Inspiration February 2015 | Newsletter | International School of Prague
From ISP to Africa; A Story of One Alumna‘s journey
ISP Newsletter February 2015
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From the Director participants in the school’s mission-driven narrative. The theme for this year’s Edge in Education series is “Lifeworthy Learning,” a term coined by David Perkins, educational leader and Harvard University Professor. Perkins describes”Lifeworthy Learning,” as “Learning that is likely to matter in the lives learners are likely to live.” One way for students to learn authentically is hand-on or “project-based learning.” As mentioned above, the concept of learning by doing is not a new one; it is a concept that appears again and again in educational literature. Over 100 years ago, the distinguished American educator and philosopher, John Dewey, posed the enormous potential impact of experiential learning in many of his writings and books. Sadly, Dewey was far ahead of his time, as is reflected in his words from over 100 years ago from his seminal work, Democracy and Education (1916): Only in education, never in the life of farmer, sailor, merchant, physician, or laboratory experimenter, does knowledge mean primarily a store of information aloof from doing.
I do and I understand Lau Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher is to have said: “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” The concept of experiential learning or learning by doing was the theme of the International School of Prague’s ongoing parent workshop, the Edge in Education. The Edge is a forum in which ISP educators and parents come together to discuss the latest trends in educational research and practice and how this positively impacts learning in our school. At ISP we believe it is crucial that parents have the opportunity to not only learn about what we are doing in school, but also to view themselves to be contributing
Educational research has repeatedly borne out Dewey’s belief in experiential learning or learning by doing, which ought to be an essential component of how students learn in school. An illustrative, if simple example is learning to drive a car. Consider about how well you would drive if you had only read the textbook! Even if you had aced every written exam, you would have failed the driving test. In order to learn deeply we must have the opportunity to experience the learning in some manner. It’s when we have an opportunity to apply what we have learned that we can truly retain the learning in a meaningful way. However, as Dewey pointed out, without an opportunity to reflect on our experiences, we do not learn. One proven approach to experiential learning in schools is called Project-Based Learning. This is where students are given that all important opportunity to apply their learning in real-world situations. Parents in the Edge in Education forum viewed a video about project-based learning from the website Edutopia, a great resource of articles and videos about educational topics. If schools are going to continue to innovate and remain relevant to today’s learner, we need parents to participate in our vision of 21st century education.
Dr. Arnie Bieber ISP Director
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Inspiring learners to live healthy lives! It was with great excitement that the new fitness room at ISP opened this past December. This room is a wonderful facility that contains state of the art cardio and fitness equipment. There are 12 new treadmills and elliptical trainers each with a tablet that contains many programmes and maps. This equipment is also connected to the Internet and google maps which allows runners to view their course as they run, view a programme or listen to music. In addition, there is a new Concept 2 rowing machine. The Fitness room also contains many free weights, exercise balls, a Smith machine as well as Rip 60 suspension training systems. All students from grades 6-10 will participate in a Fitness unit with their Physical Education class in this new facility. The Physical Education department is striving to create healthy habits as well as motivating students to learn about the benefits of living a healthy and active lifestyle. This new facility certainly has been a great addition to our school and it really has helped us with our Mission of “Inspiring students to live healthy lives”. Students in 9-12 will be able to exercise in the fitness centre after school if there are no classes or teams using the room. We look forward to seeing many students working out and having fun.
Jason Bell Upper School P.E. and Health Teacher
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ISP Newsletter February 2015
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Elementary School News
Important Dates:. THURSDAY, February 5 at 8:15 ES Parent Coffee THURSDAY, March 5 Grade 2&4 Concert THURSDAY, March 19 at 8:15 ES Principals Coffee FRIDAY, March 27 8:00 - 15:00 ES Student Led Conferences WEDNESDAY, May 27 at 18:00 Grade 5 MS Parent Orientation FRIDAY, June 12 at 13:15 Grade 5 Moving Up Ceremony
A Visit to Reggio Emilia Within Early Childhood educational networks the name Reggio Emilia evokes images of child-centred schools, natural settings, comprehensive documentation of children’s learning and strong pedagogical approaches to teaching.
So it was with great excitement that Kerry Craig, Allison Bryan, Cindy Vega and myself joined an International Study Group for a week in the very heart of the City that encompasses the true spirit and institutions of the Reggio Emilia approach. Loris Malaguzzi was the founder of the Early Childhood and Elementary centres. As an Elementary teacher and Psychologist his driving belief was that all children have both the right and responsibility to learn and that the community has the responsibility to provide the opportunities for this learning to take place. Such a philosophy is one shared by many educators and certainly one that has been the foundation for most successful schools. Malaguzzi had a strong vision and drive, which enabled the creation and development of the early childhood centres in Reggio Emilia. During our week’s study we were able to visit several different pre-school and infant/toddler centres, and a primary
school. With the help of translators we were able to ask questions and share experiences with the administrators and teachers working there and we were also given extensive details regarding the evolution of the approach, the design of the schools and examples of curriculum. First and foremost what stood out for us was how similar our own excellent early childhood classes are to the exemplary classes in Reggio Emilia. There is an emphasis on constructing knowledge through the children’s own understanding of the world around them and their natural curiosity. Careful and structured interactions with the environment are provided and there is a belief that communication – in many different forms – is key to a child both making sense of their world, learning about their world, and sharing their understandings. Indeed our teachers are experienced and extremely accomplished in creating such an environment for the young learners at ISP. We are always looking
ISP Newsletter February 2015
for ways in which we can make things even better and the visit allowed us to feel both validated and inspired to include other aspects within our setting that could enhance and deepen children’s learning – all very exciting indeed!! Over the next months we will be considering what changes can be made to improve our learning environment in the early childhood classrooms. In particular we will be thinking about the class environment and how the use of space, lighting and resources can be optimized. We will also be thinking about how the children’s work and understandings are documented and presented in a way that shows both thinking and progression of understanding. As team leaders, Kerry and Allison will be leading much of this work with the support of Cindy and myself and the collaboration of their teams. We look forward to the coming months and will update the community on the developments as they are made.
