Concordian International School
BY CONCORDIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
INTEGRITY - VISION - INTELLECT - COMPASSION
ISSUE 33: MARCH 2022
WINTER ISSUE Welcoming 2022 and the Year of the Tiger
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
2
Table of Winter Issue
3 Editor's Note School Updates
P. 16
P. 20
4 5 6 8 10 11 12 14
Health and Safety Check-in The Role of an Educator Welcoming Our Youngest Students On Campus PYP Celebrating Chinese New Year 2022 Cultivating a Science Mindset Fostering Critical Thinking Counseling Corner Meet the MYP Coordinator
Showcase 15 16 20 24
P. 28
aScention A venture by G10 Students A Great Honour for a Young Concordian PY The Voice of Concordian The 6th Chinese Temple Fair Chinese poems: From the classroom to the printed page
Athletics News 26 27 28 29
News from the Athletic Concordian Dragons Amazing Kids Triathlon Thailand Junior & Cadet Fencing Championship Chess and Thailand Show Jumping Competitions Foods for Fitness and Health
Student Life and Service
P. 30
P. 38
Chinese Singing Contest The 6th Chinese Temple The Voice of Concordian Fair "Harmony, Peace, Season 6 Endeavor"
Grade 7 Service Projects Celebrating Our Alumni Mangrove Tree Service Success Sasom Online Group Platform
Service Learning Updates Middle School Student Government High School Student Government Model United Nations 2021-2022 World Scholar's Cup PM Innovation Competition Two Concordian G12 Students Chosen to Visit CERN
Alumni Update 38
Celebrating Alumni Success
Special Feature 42 44
Interview with Concordian Families Princ Hospital Advertorial
3 1 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Thailand Chess Festival 2021 Victory for Concordian
30 32 33 34 35 36 37
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
4 2
"ประเทศชาติของเราจะเจริญหรือเสื่อมลงนั้นย่อมขึ้นอยู่กับการศึกษาของประชาชน แต่ละคนเป็นสำ�คัญ ผลการศึกษาอบรมในวันนี้จะเป็นเครื่องกำ�หนดของชาติในวันข้างหน้า ท่านทั้งหลายจะต้องเป็นผู้รับผิดชอบโดยตรงในเรื่องนี้เพราะฉะนั้น เมื่อท่านออกไปเป็นครู ท่านต้องพยายามทำ�หน้าที่ของท่านให้สำ�เร็จโดยสมบูรณ์" พระบรมราโชวาทในพิธีพระราชทานปริญญาบัตรแก่บัณฑิตวิทยาลัยวิชาการศึกษา ประสานมิตร 2 ธันวาคม 2508
Editor's Note
Editor's
NOTE Dear Impact Readers,
Since tthe last issue of our magazine, we welcomed with hope and
optimism the astronomical New year 2022 as well as the Lunar New Year of the Tiger which got underway on February 1st. With these new beginnings also came the reopening of our Pre-K classes as we were finally able to welcome our youngest learners to Concordian. You can discover more about their adventures in our pages, while over at the PYP, we take a deeper look at what it takes to cultivate a Science mindset, how to foster critical thinking in a bilingual immersion learning environment and how our students welcomed the Chinese New Year. Undoubtedly, some of the greatest highlights of the academic year took place very recently. Our school held two spectacular and very important events - the Voice of Concordian Season 6 and the 6th Temple Fair celebrating the Chinese New Year. Hours of hard work, dedication and collaboration went into organizing these events and holding them on site while respecting the safety protocols currently in place. The students’ talents on display were simply breathtaking as you can discover in the pages of this issue. The current times haven’t been very easy for our Concordian Dragons who still face many restrictions and are unable to fully enjoy team sports this season. Luckily, in this issue we are able to proudly celebrate some of the successes of our community members that they were able to achieve outside of school. In this issue, we also check in on the Secondary Service Learning projects, find out more about what the MSSG and HSSG have been up to and learn more about MUN and the fantastic achievement of a team of Concordian students and their teacher at the PM’s Innovation Competition. We also feature the story of the founders of SASOM - three of our alumni who have their own start-up and are making their dreams come true. We also continue our series featuring Concordian families sharing how being at Concordian has impacted their children's growth.
Please enjoy this issue of Impact! Dessy Delevaux Editor
Find us on Facebook or Instagram CONCORDIANDRAGON THECONCORDIANGRAGONS
5 3 CONCORDIAN CONCORDIANIMPACT IMPACT- -ISSUE ISSUE32 33
On a closing note, as we move through 2022, let’s remember that the tiger symbolizes power, courage, confidence, leadership and strength - skills that are needed more than ever in our world. We send our best wishes to the Concordian community for peace and strength in this New Tiger year!
Dessy Delevaux, Editor Wanlapha (Prinz) Sa-ardwong, Graphic Designer
School Updates
Health and Safety Check-in with Khun Kay
Khun Suppakkarn Pantisoontorn, affectionately known as Khun Kay by our community, is a member of the Board of Trustees and a valued
member of the Concordian Crisis Management Team and Health and Safety Committee. Khun Kay’s tireless efforts and meticulous approach to problem solving under pressure have been a tremendous asset to our school during the ongoing situation. Impact would like to take this opportunity to re-introduce Khun Kay and to thank her on behalf of our whole community for everything she does with so much grace and dedication. Impact: Khun Kay, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. Could you please let our readers know for how long you have been a member of the Concordian community? Khun Kay: I first became a Concordian parent in 2008 when my eldest daughter started school and began serving on the Board of Trustees in 2014. Currently I am the Vice-Chairperson of the Board, as well as the designated Crisis Management, Child Protection and Safeguarding lead. Impact: You are currently assisting the school with managing the ongoing Covid-19 situation. Could you please share some examples of how you are supporting our community?
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
6 4
Khun Kay: The past couple of years have been challenging for communities around the world due to the Covid-19 situation and Concordian has been no exception. However, despite the challenges, the school is firmly committed to upholding the health and safety standards strictly in order to provide the safest environment possible for our students. My job is to provide up-to-date information about exactly what those standards are and how to best implement them. As such, I am in constant contact with the local public health authorities and I closely follow the updates to government regulations and recommendations which are always evolving. In addition to this, I am involved in organizing the various vaccination drives for our community that have taken place since last year. Impact: Your involvement in the inspection of our school by the Samut Prakan Public Health Office back in October 2021 was instrumental. Could you please tell us more about this process?
Khun Kay: Yes, this process was indeed very challenging and the official inspection lasted for over three hours. It was so detailed, the inspection focused on many areas ranging from such broad topics as the school’s ability to meet the Sandbox Safety Zone in School “Bubble & Seal” requirements by having separate entrances for the different sections and having sufficient ventilation, to very small details such as installing foot pedals on the water dispensers in order to minimize contact. In the end it was worth it as, based on this inspection, the school was allowed to reopen and welcome its students on campus once again and that was the ultimate goal - to provide the safest and best learning environment for our students. Impact: You provide constant support to our community of students, parents and teachers on a daily basis. Could you please tell us more about that? Khun Kay: I would really like to emphasize that I do not work alone but I work as part of a team, a very supportive team within the school that is always on standby and has our community’s best interests at heart. As part of my ongoing duties, I act as a liaison between families and the school when it comes to reporting cases, I do the same for the teachers. I also assure the link between our community and our partner hospitals when it comes to arranging for urgent PCR tests or hospitalization due to Covid. Impact: Khun Kay, thank you for everything you do for the safety and wellbeing of the Concordian community! Khun Kay: It is my pleasure and an honor knowing that I play a part in keeping us all safe. Additionally, a big appreciation goes to our Concordian community for their on-going support, understanding and kind cooperation to adhere with the school measures for the new norm.
The Role of an Educator
School Updates
from the perspective of a Secondary Principal Being an educator has been my only job for my entire life. For the past few months, I have been pondering the authentic meaning of education, especially in the middle of unexpected challenges. As an educator for nearly three decades, I firmly believe that teachers have a tremendous influence in students’ lives. Teachers not only lead children to the world of knowledge, we also introduce the world in a multi-dimensional way for children to explore. To prepare learners to become members of the expanding global village, teachers should enable them to have positive attitudes and critical thinking skills so they can become independent and life-long learners. In the current challenging situation everyone is facing the difficulty to keep up with updates and unpredicted changes. Sometimes it’s easy while other times it requires much attention. Resilience is the most important skill for all of us, as learners, to grow continuously. I am confident that the time will come for all of us to have the opportunity to say cheerfully: I have made it! Keep positive in the midst of challenges! Sally Wen Secondary Principal
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
7 5
School Updates
Welcoming Our Youngest Students to
On-Campus Learning It
was wonderful to welcome our newest Concordian students who joined our Pre-K classes in early January. After a few days of learning to say goodbye to their parents after being dropped off to their class, the students were ready to get their school day started and enjoy a fun day of learning and making new friends! Having all of our students back with us and learning on campus has greatly helped our students academically and socially. It wasn’t long at all before the students began making friends, learning and playing together. Campus-based learning is very important as it allows for social interaction with teachers and fellow students. This is important not only on a social level but on an academic level as well, it allows students to discuss what they do and do not understand with each other and to help one another. Our students have all enjoyed their time together. Here are just a few photos of some of the fun experiences our students have had since being back in school. Recess times give the students more time to further explore, have fun and spend special times together with their friends. Mr. Tim Byrum Elementary School Principal
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32 33
6 8
School Updates
Here are just a few of the fun class activities that the classes have been involved in. K3 Pattern Painting and Painting Symmetrically K3 enjoyed using their creativity to show patterns on butterfly wings. Each child painted a unique butterfly using watercolors to show different patterns.
