Secondary school Update (2/2016-2017)

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By: Ms.Zoe (supervisor)

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an in grade 12 arranged a Dyslexia awareness project called, “Can You Read Me?”, a treasure hunt activity in October that allowed students, teachers and parents experience how dyslexic people struggle with reading and how they can overcome those obstacles.

Kan raised more than 60,000 baht from this activity. He decided to purchase a software called “Voice eye maker” for the School of Blind in Bangkok. This program allows printed documents accessible for blind, partially sighted and cognitively disabled individuals. He also purchased books for the “Build a School” project - a project initiated with the intent to better the quality of life of unprivileged Thai children in Tak province, Thailand.

Kan would like to express his sincere gratitude to the PTA and all the parents and students who helped support this project and raised awareness on Dyslexia in the community.

We would like to Congratulate Kan in the success of this project and for receiving the 2017 SENIA Honorary Student Award! in Yokohama, Japan.

Kan at the Bangkok School of the Blind

Kan at the Bangkok School of the Blind

Students & Parents participating in the scavenger hunt

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Kan giving prizes to the winner of his scavenger hunt

Kan receiving the “Senia Honorary student award at Yokohama International School, Japan.

Kan Introducing Can You Read Me? Dyslexia Awareness Project

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Club advisor: Ms.Zoe Organizzato at the tracle fair compenion at Ekamai Gateway

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unior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. The Company Program provides basic economic education for high school students by allowing them to organize and operate an actual business.

Organizzato was formed by 25 passionate high school students who dedicated their time to run an educational company. Organizzato strives to assist people of all ages in organizing their workspace with the hope of sparking joy and inspiring creativity in their lives. Thus, “Plan B” an exclusive wooden organizer was created with the intent to provide a simple yet efficiently organized tool to effectively store any types of belongings in any workspace. The profit from selling this product will be donated to the School Build Project in Tak Province.

Teddy, Prang, Thon and Ezee presented the company on stage at Bangkok Pattana School on the 11th of December 2016. As a result of the hard work that the team members had contributed, Organizzato won the “Eco Friendly” product award.

Teddy G.11 (President) I truly believe the experiences I gained from this program were worth all the hard work. Being a president requires a lot of decision makings and daily responsibilities that you have to follow up on. It’s like your company depends on you, and if you fail to make a correct decision, you will fail your teammates (and hopefully I didn’t fail them this year). After this program, I understand the weight of responsibility as a leader, which significantly improved my leadership skills.

Organizzato had come a long way and I’m proud as its president.

For my members, I mean for my employees, I truly appreciate your hard work and tolerance with my choices and actions.

I hope you can observe my mistakes so you can improve the company next year! Thank you sincerely for giving me such a valuable experience.

The experiences I gained as Organizzato’s vice president were extremely rewarding. As a matter of fact, I gained fat in the process. Metaphorically, of course, and maybe slightly figuratively.

Fat protects your body against shrewd winter coldness.

Similarly, the experience had exposed me to several failures and disappointments, the cold, but through this process I learned to persevere through hard work, hence the fat.

The program itself has allowed me to mature professionally. Most importantly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my team members. I had thoroughly enjoyed working with all 25 members. Your hard work and determination not only helped me develop as a person, but also have made this cooperation of ours a success. Lastly, I’d like to thank our advisor, Ms. Zoe. Your advice surely led our company toward the better path and all of your hard work is greatly appreciated.

Prang G.11 ( Head of Finance) Team members: Al, Nick This program taught me about the real business process.

It gave us an opportunity to form a real company with our friends. I believe that we are all proud of forming our company. Throughout this program, we get to be in different positions. I chose to be the head of finance as this role interested me the most. We worked together like a family. No matter what departments you were a member of, if any of us had problems, we all tried our best to help solve the problems together. By passing all the obstacles together, including failing the first product idea and many financial problems, it really made us become closer.

From this valuable experience, I’ve gained a lot of real world experiences that I may not have gained from the classroom. I’ve learned that forming a business and selling products is not as easy as I thought, and I’ve learned the importance of decision making. This program has shown us that our creativity can turn out to be a real product. At last, I would like to thank my team members Nick and Al as well as all the other members for their hard work. Without them our company wouldn’t be this successful. Winning the competition is not everything. The most valuable thing that we gained from this program is life experience.

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I would like to express my gratitude to the Concordian community who believed in our passion and abilities. You have helped provide valuable experiences to me and my team members who will use these skills to contribute to many successes in the future. Last but not least, thanks to our supervisor Ms. Zoe for your guidance and your generous hard work. We really appreciate everything that you have done for us.

Sung Sung G.11 (Vice President)

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Golf G.11 (Head of Marketing) Team members: Mickey, Shine, Jay, QQ, Amelia, Esee This program taught me to work collaboratively with other people. Being the head of marketing, I learned to make effective marketing strategies and research real life examples for our company. I learned how to distribute work equally to different team members, to maximize efficiency in my department.

I would like to thank all my team members, Esee, Amelia, QQ, Mickey and Shine, who contributed to my department. I really appreciate their contributions to different work responsibilities, even though they have other work to do. I would also like to thank all the other team members for their hard work. Because of all of you, our company was able to be successful. Thank you!

Kaew G.11 (Head of Production ) Team members: Cherry, Jean, Ong, Pep and Pang This program taught my team and I a lot about persistence.