Corky Hawkins Assistant ES Principal
Teach for India In the fall of 2014, five educators from ISP, Nikki Hume (Kindergarten teacher), Damianne President (ES IT Facilitator), Catherine Dick (MS Math), Elsie Pinard (PreKindergarten TA), and Cindy Vega (ES Principal), traveled to Chennai, India to explore possibilities for collaboration with the American International School of Chennai (AISC) and Teach for India (TFI). For those of you who have traveled to or lived in India, you understand
what we mean when we say there is a relentless press of humanity, noise, colour, and sensory stimulation in every possible manner. It would be easy to be overwhelmed as a traveller from Europe, but the warmth and friendliness of everyone we met made us feel safe and welcomed. We were treated with generosity and kindness by everyone, including the hotel personnel, Teach for India staff and fellows, the faculty and staff at AISC, children in the schools, their parents in the homes we visited, sales clerks in shops, everyone. When planning our trip, we were unsure of what to expect. We knew that we wanted to meet both adults and children and we hoped that these initial face-to-face introductions would lead to further connections. We spoke with staff at TFI and AISC and made arrangements to visit with them. Teach for India then invited us to participate in professional development activities for some of their fellows, staff, and local school principals. We were very excited to be able to work with other educators and enthusiastically prepared for our trip.
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contribute to the education of children and change the world. Whether it is providing their own computers or iP ads for the students to use, spending hours of their own time resourcing books or materials, or giving up parts of their Diwali holiday to meet with our small group, we saw a community of educators committed to long-term educational improvement. The opportunity to visit TFI classrooms and interact with students was a powerful experience for each of us. Equally meaningful were the many hours we spent meeting with TFI staff to discuss their programme, including its philosophy, practices, current challenges, and future expectations. We also had the honour of providing professional development for the headmistresses of local schools as well as workshops for TFI staff and fellows. The sessions were well-received and we were excited to see educators participate actively in group activities, round table discussions, and questionand-answer sessions.
The best preparation for India turned out to be our flexibility. Due to monsoon rains, we had to keep altering the schedule for school and classroom visits, as well as for the professional development activities with TFI. The flexibility of all the participants meant that we were able to meet with staff and students at both TFI and AISC. TFI staff and fellows demonstrated their commitment to teaching and learning by accommodating us with schedule changes and last minute meetings.
Our visit was focused on finding opportunities for collaboration, but we also made time for experiencing the culture and learning about it. Both TFI and AISC staff were eager to share and explain local Indian customs and helped us find appropriate Diwali outfits for the festival celebrations. We experienced local food while discussing our educational practices and school context with TFI staff. We visited cultural centers, traversed busy streets with no traffic light assistance, and experienced the rich culture of Tamil Nadu (the province that includes Chennai).
Throughout our visit to India, we were impressed – on multiple levels – with the enthusiasm we saw for learning. During our school visits, the laughter and excitement we so often see in our classrooms at ISP were evident in the classrooms in Chennai. TFI staff were extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in current educational practices. TFI fellows were enthusiastic and enterprising, working with students and with families at home and in the community in their quest to
We were very successful in creating the personal connections that will serve as a foundation for growing relationships with both Teach for India and The American International School of Chennai. These relationships have the potential to benefit our students and community, as well as the children in our partner schools in Chennai. As we look to the future, we are cognizant that healthy relationships are mutually beneficial to all participants. In working with TFI
ISP Newsletter February 2015
and AISC, our hope is twofold: aid TFI in their quest to help all children attain an excellent education and broaden ISP and AISC students’ global perspective, intercultural understanding and service learning opportunities. On a practical level, we see many TFI classrooms are under-resourced and would benefit from supplies, including English-language books. Thus, one possibility includes collecting books to enhance the TFI libraries or raising money to fund the purchase of books or supplies. In addition, many TFI fellows expressed a strong desire for ongoing professional development. TFI fellows
are well trained in their original field (engineering, human relations, business, etc), but most are new to teaching and received only a six-week intensive induction before entering the classroom. The creation of a peer mentoring system between ISP teachers, AISC teachers and TFI fellows could provide an opportunity to discuss common classroom challenges such as behaviour, motivation, and curriculum content. It could also serve as a precursor to a teacher exchange or visiting teacher programme. We hope to build connections between classrooms by engaging students in India and students in Prague in joint activities such as working together on
International Culture Week
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a unit of inquiry; collecting and sharing data for a science experiment; exploring multiple ways to solve a math problem; creating videos or stories such as “A Day in the Life of . . .”; or brainstorming solutions to global or local issues. For our high school students, there is the possibility of travel to India to work directly in the Chennai community with TFI students. As our personal and institutional relationships strengthen, we are confident that we will continue to find new ways to learn with and from each other. We look forward to exploring these possibilities.
