Friday, 21 September 2012

September 21, 2012


Dear Parents,

Thank you to the parents that came out for our FCD Educational Services parent session on Wednesday.  The parent session offered guidance and information in helping children enjoy a drug-free adolescence. Clickhere to view the handout from this session.  Additional information and resources can also be found at www.fcd.org

French Lunch postponed from Thursday, September 20 to Monday September 24 for all MS French speakers and French natives! Bring your own food to the cafeteria. This will be a very informal gathering in the MS-HS cafeteria at 1:00 pm, to speak as much French as we can.  All levels of French speakers are welcome, beginners as well as native speakers. This includes all staff, parents, and students of any ages.  Look for signs to the left that say "Ici on parle francais." Merci, Madame Tucky and Madame Naomi

Today, Friday, Sept 21st is the International Day of Peace
“The International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.
In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace. By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal. During the discussion of the U.N. Resolution that established the International Day of Peace, it was suggested that:
Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace.
Since its inception, Peace Day has marked our personal and planetary progress toward peace. It has grown to include millions of people in all parts of the world, and each year events are organized to commemorate and celebrate this day.
The above excerpt has been taken from (http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/) 

In honor of Peace Day, the Roots and Shoots club asks us to contemplate what peace means to you. R&S are encouraging families, as well as student groups, classes, to design a peace flag. They will be starting to display flags on Peace Day (today) but will collect them through October 15th, so they can all be displayed for UN Day.  They are also collecting student or staff writing or artwork about peace, which will also be displayed for UN Day near the PAC and published on the roots and shoots blog, soon to be attached to the school website.

United Nations Day is Wednesday, October 24th. AISC marks this day with a number of celebrations of Peace and Diversity – a Flag Procession, assemblies, and a parent organized International Pavilion. There will be more communication regarding these celebrations in the weeks to come.

This year for the first time, the flag procession will include all students with flags from the nations represented by AISC’s student body.  We are in the process of making sure that we have all the flags we need for our procession. We have records of the nationalities of all AISC families. Sometimes students see their cultural background as more significant than their nationality. For example, in the past we had a parent who was Lithuanian, but her children held U.S. passports.  Thus we added the flag of Lithuania to the procession.  If your child wants to march with a flag other than their national group, or if you are unsure about whether we have accurate information on your middle school child’s nationality (for dual passport holders, for example), please contact the middle school Assistant Ms. Aziz at sAzizunnisa@aisch.org. Please clarify this no later than Friday, October 5. Thank you so much for your cooperation.

Library times: middle school students may access the middle school library starting from 8:00 am upon requesting a hall pass from the teacher on duty, ground floor at the main staircase. This will shift the library times to Monday-Thursday - 8:00 am - 4:30 pm and Friday   8:00 am - 4:15 pm.