Hong Kong International School 1 Red Hill Road Tai Tam, Hong Kong http://dragonnet.hkis.edu.hk
“Veritas vos liberabit”
ISSUE 2
NOVEMBER 2011
A STUDENT PUBLICATION OF HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Protesters “Occupy” Exchange Square
Nine Students Suspended for Cheating on the SAT Reasoning Test BY MARTIN MAN
SKY SMITH
A wide assortment of groups protested against an array of economic and political issues in Exchange Square on the 15th of October. Styling themselves after the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters in New York City, they named the event “Occupy Central.” The protesters marched from the HSBC tower to Exchange Square, where they stayed for a few hours. At six pm, the police escorted the crowd back to the HSBC tower, where some protesters camped out for the night. An informal stage was set up, where different speakers took turns talking to the crowd through a speaker system. The protesters held signs with English and Chinese slogans written on them; “Banks are
BY THOMAS RUAN
Cancer!”, “We are the 99%”, and “No bulls! No bears! Just pigs!” were a few of them. Although the event was officially started from a Facebook event made by the Leftist organization Left21, many different protest groups were there. Though there were many different opinions voiced at the event, a common theme was protest against capitalism. A Left21 speaker said on the speakers, “Hong Kong is not ruled by people, not ruled by laws, but by the capitalism of the ruling class.” This anti-capitalist sentiment was echoed amongst the different groups present at Occupy Central. One of these groups was People Power, a pro-democracy organization
that was started early this year. Albert Chan, a member of LegCo and leader of People Power, was at the protest. He explained that People Power is “not afraid to confront people.” “The young people of Hong Kong are beginning to express concern,” he said. “This is a good sign.” At around four pm, Chan waded through a pool and climbed on top of a metal bull sculpture. As he stood on top and waved a flag, he shouted political slogans. Another organization that was present was the internet activism group Anonymous. Members of Anonymous wore Guy Fawkes masks, and refused to talk to anybody from the press. Continued on Page 5
Powerschool: Addiction or Helping Hand?
HKIS Forms Sustainability Committee
BY SAMANTHA FONG
BY BEATRICE YEUNG
One of the newest applications available for students’ uses in the high school is Powerschool. Most students claim that Powerschool is a good thing, while others don’t think that it is of much use. Rachel Tang, a freshman, said, “Powerschool is good [because] you can see how you’re doing. But it’s also bad, since you get addicted to looking at it.” Rachel says that she checks it at least a couple times a week, and she doesn’t think she’s addicted. When asked what she thought was addiction to Powerschool, she replied that people who check it multiple times each day would be addicted. Tang, like most people, says she has an incomplete report from all her teachers. Tang says that only five of
her grades have been displayed on Powerschool. She also said that even though some people don’t check it because their teachers don’t update the grades often, she does not mind the delays in posting grades. Another freshman, Ashley Kung, said that Powerschool is mostly a good thing, as it “lets students know how they’re doing on tests, individual grades and overall. For example, some classes only grade homework, while other classes don’t. If you complete all your homework, but do badly on tests, it shows what you need to improve on.” Kung says that homework completion heavily affects overall grades, and Powerschool helps her do better on the completion of her homework. Continued on Page 5
Initiated by HKIS administrators, a Sustainability Committee has recently been formed in order to allow HKIS students to exhibit global citizenship and appreciate global diversity. Since the start of the school year, the Sustainability Committee has held two meetings, which included Ms. Anderson (the Associate Head of School), Mr. Hall (the Director of Facilities Management), faculty member Ms. Vipond, two parents, Ms. Dokken and Ms. Brucker, and students representing Roots and Shoots, Global Issues Network, and Greenpeace. “One of the primary purposes of the committee is to promote and facilitate environmentally responsible behaviors through the HKIS Continued on Page 3
SCHOOL NEWS
Students Misuse Textbook Lending Service PAGE 4
Memorial Bench Removed
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Freedom of Speech in HKIS
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HKIS Students Write PSAT
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Interim Sign-Up Now Closed
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Kevin Dunning Becomes New Head of School PAGE 3 HKIS Alumnus Set to Release Sixth Album PAGE 3 STUDENT BODY DIVIDED AFTER SAT CHEATING PAGE 4
API Levels and Possible Health Risks to HKIS Students PAGE 5 Founder of HKIS Returns as Guest Speaker PAGE 5 College Application Process Causing Stress for Seniors PAGE 5
Students Displeased With Grading Consistency PAGE 7
Nine senior students were suspended on Monday, 3 October, for cheating on the SAT Reasoning Test. Five students were suspended for one week, while four were suspended for two days. The test—administered Saturday, 1 October, in the gymnasium—and the circumstances surrounding the cheating are now under investigation by College Board. All scores for tests taken that day are now put on hold pending the results of the investigation. Suspected students were called to the office on the morning of 3 October after administrators received student reports that cheating had taken place. Ms. Harvey—associate principal for academic affairs—explained that there were “multiple reports from students” “to college board and to us on the administrative team.” Although reports were filed for previous tests, it was “not to this extent,” said Ms. Harvey. She indicated that ‘a significant number’ of students “reported concern” and that the administration was “really happy about that.” “It is not rumour,” Ms. Klekamp stated in an address during senior big homeroom. “It is fact. There was cheating on the SAT and it happened in the boys’ bathroom—specifically in the gym.” According to accounts by several suspended students, five seniors took advantage of the four break times throughout the three hour and forty-five minute test to meet in the male changing rooms. They “planned the cheating by preparing little paper slips” on which they wrote the answers to test questions. In the changing room they discussed and wrote down test answers, then “hid those slips in their palms while taking the test” and copied them onto the answer sheet. “They also wrote down answers,” one suspended student stated, “for the math grid in sections.” The other four students—who were suspended for two days as
opposed to one week—were not involved in the planning and execution of the operation. They “had no idea what was happening in the changing rooms during break-time” until they encountered the cheaters. A suspended student said, “We had absolutely no intention of cheating at first.” But they approached their friends and “verbally discussed answers” in the changing rooms. The College Board considers “attempting to give or receive assistance on the test” and communicating with other test-takers during the test as “misconduct.” As such, the students who discussed test questions were also punished. Ms. Klekamp, Dr. Johnson, and Ms. Harvey were asked to provide details on the circumstances of the cheating and how the students were caught, but all three declined to comment. Ms. Harvey explained that they were “not at liberty to discuss the present situation” pending investigation and the final decision by College Board. Following the accusations of students who witnessed the cheating, the administrators called in the nine students. According to accounts of the suspended students, “the group that planned to cheat with paper slips were caught first,” and were summoned in the morning. As those students confessed and surrendered the names of the other students present in the changing rooms, the other four were also called in. They “were asked to tell the truth,” one student said. “The admin knew that we were in there. I didn’t know to what extent the admin knew about us, so in case they knew everything, I decided to tell the truth,” he said. He added, “if I was caught lying it could’ve led to more serious trouble.” Ms. Fine then asked him to recall “who else were there” and told him to “write out a truth statement explaining what happened.” Continued on Page 4
DEIDRA WIRAKUSUMAH
John Anderson and Anna Mikami performing Nightwatch as John and Elaine Wheeler. Story on Page 7
REVIEW
SENATE UPDATE LETTER FROM JODIE CHAN Senator of Public Relations
Review: Nighwatch Successful Despite Many Obstacles PAGE 7
Hello again High School! Since the last article, several non-senate members of the high school HKIS community have dropped into our meetings, so thank you for those who have. PAGE 2
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Hello again High School! Since the last article, several non-senate members of the high school HKIS community have dropped into our meetings, so thank you for those who have. I’d like to say on behalf of the Senate that we do truly appreciate your opinions and the time you’ve given after school to sit in on our meetings! The invitation is still extended to anyone who wishes to listen to take part in our Senate meetings, and for those of your interested, the next meeting is on the 7th of November. Just a reminder, Friday October 28th is a Spirit day, and we’re having it
Halloween style. So come dressed and ready to have a costume-fabulous day. Be at the atrium during meeting time. You don’t want to miss out because there will be a maximum of 35 Spirit Week points given to those who win the three competitions. Check out the ‘Horrors of Heroes Spirit Day’ event on Facebook and the sent emails for more details. Be sure to RSVP! On a side note, here’s some food for thought. How well do you know the Senate constitution? What problems do you have with the current constitution?
