Niva Post Vol. 01, Issue 03, March 2017

Vol. 01, Issue: 03: March 2017

Niva is #1 in Thailand & #3 in Asia Maths Challenge

By Moon, 10G

Congratulations Niva! We won first place in Thailand and got third in Asia. This is truly a remarkable achievement for our students. They have worked so hard and sacrificed their free time to get to the top. We are fabulous!

“I have bonded with my classmate who participated in the competition,” said Ken, a participant in the Asia Math Contest. He got ready by “finishing the work the teacher set before then preparing for the contest” during various subjects throughout the day. “It is fun to compete because I want to win over my friends and others in the school”. As for

Mr. Freddy, on of the coordinators and math teacher, “The students have the opportunity to gain their knowledge, to challenge themselves globally, review, know their weaknesses, and compete!” He thinks that students who are interested, should give it a try. If there is something new you have not heard about, do not attack it, but try it.

Again...We are #1 in Bangkok

SPOTLIGHT:

WORLD SCHOLAR’S CUP

Pwaa!

On Friday, March 17th, a van set off from Niva International School to NIST for the Bangkok Round of World Scholar’s Cup. This is the first time that Niva has ever participated in this global competition that was initiated and sponsored by Yale University in the United States. In this van were Mr. Matt and Mr. Jon with three teams – 2 in the junior division and 1 in the senior division. The two junior groups consisted of Prin(G4), Pann(G6), Ping(G6), and Nicki(G6), Ajah(G6), and Linda(G6). The senior group consisted of Claire(G9), Cyrel(G10), and Shannon(G8). After reaching NIST and checking in, the three teams were directed towards a conference room for the Collaborative Writing competition, where they researched different topics for 15 minutes and spent the remaining 45 minutes writing an argumentative essay. Next, the three teams did the Scholar’s Challenge, which is a series of 120 multiple-choice questions in 6 subjects. The next 3 rounds consisted of debates.

Due to the lack of practice and confidence while facing older and more experienced opponents,

Niva lost the first 2 rounds. However, we realized our mistakes and made quick improvements, resulting in winning the third round. The 3 teams all headed back home at the end of the first day to rest and prepare for the second day.

On the second day, the World Scholar’s Cup was hosted at a different school – SISB. Niva participated in the Scholar’s Bowl, which was a team challenge involving clickers being handed to the teams and 6 rounds of questions appearing on the stage screen. The participants would click a letter on the clicker to answer a question before the time limit of 15 seconds ran out. The alpaca distribution followed, which cheered us all.

Those cute, cuddly stuffed animals could cheer anyone’s day up! Finally, the awards ceremony got all the scholars silent and hoping for the best.

Medals were handed out for each subject and category in each division. Our teams won more than 15 medals in total and a trophy for 3rd place in the collaborative Writing for senior division. We made it to the next round of events taking place in either Athens, Hanoi, or Cape Town. It was a very impressive two-day event!

By: Claire Tran 9G

World Scholar’s Cup: The Great Debate “I chose the debate because I wanted the opportunity to learn something new. I have never debated before, so I decided to join not to just win for the school but for my future and to have the opportunity to win a scholarship!” said Cyrel, a participant of Niva’s Debate Team who competed at World Scholar’s Cup 2017 (WSC) along with Claire and Shannon. The purpose of the WSC according to Cyrel is, “To help the younger generation prepare for the world, and to inspire them to use that knowledge to solve future problems”. On that day, “The Team was nervous due to the lack of experience and confidence,” but through time, they “learned from mistakes and thought of new tactics.” The Team won in their third round and is now qualified to compete in the next stage in Athens, Greece.

By: Moon 10G

Niva joins

Niva has joined over 50,000 singers for Sing Up Day that was on March 22! It was amazing.

The choir and the Grade 3-4 ELD students had the song, “Let Love Shine Through”, recorded on video in front of the students during the flag line up. The video will then be sent to the organizers where they will show it along with many other schools around the world. It was

very impressive because we didn’t expect the song to be good. But the result was very nice and everybody gave a warm round of applause to the singers and congratulated them afterwards. I heard some students say, “Music day is not that bad and it was very good”.

By Timmy, 11N

New ECA’s this Quarter School subjects are as important as they get. However, ECAs also play a vital role in helping students develop their abilities. Our school offers a wide variety of extra curriculum activities such as Spanish, Badminton, and Film Productions. These ECAs take place after school on Tuesdays and is part of the school curriculum. Through these ECAs, students are

able to explore other skills outside of the usual academic courses and have fun. This quarter, we were able to meet new friends, work with new people and were introduced to new courses that would help us in college in the future.

By: Claire Tran 9G

Cinderella

by the Grade 3 & 4 ELD Sudents

On March 3rd, the ELD class performed the play “Cinderella”. They had prepared for the event for 2 months, practicing their lines, and memorizing the scripts. There were beautiful dresses, stunning backgrounds and the students acted very well, even without an English background, they spoke English clearly and confidently. Parents and teachers alike watched the drama and there was a lot of positive feedback from the audience as the drama ended. They took pictures with their children in the costumes and they had a group photo at the end. Many of the students who performed wanted to have this activity again and this may turn out to be a start of a tradition within the ELD class.

by Aeron de Guzman, 10G

The Golden Jubilee Field Trip On the 1st of March, the Grades 1 to 12 embarked on an educational field trip to the Golden Jubilee Museum of Agriculture in Pathumthani Province. Along with the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, the students learnt and observed the various projects initiated by the late King Rama 9 that has helped in the development of agronomics and modern agricultural technology. Thereafter, we strolled through Thai traditional houses and studied the simple way of life, in addition to the various plants such as vegetables and fruits growing in ecofriendly pots. We headed inside the building to watch a 3D video on the King’s projects ensuing an enjoyable group bonding game and later observed the models of electricity generators, Thai food and imitations of traditional vintage shops, boat markets and many more. It sure was a fun and memorable experience for students of every age.