Damianne President Digital Learning Facilitator
ISP Newsletter February 2015
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Middle School News
Updated Stretch Days (in depth learning) for Semester 2, 2015: January 28 February 25 March 18 April 1
April 15 May 20 May 27
Important Dates: MONDAY, Feb 2 - TUESDAY, Feb 3 ISA Testing FRIDAY, February 6 Regular Day THURSDAY, March 5 MS Parent Coffee FRIDAY, March 13 Spring Dance THURSDAY and FRIDAY, March 19 - 20 MS Play Performance WEDNESDAY, May 6 ISP All Choir Concert THURSDAY, May 21 at 8.15 MS Parent Coffee THURSDAY, May 21 ISP All Band Concert WEDNESDAY, June 17 Grade 8 Leavers Ceremony MS End of Year Reports Distribution
Dear Middle School Families, Happy New Year! It’s amazing to think that we are already half way through the year! I met with students at assembly last week and it was clear that many students had grown over the winter break! Students are already starting to look physically ready for their next grade level. What I enjoy so much about Middle School is watching students become more of who they are as they grow and change. As I outlined in the Middle School Parent Coffee back in November, for second semester we have re-framed the approach to the Stretch Days. We remain committed to providing students with opportunities for in depth learning within and across subjects. For second semester, we will have 7 Stretch Days instead of the previously calendared 16. The remaining 9 days have been re-designated to the regular ABC and DEF blocks (please see the updated list of Stretch Days under Important Dates). We will continue to send an outline of the learning for Stretch Days ahead of time for your information and reference. To further support and enrich the learning on the Stretch Days for this semester, the focus for teachers on our recent Professional Learning day was
Project Based Learning. Teachers spent time researching in groups and focused on how this approach can be applied in the delivery of instruction. The recently completed North Wing is a wonderful addition to our Middle and Upper Schools. What will be a green area at the back of the North Wing is not ready as yet, so in the meantime we have created some new recreational spaces/activities for students. Students have a variety of choices: playing sports on the tennis courts or the playground, “chilling out” in the relaxed Middle School steps area, playing ping pong outside the Green Room and last – but by no means least – going to the Lunchtime Music Hangout where they can enjoy/play music. As we forge ahead into the second half of the school year, we are in the process of revising our schedule for next year. Academic and in depth learning remain fundamental components of our Middle School program. While we are proud of our current program, we are mindful of continuing to find ways to further strengthen the learning opportunities for your children. With Best Wishes,
Danielle Fredericks Middle School Principal
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Upper School News Important Dates: TUESDAY, February 10 at 18:30 Grade 9/10 University Evening THURSDAY, February 12 at 8:15 Upper School Parent Coffee THURSDAY and FRIDAY, March 26 - 27 Upper School Parent Conferences
Graduate Brick Walkway ...a lasting reminder of each student‘s time at ISP
SATURDAY, April 25 Jr/Sr Prom
The walkway is made with bricks embossed with a personal message from each student who wishes to participate. The bricks are laid in the sidewalk just near where the Director of ISP stands at the entrance to the school welcoming students and their families every morning.
FRIDAY, May 29 Upper School Graduation Banquet
Give the Director - and all ISP visitors - something to remember you by: a personalized brick in the Graduate Walkway.
THURSDAY, April 2 at 8:15 Upper School Parent Coffee
SATURDAY, May 30 Upper School Graduation
You can collect your order form in the Upper School or Advancement office.
Upper School Student Art Work The Art department at ISP prides itself on the high quality of the work produced by its students. We chose a few pieces for your viewing pleasure.
Natalie Hamrlik Class: IB Art I Medium: Pen Unknown size These pieces are meant to reflect our inner thoughts and emotions, focusing on the negative as the black and white pattern suggests. The simplicity of the outline of the people themselves, since there are no details, leaves the viewer to focus on the swirls.
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ISP Newsletter February 2015
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Ghazal Vaisibiameh Class: IB HL Art B Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 76 x 76 cm This painting represents a group of people in society. A photographer, Thierry Le, inspired me. It was originally a picture of an African American woman. The language body in my painting shows struggle. The lines add a sharp look to it. The body is not together which is a metaphor for being lost and lack of voice. The style is similar to cubism. I chose the color back because if not, it would represent a particular race and that was not my aim. I want it to represent everyone. Also the gender is not clear for the same reason as the race is not.
Bettina Jocson Title: Distress Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 60 x 75 cm I painted this to show the kind of stress and panic that comes with anxiety. It may not always look like this, but I tried to portray these emotions at a critical point. I used these harsh brushstrokes to somewhat distort the person in the painting, to reflect what the breaking point feels like.
Upper School Students & Photography ISP allows students to explore their artistic skills using analogue and digital photography. This photo is one of several professional shots from students in the elective course.
Marko Stracar, Grade 10 Getting the right shot at the right time can be a quarrel for many photographers unless you take pictures of buildings like me. Based on my project ‘Industrialism in Prague’ I chose to document the old Waltrovka industrial plant which used to manufacture airplane engines. While the building will disappear soon for ever and make place for a new development, the spirit of Walter is still alive as the company was acquired by GE Aviation Czech and engines are produced in Letnany. The only three important requirements I had to fulfill was to shoot manually, shoot on a film camera and make pictures to tell the story ...