What would you change about the school if you could? (There’s chance you can make that change by letting us know your thoughts!) Let us know your answers to these questions and post your opinions on the Senate website forum. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and hope to see some of you during our next Senate meeting! Until next time, Jodie Chan Senator Of Public Relations 120261@hkis.edu.hk
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Hong Kong International School 1 Red Hill Road Tai Tam, Hong Kong Junto is a student publication of Hong Kong International School. Student editors make all content decision. Please feel free to submit letters to the editors. Submit your letter to junto@hkis.edu.hk. Letters may be edited for clarity.
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SPIRIT WEEK EVE
HS HKIS
Teacher Advisor ...........................................................................................................Chris Taylor Editor-in-Chief ................................................................................................Sanchita Kanthadai Editors .........................................................................................................................Thomas Ruan Emily Williams Christine Herman Charles Packer Layout Editor ....................................................................................................................Jinny Lee Layout assistants ...........................................................................................................Andrew Yu Tiffany Chung Danielle Park Photo Manager ................................................................................................................................ Victoria Montecillo Photo assistants ........................................................................................................Gabriella Tam Hannah Passamonte Amy Griffin Kira Bauman
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Mr. Kevin Dunning Becomes New Head of School
BY MARTIN MAN Mr. Kevin Dunning became the new head of Hong Kong International School this summer after Mr. David J. Condon left for the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan. Mr. Dunning was born in Chicago, Illinois in the United States of America. Adopted by foster parents at the age of three, he moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he lived until going to university. Since then he has lived and worked in Portland, Oregon, New York City, and Cleveland, Ohio as a teacher. He has also previously been the principal of Walther Lutheran High School near Chicago. He came to Hong Kong from Las Vegas with his wife while his 24-year-old daughter and 29-yearold son remain in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, respectively. Seven years ago, as the head of Faith Lutheran Junior Senior High School in Las Vegas, Mr. Dunning came to HKIS as chaperone for students participating in a choral festival. He had seen the school then, having “heard a lot about its excellent reputation,” but, until the head of school search process, had not visited Hong Kong on any other occasion. Mr. Dunning was selected as the HKIS head of school last year after a lengthy process. The former head of school “Jim Handrich called me on the phone and said that I had been nominated.” After interviews with headhunting firms, the head of school search team, and completing “psychological and leadership inventories,” Mr. Dunning was finally selected. While the Lutheran Church must approve of the head of school candidate, it was mainly the search team set up by the Board of Directors that Mr. Dunning interacted with. As he had only worked in Lutheran schools, “it was easy to get that approval.” These first few months in HKIS have been positive for Mr. Dunning. He has been “impressed by the friendliness of the student body and the quality of the teaching staff,” adding, “people have welcomed me” and ‘wished me well.” His first plans are “to get to know the school,” expressing a desire to “learn the names of all the teachers and what they teach” and to acquire “a sense of what’s impor
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tant to the students.” Much of Mr. Dunning’s day— which runs from 7am until 6pm, though occasionally as late as 9pm— is spent “either prepping for a meeting or in a meeting.” He meets with Ms. Anderson, the associate head of school, and with other faculty across all four divisions. He also deals with various business and administrative departments, saying, “I sign my name to a lot of documents.” In between the meetings, Mr. Dunning has tried to visit each of the four divisions at least once each week. He has been to the Lower Primary as a “mystery reader” and participated in discussions during “sophomore seminar” in order to see students and understand what classes are like. Planning for the Lower Primary’s move to Chai Wan currently occupies much of Mr. Dunning’s time. There has been opposition to the Chai Wan move from parents and he explained that the school is trying to “help parents understand…why this is the right time and why their children’s education is not going to be harmed in any way.” Though some parents have called for the move to
be delayed, Mr. Dunning made it clear that “the plan of the school is to move forward.” “At some point,” he stated, “you have to ask some people to make some sacrifices so that in the big picture you can get the greater good accomplished.” As HKIS is a diverse school with an international student body, Mr. Dunning said that “understanding the HKIS culture” will be “one of the most important things” for him to do. The role religion plays at HKIS has been a subject of discussion over the years, and Mr. Dunning admits he must grasp what it means “for students to be grounded in the Christian faith” while also “respecting the spiritual lives of all,” and what that “looks like as a practical matter.” He said that it is very important for students at all levels to learn “both about Christianity” and that “not everyone is a Christian.” Mr. Dunning realises that “there has been creative tension about the balance between ‘grounded in Christianity’ and ‘respecting the spiritual lives of all’ and what that means.” He said the “difficult choices to make in this environment” are not only how religion is taught in the classroom,
but to what degree “gatherings are more specifically Christian than about being good people.” Pleased HKIS has “put technology in the hands of students,” Mr. Dunning says he is a “big believer” in the integration of technology in education. He is approving of the “one-on-one” laptop program, stating that “technology is an increasingly important part of schools.” On whether or not education should be completely digitalised and pen-andpaper writing phased out, he said that “it’ll take a generation to figure out if this is a good approach.” Addressing the high school specifically, Mr. Dunning is “looking forward to getting to some games and concerts and plays done at the high school level” because of the “expectation that they are all very well done.” He attended a volleyball game during the weekend of 17 and 18 September, and is excited to see more high school events in the future. Mr. Dunning’s plans for the future of HKIS are to work closely with the faculty, parents, and students to continue the “relentless pursuit of excellence” that first attracted him to come here.