Even though, when something does not go as planned we cannot give up but should try our best to solve the problem to our best ability. If we were to give up, all the things we did in the past would be a waste of time. I will apply this to real life when I face certain challenges. I will reflect back to this experience and try harder until I am successful. With this valuable experience, I want to thank the president, vice president, all the heads and all the team members for not giving up on the company and staying together until the end. I would also like to thank my team members Cherry, Jean, Ong, Pep and Pang for all the hard work that they have contributed.

Ming Ming G.11 (Head of Public Relations) Team members: Ploy, Name and Yuyu This program taught me and my team about team work and communication. Sometimes some people have to devote more because others lack responsibility. It taught us how to work with people and the challenges of working with a lot of people. This program also taught us how to do business. We were able to see just a glimpse of what doing real business looks like which can prepare us to be ready to work in the real world.

I would like to thank my team members Ploy, Name and Yuyu who worked hard and were very responsible.

I’m very proud of my department members and everyone else. Thanks to all team members. I would also like to thank the president and vice president for working so hard for our company. Lastly, I would like to thank our supervisor, Ms. Zoe, for putting up with us and teaching us how to improve ourselves. Also for devoting her own time for our sake. :)

Receiving the “Eco Friendly Product” award from Mr. Veerapol Pairachavej - Junior Achievement Thailand

Eye G.11 (Head of Human Resources) Team members: Thon and Bank This program taught us a lot about running a real business. Not only did it teach us about the structure of a company, but also about the reality of the real world business.

Throughout the program, we learned that one must never give up. Even though there were some ups and downs.

Using the best of our ability, we fixed our failures until we achieved our goals. In addition to bringing the best out of us as a group and individually, every member showed cooperation. I learned, that although my team was the Human Resources department, when other departments were faced with challenges, we all had to help each other to be successful. A company cannot be as efficient if there are no commitments. I will certainly apply these lessons in real life, as the future is changing, things might not go as expected. Many challenges lie ahead of us. I will reflect back to these experiences, and I won’t give up until I have successfully achieved them.

I would like to thank the president, Teddy, and vice-president, Sung-Sung, for always listening to us.. Thank you heads for making sure everything is possible and not giving up.

Thank you all the team members for giving us encouragement and helping us when facing challenges. Many special thanks to Thon and Bank for your support and contributions.

Last but not least, I would like to thank our great supervisor, Ms.Zoe, for spending her time with us, helping and guiding us throughout the project. Even though sometimes we can be a bit stubborn, we really appreciated her kindness and commitment to the project and to us. Thank you all for this valuable experience and for being here and sharing all these precious experiences together. Thank you.

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Organizzato selling Plan B at Ploenchit fair 2016

“Plan B” is organizzato’s product.

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Junior Achievement team, (Organizzato)

Yuyu G.10 (Public Relations Officer) I gained a lot of knowledge on how to manage a company and how it’s not as easy as coming up with a product and selling it to gain profits. There are so many more aspects that must be included in order to successfully manage a business. For example, there needs to be different groups of people that do different jobs such as public relations, human resources, etc.

My experience with the grade 11 students has been great because I got to see how hardworking they are, not only when coming up with ideas and getting work done on time, but also always researching the ideas and being creative when a certain plan fails. This was all done in order to achieve the goal of managing a successful company.

Mickey G.10 (Marketing officer) The real life lessons that I have gained from this program are marketing skills and strategies as well as effective communication skills. This was especially true when talking to customers and finding new effective strategies to attract them to buy our product. One of the most valuable lessons that I learned was that if you want to be successful, you must have a backup plan, ALWAYS. I enjoyed working with the G.11 students and would like to thank them for their contributions to our company.

Organizzato spraying the limited edition product.

Organizzato selling at “Ekamai Gateway” Organizzato education G.5 students on “Creating a business”

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Showcase

Wat Salut Mural By: Mr. Martin

Mild N, Waad, Max, Zen, Mei, Chada, Jeen, First and Naam

completed a mural at local school Wat Salut as part of the I.B. CAS programme.

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Aimed at fostering an awareness of fellow ASEAN countries our students, under the leadership of Mild, negotiated a concept with the teachers at Wat Salut.

They agreed to include a mask, landmark, national flower and flag for each country.

This was followed by careful planning and a real commitment of the student’s own weekend and holiday time. The execution of the painting involved many months. Our senior students should be very proud of the wonderful finished mural and the independent completion of this amazing project.

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local cat. Each of these may seem trivial, but even without our phones we were still able to enjoy all of the activities with our classmates. This not only reminds us of how fixated we are on our technologies, but shows that we were able to really enjoy socializing with the people around us face to face without materialistic distractions.

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n January 20 2017, the Class of 2018 embarked on a trip to a Kareang village near the border between Thailand and Myanmar.

Knowing that the village was elevated on faraway hills and remotely hours away from urbanization, we were prepared for a boring five days of hard labour… It turned out otherwise.

Upon reaching the village, we were greeted with fresh air (something very hard to find in the rustling streets of Bangkok), the bellows of the buffalos, and a group of children who gathered around to look at our tents. The school was clearly run-down, with its interior stripped out and its windows torn apart. Due to this, attendance and enthusiasm in education is at an all-time low in the village, though the students were delighted at our arrival as they ran down the hill to greet us with bright, brimming smiles. Seeing the school in such a desolate manner, we were determined to make sure we would do the best as we could so the children would renew their interest to learn again. Not only were we determined to renovate the school, we are also there to interact with the villagers and understand more about the Kareang culture and traditions.