ISP Newsletter February 2015
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Martina Pomeroy’s Journey from ISP to the UNHCR By Kate Karafotas Grade 10
Martina Pomeroy’s 1995-96 yearbook photo
Martina Pomeroy attended the International School of Prague her sophomore and junior year of high school from 1994 to 1996. Who knew at the time that she would become a humanitarian aid worker with the UN Refugee Agency? Martina, aged 35, is currently stationed in Kigali, Rwanda working to protect the human rights of refugees (the majority of whom come from the Democratic Republic of Congo). I was fortunate enough to meet Martina via Skype and learn about her journey from ISP to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Team leader in UNHCR emergency training, Norway, June 2012
Initially, we spoke about her time at ISP and how it impacted her future. Martina joined ISP in 1994 as a sophomore. This, however, was not her first experience as an international student. After moving from Houston, Martina studied at an international school in France until her freshman year. When Martina joined ISP, the Upper School was “a tiny villa with a few floors” and “each grade had, maybe, 15 students”. It was only later at the UNHCR that Martina realized how important her ISP experience was. At ISP she learned to cooperate with various people from different parts of the globe. The conversation turned to Prague and I learned that Martina, like many students of ISP, has a multi-cultural background. Her mother is Czech, but moved to the States in 1968 when the Soviets invaded. As a child, she visited then-Czechoslovakia before the Velvet Revolution, and became connected to her mother’s culture. When her family moved to Prague they wanted to stay for as long as possible, unfortunately, she moved back to the States after her Junior year in 1996. Her parents wanted her to graduate high school in the USA because they thought it would increase her chances of getting into college. In reality, it probably would not have made much of a difference, she said.
Martina with Darfuri children, Touloum Camp, eastern Chad, 2012
Oddly, it wasn’t what Martina studied in college, but her involvement in political and human rights organizations that led her to humanitarian aid work. She studied architectural history at Columbia University. After classes, she worked for a rights advocacy organization in New York, and then began working at “Human Rights First,” the third-largest human rights organization in the U.S. This experience specifically led Martina to develop an interest in working with refugees. She then went to the University of Michigan Law School to get a law degree, which enabled her to help refugees. It was thanks to one of Martina’s professors that she got a post-graduate fellowship that enabled her to work in Malawi. This ultimately led to a job with the UNHCR. Martina informed me about the purpose of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. As she explained, the organization is
Assisting Syrian refugees crossing the border into Jordan, January 2014
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responsible for protecting refugees. The UN agency ensures that refugees have recognized legal status, that they are safe, and that their human rights are respected. The UNHCR helps refugees lead a life while they are in an asylum country. We discussed the specifics of Martina’s role at the UNHCR. In Rwanda, Martina is an external relations officer, meaning, she is responsible for liaising with the media, government and donors. Martina and her team spread awareness about the plight of refugees in Rwanda and work to raise funds to assist them.
Working with Congolese refugees in Gihembe Refugee Camp, Rwanda, December 2014
She told me that in her career she has been to many different nations. Martina has worked in Malawi, Thailand, the Congo, Chad, Switzerland, where UNHCR headquarters is located, Jordan, and currently Rwanda. When asked how Thailand differed from the African nations, Martina humorously replied, “Well the food was better”. She elaborated that in Thailand it was very lush and green. There were little differences, such as the camps in Thailand were made out of bamboo whereas in Africa they are usually made out of mud bricks. She also added that Thailand was more accessible compared to African nations. When asked if she felt safe in Rwanda, Martina replied, “Yes. There are lots of places in Africa that are less safe for sure. The Congo is much more dangerous than Rwanda. I’ve worked in places where I felt a lot less comfortable.” Nevertheless, she did express her concerns about Ebola and that “it is just a plane ride away”. I asked Martina a question regarding the Rwandan Genocide, “Did you know about the Rwandan genocide when you were a student at ISP? Did it have an impact on your decision to work in Rwanda?” She answered, “To be honest, no. I didn’t know. I was very much focused on art and music when I lived in Prague.” Although Martina was not aware of the Rwandan Genocide when it occurred, today she sees the ramifications of the tragedy in her daily work. Events like the Rwandan Genocide are examples of why Martina was ultimately motivated to work for the UN.
Darfuri children in a school in Touloum Refugee Camp, eastern Chad, 2012
I asked Martina, “Do you see yourself working in any other part of the globe? What are your goals for the future?” Martina answered that she is pretty open-minded and is interested in different parts of the world. However, she did say, “I would love to work in Europe, like the Czech Republic – that would be like a dream.” She thinks there will be a lot of work in the Middle East given the unfortunate situation in Syria, which she was working on most recently with UNHCR in Amman. She said she doesn’t see leaving the UNHCR anytime soon because she really loves what she does. At the same time, she does look forward to someday going back home to America and working with refugees there. Her message to the students of ISP is one that I take to heart, and was pleased to hear. She advised, “Value the experience (of going to ISP) so much because it really is very unique. You never know where you’ll end up after you leave ISP and you’ll never experience anything like ISP again. It’s just such a great melting pot of students from everywhere and teachers from everywhere. The teachers and staff are so wonderful – like a family. It was one of the best experiences of my life for sure.”
Rwanda, December 2014
As Mr. Crane, Martina’s former grade 10 social studies teacher, said, “I am just proud of how far she has come.” I can say with great confidence that the ISP community would agree. The ISP community looks forward to hearing what else the future holds for Martina.
Alumni Class Notes Class of 1997 pomeroy@unhcr.org
Since leaving Prague in 1998 to go to university in London, Phil has stuck around academia for 9 years until finishing his PhD in Human Computer Science at University College London in 2007. Since then he‘s had a few stints as a user experience designer in corporate consultancies like Accenture and agencies like SapientNitro. His latest venture is his own design firm called Newt Idea (www.newtidea.com), which helps clients with delightful, human centred digital designs and strategies. In London, Phil has been lucky enough to bump into a lovely Czech lady, who was ultimately to become his wife and with whom he has a cute 1 year old daughter called Julie. He swings by the Czech Republic on a regular basis, but mostly stays in the middle of nowhere countryside, where they have a cottage that has no internet access and is far removed from what he does in London as possible.