HKIS Students Support Permanent Residency for Foreign Domestic Helpers
BY FLORA LIU
Foreign Domestic Helpers are now entitled to permanent residency in Hong Kong. On Friday, September 30th, the High Court pronounced the existing law unconstitutional as it specifically banned domestic maids from applying for permanent residency in the city. Court of First Instance judge Johnson Lam ManHon was due to give his judgment on Thursday, Sept. 29th, but the delivery was delayed by Typhoon Nesat. Members of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade protested against the ruling as they chanted slogans and voiced their concerns over the consequences of granting the entitlement. The main problem was the sharing
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of public resources, since locals may face greater competition for job opportunities and additional pressure on the city’s medical and education system. Other trade unions in Hong Kong also expressed fear about expected economic and social instability in the wake of the court’s decision. The historic court case mainly concerns the 292,000 foreign domestic helpers who work here. All other foreigners have the option to seek permanent residency after seven years of uninterrupted stay, but domestic helpers are excluded from this benefit. This issue has polarized Hong Kong citizens as well as domestic helpers themselves. Domestic helper Lannie Hugbag,
45, says that “I would like to try [to get permanent residency] because if I get it, my husband and two daughters in the Philippines can join me in Hong Kong and my daughters could get better education.” A successful ruling would promise a greater future for many domestic maids. They could pursue opportunities that are unavailable to them currently. Other foreign domestic workers hope to return home as soon as possible. “The standard of living is very expensive here, it’s not easy,” said Dolores Balladare. “After working for many years in Hong Kong, many of the foreign domestic helpers just want to go back to reunite with their family.” Not all maids would choose to apply to live in Hong Kong because of the skyrocketing rental prices and increasing wealth gap. The city is cramped and many miss the carefree spirit of their small hometowns. HKIS students largely support the courts ruling. Eleventh grade student Samantha Klein said, “Domestic helpers deserve the same rights as everyone else. We should give them
permanent residency, even though there may be initial economic, political and social problems.” Jacqueline Cheong, another eleventh grader, agrees with Klein. “They’re the people who raised us and they’re more of a family member than we give them credit for. Sometimes I don’t feel like they are acknowledged for the amount of effort they give,” said Cheong. Mr. Baker, who teaches AP Economics in school, believes that the entitlement could be beneficial. “I have served in Hong Kong for over seven years, and so have many of the domestic helpers. I believe that all foreigners should be treated equally. They should be able to pursue other jobs and opportunities if they want to.” The next question for most is how the government will deal with the sudden influx of people and whether the administration would seek Beijing’s re-evaluation. Many do not want the National People’s Congress Standing Committee in Beijing to interpret Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
HKIS Forms Sustainability Committee Continued from front page community, as well as to share information about sustainability efforts, initiatives and events at HKIS,” said Mrs. Anderson. A wide array of topics and ideas were reviewed and discussed during the meeting such as the implementation of an air-conditioner and light policy and the idea of “Meatless Monday.” Although concrete plans for the development of the committee are not yet solidified, members of the committee decided to take action immediately regardless. “Let’s strike while the iron is hot, let’s not wait for perfection,” said Ms. Anderson. Ms. Dokken added, “We need to keep the momentum going!” The Sustainability Committee aims to promote alignment and coordination among divisions and groups who are engaged in sustainability work and education, and serves to facilitate communication about the work for sustainability to the HKIS and wider communities. Although the Sustainability Committee has limited membership at this moment, Mrs. Vipond said that “In order to recruit students who are passionate about this subject, membership applications will be open to all students in each division of the HKIS community shortly.”
HKIS Alumnus Set to Release Sixth Album BY GIGI W CHOY
HKIS has produced many notable alumni over the years, including lead guitarist of Lifehouse, Jason Wade. Lifehouse is an American rock band from Los Angeles, co-founded by lead guitarist, vocalist, and main songwriter Jason Wade and bassist Sergio Andrade. Wade was born in Camarilo, California in 1980, but spent most of his youth traveling to different countries—including Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong—with his parents, who were Christian missionaries. According to past interviews, while in Hong Kong, Jason Wade attended HKIS but moved to Portland, Oregon shortly after. When he was 12, his parents divorced and Wade moved to Los Angeles to live with his mother. It was here that he cofounded his first band Lifehouse, after encouragement from his mother to pick up his first guitar and learn how to write music. Current junior, Sanjay Leese was fascinated to find out that Jason Wade had attended HKIS in the past. It’s great to know that we have a role model who proved that “if you put your mind into something, anything is possible.” Lifehouse has released 5 studio albums, the most famous being No Name Face, Who We Are, and Smoke & Mirrors. They have released 12 singles, including the smash-hit Hanging by a Moment, which was the most played song on the radio in 2001. The band is set to release its sixth studio album in 2012.
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NINE STUDENTS SUSPENDED FOR CHEATING ON THE SAT REASONING TEST Continued from front page Another student—questioned by Ms. Klekamp and Ms. Fine—said, “we only talked for five minutes. And then they told me to write down everything on a sheet of paper about what happened. [They] said I should be careful—suggesting I shouldn’t lie—and said, ‘you are writing your diploma,’ which got me pretty scared.” He also reported similar pressure to confess, stating, “I thought they had cameras and microphones so I did say I discussed about the test.” In the address Ms. Klekamp gave seniors the Tuesday after the incident, she stated that the administration “actually put in place—on Saturday—some fairly extraordinary measures—some creative devices, if you will—to try to get a better handle on” the problem of cheating. The two phrases “extraordinary measures” and “creative devices” have aroused questions in the student body as to what was actually meant. One point cited by many students as evidence that no such ‘devices’ exist is the fact that one senior, Calvin Lo, was called to the office even though he did not take the test. Upon entering, he was immediately questioned, he said. “’Tell me what you did on Saturday,’” he recounted the administrators saying, “’you know what you did.’ ‘Someone reported
you; someone told us you were part of it.’” Upon reviewing the records, however, the administrators realised he had not taken the test. When asked if she could confirm or deny rumours about the installation of CCTV cameras and microphones in the bathrooms were true, Ms. Harvey replied, “No, I can’t.” However, she did confirm that the move from the sixth floor rooms—where the SAT Reasoning Tests have traditionally been held—to the gymnasium was one of the “security measures” taken. Ms. Harvey explained that last year “there was a high degree of variation between proctors. Some proctors were reading the script exactly as they were supposed to” whilst others were “very lax about it.” As such, the school decided to place the test in the gymnasium “to standardise everyone’s experience and make it fair.” As an example, Mrs. Harvey described that in some rooms cell phones may have rung, disturbing the students in that room. However, students in another room were not disturbed, making it unfair. “It’s a matter of equity,” she added. Situating the exam in the gymnasium “will be standard procedure from now on.” Ms. Harvey explained that the school “did have more teachers around” and that it “controlled the spaces that kids could go into,” but it “clearly wasn’t enough.” She stated
that the administration is “going to have to beef that up even more for the future.” According to Ms. Harvey, SAT test scores are “put on hold” for now, and the school is “just waiting.” This incident has called into question the integrity of the school as a test centre, and College Board must decide if it is still “a secure testing site.” She did mention, however, that College Board “generally will provide another testing opportunity free of charge.” She made clear that College Board administrators “don’t want to punish the innocent.” The fact that these nine students attempted to cheat on the SAT will be recorded in their transcript and counsellors will make it known to universities through their recommendation letter. What is important, however, is “how to move forward from the incident,” Mrs. Harvey said. Mr. Dunning—the head of school—stated that the incident “highlights the need to continue talk about character.” He stated that “character is they way you are when nobody else is watching.” “It begs the question of how far people are willing to go to get what they or their parents want,” he said. He added that the cheaters must ask themselves, “What price am I willing to pay to get what I want?”
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Students Misuse Textbook-Lending Service BY BARTON LIANG
The Information Commons textbook-lending service has been available since the beginning of the school year for students who want to use a textbook during their free periods. Despite clear instructions and simple rules written in an email at the start of the school year, students are still not using the service properly, leaving messy shelves and missing textbooks. The first rule, as stated in the email, is to “leave your HKIS ID Card in the numbered pocket that corresponds to the number label on the book you are borrowing,” yet the numbered pockets above the bookshelf often only have one or two ID cards in them while more than 10 books have been taken. The ID cards act as a kind of collateral. By having the cards in the slots, students must return to the trolley to collect their cards. Hopefully, they will bring the books back with them. Several students admitted that they don’t follow the rules. “I just take them,” confessed a junior. “Sometimes, I just get lazy,” added another senior. “I try my best to follow the rules, but it’s such an instinctive action to reach for the textbook and bring it back to your table without leaving your ID card.”