The K2 Students went on a bug hunting adventure together
Holiday Celebrations (Christmas)
Holiday Celebrations (Halloween)
97 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
School Updates
PYP Celebrating
Chinese New Year 2022 As the most important Chinese cultural event, Chinese New
Year has always been greatly celebrated in Concordian every year. This year, the PYP Chinese department organized a Wishing Tree activity (许愿树) in the lobby. It is a tradition that Chinese people in the old times wrote their wishes on red paper tied to a mandarin orange or a copper coin, then threw them to hang in the tree. It was believed that if the paper successfully hung onto one of the tree branches, these wishes would come true. PYP students excitedly participated in this activity, class by class, during the last week before the Chinese New Year break. By the end of the 4 days, this beautiful 3-meter high and 3meter wide plum blossom tree was covered with red wishing paper tags. Students wrote or drew their wishes. They had a choice to hang their wishes or throw their wishes on the tree. Believe it or not, sometimes it took quite a few tries before the paper finally caught the branch and then along came a big clapping or cry of joy. Some students wished for family health and safety, some wished to study well and make good progress, some drew an orange which presented joy and luck, some drew a mighty tiger for the Year of the Tiger to be free from bad luck. No matter what they wished for, no matter whether their wishes come true or not, it is their kind thoughts that are meaningful as the New Year unfolds.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
10 8
This year in the lobby, we also had a display of K3 artwork Tiger Hats (虎头帽). In their Visual Art class, K3 students were learning how to use different colors, textures, and media to represent culture. Tiger represents bravery, strength and power. It also symbolizes the love of parents, protecting their children against any danger with a strong will. When wearing a mighty Tiger Hat, it is believed that the tiger and the child will become one - the tiger is the child and the child is the tiger. Therefore, Tiger Hats are used to bless children growing up with happiness, health and away from bad luck. We appreciate Ms. Ting, our EY Art teacher, who guided our students to create these beautiful and meaningful Tiger Hats. Celebrating culture and traditions are important parts of our PYP curriculum. It is delightful to see students learning the language and learning the culture of the language. We wish everyone as a Concordian family a happy and auspicious Chinese New Year!
祝大家虎年幸福安康，顺心如意！ Ariel Yu Wang Elementary Principal/Head of Chinese
School Updates
11 9
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
School Updates
Cultivating a Science Mindset in the Early Years
In Concordian, young children not only learn the Chinese language and embrace Chinese culture but also explore everything through the Chinese language, including science. Young children are active learners who are inquisitive and have a thirst for new knowledge. Scientific exploration provides the perfect opportunity for our youngsters to make connections with the world around them through play-based learning.
K2 students have just completed a great learning experience in the Chinese unit “How the World Works”. It is a science unit exploring the laws of the natural world, focusing on “changes”. The unit is not about the changes in the natural world like weather, seasons, leaves but more of a shift to the physical world and invites our youngsters to explore the physical and chemical changes of the materials and matter. Our teachers purposefully designed the classroom environment to promote exploration, wonder and creativity. The exploration table is set with different natural and man-made materials as well as tools (magnifiers, beakers, measuring cups, droppers, etc.). The classroom library center is filled with non-fictions books about materials and changes. Science posters and data collection charts are up on the wall and windows. Students are invited to co-construct the learning environments by contributing materials to the exploration table and recording data through drawing. Safety measures are carefully considered and carried out. Students are always reminded to wear safety goggles when making experiments with teachers.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
12 10
Through various classroom and online activities and experiments, students became very knowledgeable about the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas, and how and why they can change and interchange. They especially enjoyed the dissolving and melting experiments in which they tested many different objects. They were fascinated seeing the balloon being blown up by the gas created by mixing baking soda and liquid vinegar. They were amazed with the coloring changing and forming beautiful patterns when dropping food coloring into milk. What matters the most is that students had a chance to develop a variety of science skills including using all senses to observe the features, properties, changes of different materials; collecting and recording findings in simple charts and graphs; describing experiments using scientific vocabularies; generating questions; making predictions and justifying with reasons. These skills nurture our young children’s science mind-set and build them up into inquirers. It is important to remember that children learn from almost everything. Seeing all the wonder in the children’s faces and joy of learning in their eyes is absolutely rewarding. We know a seed of loving science has been planted in the children’s hearts. Ariel Yu Wang Elementary Principal/Head of Chinese
School Updates
s s a l C e s e n i h C G5
- Fostering Critical thinking in an immersion learning environment
The
PYP G5 Chinese curriculum is taught as a language subject focusing on language arts and literature, however the lessons are still delivered in an immersion environment with lots of opportunities for students to conduct inquiry research and practice critical & creative thinking.
In the second unit “How the World Works”, G5 students conducted an interesting “Spaghetti Tower” challenge in Chinese class to compete for the tallest and most steady “tower” in 20 minutes. Each group of students was given the exact same amount of supplies including 30 sticks of dry spaghetti, 10 pieces of marshmallow, one yard of adhesive tape and one yard of string. The tool given to each team was only one pair of scissors that all members had to share.
It was a great team building activity that encouraged effective communication and collaboration. As the team was given limited supplies and only one tool that they had to share, they had to make decisions that all members agreed upon. As soon as the teachers explained the rules, all groups excitedly discussed possible plans and drawing designs. As they started building the spaghetti tower, they tested theories and ideas in practice but soon discovered challenges such as supplies being used up, the tower falling apart, or a failing foundation structure. They had to quickly revise their understanding and find solutions to fix the problem with time ticking. It was an activity that promotes the design mindset and supports the understanding of basic engineering principles. At the end of the challenge, after winners were announced, the teachers invited students to reflect on their collaboration process including what challenges and conflicts they had, how they solved the issues and what they learned through this activity and from other groups. Students reflected on it as an extremely engaging teambuilding activity that helped them inquire, think, collaborate and be open-minded. Students also shared they could now see the importance of a solid foundation in a structure and then made connections to the role a solid foundation played in their study.
The success of teaching results from recognizing that students learn by doing and reflecting. The G5 Chinese team will strive to provide authentic learning experience in our Chinese program and celebrate students’ learning. Ms. Ariel Yu Wang Elementary Principal/ Head of Chinese
11 13 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
The language aspects of this activity helped students to use proper measure words (量词)，practice accurate verbs, procedure writing as well as a deep-reflective personal recount piece of the event.
School Updates
Message from
PYP Learning Inclusion Support teachers Inclusion is an ongoing process that aims to increase access and engagement in learning for all students by identifying and removing barriers to learning. It involves change and is facilitated in a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, support and problem solving involving the whole school community (IBO, 2016).
• We provide support so students can access and fully participate in learning alongside their similar-aged peers. • For teachers, we provide teaching strategies tailored to meet their students’ individual needs. • For parents, we provide resources so that they can fully support their children at home.
What do we do?
Who do we have in our Team?
PYP Learning Inclusion Support Teachers provide support to students, teachers and parents. Learning support teachers work with students with diverse learning needs, identify their areas of need and provide in-class and one-on-one support with the goal of maximizing the students’ learning. We also collaborate with relevant teams for the implementation of teaching strategies and learning materials to accommodate the students’ needs.
Message from
PYP Counselors
Counselors
32 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
14 12
From left to right: Ms. Peachi, Ms. Ako, Ms. Luck,Ms. Abie and Ms. May (Masks were removed for photo taking only)
are delighted to meet all students in the Thai Value classes from Pre-K up to Grade 5. During the lessons, students in the Early Years have learned ways to make friends and keep friends and know how to play in a fair way.
If parents have any questions and concerns about their child, please feel free to contact Ms. Luck at luck@concordian.ac.th
Counselors will make sure that all Early Year students know how to share, take turns, and ask for sharing. We work closely with teachers and parents to reinforce all these social and emotional skills.
Who are your PYP counselors?
Thank you for your great and kind support.
In the Primary Years, students learn appropriate friendship skills, covering how to make and maintain friendships, conflict-resolution skills, and emotional management skills. Students learn to develop a good EQ which is to recognize their own feelings and notice other people’s feelings. They learn how to manage their strong emotions in healthy ways. We also build resilience skills which is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties in life. Early Years and Primary Year students also learn about the Body Safety lessons and self-protection skills.