Nate Brown
After graduating from ISP, I went to Cornell University where I studied Hotel Management - and promptly decided not to make that a career choice. After that, I went to grad school for a degree in International Economic Development. I spent some time living and working in Nicaragua, and then lived in Los Angeles for several years. For the past five years, I have worked for VisionFund International, a network of microfinance institutions affiliated with World Vision. My role involves developing educational services for our MFI clients, including financial literacy, business skills, life skills, etc. I‘m currently living in the Philadelphia area. I‘ve been married to my wife, Kim Nelson, for just over 5 years and I‘m still not sure how I managed to land such a hottie. We have a 2-year old son, Justus, and another set to arrive in just a few weeks! In my free time, which is hard to come by these days, I teach courses in Economic Development for the MBA program at Eastern University. I have also been working with some friends to develop a mobile phone app that offers users beer & food pairing suggestions (www.mypairwise.com).
Philip Bonhard
Since my days in Prague, I sought refuge in freezing Ithaca and had an awesome time in college. I think the small liberal arts school was just what I needed to make some international friends and finish my degree. I studied Print Journalism and a few minors in International Business, Sociology and French. As the trend was to move back home and home at the time was sunny San Diego, I did not flinch and took my parents up on the offer to move back home. It is crazy, but it actually took some time and effort to get used to the laid back CA attitude. I lived and worked there from 20012007 working for the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. It was a lot of fun and a lot of traveling - I even got to use my Spanish for work and ended up earning a certificate on translation/ interpretation. Early in 2007 I moved back to the Washington DC area to work in a small consulting company as a Marketing Coordinator, where I got to travel to different trade shows around the country. Later in 2009, I transitioned to a contract position with the U.S. Department of State and instantly felt at home. I even ran into some of the people I meet in Prague while my dad was working there. Needless to say I reconnected with Sonja and eventually Jens Kosman. I even got to receive an old ISP buddy, Oded Friedmann for a visit while in DC. In 2011 I joined the U.S. Foreign Service as an Office Management Specialist and I am now completing my second tour in Kuwait. Also finishing my Masters in Management with a concentration on HR and Organizational Development. I love life overseas and exploring new corners of the world, visiting friends everywhere, but it comes at a price since I miss my two adorable nephews. I am heading to Geneva next and hope that this is closer to home and I get to visit them more often. Maybe they will even come to see me. If any of you is ever in Geneva, please stop by and say hi. Would love to see you!
Nikki Brandt
Nikki attended ISP in 1991-95, then continued with BA at Anglo-American College Prague, and MA at University of Kent in Canterbury. He worked in Prague in 2004-2012 for the Swedish Trade Council / Business Sweden. He is currently residing in Copenhagen and working with the same mission. Nikki is happily married with no kids (yet).
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Alejandra Ferreria-Sachero
Martina Pomeroy Class Correspondent Philip Bonhard
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Nate Brown
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Oded Friedmann
Since my (very awesome) year at ISP, I graduated from law school, completed an MBA and a Ph.D. in law. I am currently based in Amsterdam and work as legal counsel for a publicly traded real estate fund. I live here with my fiancee and we are planning on getting married in 4 months in Israel. She is also a lawyer, so our kids will not suffer from a lack of advice :-)
Oded Friedmann
Vincent Kim
I am now a father of 4yr old boy and 3yr old girl making a living back in Seoul. Been married to a lovely wife and enjoying every bit of what life can offer. Professionally, I am currently working as a relationship banker at an international bank for corporate clients. From 2007 to 2011, l was based in Amsterdam and London for an international assignment. During this time I caught up with Jens Kosman in Prague and went for drinks. Would be great to see other friends from good old ISP!
Jens Kosman
ISP -> English College in Prague -> New York -> Boston -> Los Angeles -> San Francisco -> Prague -> Argentina, learned Spanish, forgot German -> Prague, met wife from El Salvador -> DC. Went up the ladder in various roles at Monster, they were good to me and I had a good run as VP of Government Solutions in my last stint running a team of 65 great people. Quit as government
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was not for me, and I‘ve always had the entrepreneur bug. Currently running LeadThree, LLC. technology consulting group working with great clients here in the DC area.
Amit Louis
I flew back to Israel right after our graduation, and then joined the army. I did 3 years in the army until 2001 and then flew to Ottawa to do my BA in communications. During my BA studies I opened a DJ company (surprise surprise), after all my DJ career started at ISP. So I DJ‘ed for a bit, and paid my way through school. On the side I even drove limos for a bit. In 2005 I moved back to Israel and found a great Job in a market research company. During the next 7 years I managed to do my MA and even work for some great companies ranging from IT to motorcycles, insurance, and credit card companies. In 2012 I applied to a Phd program and got accepted to Western University in London Ontario. 2 years into my research (which was focused on Search Engines- Namely Google), I decided to take a break, and I moved to Toronto. Now I am a Research Director at Hotspex, a market research company specializing in Emotional Science and Research. Life has been full of adventures, ups, downs, challenging times, happy times, DREAMS coming true, and some that I wish I didn‘t, but I am thankful for every experience I had. It‘s been amazing and wonderful. Prague and ISP especially played a monumental role in my life: the teachers, staff and most importantly the great friends I met there that will stay with me for life.