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Senior Andrew Yu voiced his incredulity. “Is it really that difficult to put a card into the appropriate slot?” He also expresses concern at “the lack of consequences when a textbook is taken without a [student ID card] inserted into the slot.” Presiding Officer Mira Naseer had similar concerns. “People don’t [follow the rules]. Books will not be on the shelf, and no one will have left any identification either.” “I think most people just take the textbook,” agreed senior Curtis Li. “Generally, I don’t see an ID card in the slot.” “The whole service operates on the honor system,” Senator of Academics Tara Lorimer said in an email interview. “We expect students to be responsible enough to follow instructions, put the books back properly, and be respectful of the needs of their fellow students.” “The way that the students put the textbooks back on the trolley is very disappointing,” Lorimer continued. “They are usually all piled up horizontally and out of order by the end of first period.” The textbooks are numbered, and Lorimer is responsible for keeping the trolley organized and neat. Each textbook has a number on its spine, indicating its proper position on the
trolley. Students often put books back out of order, and the trolley is often filled with books that are upside down or backwards. Some students don’t put books back on the trolley at all. “I see textbooks lying around on desks, sometimes on the floor,” said Li. Both Lorimer and Senior Class President Sonia Min agreed that it was unfair to others to misplaced or fail to return textbooks. “You are being inconsiderate of your fellow students if you don’t put the book back in its original position, because it makes it harder for students to find the books later on in the day,” Lorimer said. If students continue to misuse the service, it may be changed to a more stringent system that requires students to ask the librarians to borrow the textbooks. Many students support this. “I think the system will be much more organized this way,” says Naseer. “That might make [students] return things better,” added Min. According to Lorimer, if the problems continue, the Information Commons may make major changes to its textbook lending program. “This service operates on the honor system, so if I begin to see students hiding textbooks for their own selfish purposes, I will have to rethink the whole system.”
Student Body Divided After SAT Cheating BY POOJA HATTANGDI
In the wake of the cheating that took place at the SATs less than a month ago, the HKIS student body is divided in their opinions of the cheaters and about how well the administration is handling the affair. Senior Barton Liang, the Senator of Student Life, said that the administration had taken several precautionary steps to avoid any chance of cheating during testing. “Prior to the SATs in October, the subject of SAT cheating had been discussed between myself, the Senator of Discipline, Senator of Service and Presiding Officer. We decided that the SATs should be held in the gym to improve testing conditions, as there were inconsistent proctors in the previous testing areas, such as the Chinese Rooms. Holding the SATs in the gym would cut down chances for cheating,” Liang said. However, these changes did not have the desired effects as Liang noticed a group of boys talking in the gym bathroom during a break in testing. After the SAT testing ended, Liang promptly emailed Ms. Harvey and Ms. Fine notifying them of his observation and advising them to install proctors in the bathroom for the next round of testing. Liang was one of several students who emailed the administration to inform them of the discussions in the bathroom. Liang expressed his disappointment at the students who, by cheating, have jeopardized HKIS’ reputation, as well as rest of the students’ scores. “When you cheat on the SATs, it affects the school’s standing with the College Board. If HKIS is consistently called to attention for integrity issues, then its relationship with the Board as well as its status as a test center itself will be impacted. Ultimately, it is unfair to all the other students who spent time and money on preparatory courses for the SATs,” Liang said. Another student who took the SATs on October 1st, was interrogated by the administration after his friends were caught cheating, but was soon released. He explained that he proved his innocence by standing outside the gym bathroom during testing breaks. “I went into the locker room during the first break and I did see people exchanging answers. After the first break, I talked to people outside the locker room,” he said. Although the student did not want to get himself involved in the cheating, he remained unfazed by the situation. The cheating “didn’t really affect me much,” he said. “Some of the people who cheated were my friends and I had no intention of tell-
ing anyone about it. I just had to do my part, which was taking the SATs well, and I didn’t really care about anything else or what was going on in the locker room.” The Senior also said he understands why his friends chose to cheat. “I’ve cheated and got caught before. It was stupid, but I know why they did it. They did it because of pressure.” Although this student maintained that the administration interrogated him fairly by giving him a chance to prove himself, other students have reacted more negatively to the administration’s response. One such student, Senior Calvin Fu, who didn’t take the SATs on October 1st, felt the school took excessive measures to prevent SAT cheating. “I am concerned with how the school handled the situation. Mrs. Klekamp claimed that they had special devices installed where the cheating took place. Using bugging devices in the school bathroom is an invasion of privacy. I don’t know whether she is bluffing or not, but either way the school is lying or basically used illegal means to catch cheaters,” said Fu. During a grade 12 big homeroom, Mrs. Klekamp referred to “extraordinary measures” being taken and “creative devices” being used to prevent SAT cheating. However, she did not say that these devices were microphones or cameras, nor that they were installed in the gym bathrooms. Fu also felt that the suspension of some of the cheaters was unnecessary. In the aftermath of the SAT cheating, nine students were suspended—five students were suspended for a week for exchanging papers and four students were suspended for two days for discussing answers during the testing break. Fu argued the redundancy of HKIS suspending the four students for discussing answers. He said, “I know the school knows that all the students discuss answers during the breaks. It’s a flaw of the SATs. It is not up to the school to suspend students for cheating. Would the Sha Tin Center suspend me if I cheated on my test there?” Fu claimed that HKIS was just reacting to its reputation being tarnished. “I don’t think HKIS will be a test center anymore anyway. It’s a contaminated test site,” he said. Currently, the administration at HKIS is writing up a full report for the College Board, including the circumstances that surrounded the event as well as the people involved. Ultimately the College Board will decide whether to cancel all scores from SAT tests taken at HKIS on October 1st.
HKIS Students Develop Their Own Study Strategies BY ANDREA HERMAN
As quarter one comes to an end, HKIS students are faced with increasing homework loads. With assignments piling up, HKIS students have developed numerous techniques to manage their time. Maddie Passamonte, Grade 10, recommends avoiding the internet “Never study on the computer,” she says, “because there’s so many distractions.” Instead, she suggests only using the computer when necessary, and studying offline as much as possible. Other students also struggle with the distraction the internet provides. Barton Liang, Senior, uses a similar strategy. “I just turn my laptop off and put it away if I don’t need it,” he says. Another tactic he suggests is to “work for a chunk of time, then use Facebook as a ‘reward’”.
One of the reasons the internet proves such a distraction is that it’s very easy to spend lot of time online and not even realize it. Ninth grader Lillie Weise has devised a strategy to prevent this. “My computer tells me every fifteen minutes,” she says. This way, she won’t “think it has been like two minutes and it turns out to be like two hours”. Another popular study strategy is to make use of your free time. An anonymous source says that it’s a good idea to “come in early and do homework” on Days 4 and 8 during Collaborative time. This also applies to study periods, or “frees.” Finally, a commonly supported strategy is to study with peers. Sophomore Caity Lyman says, “If people quiz me it helps a lot, and one of the best ways for me to study is explaining it to someone.”
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Powerschool: Addiction or Helping Hand? Continued from front page Mr. Ewing, a humanities teacher, said that “My favorite feature on Powerschool is how you can override it manually.” When asked whether he thought the application was mostly good or bad, he replied that it was both. Mr. Ewing says that while Powerschool may be very good for Science and Math Departments which rely mostly on test scores for grading, Humanities classes have less use for it because the grading is less objective. “Don’t trust it in my class”, was what he suggested, since he often manually overrides the overall grades based on how the student acts during class. He claimed that the grades were not simply a math equation, and that if a student doesn’t agree with his grading, then they could also negotiate it. Powerschool seems to be an important asset to some of the students in their daily lives, as it allows students to keep track of their progress, as well as help with the completion of their homework. Powerschool is shut down for two weeks in October in order to allow teachers to fill in the final grades for the quarter 1.