From left to right: Ms. Luck: Head of PYP Counseling department, Ms. Sze Wan Ho: Prek-K2 Counselor, Ms. Tong: K3 to Grade 2 Counselor, Ms. Maria: Grade 2-4 Counselor, Ms. Yatima: Grade 5 Counselor (Masks were removed for photo taking only)
MYP Counseling Update
School Updates
The counseling team is thankful to have students back on
campus now, even though due to Covid restrictions, many counseling lessons and activities remain online. While we are unable to have students work in groups, they have been actively participating in class discussions, brainstorming, and sharing their opinions and experiences with their classmates. Our students' resiliency and ability to remain positive and not give up during this pandemic and the multiple transitions to online learning never ceases to amaze and impress us. The ultimate goal of counseling is to help prepare students and give them the tools to succeed personally, academically and professionally, both in high school and beyond, down whatever path they should choose. We have been running counseling lessons during our shortened days with students from Grades 6-10 on different topics including bullying and being positive upstanders, internet safety, learning styles, multiple intelligences, goal setting, leadership, self-compassion, gratitude, managing stress and anxiety, personal and career exploration, and developing grit, to name a few. We are excited to continue working with Concordian’s MYP students and to watch them grow and mature into leaders in our community. The MYP Counseling Department
DP Counseling
Update
First semester proved to be a very busy time for us all in the DP Counseling Department. Grade 12 students were filling in college applications while trying to balance their school work. As with every year, there is much pressure on the students. They know what is expected of them but finding enough hours in the day can be taxing. I am happy to say that at this point, they have outdone themselves by mostly staying on task.
Many of our Seniors are already receiving offers and scholarships! The schools they are getting acceptances from hail from around the world, for example: Hong Kong University, UCL, University of Reading, Queen Mary University of London, University of Manchester, Royal Veterinary College, Yale University, Marymount Manhattan, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, UC Berkeley, Australian National University, University of Sydney, The University of New South Wales, Chulalongkorn (INDA, EBA, BBA programs), Mahidol (Bioresources and Environmental Science, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi), Thammasat Innovation BSi, and Keio University.
For our Grade 11 students we have started the college application process this year through guidance lessons, individual meetings and Junior interviews. As we pick up the Grade 10s in the second
Finally, I do want to mention that we not only work with students on their college and career aspirations but we also try hard to look after their mental health. In March and April, we will be having a workshop led by an outside organization, for both Grades 11 and 12 students, on how to take care of their mental health. I went through the course myself and I firmly believe this will be good training for our students. As we head toward the last leg of our school year, I want to encourage everyone to continue looking after themselves. Stay safe, healthy but most importantly happy! Dr. Tresa Director of College Counseling
15 13 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
We still have a few months left and I know a few more countries to add to the growing list of acceptances. Way to go seniors! Keep working toward your goals! These successes have been a collaborative effort with various departments involved but I do want to say that teachers play a major role in getting students academically ready. Let’s give a big shout out to our wonderful teachers at Concordian - thank you for all you do to help our students!
semester, we are collaborating and supporting the Principals, IB Coordinator and teachers to make sure students make the right choices for their future goals and aspirations. Our school Director has also been leading meetings with parents in Grade 10 to talk about the course selection process in Thai.
School Updates
Meet the MYP Coordinator Ms. Rachel Samson
In our previous issue, we introduced you to our new DP Coordi-
nator, Mr. Markus Mattila. This time, we will introduce our readers to and find out more about our new MYP Coordinator, Ms. Rachel Samson. Impact: Please tell us about yourself. Rachel Samson: I was born in India but my family moved to the U.A.E. six months later. I spent my childhood there until we moved again to Canada. Growing up, my family travelled and moved houses frequently so I developed a keen interest in exploring the world around me. I enjoyed learning about different cultures, histories, languages, but it was in high school that my passion for the sciences was solidified. After completing the DP, I attended the University of Toronto, majoring in Human Biology and French Literature. After a friend of mine shared her experience of teaching abroad, I thought that was a great opportunity to combine my passions for being a life-long learner and travelling. I completed my Bachelor of Education at Queen’s University and my first chance at teaching overseas was at an IB school in Alexandria, Egypt. After two years there, I was fortunate to find a position at Concordian, and my five years here have flown by in the blink of an eye! Impact: Why did you choose Thailand for your international career and what are some aspects that you enjoy most about living here? Rachel Samson: I was open-minded about where I would teach after Egypt. While considering Thailand, I knew I would enjoy the warm weather, the beaches and mountains, the food, the city life, and that it is a central hub for travel in this region. After coming here, I found Bangkok to be a unique mix of East and West. As a third culture kid, I really enjoy this aspect and the friendly, caring people I have met here. Impact: How has being at Concordian made you a better person and a better teacher?
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
16 14
Rachel Samson: Having taught in the Math and Science departments, and having interacted with teachers and staff across the school for service, homeroom, and various projects, it is definitely our colleagues who inspire and support me to be a better teacher. They have their own unique perspective of best practices for teaching and learning, but all of them are rooted in their passion for giving our students a meaningful education. As for being a better person, my experiences here have built up my self-confidence and ability to be a risk-taker. The admin is always encouraging us to develop our skills and pursue new opportunities, even if we feel like we may not be the best at it.
Impact: What exactly does a MYP Coordinator do in an IB school such as ours? Rachel Samson: The MYP Coordinator is a liaison between many stakeholders at our school and the IB, they are responsible for the implementation of all aspects of the MYP program. This includes the standard and practices for an IB education, curriculum planning and mapping, supporting the Community and Personal Projects, professional development for staff, and communication with parents about the program. They are also responsible for ensuring a smooth transition for students from the PYP and to the DP. Impact: How do you make sure that at the end of MYP our students are well prepared to make the transition into the DP programme? Rachel Samson: Although the DP subjects are academically rigorous, successful completion of the Diploma Programme requires students to have more than just a depth or breadth of knowledge. They have to balance their coursework with service to the community, the extended essay, and other extracurriculars. Throughout their time in the MYP, students build on the skills that were introduced in the PYP; communication, collaboration, research, creative and critical thinking, organisational and reflective skills are what will support them in their endeavours as life-long learners. Our school’s on-going commitment to purposeful action in the community and the Personal Project, a student-driven inquiry in MYP 5, provides them the opportunity to further demonstrate other IB values such as the Learner Profile attributes and international-mindedness.
Showcase
aScention
A venture by G10 Students in Thai communication We,
G10 Thai communication students are learning about business and how it works. This project’s purpose is to help us gain experience in running a business as a team. The profit gained will be used for our School Build next year. Our brand name is "aScention". Prinn, Mirun, JJ
เราคื อ กลุ ่ ม นั ก เรี ย น
Thai communication
เกรด 10 ที ่ ก ำ � ลั ง เรี ย นรู ้
เกี่ยวกับธุรกิ จและวิธีการทำ�งาน โครงการนี้จัดทำ�ขึ้นเพื่อให้นักเรียนได้ศึกษา กระบวนการทำ�ธุรกิ จ รู้จักบทบาทและหน้าที่ของแต่ละฝ่าย ฝึกทักษะการทำ�งาน ร่วมกันเป็นทีม พร้อมเรียนรู้วิธีแก้ปัญหาในรูปแบบต่างๆ ตลอดทั้งโครงการ กำ�ไรที่ได้รับเราจะนำ�ไปใช้ใน พวกเราคือ
School Build
ของเราในปีหน้า ชื่อแบรนด์ของ
"aScention"
Prinn, Mirun and JJ delivering the product to a very happy customer
A Great Honour for a Young Concordian Student Impact would like to congratulate Manie (G6I) for having received, in Memory of the King Rama 9th's Birthday, the Honorary Trophy and Certificate for having performed one of the good deeds of determination under the umbrella of Chakri Dynasty, in the Division of Youth Singing Artist Country Standard of Thailand. This took place on Saturday, December 4th, 2021. Concordian is very proud of Manie and her impressive achievement!
ขอแสดงความยินดีกับ Manie (G6I) ที่ได้รับถ้วยพระราชทานกิตติมศักดิ์และ เกี ย รติ บ ั ต ร ๑ ปณิ ธ านความดี ใต้ ร ่ ม พระบารมี จ ั ก รี ว งศ์ สาขาเกี ย รติ ค ุ ณ เยาวชนผู้ทำ�คุณประโยชน์สร้างชื่อเสียงด้านศิลปิน ดารา นักร้อง นักแสดงดีเด่น ระดับประเทศ เนื่องในโอกาสวันเฉลิมพระชนมพรรษารัชกาลที่ 9 ซึ่งจัดขึ้นใน วันเสาร์ที่ 4 ธันวาคม 2564 ทางโรงเรียนนานาชาติคอนคอร์เดียน รู้สึกยินดีและ ภูมิใจในความสำ�เร็จของเธอเป็นอย่างยิ่ง
15 17 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Showcase
Chinese Singing Contest Season 6 2022 PY The Voice of Concordian Chinese Singing Contest Season 6 took place successfully and celebrated the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival 2022.