Maria Luisa Melendo Montojo
I live in Belgium since a year and a half, I‘m married and have one son. I‘ve taken a parental leave from my work as a civil servant in Madrid after almost 10 years, and now I have an atelier in Brussels where I do portraits on demand and try to develop a brand of hand painted fabric. Hopefully, next time I‘ll be able to give a web page!
Maria Luisa Melendo
Romy Vyskocil
Life: - living happily in Zürich :) - l love horse back riding and yoga - immense interest in education matters - ambassador for NGO Room to Read South Africa (provided leadership training for management crew in Pretoria) Work: - over 10 years in banking (mainly with Credit Suisse „most admired bank“ :) ) as a senior business manager and passionate leader (people and projects) - engaged in the NGO strategiedialog21 regarding education matters (blogging , workshops etc.) - being a mentor for young talents and providing consulting and coaching services for leaders (start up to be launched 2015/2016) - writing short stories (to be published in 2015) and a novel ISP - still in contact with many friends - loved art class with Mrs Reynolds and the school trip to rome, beautiful architecture ;) - will never forget the english classes and the interpretation of „heart of darkness“ - legendary chemistry classes (how much fat does Czech chocolate have? more than Swiss for sure :)) Contact
- romyvyskocil@hotmail.com - https://twitter.com/RomyVyskocil - www.strategiedialog21.ch - http://strategiedialog21.ch/blogbeitrag/ items/wissenstransfer-zwischen-generationen-bildungsressource-der-zukunft.html - www.roomtoread.org
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Martina Pomeroy
After two life-changing years at ISP I returned to the U.S. to graduate from high school and attend Columbia University in New York City, where I majored in architecture history and also worked on Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential campaign. Political and social activism was very important to me and after working at Human Rights First for two years I decided to go to law school in order to pursue a career working with refugees. I obtained my juris doctor from the University of Michigan Law School, which is regarded for its refugee law program, and was awarded a post-graduate fellowship which led me to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Over the past seven years with UNHCR I have had the opportunity to work with refugees in many fantastic, interesting, and challenging places, including Congo, Chad, Thailand, Jordan, and now Rwanda! I think attending ISP and having the wonderful experience of having such unique classmates from all over the world—as well as the best teachers a high school student could dream of—certainly had a lot to do with my wanderlust and my desire to work internationally. I am now happily living in Kigali with my English boyfriend and Jordanian cat, where I continue to play guitar and practice yoga. And I make it to Czech Republic as often as I can to see family and old ISP friends!
Lee Ping
Jonathan Parker
Jonathan Parker
I‘ve bounced around a lot after spending five years as a teacher and youth pastor in Budapest, Hungary from 2002-2007, but a year and a half ago went back into missions with an organization called Solid Rock - Climbers for Christ. Most of my time is spent in the Southeast US (based out of Chattanooga, TN) sharing the Gospel with rock climbers; however, part of my role involves spending three months every year in the Himalaya of India partnering with International Mountain Leadership Institute. We train local climbing guides, run outdoor leadership courses, and go into remove villages to provide first aid instruction. I‘m as single as I was in 6th and 7th grade, so not much has changed in that regard... except for the fact that I‘m probably not as awkward around girls as I used to be. At least I certainly hope not! I‘m grateful to have finally settled down in a location that I can call home(ish) with a job that still provides the opportunity to travel - like many of you, I‘m sure, the wanderlust gene is alive and well after so many years of international living. If you ever find yourself in the Southeast, let me know!
I’m living in New York City with my wife Aimee Chang and 2-year old son Quinn Kwan, working as a code and zoning consultant/exterior wall consultant. It’s a super fun job, a mix of deep research and field work on some of the tallest and/or most complicated new buildings in the city. Before that I worked for the city Department of Buildings writing and editing building code, and before that I was a senior designer at a global architectural firm, lucky enough to have many built projects including my (first) baby, a 112-story tall terra cotta-clad office/condo/hotel in Guangzhou that should be open by 2016. I’m also on my local Community Board on the Upper West Side, which is an incredibly rewarding way to get involved with the people and institutions in the neighborhood. My wife is also a licensed architect who worked for a time on bomb-proofing the below-grade levels of the new World Trade Center, but she’s now bicoastal as she and her brothers are getting a highly anticipated new winery in Napa off the ground. We’ll all eventually relocate to California, so if anyone else is in NYC we should meet up while I’m still here! Before NYC, I was in Northern California for a while, most of it attempting to graduate from Stanford University while dabbling in theater, graphic design, filmmaking, activism, teaching, politics, you name it. Before college, I spent the last two years of high at a Connecticut boarding school, where I played hockey (badly) and experienced severe culture shock going from our cosmopolitan punk rock ISP class to a highly codified world of East Coast prepsters.
Therese Løkke
Martina Pomeroy
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I live in Drammen, a small town close to Oslo, with my cat. I‘ve worked in Oslo for many years, but now I‘ve gone back to school and study to be an accountent. It‘s never too late, I‘m single, no kids... yet, but if I meet the right guy, I would like to have a few.
Amit, Oded and Steve
ISP Newsletter February 2015
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Recent Alumnus Developing Social App at Tufts This article originally appeared in The Tufts Daily as “New apps on campus aim to change social interaction”, by Becca Leibowitz. It is edited for length. For Tufts sophomores Kofi Asante, Denis Bravenec (ISP ’12), Richard Kim and Jared Moskowitz, social life at Tufts was lacking one crucial element — communication. “We were freshmen walking around, trying to find events, parties at night,” Bravenec said. Taking matters into their own hands, Asante, Bravenec, Kim and Moskowitz created the social app “evoqe” last fall. Within a month of its release, the creators had 900 Tufts students signed up. Evoqe provides users with a list of events that have been posted on the app. Users can post their own events and share them publicly with the Tufts community, or privately with a select list.