By Natasong 10G

SCHOLARSHIP HIGHLIGHT Goals of a Senior Golfer

By Kali, 11G

I have recently interviewed one of the Niva Seniors from the class of 2016- 2017. One of her top hobbies is to play golf, and her name is Siripatsorn Patchana, better known as Tangmo. Tangmo had applied to 10 universities in November, all on the west coast, and successfully got a full scholarship to the Grand Canyon University, in Arizona, USA. She applied as a major of sports science and all of her hard work and dedication to golf for the past 8 years had finally payed off.

Tangmo practices golf for 3-4 hours each day after school and during the weekends, either in the morning or all day, depending on her schedule. She would participate in tournaments twice a month and in the United States during the summer, the summer of her sophomore year. She has told us that her father was the one who inspired her golfing career, he has been playing for about 25 years and he wanted his children to take after him and so she did. She would play golf with him and so a while later he focused on her golfing more than anything else. Tangmo has expressed how much her father/ her coach has been her number one fan throughout the years and how his ongoing support has benefited her and helped her live up to who she is now.

Before her official acceptance letter, her unofficial acceptance was through a skype call which actually took place in this very school. During the interview, she expressed how much joy and excitement she felt hearing that she got accepted! Her parents were happy with it so she made the decision to go there. Later on Tangmo talked about golf as a sport. She talked about how golf is a serious sport and it’s not just a physical challenge on the field but a mental one too, players really need to concentrate to be able to play golf well.

It’s not just practice in the range too, there are hours of part time fitness to get the body in shape. Playing in the tournament, can be stressful and even though you don’t have to face an opponent face to face, it’s the state of your mind that really matters. Even though the process of finding and getting a university might have been dreadful and draining, I think it’s safe to say that it was all worth it for her in the end.

Highlight ENGLISH DRAMAS Grade 10 and 11’s Drama Presentation On the 8th and 9th of March, the assembly hall was transformed into a theatre world: 10 Ways to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse (by 10N), Game of Tiaras (by 10G), Beauty and the Wimp (by 11G), and Snow White through the Looking Glass (by 11N) were all on stage in front of the whole secondary school and a portion of elementary. High school art electives also experienced aspects of stage production by constructing theatrical backdrops and props. The plays themselves are told through make-believe yet empathetic themes the juniors and sophomores had put together. Inspired by this quarter’s drama presentation, a Drama club, where students can self-express through various forms of art, is underway for next schoolyear!

By Moon, 10G

NIVA RUN FOR A REASON

Niva’s Charity Run was held at Nawamin Pirom Park on the 10th of March 2017. It started at 7:30 in the morning untill 12 noon.

All the Niva students, teachers, and parents were invited to participate in our charity run.

Also, by purchasing a “Run for a Reason” T-shirt, we were able to collect money for two charities in Thailand, namely “The Peace Charity Foundation” and “Foster House Ban Tab Kwang Foundation”. The purpose

of the Niva Charity Run was to help charity organizations with their needs and also to enjoy the activities while making valuable memories with friends, family, and teachers. It was such a nice day and a great experience for all who came that day. I look forward to next year’s Charity Run.

By Song Lee, 8N

Niva’s Elementary Got Talent This years “Niva’s Elementary Got Talent” show was one of the best shows yet. Our judges were shocked by the performances of Niva’s most talented elementary students. From the awesome guitar performance by DJ to Im and Lily’s breathtaking dance performance, the audience was amazed. First place went

to PP who played the drums. Second place went to Otto. Lastly, third place was won by Alina, Areeya, and Elly with their jaw dropping dance moves. We can’t wait for next year’s talent show!

By: Jake, 11G

Textile for Charity Some pictures of our charity drive in NIVA is on the first floor between the canteen and the bookroom. Donations are being collected and will be given to the orphanages in Kloengtoey.

The people behind the Textile 4 Charity are Mr. Mac and Ms. Bee, who are running this charitable institute. - By: Ms. Ambika

RAK

-Random Acts of Kindness By: Patrick Guerin – Grade 3 Teacher

The Grade 3 English class in the last couple of months has been discussing topics related to moral values.

Mr. Patrick asked the big question in class, “What does RAK stand for?” This then turned into a discussion about how we make people’s lives better. The class then started a class list with everyone’s name on it so if anyone did something nice for someone, the person who experienced the kindness wrote about what the person did for them and how this made them feel.

Just recently, one of the Grade 3 students, Bianca, came and asked if she could start a business of selling her ideal product, squishies and slime, during her break time and lunch time. Bianca with the entrepreneurial spirt designed her business plan, set up her stall and was selling her product. Bianca’s strong sense of moral values, kind heartedness and business made her very successful and is now going to donate the money to a village that she has been to. At this village there are many people without many things but due to Bianca’s efforts, they will soon be able to have more than they did before.

Bianca did a selfless act of kindness and is doing this to enrich people’s lives without asking for anything in return = RAK (In Thai, it also means, “Love”.)

Congratulations Bianca!

NIVA’s BEST for the month of MARCH 2017 By: Ioru Yasuda, 11G

Best Students in Manga High Math’s Challenge

Niva is in the TOP 3 Kindergarten Animals Day: Best Animal Costume

Rapat - K2

Few - K3

Alice - K3

Click for More! www.niva.ac.th /nivaschools @niva_international NIVA Collection NIVA Post on issuu.com NIVA Location on Maps

NIVA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

18 Soi Phokaew 3, Yaek 9. Klong Chan, Ladprao 101, Bangkapi, Bangkok, 10240 Thailand

Tel: 02-948-4605-7