We would like to express our appreciation to our judges. Ms. Sally has been our honored judge for the past 6 years. Ms. Dessy joined the Voice this year for both the auditions and the Finale. Our student judge Khao Jao Grade 11, who won the Best Voice award of the very first Voice Season 1 six years ago, returned to the Voice this year as a judge. Our guest judge Dr. Guo Xiaohui is the Vice-President of the Chinese Teachers (Thailand) Association. We were very lucky and thankful to have him in our judging panel again this year.
Every year the theme of the Voice is always carefully chosen to be culturally representative and of significant meaning. This year, we chose “Four Gentlemen” 梅兰竹菊。The Four Gentlemen refers to four plants with noble symbolism in Chinese culture and many Asian cultures. The plum blossom that opens in winter represents perseverance and resilience against hard conditions. The orchid in spring symbolizes purity. In summer, the bamboo We also would like to thank our Head of School, Mr. Laurent, rises to the sky, meaning uprightness and integrity. The chrysan- for arranging everything to ensure the live streaming worked successfully. Thanks to the live streaming system, our students themum in autumn is a symbol of being noble and modest. and teachers were able to watch the show live in the classrooms As the year 2022 unfolds, we hope all of us in the community - and cheer for their friends and classmates! students, teachers and parents - are ready to explore the year with valuable qualities just like the Four Gentlemen. Turn your dreams into reality and your efforts into great achievements.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
18 16
After auditions, sixteen performances were selected to compete in the Voice Finale on the 17th of February 2022. Their beautiful voices and genuine emotions won the hearts of the judges and audience. Their singing technique grew year after year and their stage presence was the result of their inner confidence and, of course, tremendous work of practice. Their talents would not go without being recognized. And through healthy competition, they pushed each other to rise to a higher level!
Showcase
19 17
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Showcase
20 18
Showcase
Congratulations to the following students who won the Best Voice Awards: G1C Yumi, G1S Venice, G1S Parima, G1I JJ, G2S Finn, G3C Nita, G3S Times, G4I CJ, G5C Prim, G5C Katie, G5I Sureen, G5S Ken L and G5D Jasmin. Congratulations to the following students who won the Good Voice Awards: G2C Nara, G2S Jaida, G2S Kean, G3C Terter, G5I Leo, G5I Grace, G5C Nita, G5D Plearn and G5D Ploy. Congratulations to the following two students who won the Golden Voice Plaque Awards: G3C Nita and G5D Jasmin. The two girls have won the Best Voice awards for three years in a row. A great show cannot be achieved without a professional team and this team is our wonderful PY Chinese department. All the Chinese teachers, teaching assistants and support teachers spent long days over many weeks to ensure the success of the event. We thank Khun Fang who created all the graphic designs and coordinated the event alongside me; we thank Khun Peanut for coordinating the facility, Khun Game on behalf of the IT team and Khun Ying on behalf of the maintenance team. On behalf of our Chinese department, I would like to thank the school for always giving us the ultimate support and putting faith in our Chinese program. We look forward to the Voice of Concordian Chinese Singing Contest Season 7 next year. Ms. Ariel Yu Wang Elementary Principal and Head of Chinese
21 19 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Showcase
th
The 6 Chinese Temple Fair 2022: “Harmony · Peace · Endeavor”
SING! Secondary School Chinese Singing Festival Under the Covid restrictions this year, instead of holding the
normal big Temple Fair with food, games, artcrafts and shows, the MYP/DP Chinese team presented a Chinese Singing Festival with a theme of Harmony (和谐), Peace (太平) and Endeavor (奋进) as well as a highlighted symbol of Phoenix. The theme is from a Chinese saying “少年智则国智，少 年强则国强”, which means the country is wise and strong only when its young people are wise and strong. The symbol of phoenix represents the spirit of harmony and rebirth from ashes. It reminded our Concordian students of their responsibilities for the nations, especially during this challenging time. In the year of the Tiger while Covid remains a tough challenge, we wish everyone an excellent and prosperous year. Special thanks given to all the Concordians, especially the dedicated performers, teachers, IT department, maintenance team, and the staff and support team.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
22 20
Showcase
23 21
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Showcase
24 22
Showcase
G6 Annabel: I participated in The Sing! as a performer. This experience was something very new to me since I'm only in G6, and the new regulations that we had to follow this year were different, we had fewer rehearsals and more complicated rules. G7 Meena: This performance made me enjoy participating in events more. It not only was a good stage experience for me but also stimulated me to develop my creative skills, such as adjusting the music score to make it more suitable for the show. G8 Pai: Thanks to the Chinese department for the opportunity to perform. As a band, it was very tough during rehearsals but in the end, we made it. Hope everyone enjoyed it. G8 K: During this process, we stumbled across a lot of challenges. However in the end we managed to put on a show. It was all worth it. G9 Im: I have the opportunity to join this year's SING! with the song "一路生花" which means "Flowers All the Way". Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sing this on stage because of quarantine. The pandemic situation postponed and canceled many events which took away the chances for individuals to shine their talents. But I'm sure that there will be a day that everyone can finally overcome this situation. G10 Grace: SING! was a wonderful experience, I got to sing on stage for the first time, and it was different. I enjoyed it a lot, and I hope the audience enjoyed it. G10 Stephen: Even though I have been the MC multiple times in different events, this one was unique. I am very grateful for the opportunity as it helps me pronounce words better and also helps my Chinese speaking. I am now more confident in my Chinese speaking and I have also made some new friends along the way of doing this show. There was no stress and just going with the flow, that’s what made the show successful and made this MC part the best I have had so far. G11 KhaoJao: As a performer for SING!, I really enjoyed the process of rehearsing for this event. Even though I don't take Chinese as a subject anymore, it was nice to see that I can still use the language fluently. 25 23 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
SHowcase
Chinese poems:
From the classroom to the printed page By MYP-DP Chinese Department
In the unit of Beyond Life, Grade 9-10 Chinese phase 5 students inquired into how personal life could have an impact on creative styles. They invited a Thai Chinese author Mr. Xin Zeng to share how his experience in China had contributed to his artistic and poetic creation. Mr. Zeng also shared how he used Chinese cultural elements in his Chinese garden, calligraphy and painting. Mr. Zen has been a renowned author writing Chinese stories and poems and under his influence, many Concordian students voluntarily created several Chinese poems from which some were selected later to be included in the newly published poem collection Imitation of Life. This authentic learning experience enabled students to showcase their creativity and insight in real world contexts, which further boosted their interest in learning Chinese. From teenagers’ perspectives, students wrote on the following topics: • Love for the nature: Ninja's Sunset, Kimi’s Green Plants, Proud's Painting • The interesting things in life: Ping Ping’s Koi Fish, Im's Little Rabbit, Praew's 7-11 Tea • The fun of learning: Poj's Computer, Ben's Book, Nemo’s Piano • Identities and relationship: Doudou's Who are you, Who am I? Ty’s Thailand and China
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
26 24
Showcase
G9 Poj: Disbelief and confusion. These two words explain my initial reaction about my Chinese poem being published. Did I actually write a poem in the first place? It was only after a couple minutes of discourse with my peers did I finally realize that this was a piece I wrote about the use of technology in the modern world during online learning. I felt a sense of joyful pride that a piece of my writing was selected by Mr. Zeng, who is very dedicated to Chinese culture and extensively studied it, encouraging me to further my studies. G10 Ninja: I was very excited when I found out that my Chinese poem was published. I learned poetry as a unit in Chinese and one of the poems that I wrote in that unit was published. Mu's poem " 日落 " used nature as a metaphor for love. I felt that my poem getting published made me feel very proud of my Chinese poetry writing. I also felt very thankful to Ms. Shuping who helped advise me throughout the unit and taught me about Chinese poetry so that I was able to write this poem. G9 Doudou: When Ms. Fang told me my Chinese poem was published in the book 《春风秋雨》, I was genuinely surprised. This poem is about my home town. I wrote about how I felt not being back home for so long and wrote about how I forgot about my true culture. Even though I haven’t returned home in so long, my love for my hometown is like a faint breeze, although you might not feel it, it is there. I am very proud of my writing and I also feel very thankful for Ms. Fang to help throughout the years. I will continue to work hard and achieve happiness for myself through my studies and make my parents and teachers proud.