“We started as more of a late night thing because that was more relevant to us … but then we realized that people were asking for way more,” Kim said. “So we broadened the scope.” Evoqe is considering expanding, but only if and when the time comes. “[We want to] maximize the value that we can create here, then look into schools in Boston,” Bravenec said. Asante said that the creation of additional social apps is not an obstacle for evoqe’s success. Sophomore Larry Evans was exposed to the social app community through friends, some of whom are working to create their own social apps. “There’s no single app that has a control over the market yet,” he said. “Currently it’s at a standstill as people figure out which one they’re going to follow, and then we’ll know which one is going to be successful.”
“Tufts is in a beautiful state of entrepreneurship right now,” Asante said. “There are so many people with wonderful visions, ambitions and talent here just waiting to do something or already in the process of doing it, and the community literally just wraps their arms around them. So it’s just a phenomenal balance between people with visions and people there to support them.”
Evoqe can be found on the iTunes App store.
Your Class Correspondents
We currently publish “Inspiration” twice each year, and we always look forward to the Class Notes. In order to submit your information, please contact your Class Correspondent, listed below. Please note that your Class is the year from which you graduated from High School, not necessarily the year you left ISP (for example, if you left ISP after Grade 6 in 2007, you would be a member of the Class of 2013). If you don’t see a Class Correspondent for your year, it means that your Class does not yet have a Class Correspondent. If you would like to volunteer, please contact advancement@isp.cz. 1997 2004 2005 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Martina Pomeroy pomeroy@unhcr.org Seyitbek Usmanov usmanov.seyitbek@gmail.com Andrej Vukotic andrej.vukotic@gmail.com Daisy Hessenberger dsih2@cam.ac.uk Larissa Batt larissabatt@hotmail.co.uk Katrien Wilmots katrien_wilmots@yahoo.com Zoey Hitzert zoey.hitzert@gmail.com Katie Hobkirk hobkirkk@gmail.com Dara Chermoeva dara.chermoeva@hotmail.com Sophia Freckmann 4sophiafreckmann@gmail.com Julien Mikton Bo Hitzert bohitzert24@gmail.com Holli Demirel holli3demirel@hotmail.com Anna-Rosa Eerikäinen rosiefinland@gmail.com
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Class of 2008 Larissa Batt Class Correspondent larissabatt@hotmail.co.uk
Thank you to the two of you who sent me your entries! Hope to hear from more of you in the next edition ;) On December 6th we organised a mini London reunion for our year, and it was so amazing to see everyone who was able to come. We had such a great evening, and I am so looking forward to the big event on June 6th, 2015! Larissa
spoke a lot of Spanish (I did some studying along the way as well!). I now work in Marketing & Sales for a company that specialises in Language & Cultural Training for businesses, and as of September I’ve taken a management position, which is keeping me very busy but I’m really enjoying it! Our office is very international and it’s great to be able to say that I actually really like my job! I live in the East End of London with my husband, and I feel very lucky as some of my closest friends from ISP have ended up in London as well”.
Matjus Mäger Larissa Batt
“At University I studied European Social & Political Studies with Spanish at UCL in London, where I specialised in 20th century History with Political Philosophy. The highlight of my degree was definitely my year abroad in Madrid, where I travelled a lot, ate good food, made great friends, and
katrien_wilmots@yahoo.com
Dear Class of 2010,
Hana Felix (Hana Smidova) got ma-
Katrien Wilmots Class Correspondent
I’m very pleased to be writing our third alumni newsletter and I hope
Filip Svensson
“Upon graduating from ISP, I accepted a scholarship to play tennis at Virginia Commonwealth University. I stayed all my 4 years in Richmond, VA and after having captained my team to the second round of the NCAA division 1 tournament, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Business Management and received the Black and Gold Award, for outstanding achievements in academics and athletics. After 10 years abroad, I decided to make 2012 the year that I move back to my native Sweden. I graduated with a master’s degree in International Marketing & Brand Management from Lund University a year later. I started studying psychology, during my time of applying for marketing jobs and worked part-time as a tennis coach. In March of 2014, I was hired as a Product Manager for Findus. Still here, I spend my work time maximizing sales of mayonnaise and cinnamon buns and my leisure competing in tennis and futsal”.
“After leaving ISP I finished school back home in Estonia, after which I went to study finance at the University of Manchester. After university I did military service in the Estonian Army and then joined the firm KPMG as an auditor in their London office. I‘m currently studying towards becoming a chartered accountant as well as a chartered financial analyst”.
the enthusiasm for the newsletter continues to grow and you will all continue to share your achievements and lives. There have been a number of great achievements in the last couple of months:
Class of 2010
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rried on August 16, 2014. In addition to her beautiful wedding in Prague, she will also start law school in September
2015. She will be doing a 2-year senior status law degree at Leicester and she’s living in Birmingham. Congratulations Hana!
ISP Newsletter February 2015
She has been working as an associate for a kids education channel called Astro TVIQ. Her channel is focused on fun-learning and the channel airs acquired shows as well as produces their own content. Sabrina helps with editing scripts and making sure the learning parts are there. She also helps with pretty much everything that is content related.
Marie Jönsson completed her BA in
Hana and her husband on their wedding day
In her first update, Ji-Sook Lee is excited to tell her classmates that she’ll be attending medical school in Korea starting next year. Anna Munter will be leaving for Malaysia in January 2015 for Fulbright.
