Dear Middle School Parents,
In preparation for the Three-Way Conferences on Thursday and Friday of next week, please remember to bring your child’s report card, come with questions and be sure that your child attends to the conferences. Mr. Rob Martin, Grade 6 Humanities Teacher, shared an article with me and the author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, from the Harvard Family Research Group,
“believes children should be present at parent-teacher conferences — after all, she argues, they’re the only ones who know completely what’s going on both at home and at school.“Children can be wonderful authorities, very wise, very honest, very candid, very insightful about what their experience is,” Lawrence-Lightfoot said during a PBS NewsHour piece. “And that’s a valuable perspective to have in a parent/teacher conference.”
She also suggests “to stress the importance of using conferences to talk about ‘whole child’ skills, interests, and growth,” she said. “Not just focusing on information related to academic performance.”
We also have the Middle School Theatre production on the same two days. If your conferences are on Thursday, please attend the production on Friday or the other way around. Below is an announcement from the from the Director of the production, Ms. Diane Reid.
AISC’S Middle School Theatre Production
The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood
Thursday 14 November & Friday 15 November at 5:30 in FAC Theatre
It sure is hard to be humble when you're a swashbuckling, egocentric super-hero. But our gallant guy-in-green tries his best as he swaggers through The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, a frantically funny retelling of the classic story.
The legendary legend, in his never-ending quest to aid the needy, encounters a lovely damsel-in-distress, an ever-scheming sheriff, a greedy bad-guy monarch with a fan club of fawning ladies, a good-natured "Town's Guy" who manages to make his way into every scene, and a band of Merry Men whose collective IQs equal six.
Join us for an irreverent jaunt through Sherwood Forest that you won't soon forget! Tickets will go on sale Monday 11 November.
Note: The show plot and humor is suitable material for students in upper elementary and older. Show time is approximately 1.5 hours.
Please contact Rachel Griffiths at 8754593507 or at rtgriffiths@btinternet.com for more information.
Week Without Walls
Grade 8 and 7 students will be going on their WWW during the week of 18-22 November and 19-22 November, respectively. Please be sure that ALL the forms have been turned in. If you have any questions regarding the trip, please remember to contact the teachers before departure.
Vision and Hearing Screening Next Week
It is important that students get the vision and hearing screening each year. Please be sure that your child here at school for these two days. If you need to make an appointment for anything, please keep these times in mind. We appreciate your support and cooperation.
Tuesday, 12 November
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Wednesday, 13 November
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8:45 Grade 6
10:20 Grade 6
12:05 Grade 7
2:30 Make Up
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8:30 Grade 8
9:45 Grade 7
11:30 Grade 8
13:00 Grade 8
14:30 Make Up
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NESA Virtual Science Fair from Ms. Shobhana Radhakrishnan
It was the fourth time for AISC. The entire fifth grade was invited and a lot of parents responded favorably. We had eight teams with about three kids on each team. The basic rule for the science fair was that the entry must have a problem that could be solved experimentally with measurably results. College students were advisors and e-mentors for our students.
The entire activity was conducted after school hours, and the parents were a great inspiration and support to the kids. As it progressed, the children became more involved, focused, motivated, and as many of them said “We just love science now”. The whole activity lasted from November 2012 to May 2013.
Research teams opened their e-diaries, college advisors collaborated with members of the research team. The teams got the go-ahead from their e-mentors, submitted three interim reports, and finally posted the conclusion to the experiment.
Amid great excitement school winners were announced; two forums were created by the project manager and Rounds II and III of the virtual judging began. Students were required to answer five questions left by the Facilitator. ENTER JUDGES! Judges entered the research site to access online site, research report, and the 5 questions. Winners were announced – Top Five Teams who would enter Champion’s League.
FINALS – Five judges reviewed Top Five Sites.
Final Results Announced – The Winner was Team 1 consisting of Vinay S. Sriram, Reuben Rehan Neilsen, and Domenic Wilbur for their project on “BIOGAS” from AISChennai.
The beautiful rolling trophy – a fitting testimony to dedication and hard work- is back again at AISC after three years.
Thanksgiving Celebration
The Westin on Velachery Road is hosting a Thanksgiving buffet on Thursday, November 28th and has agreed to provide a special offer and buffet time for the members of AISC and our friends. Please plan on arriving between 12:30 and 1:00to enjoy a welcome drink and visit with friends. We will proceed with the “Carving of the Turkey” at 1:00 pm and open the buffet at that time. This will be a ticketed event and tickets will be on sale before and after school outside the main reception Monday, November 11th through Wednesday, November 20th.
Special Buffet Offer (inclusive of all taxes):
Adult ticket including “drinks” – 2200 Rs.
Adult ticket without – 1800 Rs.
Child ticket ages 6 – 12 years – 900 Rs.
Children 5 years and under are free
Please note the following are included in your ticket price:
- Lucky draw with gifts from the hotel including a) Free Room night stay at the Westin for 2 people b) Brunch for 2 adults and 2 kids at Seasonal Tastes c) Dinner for 2 adults and 2 kids at Seasonal Tastes) Spa Treatments, and more
- Kids arts and crafts session, Sony Playstation, kids play zone, etc.
- Complimentary use of the swimming pool from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day for those that wish to come early or stay late
- Pre-Packaged “left-over” box including turkey meat with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy at a very nominal price.
From our Athletics Director-Mr. Ron Thomson
Athletes of the Month of October
On behalf of The American International School – Chennai and the Athletic Department we would like to congratulate the October Athletes of the Month. These athletes were nominated by their coaches for their outstanding efforts in their respective sports then selected by the panel consisting of the head coaches and myself.
The recipients of this award are: Heewon Hwang for participation in M.S. Table Tennis, Katrina Nielsen for participation in SAISA Swimming, Dakota Kuhn for participation in SAISA Volleyball and Emma Berg for participation in SAISA Volleyball. These fine young athletes have all demonstrated and modelled the attributes of competitive spirit, hard work and dedication to one’s sport, leadership and the sportsmanship that we seek in all of our student/athletes.
Congratulations, we are very proud of you!
2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament
On December 6-7th, we will be hosting the 2013 ASIAC Soccer Tournament. We have 48 boys and girls joining us from The American School of Bombay and 48 boys and girls from The American Embassy School of New Delhi. We need the AISC community to pitch in and help find housing for all of these student/athletes.
We are requesting that each family house a minimum of two athletes. Please contact our director of housing and athletic secretary Sally Victor at extension 1303 to volunteer for hosting as well as attaining information regarding housing.
Thank you for all of your help with our upcoming tournament.
SAISA Track & Field Update
I wanted to update you on a change of venue that recently occurred for our season three sporting events. Due to a major renovation project at the American International School of Dhaka, they will not be able to host the 2014 SAISA Track & Field Meet this coming March 11-15th as planned. They requested that we switch the tournaments, to which we agreed. As a result, we will be hosting the 2014 SAISA Track & Field Meet and AISD will host the 2014 SAISA Boys Basketball Tournament.
By helping one of our SAISA member schools in this way we can assure that all the SAISA Track & Field Athletes have a properly-run and rewarding meet. We are excited about hosting the Track & Field Meet this year and look forward to the excitement and community building that hosting a meet with 300 athletes can do for our school identity and pride.
If you have any questions or concerns about this please feel free to contact me at tronald@aisch.org.
Thanks again for your understanding.
See you at the Diwali Celebration this Saturday.
Alan Phan
Middle School Principal