Over the course of five days, with paintbrushes and drills in hand, we diligently worked to fix the school, installing new walls and windows along the facilities and painting beautiful murals in the buildings. By the end of the trip, we had two beautifully decorated classrooms, a rainbow-painted canteen, and several beautiful murals featuring the bustling city of Bangkok, the galactic Solar System, the underwater world, and even a map of the World, complete with pictures of animals around the globe. We even created a small library, shelved with fantastic Thai books that the children will enjoy.

What struck us most however, was how happy the villagers were. Even without the luxurious goods, the villagers were content with their spiritual and sufficient economic lifestyle. The children had fun in their own way, rowing rafts in the river and playing wrestling, making us reminisce our nostalgic past that wasn’t filled with assignments and social media. We also had the courtesy of having the staff from the My School organization mentoring and cooking delicious meals for us. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful, we got along very well. Without their preparations, the build wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. We also improved our communication and collaboration skills as renovating a school requires a lot of teamwork; It isn’t something that only one person can do in a timespan of five days. The villagers also came to help us even though they could have just watched or played on their own free time. When we were working together, we listened to music and sang, creating a relaxed and fun environment to work in.

These five days eventually passed by in the blink of an eye, leaving us with numerous, memorable events that still bring smiles to our faces.

By: Chayanont Pithaksithiporn (Max) Natthaphon Sresthaporn (Thon) Boonyisa Dolritacha (Cherry) Netika Wongskatu (Sa-e) Sirapop Muller (Shark) Sarinya Lertsakulcharoen (Pena) Matthew Guachamin (Matthew) Chatchai Akkaramongkol (Mawin) Esee De Los Santos (Esee) Amelia Jafari (Amelia) Beckers Kasemnsant (Prim)

Apart from renovating the school, we learnt about

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showered in the lovely river, watched the Milky Way and its illustrious night stars, climbed trees, developed deeper bonds with our friends, and even befriended a

Prim, Sa-e, Shark, Max

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Pena

Matthew

Esee

Thon Amelia

Cherry

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“On the last day of our hard work, I took a quick tour around the school and imagined these students using the new facility, laughing and learning in the colorful classroom had filled me with joy.”

By: Teddy Throughout the trip, not only did I take back the happiness but also the moral of having the mindset of “sufficiency”. When we asked about how can we help them further, the villagers expressed no concern and that they were grateful with what they’ve got. This is when I realized that the villagers have found contentment in living a basic life, with no greed and selfishness. The villagers inspired me to be grateful with what I’ve got, and not to become greedy. School Build is an adventure that I was able to bond with all my friends for the last time before going our separate ways, and one that I will never forget.

By: Eye School Build Trip is an experience that changed my life. Life there was so simple. The people there were so happy with what they have, unlike life in the city where we are surrounded by a materialistic society, where having high status is so important, where we are rarely satisfied with what we have.

This trip makes me realize how importance it is to have a good friendship, although we didn’t have the internet to used, however, time can be passed by so quickly if we are bonding and spending quality time with friends. Lastly, I have learnt that no matter where we live, we can always be happy if we choose to be. No matter we are living in an undeveloped, in a civilized city, if we choose to be content then we will be happy.

By: Prang By having a chance to spend my time with villagers and living in their community, it had helped me developed many life skills and morals.

I should always be reminded that happiness does not come from money and technologies. In fact, it comes from separating what you really need and what you just wanted to possess, and stop yourself from being greedy.

By: Shin

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From what I’ve learned, you don’t need any technology or money to be happy all you really need is your good friends where laugh and cheers are the only thing you see around.

By: Fone

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On the trip to Thak, I was split from my home, which involves a great many things of luxury. I quickly started noticing the value of what I had at home when I saw the conditions the people in Thak were living in. I just had a deeper understanding of the illusion of comfort as I saw these villagers find happiness with less wealth than me. I truly enjoyed the trip and got closer with some strangers I did not know, and formed a more mature insight on human life and the cosmos. Overall, a trip I am privileged and honored to attend By: Ethan I truly appreciated our collaboration, dedication and the effort we all exerted in building the school and library. Any struggles were overcome easily because of our cooperation. We have become more open-minded as well as more respectful to other people’s opinions.

After this experience, I’ve become more appreciative in the importance and value of education. I really appreciate the school for initiating the School Build Project and for us to go and experience the different life style. This experience has taught me to be more perseverant and compassion to those who are in needs.

By: May It is not how much we give, but how much effort and love we put into giving. This experience taught me how privileged and lucky I am to have what I have. Kids there at the village all strive for education, they want to learn, they want to come to school; but there is me, counting when the next holiday is so I can take a break from learning. Everything is all laid in front of me, all I have to do is learn and try my best. Sometimes seeing people who have less than us makes me reflect back on the things I have, and to cherish and be grateful of it. I came back home with an oddly strange, but good feeling. This truly is a valuable experience.

By: Kaew Enjoying the true essence of nature, seeing the bright stars spread across the wide sky, hearing the noises of insects at night, it was an amazing, unforgettable, lifetime experience. As I participate in building the school for the children in the villages, I learned the joy of giving, the efforts and contributions to build the school, a very special gift for the kids, which made me feel delighted.

By: Ong

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Overall, the trip was awesome, filled with positive energy of sharing and caring, building bonds between friends and the lovely village 33 on the hills.