Senate ‘Blacks Out’ Discussion during Public Meeting BY ANDREW YU
During the October 3rd biweekly public Senate meeting, content regarding SAT testing arose and was erased from the Senate meeting minutes. The issue of cheating on the SAT during the October 1st SAT testing was not initially planned to be part of the Senate meeting agenda, though it made its way into the discussion. This caused concern with members of the senate. The decision to ‘black out’ the discussion regarding cheating was made after the discussion itself was held. Barton Liang, the Senator of Student Life stated, “Ultimately, we don’t want to be accidentally spreading false rumors to the school through our minutes especially when it concerns a disciplinary investigation.” However, students who were observing the meeting were not asked to leave the room while the discussion involving the issue was held. Ruling certain parts of a Senate meeting ‘private’ is not a new concept. Liang said making parts of a meeting “off the record” “has happened in previous years that I have participated in Senate.” This action is neither specifically prohibited nor specifically allowed by the Senate Constitution.
Founder of HKIS Returns as Guest Speaker BY ANDREW YU
On Thursday, October 29th, Dr. Mevlin Kieschnick, one of the founders of HKIS was invited back to our school for a talk as part of the Annual Fund Presents: the Chuck A. Dall visiting scholar speaker series. Dr. Kieschnick embarked on a series of both humerous and serious anecdotes as well as words of wisdom: stories from the humble beginnings of HKIS, to obstacles that he faced in building the school and its reputation and the importance of education. Dr. Kieschnick started his career in Hong Kong as a missionary for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; he was instrumental in the development of many schools, including the Concordia Lutheran School as well as rooftop schools which aimed at “providing minimal education on top of the rooftops of the resettlement estates where we could charge three Hong Kong Dollars for tuition and pay our teachers eighteen dollars a month for a half day teaching.” The talk was mainly geared towards an audience of faculty members and educators. Dr. Kieschnick was first introduced by Mr. Dunning, then by Dr. Rick Herman, who is the President of the Wheatridge foundation that brought Dr. Kieschnick to Hong Kong. As Mr. Dunning introduced it, the Chuck A. Dall speaker series’ purpose, “is to bring individuals to HKIS to interact with parents, students and appropriate groups in the HKIS community.” Students were not informed of the lecture. A few parents were present for the talk.
JUNTO
2011 Pumpkin Festival
BY ISABELLE ROWLAND
This year’s Pumpkin Festival took place on October 15th 2011 from 11:30 to 4:00 at the Middle School. This annual event is one of the major events on the PFO calendar, with hundreds of families attending every year to participate in numerous activities and games. High school students had mixed opinions on the matter, with some enthusiastic about this event and others ambivalent about the purpose and benefits of it. The Pumpkin Festival is organized by the Parent Faculty Organisation (PFO), made up of parents, staff and faculty from the four divisions. The activities it hosts every year are designed to build a sense of community as well as raise funds that go towards supporting the education of students. The Pumpkin Festival, designated as a family event, is held every October and, just as the name says, is centered around pump-
BY HANNAH PASSAMONTE
it’s a waste of time, since you’re just there to play random game things. High Schoolers should be doing their homework, not playing games. I’d rather be sleeping or doing homework,’ says sophomore Su Anne Choong. Many students signed up to work at the festival as volunteers for a club or class. High school students can earn money for their chosen club or organisation by volunteering for hourlong shifts, overseeing games, or supervising activities. Several clubs are also had booths set up at the Pumpkin Festival, such as Unicef, one of the many service clubs at the high school. This year, Unicef planned on organising three booths at the Pumpkin Fest, selling Unicef shirts and bags, decorating small pumpkins, and hosting a game of apple bob, according to Unicef leader Chris Huie, a senior. All proceeds will go to charity.
College Application Process Causing Stress for Seniors BY RADHIKA JHUNJHNUWALA
Many HKIS seniors have expressed anxiety over the looming due dates that come with the college application process. While most regular applications are due by January 1st, some seniors have early action and decision applications due as early as November 1st. As the pressure for applying to college increases, students feel that their daily routines have changed as a result. Senior Christy Wong said, “The past couple of months have been extremely stressful, because I had to prepare for the SAT, manage my school work, work on my apps and research about colleges all in the same period; my average sleep
time was around four to five hours a night.” Those applying for art schools, such as Michele Chu, have to fill out normal applications, as well as additional art supplements. “Applying to art schools means that I have to get my portfolio ready (which consists usually of twelve to twenty pieces), construct an arts and design resume, and fill in an arts supplements application. This is all in addition to what everyone else is doing – filling in personal data, writing college essays, and sending in AP and SAT scores.” Some seniors are applying to undergraduate med schools, including Devesh Chotrani. He stated that, “With international students applying
to Med Schools, the competition is insane, since colleges mostly want students from their local community in order to maximize the chances of the student practicing medicine in that area after they graduate. In addition, there are conditional offers given, which means I can’t slack off during second semester.” Universities in Asia are also a choice for some, such as Mari Kurosaki, who is applying to Japanese universities. She said that, “the application process is different from others, so I have to be organized and up to date with deadlines. Since all my grades from senior year are sent, there is additional pressure to do well in school this year.”
Protesters “Occupy” Exchange Square
SKY SMITH
API Levels and Possible Health Risks to HKIS Students API Levels in Hong Kong pose a health risk to students at HKIS, resulting in multiple cancellations of afterschool sports and activities so far this fall. According to the High School Nurse, Esperanza Ciriaco, students are coming into the clinic because of asthma attacks and other respiratory related issues. “More students come into my office during the months of August and September than any other month during the school year,” said Ciriaco. “Though, it’s mostly athletes that come into my office, the air quality at the moment has had an effect on all of us.” A group of HKIS students nodded their heads in agreement as JJ
kins and the autumn season, in the run-up to Hallowe’en. Hallowe’en decorations are sold, and every year numerous pumpkins are sold from the Festival’s ‘Pumpkin Patch’, which stocks pumpkins ranging in all sizes and shapes. In the weeks prior to the event, some students planned on attending, and were enthusiastic about the event. ‘I’m looking forward to this year’s Pumpkin Festival because they’re usually pretty fun. My mom usually works there every year, and this year I’m volunteering for a shift with Unicef.’ says Emma Deignan, sophomore. Quite a few students accompany their families and younger siblings to the Pumpkin Festival, whose games are mostly designed for younger kids. Others, though, feel as if the games and activities offered there are too juvenile for students of older divisions. ‘It’s for little kids. I think
NOVEMBER 2011
Kim, a senior rugby player, reported that the air quality during the summer is much worse that in the winter. “It seems that the humidity traps the pollution, and I can definitely feel a difference, especially when I’m playing outdoor sports,” says Kim. Noticing a longer stretch of higher API levels last spring, Sharon Leung, HS Athletic director, with the help of the nurses, developed a policy that would better protect the health of students. This required the cancelation of all outdoor activities on the ‘island side’ of Hong Kong if the API reached a level of 150. “Recently, high API levels on August 31st and September 1st have resulted in the cancellation of HKIS baseball, rugby, swimming, and middle school girl’s soccer practices. As
for games, if the air quality is bad, we will still proceed, usually moving the location of the game to the ‘eastern station’, the closest station to us with a lower API,” says Leung. The implementation of last spring’s policy has generated some controversy. “Something that was brought up at one of the meetings was whether the 150 API level should only result in the cancellation of activities related to individual age groups, particularly the younger students in elementary and middle school,” says Ciriaco. Ciriaco disagrees with this suggestion. “The age doesn’t matter, it’s the air that we all inhale, and everyone should be equally protected.” There will be another meeting to reevaluate the policy next month.