G10 Praew: Honor, it is a true honor to have my poem published in Mr. Zeng’s book. I was initially curious when Ms. Fang handed us the book; until she mentioned that the poem we wrote last year was published. I decided to take a more abstract approach towards my poem and explored the concept of the core principles and purpose to life in comparison to the life of a tea bottle. Having my poem published will definitely act as another form of inspirational force to encourage me towards writing more Chinese poems in the future. G9 Ty: Shocked and surprised was the first reaction I gave out. I am really honored and glad that my Chinese poem got published. I was thinking about myself and my family when I wrote this poem. My mom is Chinese and my dad is Thai. In my poem I expressed my feelings of both countries that are dear to me. I am really amazed that Mr. Zeng chose my poem and really understands what my poem is about. This will make me continue writing Chinese poems. G9 Im: We got to learn poems during the Tang Dynasty and got the opportunity to compose our poems during class. The poem that I wrote was about the 3 pet rabbits that I had at home to represent my love toward my rabbits. I described some cute features of my rabbits, such as their round black eyes, plump bodies with soft fur like clouds. Just seeing them every time I get home makes me happy and I play with them when I have time. The most significant feature of my poem is the repetition "跳跳跳！” which means "Hop, hop, hop!" 27 25 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Athletics News
the Athletic Concordian Dragons The ongoing Covid-19 situation has made it impossible for team sports and inter-school competitions to take place this year but it certainly hasn't stopped some of our Concordian dragons from achieving great results outside of school. Here we celebrate some of their successes!
Two swimmers from our swim team qualified to Thailand Age Group Swimming Championships 2021 on Nov. 26-28, 2021 at the Aquatic Center of Assumption University Suvarnbhumi Campus.
Competition Result Phaak G5C 50m. Breaststroke (Final Round) 4th place time 37.66s 50m. Butterfly 13th place time 33.82s 50m. Freestyle 14th place time 30.83s 50m. Backstroke 24th place time 38.56s Gail G6S 50m. Freestyle 21th place time 31.98s 50m. Backstroke 22th place time 37.65s
Coach Golf participated in the KhaoYai 100K Ultra Marathon in December
2021, finishing with a time of 10:25.06 Hours, to claim 27th place overall from 760 runners competing. Congratulations Coach Golf!
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
28 26
Athletics News
Amazing Kids
Triathlon
Over the weekend of February 5-6, 2022, Henry (G8) took part in his first-ever duathlon, a component of The Amazing Kids Triathlon Race 2022 at Pattana Golf Resort. Henry came in first place in his age group (13-14). Congratulations Henry!
Thailand Junior &
On December 18-19, 2021, Cheeno and Choné (G7) joined the
Championship 2021
Cheeno and Choné competed in the Boy’s Sabre individual U12 and U14 events among other fencers from all over the country, from clubs such as Air Force Cub, Royal Thai Army Fencing Club, Royal Thai Navy Fencing Club, and other university, private school and government school fencing clubs.
Cadet Fencing
biggest fencing event of the year, the Thailand Junior & Cadet Fencing Championship 2021 for boys and girls under 20, 17, 14 and 12, organized by Thailand Fencing Association.
Cheeno finished in 3rd place with a bronze medal in the U14 category, while Choné got the bronze medal in the U12 event. Both boys collected points in the National ranking score system. Choné and Cheeno wanted to wear their Concordian PE uniforms to represent the school when they received the Bronze medals on the podium. Congratulations for this great achievement! 27 29 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Athletics News
s s e h C etition Comp
IMPACT: What other sports or activities do you like in addition to Chess? Nina: Other sports that I enjoy are basketball and horseback riding. Both of them are about teamwork, with my friends and with my horse. Other activities that I enjoy include drawing, animating, and creative writing. I love creating things. IMPACT: Where were the Championships held this year? Nina: The championships were held in Central Chaengwattana, Nonthaburi. IMPACT: Did any one certain player give you a challenge and if so, from what age group? Nina: A few games with U14 girls were difficult. One of the games lasted more than 4 hours and I was very hungry and tired.
Checkmate! In November 2021, Nina (G6) competed in the
IMPACT: As Thailand U-12 Champion, will you compete internationally now, representing our country? Nina: Yes, I’ll represent Thailand internationally next year, but there is no firm schedule yet because of COVID situation.
Thailand Junior Chess Tournament and won 1st place for Girls Under 12. She was in a combined G14-G12-G10 playing group and was the Champion, but as she was registered in the G12 category, she earned the G12 title. One of her matches with an older girl was over 4 hours! Let’s hear more from Nina:
IMPACT: Kindly share a few words of advice for younger students who might want to excel in something that they love. What do you recommend? Nina: Don’t worry too much about the results. If you truly love what you do, just enjoy doing it.
IMPACT: What are a couple of your favorite subjects to study at Concordian? Nina: My favorite subjects at Concordian are Science and Design. Science to me is about exploring, and Design to me is about creating.
Thailand Show Jumping
Competition
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
30 28
Congratulations to Nina and In December 2021, Nina also took time off from school to join the her team who won the championship for U12 Team Rapid at the Thailand Chess Festival in December 2021.
Thailand Show Jumping competition - a national event and her first experience. She placed 13th out of 23 riders in her class. Congratulations Nina!
Athletics News
31 29
CONCORDIAN CONCORDIAN IMPACT IMPACT -- ISSUE ISSUE 32 33
Student Life and Service
Student Life
and Service Learning Middle School Service
In our first edition of Impact for 2021-22, we talked with our dedicated service leaders – Ms. Chelsea (G6), Ms. Tashia (G7), Mr. Aaron (Community Project – G8), Mr. Jaren (G9), and Mr. Luke (G10) – and they each outlined the path ahead for their respective grade’s service programs for the year ahead. Since then, each of the leaders has worked diligently through the Covid restrictions to guide our students towards meaningfully affecting communities, both inside Concordian and outside. Some of the grades have now completed their first mini-projects, while others are mid-project, and in this issue of Impact, we have asked our students to share the service experiences they have had so far this year. Mr. Ben Student Life Coordinator/Service Coordinator
Save the Paws
Our service project relates to the Good Health and WellBeing SDG, and the Mental Health and Well-Being Concordian Service Area. The group was formed by Ami, Nina, Icon, Manie, and Keaw. We want to help the Concordian community by making mindfulness posters regarding how to practice mindfulness. We did some research about mindfulness and Ami and Nina designed meditation posters with the information that we found. We thought of the service project by knowing that many people get stressed nowadays from work, school, etc. We found that mindfulness can help relieve those stresses and help us relax more. We all felt really good about the project and we all did a great job on communicating and putting a lot of effort in these posters. It was really fun to work as a team, and we are all glad that we succeeded.
Hello, we are Kimmie, Tepan, Airi, Jimmy, and Tora from G6D, and we created the service group Save the Paws which is dedicated to help, save, and rescue soi dogs. The Concordian service area is animal wellbeing and the Sustainable Development Goal is Life on Land. We all helped with organizing donations and the charity drive. Our type of service is indirect service because we collected money to donate to บ้านสุขใจหมาจรป้าเกด (Pa Khed Soi Dog Foundation). They requested the things they needed most and we bought it for them with our charity drive money. We thought of this idea because when we drive to school, we see so many dogs in the soi and we really wanted to help them. We knew this place needed the most help because there had the most animals (342 dogs including puppies and 48 cats including kittens). There were 7 dogs with cancer who needed immediate medical care so we helped pay some of their hospital bills. We feel very proud and grateful of what we have accomplished. If we really wanted to end the chaos of soi dogs as a long-term solution, we should all work together as a community to help.
Ami, Nina, Keaw, Icon, and Manie
Airi, Kimmie, Tepan, Jimmy, Tora
Grade 6 Service Projects – 1st Projects
Grade 7 Service Projects Animal Comfort Group
Hello, we are the Animal Comfort group from Grade 7. Our service project focused on helping animals in need, based on the UN SDG Life on Land. In this project, we were able to provide food and equipment for animals at the WFFT foundation who help injured and unwanted animals.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
32 30
We started off by designing and experimenting with different designs for our stickers and T-Shirts. Then, we created a Google Form and sent it out to the entire MYP. After a while, we collected all of the orders and packaged our products. With all of the income we got from selling our stickers and shirts, we went out to Mega Bangna and bought several items from the wishlist of the WFFT foundation. This included things such as gloves, syringes, cleaning supplies, shampoo, food, etc. We then visited the WFFT foundation during the winter holidays and donated the items to them. Proud S, Proud B, Hunny, IngIng, Reena
Student Life and Service
Grade 8 – Community Project February Update
We think that the community project is an eye-opener for us, since we had the chance to become more aware of the many problems that other people are facing in our country. Our group chose to focus on an orphanage called Baan Nokkamin and we're hoping to donate books along with traveling to the place to volunteer and help take care of the children. Though we all worked together well and tried our best to further improve our plans for both the direct and indirect service, there were some challenges that we faced throughout our community project, such as the current coronavirus situation. We are currently predicting that we wouldn’t be able to visit the organization directly, since it will bring risks to both us and the orphanage. Instead, we are planning to send the children books donated from the people in our school and sanitize them to ensure that the children are completely safe around the books that we give to their organization. Hence, overall, we think that the community project enhances our ATL skills in many ways. We did some research, communicated with different people from outside the school, and are planning to use our creativity to make a poster. It really is an effective service project for students to participate in. Pear, Pim, Mei
Grade 7 Service Projects – 1st Projects Mangrove Tree Service Group
Peach, Niji, Candy, Pete, Prin
Pai, Henry, Petch
33 31 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Hello! We are the mangrove tree service group from Grade 7, and today we’ll be explaining what happened during our service project. We helped a small Thai community that is near a mangrove tree forest close to Bangkok. We went into the forest and were able to plant multiple trees that will grow and help the ecosystem, therefore also helping the people around and helping to keep the village from flooding. The CSA we targeted was environmental service, and as individuals we feel that this project affected us a lot. Not only did we bond with each other but we really felt that we did something kind.