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By seeing them being so happy with so little things, it made me realize that happiness isn’t about how much you have. I remember complaining about going to school trip because I heard there wasn’t going to be any signal, but now that I have come back from the incredible trip, I don’t regret any second being there. To me, all the hard work that we’ve spent there was worth it. I met this kid named Gumpa, he has the sweetest and most beautiful smile I have ever seen.

By: QQ One of the values I learnt was empathy, putting my foot in their shoes. I get to understand the children’s feeling toward the school we built and it taught me that empathy not only brings happiness to others but to your self too. From now on I want to have more empathy, so that I can make people around me happy and also my self too.

By: Non

I have grown a lot mentally and physically. This trip taught me a lot of things that I never experienced before. It taught me to work collaboratively with other people taught me to be a good person and motivate me to change something to the world.

By: Golf The first thing I learned was is to shut down the screen and talk.

I use most of free time nowadays on mobile phone or computer.

As a result, I know my friends more than before as we talk about life, so I trust some people more than before. Also, I start to enjoy living among the nature. In conclusion, the school build trip is like a door in my life that opened up to allow me to see other environments in the world. It put me out of my comfort zone and taught me new things.

By: Pep

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A few of the most important ideas I’ve received from them is that money is not everything, you don’t need money to be happy, and having enough is actually better than having everything. So, first of all, money is not everything. In conclusion, I think people need to learn to be thankful, if not it will never be enough for them.

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By: Eric

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he week without walls trip for Grade 6 was amazing! There are so many fun activities to do. One of the places we have visited which I think was fantastic was the farm because you get to dip your feet into soft, slimy, gooey mud that goes in between your toes and just feels so good! Then you get to go to a duck farm and collect duck eggs.

But the best part of all, those farmers cook you The Sukhothai Trip is sure to be a delicious food - that will be one of the best memory that will never fade in my brain. It is memories of going to Sukhothai. (It was definitely such a different place than where we live. They my best memory of Sukhothai.) had different traditions, cultures, and ways of doing things. Sukhothai is a small place, but is My favorite afternoon activity was definitely yoga filled with great history and memories. Sukhothai because I got to stretch a couple of muscles that not only has 1 story, but has tons of religious, I haven’t stretched in a while and it feels super historical stories that you just have to know about relaxing. We got guided through stretches with to understand your life. (I mean, I was totally super soothing music that makes your body feel so mind blown when I heard all these stories and 48 ready and stretched that you are ready to fight the the historical meaning behind EVERYTHING.) best boxer in the world! But 2 minutes after those Sukhothai is a great place and should never be stretches, I felt like I just got stepped on by a horse. ignored.

I felt like my body just melted into thin air and was just left with no energy what so ever! ~Natalie G6E

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Grade 6 - Reflections from Sukhothai

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s we reflect on our amazing Week Without Walls trip to Sukhothai, we thought that there was no better way than to do this through the reflections from our students. An important focus of the trip was to learn about Thai values and how His Majesty The King Bhumibol Adulyadej impacted the lives of so many people in Thailand.

Annie G6SC, wrote that he taught her how to become one big happy family and love one another.

She went on to write how the King had spent time in the local villages to teach them love, happiness and to be happy with what you have.

Khao Jao G6SW, wrote that he now has an understanding about what he has today due to the ancient people that worked very hard to survive and discovered everything for us.

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When learning about the King, Hui Hui G6SW wrote “A King is a person who looked after the Kingdom. A King is a person who teaches people to do good things and improve the lives of all of his people. A good example of a King is His Majesty The King Bhumibol Adulyadej.�

Safe G6SC discussed his Thai values and how they have shaped his life. He spoke about the importance of caring for people and acknowledging the importance of being Thai. He went on to reflect how it is important to take action to help Thailand be the best country. Safe concludes with how symbolic it is to be Thai and he has the King to thank for bringing the Thai people together.

Touch G6SW reflected on his value of representing Thailand with pride. He wrote about the importance of peace and good leadership within Thailand. He gave the example of how the King set the example of how to show pride in the nation through caring for people, never resting and always help others.

These reflections are only a shortened version of how we learned about Thai values, and it is a credit to our Concordian Community how we all share the same values for our late King and country. We had an amazing trip to Sukhothai and with the late passing of His Majesty The King Bhumibol Adulyadej, we were able to learn, reflect and recognize the endless work that he did for our beautiful country.

Thoughts from the Thai Department:

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จากคำ�กล่าวที่ว่า “ ไม่มีการเรียนรู้ใดจะจดจำ�ได้ดีเท่ากับการเรียนรู้จากประสบการณ์ตรง อีกแล้ว “ นั้นคงกล่าวไม่ผิด เพราะการเรียนรู้ของมนุษย์นั้น เกิดจากขบวนการเรียนรู้ โดยมีผลมาจากประสบการณ์ตรง หรือการฝึกฝนจากสถานการณ์จริง ชึ่งจะทำ�ให้ผู้เรียน เกิดขบวนการเรียนรู้ตามศักยภาพของตน อีกทั้งยังเป็นการเรียนรู้ที่กระตุ้น และจูงใจให้ ผู้เรียนเกิดการใฝ่รู้ ผู้เรียนจะสนุกสนานที่จะสืบค้นหาความรู้ต่อไป มีความสุขในการเสริม สร้างการเรียนรู้แบบ คิด วิเคราะห์ และแก้ปัญหา ดังนั้นภาควิชาภาษาไทย จึงเล็งเห็นความสำ�คัญอย่างมากในการที่จะทำ�ให้นักเรียน ชั้นประถมศึกษาปีที่ ๖ ได้เกิดการเรียนรู้ในการเรียนวิชาภาษาไทย และประวัติศาสตร์ไทย อย่างเป็นองค์รวมและให้เกิดผลสัมฤทธิ์แก่ตัวผู้เรียนให้มากที่สุด โดยการเรียนรู้จากแหล่ง ปฐมภูมิหรือสถานการณ์ที่จริง ซึ่งเป็นการจัดกิจกรรมในลักษณะกลุ่มปฎิบัติการเรียนรู้แบบ IDU (เป็นการบูรณาการการเรียนรู้ในหลายสาขาวิขา เพื่อให้เกิดองค์ความรู้เป็นหนึ่งเดียว) ชึ่งจะเป็นผลดีต่อผู้เรียนในอันที่จะเกิดการเรียนรู้ที่เน้นการปฎิบัติจริง ฝึกคิด ฝึกลงมือ ทำ� ฝึกทักษะกระบวนต่างๆ ฝึกการแก้ปัญหาด้วยตนเอง และฝึกทักษะการเสาะแสวงหา ความรู้ร่วมกันเป็นกลุ่ม จากผลการไปศึกษา”การเรียนรู้นอกสถานที่ WWW” ในครั้งนี้ เมื่อวันที่ ๒๑ พ.ย. – ๒๕ พ.ย. ๒๕๕๙ ที่ จังหวัด สุโขทัย ทำ�ให้ผู้เรียนเกิดการเรียนรู้ และมีพัฒนาการ ด้านร่างกาย อารมณ์ สังคม และสติปัญญา อย่างแท้จริง นักเรียนได้เรียนรู้การอยู่ร่วมกัน กับเพื่อนๆในกลุ่ม การช่วยเหลือกันและกัน อีกทั้งการแสดงศักยภาพในการคิดวิเคราะห์ และการแก้ปัญหาการมีส่วนร่วมในการแสดงความคิดเห็น และการแสดงออกถึง ความเป็นผู้นำ�และผู้ตาม ด้วยความรักและความเข้าใจอันดีต่อกัน และยอมรับใน ความแตกต่างของกันและกัน รู้จักการขอบคุณ และการให้อภัยซึ่งกันและกัน เป็นต้น ภาควิชาภาษาไทย

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By: Ang-Ang and JL This year for Week Without Walls, we went to Khaoyai.

These are some of the very memorable activities we did there. Firstly, we stopped at Pete’s Maze and participated in some team building activities, including games.

We went into the maze in teams. It was a lot of fun.

After that, we went to the Khaoyai national park. The guide introduced us to the amazing parts of this national park. We learnt that it was one of the biggest national parks in Thailand, and it is a home to many interesting species of animals and plants. Lastly, one of the most interesting activities we did in Khaoyai was going to the organic farm and cooking our own dinner in our teams.

Each teams were assigned a main ingredient that had to be used in our dish. Even though some of us could not cook, all of the dishes turned out great, and we had loads of fun! After eating, most of the students joined the owner of the farm and sang songs together. It was one of the most memorable parts of this Week Without Walls trip. The part that we both liked from this trip was when we planned a surprise birthday party for Ms. Alex. All of us gathered together to sing happy birthday for her.

After the surprise, we all had cake.

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During this trip, we learnt many things also because of the staff and teachers of Go Genius Learning Center and our school. We learnt that the different types of energy bars could produce different amounts of energy based on how much of each kind of carbohydrates are added in the energy bar. We also learnt that to make a successful team, we need to work together and collaborate with each other. We also learnt more about science while participating in different activities including topics, sound waves, states of matter and more. Lastly, this trip taught us how to take care of ourselves when exercising by consuming different types of carbohydrates. Overall, this trip was really enjoyable because we were able to work with different people in interesting and different situations which made this trip memorable and a trip where we learnt a lot of things.

Trips&Expeditions

By: Zander (G7J) This Week Without Walls trip had more unexpected events that occurred than any other week without walls I’ve gone to. There were both negative and positive outcomes such as the sudden canceling of the Talent show and the fact that our rooms and living conditions weren’t that bad.

The first unexpected surprise was negative and happened on Day Two when we were out hiking. We thought it would be a cake walk since most hikes are just walking up a hill or mountain with minor obstacles such as rocks. However, during our hike we encountered spiders and long branches protruding from trees and vines that blocked our path. It was also a very far trek from where we started to our lunch spot. The hot sun was also scorching us. The difficulty of the hike was unexpected indeed.

The second unexpected surprise was very exuberant and completely unanticipated. It was the fact that our living quarters were actually quite comfortable. Most of us had expected a cramped room with dirty beds and a creepy toilet infested with insects (it still was) like last year, but our rooms this year were actually quite good.

It was a white room with a good air conditioner and a moderate-looking toilet. The camp is very cool too since it’s based on scientists and Harry Potter which gives it a good look. There’s also a field of artificial grass for us to play on which is sloped down to look like a hill in the girls side of the dorms. So yes, we did not see this coming at all.

Next up was the birthday celebration for Ms. Alex (one of our teachers). None of us knew until Day 3, when they told us what to do when she got back from eating. The lights were off and we were all hiding and waiting for the “baiters” (2 girls) to lure Ms. Alex into the auditorium. Then we sprang out from different areas of the room and the birthday sign holders walked out onto the stage. This was more of a surprise to her than to us.

Lastly, was the unexpected cancellation of the team talent show that was transformed into an individual performance that I did with a couple of my friends.