Continued from front page Two Anonymous members waded into the pool with Chan and put masks on the horns of the bull sculpture. SACOM, the Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, were at the event to protest the Apple corporation’s practices. They held signs in the shape of large iPhones. According to them, Apple encourages its Chinese manufacturer, Foxconn, to act irresponsibly. “Employees who work in these factories are just not paid enough,” said Ken Yau, who teaches politics at City University. Most of the groups there supported a reform of capitalism, but a few called for an entire rejection of it. One of these groups was Socialist Action, the Hong Kong branch of the international organization Committee for Workers International. Socialist Action, whose members wore red scarves at the event, wants Hong Kong to adopt a system of Trotskyism, a type of Socialism. Sally Tang, who is running for District Council elections on behalf of the group, said, “I wanted to fight capitalism, but there was no group. So me and my friends started this in Hong Kong.” David Cheung, from the religious group Narrow Church, explained that his organization was there to “show fellowship with the other protesters.” He said he believes that “evil capitalism is against the core values of Christ.” Some protesters were unaffiliated with any organization. Chris Wong, who works in IT, said that he supports capitalism, but thinks “it has gotten too extreme” in recent years.
He followed the protesters when they marched back to the HSBC tower. Sherri Maxwell, a New Yorker, compared the lack of accountability in finance to, “a chain-link fence. We don’t know how big it is.” She said that, “the US is bankrupt, and who is in jail?” She raised her hands and looked around. “I see nobody in jail.” Another independent protester, who wore a bandana over his mouth and refused to give his name, was dismissive of Socialist Action. “They don’t really understand that Trotskyism is just the same thing as Capitalism.” He said. Instead, he said, Communism would be “the only way out.” When asked if he had any message for the youth of Hong Kong, he quickly responded, “Don’t listen to your teachers, or what politicians say. They’ve lived out their historical function, and are no longer necessary.” Many of the protesters said that their protest was in solidarity with the other “Occupy” movements that have started around the world. One speaker from Left21 said, “If it wasn’t for Occupy Wall Street we wouldn’t be here.” Tang, from Socialist Action, said that, “We fully support our comrades in America.” However, not everybody present agreed with the protesters. One man said, “I don’t like the idea of what they call predatory lending. It’s their fault that they borrowed more than they could sustain. Banks lent them the money. They didn’t prey on them.” With additional reporting from Edmund Ho and Nicholas Liu
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NOVEMBER 2011
JUNTO
Memorial Bench Removed BY ARCHIT BATLAW
ARCHIT BATLAW/JUNTO
COLLEGE RECRUITERS AT HKIS BY ARSHIA BHATIA
It’s that time of the year at HKIS when it’s almost impossible to walk past the fifth floor seminar rooms without battling a sea of juniors and seniors waiting to see college admissions representatives. College admissions representatives travel to different high schools around the world to promote their college or university and often give lectures and answer questions. College admissions representatives also market the school’s academic programs, conduct interviews with prospective students, provide virtual tours of the college campus and make public presentations at high schools. Usually hired by the colleges they represent, college reps can either be alumni or externally employed. They aim to make their college look attractive to prospective students and are looking for the best and the brightest students. In October HKIS had several colleges visit, including Bennington College, University of Southern Cali-
fornia, Nottingham Trent University, University of Chicago, Vanderbilt University, Rice University, and the University of California. While most freshmen don’t give much thought to college fairs at the moment, some sophomores have started to pay more attention to these events. Tenth-grade student Alyssa Geissler said, “ I’ve started to think about college and I’ve attended one college visit this year, but I haven’t really started researching much.” Fellow tenth grader George Molina agreed, saying “ I have started attending college visits and every time there’s a update on the news board for colleges I do find myself thinking about attending.” Most students start giving thought to college visits in their junior year. Mr. Goad thinks it is in fact a good idea for students to start attending college fairs as sophomores. “Being empowered by accurate and current information can help students advocate for themselves through
the college search and application process,” said Mr. Goad. Mr. Goad describes the college process as extensive and complex. When asked if starting early will make the process easier he said “I think it is important that everyone recognize that students are at different places when it comes to their post secondary plans. There is no magic formula or scenario that meets the needs of every student.” According to Mr. Goad, when talking to a college rep at visits or fairs, it is important to let them know that you are genuinely interested in their school. “I definitely think that the more comfortable a student is speaking with a college rep often times determines the depth of the conversation,” Mr. Goad said. “The more the student knows about him/ herself the better the questions and the more relevant the information. That isn’t to say that if you are undecided about your plans that you can’t have a meaningful conversation with a rep.”
Freedom of Speech in HKIS BY DANIELLE PARK
Though many students are unaware of it, HKIS places restrictions on students’ freedom of speech. HKIS has numerous publications that feature many different types of writing: Junto (featuring school news), Chuan Long (HKIS’s bilingual magazine), and Ambrosia (HKIS’s arts magazine). Many students are not aware that all of these publications are subject to a ‘Code Of Ethics’ which states, “ The editors and faculty advisors of HKIS publications acknowledge that in certain contexts artistic and rhetorical aims may test these standards, and will review these exceptions with the high school administration prior to publication.” These rules allow the school to restrict any articles from being published if they don’t meet the schools “standards.” There have been very few cases in which student publications have tested these standards. The controversial comic strip in the yearbook a few years back or last year or when an HKIS publications attacked students who were part of another publication.
These are a few situations where the faculty had to intervene in student publications because of content that may perhaps had ‘tested’ HKIS’s Code of Ethics. Hyun Yung Choi, one of the editors of the yearbook says, “People are going to complain about censorship and say that their rights to express their opinions are being violated, but really, with freedom comes responsibility and students are expected to be able to make the best judgment themselves.” Though the students do have a right to freedom of speech, they do have limitations. Free speech is limited to content that the school finds not only ‘school appropriate’ but also not offensive to people who are part of the school body. Janet Chui, editor of Chuan Long says, “There are limits to everything we express. If the freedom of speech is to be fully exercised, then I think there would be conflicts everyday because someone is bound to say something offensive to others.” Lotus Ye, one of the Ambrosia editors says, “students should have every right to free speech. Ambro-
sia exists as a place for students to express their creativity, and that creativity should not be censored. The school should trust the students to use their freedom of speech responsibly, as they have always done so in the past.” Ambrosia’s 2010 issue raised concerns with the high school administration due to certain words and themes being expressed in the magazine. Though many students agree that HKIS students and the publications do not explicitly have full freedom of speech, it is hard to tell what the boundaries are for freedom of speech and the leniency of the Code of Ethics is unknown. The Code of Ethics does not state in what specific cases the school is allowed to censor a publication. Archie Kwong, a junior, says “HKIS students do not have full freedom of speech because of the consequences we constantly face with teachers and other faculty members when we sometimes express opinions that differ from them.”
