so beautiful and there is always something interesting to see and discover
and places to find inspiration.
TASIS really helped me for two things; first is the language, since my course
is in English. The other is photography. I really liked my photography classes
at TASIS. They helped cultivate my creative thinking and my photography
and PhotoShop skills, which I use every day on my course.
Tara Das ’12I am at Bates and absolutely loving it. I cannot count how many
wonderful experiences and people I have encountered through my time
studying at Bates! I am a double-major in Politics and French. I am
currently applying to various post-graduate fellowships including the
Fulbright Fellowship and Koch Fellowship with the intention of gaining
work experience in the International Relations or the NGO sector before
pursuing a graduate degree in International Development and/or Non-
Profit administration — fingers crossed!
In my free time I perform in modern dance pieces produced by the Bates
Dance Department, teach English, do translation work for refugees in
my town, and organize events for the International Club.
Through Academic
Travel, International
Week, the Senior
Humanities Program,
and the day-to-day
conversations I had with
my peers at TASIS, I
was constantly broadening my outlook on the world and developing my
cultural literacy. Since graduating from TASIS, I have continued to seek
opportunities that test and mature my passion and skills for expanding
and connecting the international community around me. Whether it is
organizing the annual Bates International Dinner for my college (heavily
inspired by TASIS’s International Dinner, my favorite event of the year)
or studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal, I often find myself calling upon
my knowledge and experience of navigating across cultures with which
TASIS has provided me.
38 eTASIS Spring 2015 39
Alexis de Bruin ’12I am at Bentley University, entering my final year of what has been a
memorable three years. I am majoring in Economics and Finance with
a minor in Global Studies; three topics that shape today’s world. I’ve
been enjoying the competitive environment stemming from attending
an all-business university and the challenges that come with it. Thus far,
it has been very pleasant. I’m heading to New York City this summer for
an internship with an asset management firm, where I’ll be working with
junk bonds. If that goes well, I plan on continuing to work in the same
field for a few years before enrolling at a business school to get an MBA.
When I’m not studying, I spend time visiting different parts of Boston
or travel around to see TASIS friends. At school, I read and do research
on monetary economics for papers I’m collaborating on with other
students or professors, or for the
Fed Challenge, a competition last
December where I placed third
nationally.
TASIS was excellent in prepping
me for college life. Not only was
I able to skip a few general classes
because of credits I received from
getting high AP grades, I also had
the experience of dealing with roommates and community life, while
other students struggled in adapting to their new living arrangements.
Skipping a few classes allowed me to get ahead of other students and take
harder classes, as well as graduate earlier.
Class of 1985 – 30-Year ReunionWashington, DC, September 18-21, 2015Contact Trish Munoz Kish: [email protected] for info
Class of 1990 – 25-Year ReunionLas Vegas, October 10-12, 2015Contact Ken Tobe: [email protected] for info
All-Class Reunion in Washington, DCNovember 20, 20156:30 - 9:30 pmThe Hay-Adams Hotel
PG’65 – 50-Year ReunionWashington, DC, November 19-21, 2015Contact Rick Bell: [email protected] for info
All-Class Reunion in Los AngelesApril 30, 20166:30 pm till Late“Casa Roubik”, Glendale
Class of 1975 – 40-Year ReunionLos Angeles area, April 29-May 1, 2016Contact Linda Jaekel Avery: [email protected] for info
All-Class Reunion in Lugano Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of TASIS August 19-20, 2016More info to come: email [email protected] for info
PG’66 – 50-Year ReunionLugano, August 19-21, 2016Contact Cindy Crabtree: [email protected] for info
Take a road trip! Don’t miss connecting with your TASIS friends.
Upcoming AlumniReunions
38 eTASIS Spring 2015 39
All-Class Reunion in Los AngelesApril 30, 20166:30 pm till Late“Casa Roubik”, Glendale
Class of 1975 – 40-Year ReunionLos Angeles area, April 29-May 1, 2016Contact Linda Jaekel Avery: [email protected] for info
All-Class Reunion in Lugano Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of TASIS August 19-20, 2016More info to come: email [email protected] for info
PG’66 – 50-Year ReunionLugano, August 19-21, 2016Contact Cindy Crabtree: [email protected] for info
Alumni Artists
Station Beirut Saturday, June 13 - 5:00pm, Beirut. Lebanon Gianna Dispenza ’08 http://giannadispenza.com
TBD Independent Projects Art Gallery June 16 - 21 Basel, Switzerland
Luca Marziale ’08 www.lucamarziale.com
Photo London May 21-25 London, EnglandFiona Struengmann ’05 www.ifeverthennow.com.
Lincoln Park Zoo May 15–October 31, 2015, Chicago, Illinois Mary Seyfarth PG’66 http://www.gardenpied-a-terre.com/
TASIS would love to share every art opening
and show by TASIS alumni with our community.
Please send the Alumni office information about
gallery openings so we can get the word out. We
hope to expand our TASIS Visual Arts website soon
to include more alumni artists bios and news.
40 eTASIS Spring 2015 PB
TASIS The American School In SwitzerlandCH-6926 Montagnola, Collina d’Oro, Switzerland
Tel: +41 91 960 5151 - www.tasis.ch