Usually, every Week Without Walls we are required to perform something at the end with your teammates.

This year we were too busy for a performance.

Overall, I think that this week without walls was good and filled with surprises for everyone.

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Trips&Expeditions

By: BamBam During Week Without Wall, we went to many places and did a lot of activities. Out of all the places we went to, I liked Burgbanburi Farm the most. At the farm, I experienced a lot of new things such as making pottery. Even though my pottery didn’t look very nice, I still liked it because I made it myself. Another fun activity at Burgbanburi Farm was we got to cook our own dinner. We also compiled all the ingredients by ourselves. After the dinner, we had so much fun singing and dancing it felt like we were having a mini concert.

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Another place I really liked was the Pete Maze. Here we did team building activities, which helped us get closer to our friends. My favorite team building activity was the one where every group needed to go into the maze together and complete a mission, which was to take pictures of some statue in the maze and find the way out in 1 hour. This activity really required teamwork because if we were not working together, we might have gotten lost in the maze and couldn’t have completed the mission. I liked the maze so much that if I go to Khao Yai again, I would definitely ask my parents to take me there.

One of the most important lessons I received from the trip was that I can still work well outside of my comfort zone. There was a day that we went trekking for about 2-3 hours. It was very hot and the path we walked was not comfortable at all. This got me out of my comfort zone because normally, I would not do something like this. When I was walking I felt very tired, but I still needed to walk. When I reached the destination, I felt very good.

I was so glad that I could do this and it was actually pretty fun. I learned that we would find lots more fun activities and experiences if we get out of our comfort zone. Because everyone has different perspectives and different experiences, we all got different lessons, values, and responses from this Week Without Wall. Not all part of Week Without Wall is fun, but I can say that every part of this trip taught us some valuable lessons.

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Trips&Expeditions

By: Khun Tang On the 21st to 25th of November, Concordian International school had a chance to go on a trip with the G7 students to Khao Yai for the Week Without Wall trips. The objective was to learn about science, food science, and physical health education. However, there were also some implied objectives that were hidden. All students also had a chance to learn about leadership, team-work, and self-responsibility.

We went to the Pete Maze on the first day and had some ice-breaking activities. All of us were having fun in the maze and other mini games.

These activities let us see that they are harmonized, and they also have problem solving skills. Some students even showed great leadership in which helped them arrive quickly to the finish line.

Another activity that let us see the creativity was pottery on Wednesday. The students had a chance to make their own clay work. The work showed that they had many creative ideas stirring inside them. Beside their endless ideas, they also showed their physical strength. Everyone finished the trekking at Khao Yai National Park strongly! Overall, it was a great bonding and educational trip for all of grade 7s and their chaperones!

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Trips&Expeditions

By: Mr. Cal, G8 WWW 2016 Team Leader During the third week of November, all MYP students engaged in a Week Without Walls. We took the grade eights to Hua Hin, and what an amazing trip it was. The purpose of this trip was to engage students in service learning, specifically for the Community Project and to have a week that focused on physical activity.

Our first stop was to Wang Klai Kang Won School to learn how they broadcast to over seven thousand schools in Thailand. We got to experience a music class and some students and teachers got to sing on national TV! We checked into our hotel and very quickly headed to the beach for some fun team building games. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we split into two groups. One group went on a Hua Hin beach bike tour. This was a beautiful bike ride along the coastal road followed by a walk around the beach cove. The second group went to The WFFT wildlife rescue center, located in Cha Am. This is a center for injured, confiscated and neglected wild animals. The wildlife rescue center operates a fully equipped wildlife hospital, and the staff there care for monkeys, gibbons, wild cats, bears, birds, reptiles and even an elephant. We had the privilege of volunteering for the center and learning about how to protect animals in Thailand. It was hard to say which tour was more enjoyable, but I think the volunteering work at the WWF was harder work! On Thursday, we chose team building activities at Cha Am market which we challenged students to buy team costumes for under five hundred baht before we enjoyed the day at Black Mountain Water Park. All students were risk-takers as they battled the obstacle course and swam in the giant wave pool.

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With such an enjoyable week, our students chose to have a themed talent party. We all danced, performed and laughed endlessly. We had one final stop on Friday at Khao Luang Cave. As always, the monkeys we saw were ready to steal our food and cameras! It is difficult to say what part of the trip was the students’ favourite, but it could just be down to the new friendships that were made and how we truly did have an amazing time.

Trips&Expeditions

By: Best and Andra, Grade 8 Throughout the Grade 8’s Week Without Walls trip to Hua Hin during the 21st to 25th of November 2016, the most enjoyable and memorable moment was taking part in team building activities at Black Mountain Water Park. There were a total of five activities which required the skills “Collaboration and Communication”, which were essential in completing all the challenges successfully as a group. Finishing a task individually is one thing, but including everyone in the team and completing a task together is a whole different challenging situation. It was just more difficult to accomplish. These ATL skills are constantly repeated at Concordian to emphasize their importance. After experiencing these team building activities, students started to realise that these skills play an important role in our lives in school projects, sports or even simple everyday activities. These valuable experiences can only be gained through these sort of activities.

Despite all the obstacles to overcome, no one let the challenges get in the way of their fun. Everyone had wide smiles and were bursting with cheery laughter from all the activities; taking it all lightly with not a hint of stress. Everyone felt knackered by the end of the day, and it was a moment worth remembering.

The WWW was fun. It was very interesting. Getting together with my friends for a week to do activities in order to get closer to each other was great fun.