Community service never fails to be a great learning experience. This year has been no different, but our group has had its ups and downs. For our project, we want to help teach people different skills that could help them make money online. We’ve seen a lot of people lose their jobs during the pandemic and job openings are becoming rarer as a result of the worsening economy. In order to help these people, we decided to host an online job expo. It follows the Covid protocols and can be very educational for all. Currently, we are working on our research portion, trying to find the most effective online platforms that people can easily learn. Hopefully, by the end of March, we will have a clear estimation of when the event will occur. Even though we haven't finished our project yet, it has been a great year so far and we can't wait to see what we have in store for the future. For the most part, community service in eighth grade has been a blast and even with our difficulties, we tend to learn from our mistakes and usually reach even higher highs; we hope to help those in need and teach them skills that they can knowledgeably apply in the future.
Student Life and Service
Grade 9 Independent Service Projects – February Update Food Waste Individual Service Project Over 64% of all waste in Thailand derives from food and yet only a small proportion of this amount is ever recycled, contributing to 8% of all carbon emissions. Despite this, over 9% of Thais are still hungry and malnourished. Therefore, as part of our Grade 9 Independent Service Project, we will be examining the social, environmental, and psychological factors related to food waste. The food waste project is separated into three main sections: research, advocacy, and direct service. We have made the most progress in the area of research where background information on our own food waste habits including how much waste our households create and some national food waste statistics have been collected. We will also be conducting interviews on the psychology of food waste to learn more about ways humans can reduce food waste. Our group has also started planning our advocacy campaign and created an Instagram account to distribute our findings, including research-based methods to reduce food waste and low waste food recipes. Additional information such as the social, environmental, and psychological effects of food waste will also be provided through this channel. Last but not least, our members are also planning to incorporate our learned knowledge into our own daily lives, including trying out our low-waste recipes and applying relevant techniques. The result and effectiveness of these techniques will be recorded and published accordingly through our communication channels to further inform the public. Our hope is that these efforts will inform the community about the subject of food insecurity which is often ignored. Poj, Dou Dou W, Peam, Pam, and Pud
G10 Service As Action Projects | February Update
In February 2022, the Grade 10 students are moving from the goal-setting and planning phases toward the action phase of their service projects and the student projects presented are of great variety and are sure to make a difference. Here are some examples of the inspiring student projects: WHAT? We will create a green plant wall WHY? The reason we are doing this project is to raise awareness about our SDG7. As it is related to affordable and green energy, our project will be an example of one product that could help solve the issue. Bhannasiri, Yanin (Chur) WHAT? We will create a sketch of green architecture and also create the model in Minecraft. WHERE? This idea will be presented on the Minecraft subreddit and also on Instagram with the aim to reach as many people as possible by utilizing the reach of social media. HOW? We will measure the success of the project mainly through the number of downloads and through the responses in the comments section. If the reception is mainly positive, then we would know that the project has been successful. Chaiyawan, Vongvanich (Kanoon) WHAT? Book collection and book donation WHY? It’s hard to help local schools with the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, but a book drive would be a good solution to not only utilize the students in our school who have books lying around at home but also benefit schools who need more English and/or children's books. Chavalittamrong, Prinn WHAT? We will create a public service announcement to raise awareness regarding Quality Education for All. WHY? The way we are going to run our campaign is through social media because social media has the power to reach a high number of people. Moreover, the cause is important to us because we understand that there are many kids out there who don’t have the same opportunities as others who are more fortunate to have access to high quality education, thus making them unemployed. Haluethaisirirach, Yada (Grace)
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT GOVERNMENT This year the MSSG has been put in a tenuous position. With the
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
32 34
pandemic hindering many activities that were our bread and butter, we had to adapt. Building from the ideas developed last year by Poj detailing methods to increase the relevance of Houses, we created house shirts. We focused on online marketing and ordering to curb the pandemic's effect on the project. We ordered 100 shirts as a testament to the confidence we have in this project and our long term commitment to it. If possible, we would like to have in-person sales events - we highly encourage all of our peers (even if you aren't in Middle School) and teachers to buy a shirt. We would really appreciate it.
Strengthening the influence of houses in student life is what the officers of this year hope will be continued by those who succeed us. It is vital that houses play a larger role in student life. They promote inter-grade level friendship and friendly competition. Lively competition also opens new doors in terms of events and new levels of fun!
Student Life and Service
Despite the many limitations brought about by the pandemic, we were able to organize many events. The Secret Santa event is one we particularly enjoyed. Many people participated and hopefully this event will be replicated next year.
As a result of the many restrictions on human interaction, we weren't able to organize many events of the sport variant. We heavily focused on fundraising. It is our hope that the following years will put the money that we have raised to good use, specifically to further the relevance of houses in everyday student life.
We have also organized a Rose Sale for Valentine's Day. Much like the event from the previous year, it went well. In addition, we We hope that the latter half of this school year will bring about a improved on some of our logistical shortcomings (from last year), return to normalcy. The prospect of having activities gives us reason making our preparation for said sale less hectic. to believe that the rest of the year presents an upward trend. Burger S. 8I, Katie V. 8C and Otto K. 8C
House Shirt Designed by a G7 Volunteer and Finalized by the Officers.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT GOVERNMENT
We are now more than halfway through the school year, time passes
by fast. Congratulations to all students finishing the exams! Though it was tough, that only means you have taken a step forward.
Originally, the student government planned an on-site scavenger hunt with items placed around the school, but due to Covid restrictions that did not happen. Therefore we opted for an online scavenger hunt where students would “hunt” for pictures. We received many funny photo submissions such as the one on the above with the prompt “When you wake up from a nap and don’t know what time it is.” As a bonus, many grades attempted the Jojo meme such as the one on the left by the Grade 11s.
For example, on the last day before Christmas break, everyone dressed up with red or green elements. Due to Covid restrictions, the Christmas activity this year was held online. The whole HS played several online games together including gartic phone, quizlet live, jeopardy, and much more. With all the activities, the HS had a fun last day before Winter break. HSSG Representatives: Poon G11S, Melody G10S, Kenji G9C
33 35 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
Another event that was held was Spirit Week. This year, Spirit Week consisted of Pajama day, gender nonconformity day, fashion disaster + anything but backpack day, Squad day, and Christmas theme was held as the last day of Spirit week. Each day, all students were to dress up to fit the theme and to show spirit.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
Although we’ve faced challenges with several Covid restrictions, everyone in the HSSG still tries to put the utmost effort into planning activities for the students to enjoy. Whether it’d be the Halloween, Christmas, or Valentine's Day activities, bringing people together in spirit is always the best part about these celebrations. Most of the interactions that the students of different grades have had with one another have sadly been online so far, however, that doesn’t mean that all the activities are less engaging. Even when some of us are in isolation, we are able to find a way to socialize and have fun with our friends. More inter-grade-level activities such as those during Spirit Week, photo competitions, online games and even the upcoming online Talent Show help everyone to still interact with one another more safely. We just hope everything gets better and we can have regular in-person activities soon!
Student Life and Service
Having been in MUN since 8th grade, I can confidently say that my debating, speaking, and writing skills would not be where they are today without MUN. The beauty of MUN is that you are judged not only for the answers you give, but for the questions you ask.
Despite
the challenges of COVID-19, we were still able to attend many interesting conferences both online and in person. After the first semester, Concordian’s MUN club attended Oxford MUN online and Thammasat’s MUN in person. I am very proud to announce that Concordian’s delegation has received more than 9 awards for our first semester of conferences!
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
36 34
Model United Nations (MUN) is not only about debating and cultivating communication & critical thinking skills, it is also about being an aware citizen – aware of social, economic, environmental and political tensions around the world. Becoming a better informed citizen allows us to approach global issues diplomatically and understand the nuances of cultural differences. Each MUN conference that we attended this year explored many contemporary issues such as vaccine diplomacy, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro and more.