HKIS Admissions Process Not Well Understood BY KATYA DAJANI
Few HKIS students give any thought to why they are here and what the criteria was for their admission. Words such as tests, money, and interviews seem to float around whenever kids talk about the admissions process, but in reality, very little is known about how HKIS selects its students. Sophomore Daisy Cheng says, “I know that American students are accepted more easily, but local students have to take a test.” She went on to say, “This school is all about connections though. I feel like if your family did give a lot of money, then you would probably get in.” Peter Cho, a junior, states, “I think kids have to go through some form of testing or interview. Money wouldn’t guarantee admittance but I think that it would have some impact on the school’s decision.” Mrs. Ewing, a school admissions counselor, described what really happens in the process. She says that students must meet the school’s rigorous academic standards. “We look at your grades, test scores, and the school that you previously attended.” Some students do have to take a test, but only if no standardized test scores are provided. Money does play a role in the application process yet it is not a deciding factor. Ewing explained that in addition to the tuition, some students have what is called a debenture, or loan certificate issued by a company. This HK$500,000 debenture significantly raises the chance of acceptance. Currently, there is a waiting list to procure one. Many intelligent and wealthy students apply to HKIS, yet not all of these students are accepted. “We have quite a long list of students on the waiting list” says Ewing. Academics aren’t the only standard that must be met. The school also looks at the applicant’s English level, background, and relations. If an applicant has had a parent or sibling attend the school, they have a higher chance of being accepted. Fortunately, slots are always opening up. On average, HKIS loses about ten to twelve percent of our student body each year. A large portion of the student body is lost to boarding schools. On the other hand, the amount of incoming students fluctuates with the economy.
A black and red memorial bench was removed from the island this year. It was originally put in place in remembrance of HKIS student Jodi Allison. Jodi Allison was a tenth grader when she moved from Hong Kong to Toronto in the year 1987. Ms. Talbot described her as “a very social person” who had great relationships with her peers and teachers. Unfortunately she passed away in 1988 in a boating accident. In 1990, several administrators, including Denny Morrow, Wil Chan, and Jan Westrick, decided to place a black and red bench on the island in her memory. They also placed a plaque near the sixth floor. The plaque reads, “In Memory of Jodi Allison, Class of 1989, Hong Kong International School, Dedicated on September 19, 1990.” Unlike the bench, it is still in place. Several current students, including senior Edmund Ho, noticed the bench’s removal when they came back to school this year after the summer break. Neither Ho nor Mr. Coombs knew the reason for its removal. But, regarding the significance of the bench, Mr. Coombs said, “The bench remained in that spot for over 20 years…The bench has disappeared. Disposed of no doubt because it became old and tattered. But it had character and meaning to many and will be missed.”
HKIS Students Write PSAT BY AMY GRIFFIN
On Wednesday, October 12th, HKIS sophomores and juniors wrote the PSAT. While this standardized test is often a source of considerable anxiety, most students and faculty agreed that it is a worthwhile preparation for the SAT itself. The PSAT’s primary purpose is to prepare students for the SAT, a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. Research from collegeboard.com and testpreppractice.net states that students who take the PSAT feel more confident about the SAT itself. The College Board, the organization that publishes the SAT, strongly advocates students taking the PSAT. According to College Board, students taking the PSAT receive feedback on their strengths and weaknesses, see how their performance would compare on an admissions test, and gain knowledge and practice useful for the SAT. Ms. Manuel, a learning specialist at HKIS, speaks positively of the PSAT. “They’re helpful for the SAT tests, it gives the students good practice for them by giving you a familiarity with the test and doing that kind of testing,” said Ms. Manuel. When asked whether or not the PSAT’s were worth the effort involved for both the student and the test administrators she said, “I think that they are worth taking, and for most students they are very helpful.” Jeremy Chan, a tenth grade student, repeated similar sentiments. “I think it would be very helpful. I think that it’s going to be better experience with the SAT tests that are coming up, it’s exciting that we have this opportunity,” he said. Sophomore Julie West hoped that the tests would fulfill the role College Board prescribes for them. “The tests will be good practice for the tests that play a much larger role in our futures,” said West.
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JUNTO
NOVEMBER 2011
Students Displeased with Grading Consistency
Students Feel Community System Does Not Reach Potential
BY TIFFANY CHUNG
BY NICHOLAS LIU
Despite the considerable efforts of counselors and the administration, the HKIS community system is on the receiving end of much student criticism. Over the past few years, counselors and administrators have cooperated to create a community system, in which the entire student body is divided into four groups, with classes mingling together in what the administration hoped would be an opportunity for people of different ages and backgrounds to get to know each other. While the goals of the community system are widely supported, students feel like the system isn’t being followed through enough. Tenth-grader Ian Lenk said that, “The idea of this school being divided up into communities is really great, but it’s not well enforced. Maybe if the administration did more about it besides making us sit with fellow community members during gatherings where we don’t even socialize, it could be really beneficial.” Many other students, such as sophomore Ranveer Hattangdi, said that none of the community events were adequate to create true friendships or connections. Ranveer thought that the entire process was forced, which made it hard to feel a sense of community with peers he didn’t already know. “I think because they are forcing us to know people from our community better, it’s not genuine. It’s just too hard to bring all four grades together just by making us sit together or participate in competitive events on the same team,” said Hattangdi. “Even Interim, which doesn’t really last that long, was a better way for us to meet new people from different grades. We need more community events that have more meaning in them.” Emma Deignan, a sophomore, also thinks the problem is a matter of how much time the community actually spends together besides the events scattered across the school calendar. “We don’t spend nearly enough time with our communities to really foster any friendship, which makes the few times of the year we spend together meaningless,” said Deignan According to Mr. Coombs, a Senate Faculty Advisor, a body of Community Representatives was created to explore the system and try to create more opportunities for communities to get together. However, the Senate, dissatisfied with their progress, decided to disband them after student opinions about the community system did not improve. Few members of the student body knew that Community Reps even existed. “Community Reps? I’ve never heard of that before,” said tenth-grade student Katherine Kwok. Mr. Coombs felt that the Exco and student body never gave the Community Representatives enough support for the system to work. According to him, fifty percent of the effort needs to be that of the students. Although the Community System has not been too successful, he is still hopeful. “At the moment, we are fine with putting aside the idea of an inter-class community system. For now, the only thing that students in the same community have in common is that they have the same counselors. But we are far from dropping the idea of school communities completely, and we will continue to experiment with it until something works out.”
DEIDRA WIRAKUSUMAH
Review: Nightwatch Successful Despite Many Obstacles BY VICTORIA MONTECILLO
Despite the many challenges of performing in a full drama production after only spending a little over a month in school, the HKIS Drama Production I class performed to school-wide praise. The first quarter play, Nightwatch, received a seal of approval from the majority of the people emerging from the auditorium on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. Doug Baker directed the successful production, which ran from October 6-8. The cast of the quarter one production class had only a day or two to memorize their lines for one scene. In the weeks before the opening of the show, the cast usually has rehearsals until about 5:00pm every day of the week. When asked if he has ever been concerned about a production and its
progress approaching opening night, Doug Baker exclaimed, “Of course! Actors can’t really begin to act until the lines are learned.” A lot of work also goes into selecting the play for each production class. Baker explained, “Students meet with me in the spring during course selection indicating an interest in the production. At times, we have held auditions and students were able to have the scripts over the summer. Unfortunately, during the summer class enrollment process, student schedules sometimes change, resulting in students being placed in a course that is in conflict with the production course. In that situation, it is necessary that I select another play for production that will better match student signups.” In this case, the cast of Nightwatch did not have the script over the summer, so they had to learn their lines and blocking fairly quickly.