I learned that even if you are the best of friends, this would still benefit your friendship. The water park was also fun. The water was refreshing.

Au (G8D) The most interesting part of the trip was when we did the activities on the last day because it’s very fun to see my classmates present. I learned about the monkeys at the animal rescue center. I think the waterpark was the most enjoyable.

Non (G8D)

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For this year’s Week Without Walls, we went to Hua Hin to enjoy the beautiful beach scenery. We went to the beach on the first few days and did lots of exciting activities. On the last night of WWW, we got to buy something’s from the market and used it to participate in our group activities. It was fun!!

Prince (G8D)

Trips&Expeditions

It was interesting how fast time flies when we are doing activities with our friends. I think that I enjoyed the waterpark and the team building activities the most because we had to work together to complete each task. I learned that teamwork is very important in some activities. I also learned that some wild animals from WWFT can be very cute and it kind of remind me of my dogs and chickens that can fly!

Tangkwar (G8D) For WWW, we went to Hua Hin. We did a lot of fun activities and we learned many things from the trip. The most interesting and fun thing that we did was bike riding. The weather was very good and the view was very beautiful, perfect for bike riding.

Gring (G8D) WWW helped me to get to know my friends more, especially when were at the water park. At the water park, we were able to help each other and communicate. We had a lot of fun there.

Tootee (G8D)

I went to an animal foundation, and I learned a lot of fun things about the animals’ life and food. I have to help prepare the food for the animals, which I’ve learned a bit about on previous occasions. I also went to the beach and helped clean the beach. I saw lots of jellyfish along the shores. The last night was the most fun because there were lots of games and parties. I had a lot of fun.

Gungging (G8D) Over the course of the WWW trip, I learned and noticed learning is so much more than memorization and classroom learning. The WWW trip was all about gaining experience from biking and learning about animal abuse. WWW was interesting since the trip was really flexible; we were adjusting certain things to our biking.

Overall, it was a really pleasant experience.

Oki (G8D) 42 CONCORDIAN

Trips&Expeditions

During the Week Without Walls, there were many fun and interesting things I observed.

What I found to be the most interesting would be the time when we went to meet the fishermen and asked them several questions. I learned that most of the fisherman in these areas suffered from the pollution in the sea due to the waste from industrial factories around the ocean that killed huge amount of sea animals.

This pollution also turns the seawater to a brown and murky color. The combination of these pollutions make it a lot more difficult for them to fish and make money. We are very fortunate to not need to be concerned about whether we’ll have a meal to eat today or not.

Fahsai (G8D)

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During the WWW trip, one of the most interesting activities was the activities portion itself. We conducted these activities ourselves on the day before our WWW trip ended.

We played charades. participated in mannequin challenges, musical chairs and all those other activities that make your heart skip a beat. The activities were all so exciting and thrilling since they were created by us, the 43 G8s. I can feel the effort put into the activities from all the Grade 8s when playing those games.

Jet’aime (G8D)

Trips&Expeditions

By: Fern, 9M Grade 9s, 10s and chaperons went to Chengdu Sichuan in November for Week Without Walls.

The different weather and sight seeing painted our minds with colorful pictures and memories.

The different highlighted locations were Dujiangyan irrigation system, panda breeding, Wuhou temple, jiuzhaigou, etc. Dujiangyan irrigation system demonstrated to us how ancient China controlled their water supply since it was constructed during 256 BC. Panda breeding put smiles on our faces and gave us information on how pandas are bred.

Jiuzhaigou was one of the most beautiful sites we visited. The Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest area has been named a UNESCO world Heritage Site in part due to the vibrant river colors and Tibetan villages.

We all would like to give special thanks to all of the chaperons and supervisors that set up the trips.

This is certainly a trip that we all should cherish.

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Trips&Expeditions

By: JoaKha, G9

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To start, the 2016 Week Without Walls trip was very fun! Looking at the schedule, when it was given, made my expectations from this trip very low. I did not expect to have a good night sleep because we had to spend time packing almost every day for fun activities because we had to travel by bus 5 hours a day. However, going there gave me a whole new impression of the trip. We went from big cities to small towns to on top of the mountains. We got to see many interesting shows and interesting places such as the panda reserve. My favorite day was the day at Jiuzhaigou National Park. There the mountains are thousands of meters tall, lakes were remarkably big, and the sites were extraordinary. Travelling from and to different places, although it did take several hours,we got to talk with friends and people that we normally did not talk to. The best thing about 37 this trip, that could be agreed by everyone, was that the relationships got stronger between everyone on this trip.

Trips&Expeditions

By: Min, G9 One thing that I felt during this trip is that we loved and helped each other more compared to the past.

We used a lot of communication and collaboration to help figure out things we didn’t know and to solve problems we didn’t know how to solve.

We are more mature and know what to do more than before. We get to see nature and beautiful views during this trip, and i’m very impressed. First I thought China would have nothing of interest, but my prediction was wrong. The Chinese food, nature and traditions we experienced were all good. We were able to watch many types of shows that I really liked. I think you’re going to love it too if you have a chance to visit there!

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Trips&Expeditions

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Community Service

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By: Mr. Cal

his semester has been an exciting and challenging time for our MYP students. All MYP students have participated in service engagements that have ranged from initiating service learning from our teachers, through to our students taking the lead and creating their own service engagements. We have a wide range of service and there is always an opportunity for us to get involved!