To current and future MUNers: keep asking questions and keep voicing them. I look forward to seeing our delegates debate in our upcoming conferences (THAIMUN, GECMUN, and Chulalongkorn MUN)! AngAng (G12) – Secretary General of Concordian’s Model United Nations Some words from our club members! Melody Chuang (G10s): “MUN taught me a lot… I was never the kind to be in political issues and it didn’t hit me how there were so many issues in the world until I engaged in MUN. It not only taught me world views, it definitely also taught me socializing. It was hard talking to people at first but as I had more experience it got easier and it was really fun to join MUN and meet new people. During the past month, I joined OxfordMUN2021 as a delegate of Ukraine in the World Health Organization (WHO) and Thammasat MUN as the delegate of China in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). From WHO to UNSC is definitely a big jump but was one that helped me grow.”
Student Life and Service
Prinn (G10S): “This was my first in-person MUN, and I was quite nervous to go. Something that helped was that I got in character as a delegate of the junta in Myanmar. Speaking with the students from Thammasat University was fun and insightful as I talked to them about their opinions of my MUN topic. I loved to see how each person did research into what their country's perspectives and interests were. I ended up making many friends with the people there and hope to see them all again. I highly recommend this experience.”
s ’ r a l o h c S d Worl Cup World Scholar’s Cup (WSC) aims to educate students with
interesting information that is found outside of school walls. This club builds bridges and forms common ground between the diverse student body with similar interests through an offering of six subjects: Science & Technology, Literature & Media, History, Social Studies, Art & Music, and a special area that varies each year. WSC tests our grasp of these subjects through four competition events namely the Scholar’s Bowl, Debate, Collaborative Writing, and a multiple-choice Scholar’s Challenge which requires the club to train in the areas of writing and debating. COVID-19 has made this year’s operations especially challenging as the club is unable to meet in person or after school. This has not only limited the effectiveness of our training sessions but also reduced our scheduling and content flexibility. In particular, meeting online during hectic and loud lunchtime can also make it harder to collaborate. Furthermore, the regional round in Bangkok which is normally held in person has also been postponed due to travel restrictions so the extent to which we can actually participate in the competition is still in question.
World Scholar’s Cup Anna (President), Poj (Vice President)
37 35 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
Nevertheless, our club has persevered and we are continually adapting to these pandemic-borne challenges. This includes asking members to do more take-home work such as essay writing practice at home to circumvent club meeting time limitations and direct the saved time to expand our content flexibility. The WSC club is also exploring other events so that we can diversify our competition portfolio to not only offer more choices but also maintain a consistent level of club activity if regional rounds are cancelled. Last but not least, the WSC club is always looking to expand and we are considering the possibility of involving younger students in our competition teams in the near future as well.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
Kyla (G10C): “Although my first conference was online, I think it was such a cool experience to be able to debate with people all over the world and also deal with big countries like China or the U.S. I actually really enjoyed it more than I thought I would because I’ve never been into world news or politics and I really hope we can go back to in-person conferences really soon because a huge part of what makes MUN fun is the social aspect and making connections. In a few weeks I’ll be doing my first historical-based conference about Greek gods and mythology and I think that’s just so cool.”
Student Life and Service
1 2 0 2 d r a PM Aw Innovation Competition
We recently received the certificates from the organizers of the Prime Minister’s Health Innovation competition for high school students which ran from August to January this academic year. Louis & Prim & Earn did a fabulous job!
In the first time Concordian has ever entered this event (which is in its third year), and out of more than 300 entries received, our team finished in the Top Ten group of finalists! In addition, since one of the team members is in Grade 11, she is eligible to gather a new team for next year and refine or redesign the entry to try again.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
38 36
The feedback from judges and mentors was extremely positive about our students. They represented CIS with professionalism & integrity. Mr. Jamie Martindale Here is what the students have to say about their experience: We first heard about this competition through social media and Thai friends as we, a team of eager juniors, were looking for an out-of-school opportunity for hands-on experiences to expose us to the career fields we planned to enter. With that, we came to the decision to participate in PM Inno Awards 2021-2022. This is the
third year for the event and we hope a team from CIS will enter again next year. We chose the area related to psychological well-being as topics regarding stress, depression, and anxiety are relatable to our personal experiences, particularly with our prior learning in the IB Psychology course, which is why we asked Mr. Jamie to advise
Student Life and Service
our group. Initially, we had planned to construct a machine that utilized the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) to measure stress. However, after some group brainstorming, we introduced new elements to our model. This included additions such as the use of Bluetooth connection for self-released calming music and aromas connected to the GSR devices for daily unconscious stress tracking. With our idea and our team’s continued work to improve it, we successfully passed 3 rounds against 300+ teams in Thailand and were selected as finalists against 10 groups. Balancing the time we would dedicate to the competition and to our IB work was one of the largest challenges to overcome. As the competition spanned over six months and required an average of 4-12 hours of our time per week, juggling school work, college applications and the competition was a significant obstacle. In addition to conflicting schedules and heavy school workload, we realized that although we had a sufficient understanding of what we needed in order to create our idea, we didn’t have the necessary skills to build it. Despite these large hurdles, we soon learned how to work around them. To solve the issue of time management, we sought advice from our PM Inno Awards advisors and learned to carefully time each of our workloads, rotating them to ensure that progress was always being made and ensure that team members would have time to rest. To overcome our skill barrier of building the prototype, we regularly set aside time to learn new skills (such as welding) and collaborated with third-party members like the Design Tech teachers who also advised us in our design construction. The key here was teamwork, communication, understanding one another's feelings and trusting the process.
These are our most important takeaways: You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change. - Louis This competition has been a tiring but fulfilling experience. I‘ve met so many interesting new people and have been able to collaborate with teachers and friends for this project. I’m extremely grateful to be able to have the opportunity to participate in this activity, and am glad to be able to take back new lessons from the obstacles we’ve overcome. - Prim “The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.” - Alexander Graham Bell - Earn I am so proud of these students! They represented Concordian incredibly well, especially since this was the first time our school has entered an event like this. Their good ideas, teamwork, and determination were particularly inspiring. - Mr. Jamie Hopefully, we’ll make contact with the new generation soon, for PM Inno Awards 2022-2023! Contact: louist_2022@concordian.org, prima_2022@concordian.org, earnc_2023@concordian.org
Thanks to Ms. Veronika Kang-Portillo and Mr. Brian Macy for also assisting with sponsorship duties. Louis, Prim and Earn
Two Concordian G12 Students Chosen
to visit CERN
Two
Scan this QR Code for more information from the Synchrotron Light Reserch Institute website page
https://www.slri.or.th/thaicern/
39 37
CERN (CERN) or The European Organization for Nuclear Research, located in Geneva, Switzerland, is an international organization established with the objective of global fundamental physics research. CERN is a world-class fundamental physics research institute. and plays an important role in raising awareness and disseminating knowledge of particle physics and is home to some of the world's leading researchers, engineers and physicists in design.
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Concordian G12 students, Pun Pun and Nicky, both Concordians since the Early Years, were among 12 finalists from top schools in Thailand to be selected by H. R. H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to join the high school visit program at the CERN Collaboration Program in Geneva, Switzerland under the initiative of H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Our Concordian students who represented Thailand at the 34th International Young Physicists Tournament 2021 were amongst the 26 students who were eligible for an interview. Congratulations Pun Pun and Nicky!
Alumni Update
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
40 38
From left to right: Ong, Bright, Heart
Celebrating Alumni Success
Alumni Update
Online Platform Sasom Founded
by three Concordian alumni, Sasom is Thailand's leading next generation platform for buying and selling authentic sneakers, fashion items, and collectibles. When a transaction occurs, the seller sends their sold item to Sasom for authentication. After the authentication process, Sasom pays the seller, and ships the item to the buyer, making the transaction easy, efficient, and worry-free. Using the bid/ask method, Sasom's model allows buyers and sellers to transact at the true market price for each item according to demand and supply, enabling the world of alternative appreciating assets to users within a few clicks. The founders of Sasom sat down with Impact to give us an insight into their venture into entrepreneurship and how Concordian has been instrumental in their journey so far.
What motivated you to start your own business? First it was the fact that I did not want to work in my family’s business. Second, I think entrepreneurs really are the problem solvers of the world -- you start viable businesses by solving other people’s problems at scale. Third, I really look up to figures like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, both of whom made a huge impact on the history of mankind. Fourth, I do not believe that you can gain financial freedom by renting out your time. You need to own equity in a business, or cleverly allocate your finances in appreciating assets. What has been the most surprising thing about becoming an entrepreneur? How so many startups are run just like a college work project but with real-life stakes, and how corporations all have their own problems to deal with no matter how big or small they are. I am also surprised by how many people were willing to help us along our journey. It’s almost as if they believed and shared the same visions as we do, and once they saw us trying our best to work on it, they wanted to see it manifest into reality. We would not be here without all of those who helped us along the way.