Ultimately, the cast and director’s hard work paid off, and they pulled off a very successful show. The characters of Helga, Curtis Appleby, and Patrolman Vanelli, played by Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn, Hunter Purvis, and Sky Smith, respectively, provided the audience with some welcome doses of hilarity. The characters of Blanche, Elaine Wheeler, and John Wheeler, played by Alison Cheung, Anna Mikami, and John Anderson respectively, left members of the audience in tears with their emotionally powerful performances. The commitment of the entire cast was, according to Baker, a large reason for the success of Nightwatch. The next drama production directed by Mr. Baker will be this December 1-3. For the semester 1 production class, he has selected a play with a much larger cast: The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Interim Sign-Ups Now Closed BY IVY TSE
After three days of Interim Marketplace and 11 days of online sign-ups, Interim sign-ups closed on October 17th. Students will find out which trip they have been assigned on November 25th. HKIS offers an array of 42 cultural, service, and adventure interim courses this year. These trips vary in price, risk level, required skills, and pre-interim responsibilities. During the online sign-up period, students selected five trips they wish to take. According to Ms. Fine, who is in charge of the Interim program, all five choices are considered equally. Based on the requests, a computer program places students in trips at random. There is no element of first come first serve, Ms. Fine said, as students are not immediately allocated to a trip upon signing up. The computer
program began to sort the forms only after signups closed at midnight on Monday, October 17th. For students who wish to remain in Hong Kong, the process differs. Since there are only four Hong Kong trips, one of the choices will be submitted twice to fill the fifth slot. Although students are assigned to trips electronically, interim selection is not entirely random. Ms. Fine and her team do have a say about who is put with whom. After going through the computer program, trip lists are looked over and changes may be made. “We can see when students sign up in the exact same trips as friends,” said Ms. Fine. In those cases, the team will move students accordingly, in order to give them a chance to interact with new people. Siblings are also separated. Apart from insurance difficulties, there is
another reason behind this rule. According to Ms. Fine, family members are more dynamic. Placement in the same trip contradicts the purpose of interim, which includes “developing a sense of identity.” The same applies to parent relationships, although students generally do not sign up for their parent’s trip in the first place. Usually there are few changes necessary in terms of balancing genders and grade levels. Under normal circumstances, these factors are mostly well-balanced after the first round of selections. Nevertheless, there are cases in which disparities are inevitable due to students’ trip requests. “We do all that we can to keep a balance between genders and grade levels,” said Ms. Fine. Interim dates and trip descriptions are available on the high school interim page on DragonNet.
Stefan Klein visits Hong Kong International School BY EDMUND HO
On the 28th of September, Dr. Stefan Klein, a prominent German scientist, visited Hong Kong International School to give a talk on “The Science of Happiness.” The talk centered around Dr. Klein’s scientific approach to happiness. Dr. Klein is a biophysicist who grew interested in the scientific aspect of happiness, or more precisely, what makes people happy. Dr. Klein’s conclusion is that empathy, not money,
makes a person happy. Dr. Klein argued that “empathy makes you happier than money would.” According to Dr. Klein, if you give money to help other people, you will have a greater sense of accomplishment in life. Mr. Richard Friedericks, the spiritual practices teacher, said that he “agrees wholeheartedly with Dr. Klein” and the message of “money is toxic” is one that should be taken to heart in the modern world.
Archit Batlaw, a junior, said that Dr. Klein “knew what he was talking about” and raised interesting statistics about how happiness affects people in the long run. Dr. Klein appeared in the latest “Intelligence Squared” debates held in the Hong Kong Convention Center, debating the proposition “Money Cannot Buy You Happiness” on September the 30th.
Some HKIS students are unhappy with the school’s grading methods. Since the school has so many students, some subjects need several teachers. Many students believe that, as a result of multiple teachers teaching the same course, students are held to different standards for the same work. “I hate it. I hate how some people don’t work hard and get A’s, while other people work really hard and only manage B’s,” says Karina Lam, a Junior. She is not the only one who feels this way. Juniors and Seniors are especially feeling the pressure to get high GPA’s as they get closer to applying for college, and they feel as if having certain teachers is disadvantageous to their grades. Alexandra Delessio, a Junior, has suggested that the school makes standardized rubrics for classes taught by several teachers. Others agree. For classes such as Humanities I and Humanities II, there is such a wide range of teachers that each class ends up doing different assignments, and taking different tests. Students feel that this is unfair because some teachers grade strictly based on the assignment grades, while others put an emphasis on the depth of thinking in discussions. “I don’t like it. I feel like all the teachers should come up with the same standards. In Humanities I, I felt like there was no core curriculum at all,” says Sarah Faruqui, a Sophomore. There is a similar problem in some math courses; there are sometime two or three teachers who teach the same subject. Most of the teachers give out different tests. William Metcalfe, a Junior, thinks that it is even more unfair in math classes to have different tests, and thus, different standards of grading, because unlike Humanities courses, people are learning the exact same things at the exact same time in math classes. The teachers teach from the same textbook, which means they should expect students to know the same things. However, students believe that some teachers give easier tests than others. The teachers tend to disagree. Some of the humanities teachers believe that the grading system is quite fair. They believe that there can’t be one set rubric to grade assignments. According to Mr. Cairns, a Humanities II teacher, “Essays are not math problems. There is more than just one answer.” This makes it hard to standardize writing pieces, or certain assignments based on opinion. He said, “It’s not purely objective,” and went on to talk about the subjectivity of Humanities classes. He also said that teachers teaching the same classes give out standardized assessments. With these big essays or projects, the teachers all get together to standardize grading, and check on how others are grading the assignment. This way, there isn’t an imbalance in the amount of A’s and C’s that go out. Mrs. Nolasco agrees. Her opinion is that in Humanities classes, there is a thought process that has to be graded, rather than just the product itself. She believes that “you can’t grade opinions,” and that so many things are “individualized.” Like the teachers, there are also students who don’t mind the grading system at HKIS. They look at it as luck, because in some years, students will have easier teachers than others. Some students feel that everyone has a fair share of teachers who grade hard, and teachers who grade easy. When asked about the fairness of the grading system, Archit Batlaw, a Junior, responded, “I don’t really care because I figure it’s all luck. But whoever works hard will end up doing better in life, regardless of teachers and grades.”
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JUNTO
NOVEMBER 2011
HKIS Appreciates Free Dress Code Policy BY MICHAEL LIN
As one of the few schools in Hong Kong with no uniform code, HKIS students and teachers appreciate the individuality that the free dress policy allows students. Many students feel that free dress allows for freedom of expression. Roger Li, a 10th grade student said, “I think it’s is good because it helps promote individuality.” Most HKIS teachers are indifferent to a dress code, believing that dress codes do not add anything of educational value. Ms. Brown, a chemistry teacher, agrees. “Teenagers do need some time to figure out what styles they prefer and to grow up in this respect before going to college,” she said. However, some feel that wearing a uniform eliminates any “competi-
tion dressing,” as Humanities teacher Mr. May put it. Another humanities teacher, Mr. Campeau, stated that free dress schools with students from “diverse economic backgrounds” often have a certain element of dressing to impress fellow classmates. Benjamin Yau, a 10th grade student has a similar opinion, “I think it gives people more freedom, but at the same time I guess one of the benefits for not having it could be that everyone’s sort of the same in physical appearance.” The vast majority of schools in Hong Kong, including all public schools and many private schools, are required to follow a strict uniform code. Many of the public schools require students to wear ties and dress shoes to school.
Please send an email to Jinny Lee (120419@hkis. edu.hk) if you want to advertise for your club.