Our students from grade six made dog biscuits and visited a local temple where there are many street dogs. They also took the opportunity to interview the Monks to investigate more about the community they live in. The grade seven students planned a day of activities at the Phapradeang Disabled People Home. Our students collaborated in groups to plan art, reading and game activities. Our students learned valuable skills such as time management, communication, and planning skills.

We will continue this service work with Phapradeang home and continue to develop students’ awareness to take action. The grade eights have been working in their groups for the Community Project.

These students are currently taking service action out in many communities around Bangkok, and we look forward to their presentations in March. The grade nines have also been working independently on service projects since December and are also working with communities that have been impacted by the recent floods. Out of respect for the late His Majesty The King Bhumibol Adulyadej, we chose to delay the Thanksgiving dinner which the grade tens had planned. We look forward to hosting this event later in the school year.

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In December, we continued with the school-wide initiative to deliver gifts to community centres that we support throughout the year. With thanks to all of our Concordian community, we raised over five hundred and fifty gifts. We are very proud of all of our students, staff and parents that made this our most successful gift drive - Thank you.

We start semester two with continuing our work with our local community centres and encourage all of our MYP students to take initiative and action to make a difference in our community. We would also like to extend this invite to our parent community that would like to be more involved.

Please contact me for more details (cal@concordian.ac.th).

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Community Service

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Community Service

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By: Mr. Martin

n December 2nd the Grade 11 students left for Italian Harbour in Bang Pakong with a goal of assisting in the replanting of the estuarine mangrove forest.

We also headed out to sea in the hope of seeing the elusive local Irawaddy dolphins but, unfortunately, didn’t make contact on this particular day. The trip was nevertheless highly successful.

The students planted a large number of mangroves in an enthusiastic and engaged manner. We were all up to our knees (and more) in sticky mud, but that did not diminish the energy of our sophomores; everyone made a tremendous contribution to this important activity.

I would recommend future students continue the work of regenerating the plantings and help ensure the survival of this breeding and nursery habitat for many threatened species!

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Community Service

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Flash Back

By: Khun Fluke “Ploenchit Fair is the British Community’s annual fundraising blockbuster fair held every year with a lot of fun activities at the Bangkok Patana School. It is organized by the British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy (BCTFN).

For this year, on November 26th from 10 AM to 8 PM, our students who participated in the booth from Concordian International School were happily and proudly being a part of the team. We had a great time organizing the games for the kids which were Fly Rocket, Face Painting, Space Quiz and Bag Painting. Although it was a long and a super sunny day, the children’s smiles brought us so much joy! Thank you everyone and see you again next year!”

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By: Mr .

Flash Back

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he 4th annual TISAC Orchestra Festival was held in Concordian’s Grand Theater on Oct. 12th. 75 student musicians from seven TISAC district schools were on stage for an hour-long program of symphonic and popular music. Concordian was able to provide 30 students from grades 6 to 11.

The festival provides music of different levels of difficulty.

Students were free to choose which songs that they felt comfortable performing. All music was rehearsed in both sectional and group formats prior to the 2:15pm performance. Directors from all participating schools were active in preparing the students for the concert. The audience included the students of grade 5, the MYP student body, teachers, administration, and parents of the performing musicians. All agreed that this festival continues to be one of the most anticipated events of the school year.

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School Update

By: Kevin, High Student Government Secretary (Class of 2017)

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he Concordian High School is rarely at a standstill. Our students are active learners both inside and outside of the classroom. A big part of that high school life at Concordian is the high school student government which coordinates activities and tries its very best to make sure the high school experience for every Concordian Dragon is that of an enjoyable and productive one. This school year, we’ve encouraged the students to pay closer attention to the events happening around the world by talking about ‘news of the week’ usually hosted by our enthusiastic news reporter, Tawan. We’ve also made sure to prioritize school spirit and class unity by having each grade level compete with each other to earn points in our house system. So far, the seniors (Class of 2017, aka LEGI7) are in the lead by sweeping many gold medals from volleyball, futsal, and the rap battle during our sports day hosted before the Christmas break. However, that can change at any point as the onslaught of future events may take them by surprise!

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Speaking of events, the student government has many more activities planned in the near future. Make sure to prepare yourselves, because the long awaited spirit week is finally happening on the week of Valentine’s Day. Another exciting announcement is that the HS Student Government is revamping the news of the week, by changing it into a short jeopardy game about weekly news. Which grade level will be the most knowledgeable about the news all around the world?

Only time will tell…

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School Update

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By: Mr. Bill

t’s amazing how fast the first semester went by this year. In the classrooms there has been so many interesting and fun activities it was hard to keep up with them all. Chinese rediscovered folklore and performed public speeches, Individuals and Societies conducted cave activities to learn how to be social scientists, and Design created games to educate people about online safety and recycled old materials into gifts to make children happy.

Science performed a variety of labs to enhance student understanding while English and Thai made literature come alive. The student’s physical capabilities were expanded in Physical Health Education and their creativity awoken in Visual Arts and Music.

Another notable development in Middle School is how the Student Council has begun to take a larger role in student life at Concordian. Besides creating and running activities that increased moral, they have also started to advocate for their fellow students. Some of their accomplishments to date are chaperoning parents during back to school night, organizing a house system with intramural activities, gaining permission to play games and socialize in the library, and advising on the new Middle School homework policy.

With all these exciting activities and developments, I can hardly wait to see what the second semester has in store. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about what’s happening in Middle School, please do not hesitate to contact me at billberry@concordian.ac.th.

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