Kasit Nganthavee (Ong) Class of 2014
What advice would you give to the graduating class of 2022? Pursue your genuine curiosity and passion - try to form your own specific knowledge. Keep re-defining/re-iterating until you've found your calling. Learn to code, learn to produce media. These are permissionless leverages. Life is too short to be working on things that you don’t truly enjoy.
41 39 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Co-Founder/CEO Sasom Co., Ltd (บริษัท สะสม จำ�กัด)
How did Concordian prepare you for the real world after school? Apart from the Mission Statement, I feel like you really learn and build your foundation at Concordian: countless presentations, group projects, math problems, essays, sports tournaments, talent shows, field trips, Week Without Walls, community service, and much more. Looking back, all of these experiences could not be achieved elsewhere. Sometimes you take it for granted and only realize later in life that it really plays an important role in shaping who you are today. A concrete example would be how I utilized the oral presentation skills from Concordian to pitch investors on my startup which turned out to be easier than presentations that I had to prepare for Ms. Baertschy!
Alumni Update
What has been the most surprising thing about becoming an entrepreneur? Without sounding too much like a cliché, the most surprising thing about becoming an entrepreneur is the growth journey. In the initial stage of growth, it’s necessary to figure out every bit with your team and with total accountability. If things are not working, there is no one to blame but yourself. Fun. Your perspective on startups and companies changes too, you will realize that other companies and even bigger ones are just like yours - strategizing different ways to grow and improve. There is no reason to run things the way other people have done it because every company is unique. Cultures are set by you in the way you would want your working environment to be like. Besides the exciting growth of the company, the most surprising growth would be of your peers and yourself. Everyone adapts to the growth of the company and slowly becomes a different version of themselves from when they first started out.
Gunpod Lertkomolsuk (Bright) Class of 2014 Co-Founder/CTO/Head of Product Sasom Co., Ltd (บริษัท สะสม จำ�กัด)
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
42 40
What motivated you to start your own business? I think a big influence was living in the States and consuming startup content. Although it seemed shortsighted, I was interested in software engineering because of Facebook's success story. However, if we are talking about motivation, it started with a growth mindset and a yearning for adventure. Everyone has different motives when deciding on life-changing decisions but for me it was a combination of a couple reasons. The first reason is growth. I saw that I could utilize my Computer Science degree to create value from software that can potentially scale. It seemed like a practical decision for exponential growth. The second reason is financial freedom through practical risk taking. Startups are risky businesses but the upsides are high. You risk embarrassing yourself in exchange for financial freedom. Worth it. Getting into it means a risky pathway, and failing sooner and younger means more time to learn and iterate through mistakes. The last reason is because of Ong and Heart. We grew up together so I knew the chemistry and what everyone was bringing to the table. Most importantly, I would not have been motivated to go through it all if not with the people I trust.
How did Concordian prepare you for the “real world” after school? Concordian prepared me to be an individual striving for excellence. The school has a solid mission and vision statement. That statement hit home. In all seriousness, I believe it is the values, the teachers and the friendship. My mind was most stimulated in Theory of Knowledge and Lit/Language classes even if I was not great at it. I realized the most important thing was how the teachers delivered those messages. I was lucky enough to have amazing teachers that were great at teaching these concepts and unpacking things for more than what it seemed. I am also grateful for teachers that kept it real. I remember not loving Economics but the teacher always kept it real when talking to students. I only appreciated it later in life. The friendships developed at Concordian are what I cherish most, they are still my closest friends and that can take you far in the “real-world”. What advice would you give to the graduating class of 2022? I am probably not qualified to give advice to the younger generation yet because I am also still young and figuring it out. However, if I had to, I would tell them to create a big goal, and think really hard before making long-term decisions. Imagine if you decided to work on something big that will take you at least 5 years, what and who would you put in consideration for that decision. There go your 20’s. Think about what practical risk-taking means because you have to dream big but also understand the practicality of being successful or what you might have to sacrifice. Make sure it is something you are ok with. Most importantly, harness a growth mindset by not limiting yourself. Once you start doing something well, you or other people may put you in a box. Sometimes it could be a good thing but you need to break free from that if you want to grow and branch out. I hope that makes sense one day if not now. Lastly, enjoy your college years because it will be one of your most cherished experiences in your life.
Alumni Update
What motivated you to start your own business? I am always driven by challenges and excitement. When I was approached by Kasit to do a marketplace for sneakers reseller, I did some research on the subject and found out that it is an interesting idea that each country should have and, unsurprisingly, Thailand did not at the time. When the opportunity presents itself to you, it is difficult to pass. Thus, I committed myself to Sasom as a Co-founder and CFO. What has been the most surprising thing about becoming an entrepreneur? Personally, the most surprising thing is that nothing is surprising at all. As an entrepreneur, you will face many challenges and surprises so often that you are immune to it. We have faced an employee who faked the entire CV to a customer who sent in a pair of sneakers in which one side is real and the other is fake. Becoming an entrepreneur is an exciting journey, you will experience many people and events, some are helpful and some aren’t. This all depends on your willingness and ability to overcome obstacles to become successful in whatever you wish to achieve.
Co-Founder/CFO Sasom Co., Ltd (บริษัท สะสม จำ�กัด)
What advice would you give to the graduating class of 2022? College life is short, enjoy every moment of it.
43 41 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
Harit Achanapornkul (Heart) Class of 2014
How did Concordian prepare you for the “real-world” after school? Concordian prepared me well academically and socially. I met both of my co-founders here at CIS. Our relationship has been great since then. The school’s mission statement emphasizes the core ethical way of living your life. When you have to make a tough decision in the future, please remember the days during you time at CIS when you had to spend late hours studying for subjects where 90% of the contents will not be used again in your life. If you can overcome the obstacle named “IB”, you can overcome anything in your lifetime.
Special Feature
We continue our series featuring Concordian families sharing how being at Concordian has impacted their children's growth.
Interview with
Minna, Malyn and Mekin Arsirapojchanakul's family ความประทั บ ใจของครอบครั ว เราที่ มี ต่ อ โรงเรี ย นคื อ ความใส่ใจและการช่วยเหลือต่างๆ ที่เจ้าหน้าที่และคุณครูมี ให้ รวมไปถึงแนวทางและทั ศ นคติ ในการเรี ยนการสอนที ่ มีการปรับเปลี่ยนให้เหมาะสมกับสถานการณ์ต่างๆ อย่างใน ปัจจุบัน
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
44 42
We are impressed with the care and support from Concordian, not only from teachers but also all staff members. We also appreciate the school adapting its teaching strategies to the situation. The school has not stopped improving in many ways.
We are impressed with Concordian’s culture and vision. The school not only provides rigorous education for our children but เหล่านี้ทำ�ให้เรารู้สึกประทับใจในแนวทางและทัศนคติ ของ also helps them to grow up with moral values and compassion as โรงเรียนคอนคอร์เดียนที่มองเห็นความสำ�คัญของประโยชน์ per the school’s mission statement. ที่เด็กๆ จะได้รับ และครอบครัวเรายังเชื่อว่าทางโรงเรียน จะไม่ เ พี ย งแต่ จ ะให้ ว ิ ช าความรู ้ แ ก่ ล ู ก ๆ ของเราเท่ า นั ้ น The Arsirapojchanakul family แต่ย ังจะอบรมให้ลูก ๆ ของเราเติบโตมาเป็นผูท ้ เ่ี พียบพร้อม ด้ ว ยคุ ณ ธรรมและเมตตาธรรมตามปณิ ธ านที่ โ รงเรี ย น คอนคอร์เดียนตั้งใจ
Special Feature
h t i w w e i v r Inte
, i a h M o a h K , o a J s ’ d Khao o Y o a h K d n a n Khao Wa
คำ�พูดที่ว่า"โรงเรียนเปรียบเสมือนบ้านหลังที่ 2" นั้น เป็น เรื ่ อ งที ่ ใ ช่ ส ำ � หรั บ ครอบครั ว เรา เด็ ก ๆ เติ บ โตขึ ้ น มาใน สิ่งแวดล้อมที่ปลอดภัย การเรียนระบบIBที่ทำ�ให้เด็กๆ มีพัฒนาการในการคิดวิเคราะห์ และหาข้อมูลได้ด้วยตัวเอง ทำ�ให้มั่นใจได้ว่าเมื่อเด็กๆ โตขึ้นจะพร้อมเข้าไปใช้ชีวิตใน สังคมได้ต่อไปอย่างดี
The quote “The school is like a second home” is very true for our family. Our children grew up in a safe environment at Concordian. Learning in IB curriculum broadens their ideas and makes them able to think critically. They are able to do the effective research in the area they query for. I am confident that they are prepared very well for growing up and living in society.
45 43 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
46
PRINC PRINC
WORD SERCH PUZZLE WORD SEARCH PUZZLE
Hospital for your family Mother and Baby Center Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician
Emergency case for children
Please Contact 02-080-5999
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
24hr. Pediatrician
47
CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 32
48