Kaoru Takase will be graduating
with a BA in business in March 2015 and starting in April 2015 she will be working full-time for a logistics and transportation company in the Tokyo area.
Psychology from Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland in 2014. She is currently studying towards an MSc in Development, Disorders and Clinical Practice full-time at the University of York, England. Marie continues to pursue her singing talent and is in a choir and a band in York. She performs as often as she can!
Marie Jönsson
In June 2014, Bella Vitarigova finished her Bachelors of Music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. She was then offered a place to study at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. In September she moved to Cologne, Germany and started her Master of Music. Her studies are in German and she says she speaks semi-decent German and she hopes to be fluent soon! She has also become a Czech citizen in October after living in the Czech Republic since 1995, thanks to the new law regarding citizenships.
Archana Sundarachari, Erkeaiym Djumataeva, Siddharth S. Bhaisora and Bella Vitarigova meeting up in London
Katrien Wilmots officially graduated
Paula Kipp is working part time for
her father and she is going to continue with her schooling this coming September. Paula has also given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Both the baby girl and the parents are well! Congratulations Paula!
from the London School of Economics in December 2014 with an MSc degree in International Relations. In the meantime she started her JD degree at the University of Michigan Law School in August and is really enjoying her time in the Midwest.
Katrien in a Michigan pumpkin field
Anna Munter and Katrien Wilmots visiting York Minster in York, England
Sabrina Zainal Abidin graduated
from the University of York with a BSc degree in psychology in July 2013 and since September 2013 she has been working in Kuala Lumpur at a Malaysian Broadcasting company called Astro.
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Paula and her baby girl. Her caption: “real jewels are not diamonds”
Thank you to all those who responded! If you have any more updates you want your classmates to know about or you have any photos you want to share please don’t hesitate to pop me an email at isp.class.of.2010@gmail.com and I’ll make sure to include them in the next newsletter.
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Class of 2013 Bo Hitzert Class Correspondent bohitzert24@gmail.com
As the new year rolls around and ISP recedes a little further into memory, the class of 2013 continues to adjust to life outside of Prague. In Ottowa, Sebastian Winkler has been finding his second year studying History at Carleton University much less stressful. Although he says the workload is heavier, his knowledge of the campus and its traditions has helped him overcome the challenges to achieve academic success. He is looking forward to what the next term has to offer.
Emma Beauchamp, who is also in
Canada, has been spending her sophomore year at McGill balancing school with a new job. She says that managing her time has been difficult, but that so far, she enjoys working as a secretary at the University’s Career and Planning Service Office. At Emerson College in Boston, Pavlina Vecerova has just entered her second year as a film production major. In addition to her scholastic responsibilities, she has worked on three television programs through her University’s Independent Video Organization, and has also learned to shoot and manually edit 16mm film. She is excited about continuing her studies, and looking forward to starting classes for her newly-added marketing minor. Not far away, William Lobkowicz has been enjoying his first year at Harvard University. He has taken up polo, and when not studying, spends much of his time practicing with his horse. As the Assistant Director of his school’s MUN program, he is also trying to organize a conference which ISP students may one day participate in. In New York, Ye Jin Choi has spent the first few months of her second year at Julliard busy with work. Now playing
cello in a piano quartet as well as a piano trio, she has been preparing for a number of recitals while adjusting to the increased workload of performance major sophomores. Close by, Nicole Lim Yen Ting, who is a second year Environmental Science major at New York University, has recently started working as an intern for AECOM Technology Corp. Although it’s time consuming, she enjoys it immensely and likes being able to balance her schoolwork with something non-academic. She is also a member of the varsity track team and has decided to double minor in Biology and Economics.
Alexia Bossan, who is studying Bio-
medical Science and Chemistry at the University of Central Florida, has started working in a graduate research lab. She has been carrying out her own research project synthesizing new compounds that target prostate cancer cells. In addition, Alexia has been studying for the MCAT, which she will be taking in the summer of 2015.
Daniella Smith’s second year at the
University of Alabama has been going equally well. She is now the Cultural Chair and Vice President of Public Relations & Advertising for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, and hopes that her experience working with Greek Life with help her as she completes her degree in Communications & Marketing. Across the pond, Marie Stehlikova has started studying Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Nottingham. She is enjoying her first year, although she misses her friends back home.
Anna Mikes, who is a second year
Law student at University College London, is also enjoying her time in the UK. She enjoys the challenge of her course material and has been spending her free time with the school’s tennis and choir societies. At the University of Warwick, Tina Zhou Hui has been adjusting to life off campus in a house she shares with a group of friends. Her marketing cour-
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ses are going well, especially now that she is able to pick modules which are more specific to her interests. Tina has also found success as a member of the women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team, with whom she will be playing in the national championships this coming spring.
Deni Chermoev, who has just begun
his first year at the Rotterdam School of Management, is loving University life, especially surrounded by so many of his friends from ISP. In addition to the courses he is taking for his International Business Administration degree, Deni is also working at an eCommerce company called ISM, and going through the process of creating a startup. He plans to join the school’s Entrepreneurial association next semester.
Steven Slezak, a second year student
at the Rotterdam School of Management, has already joined the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. He is also running a small hedge fund with 15 other students and planning to launch his own startup focusing on developing potential employees for employers in January. Also studying International Business Administration at the Rotterdam School of Management, Kristian Voldrich has been focusing most of his attention on a startup called Study Financing Rotterdam, which he launched in the fall. It aims to offer step-by-step assistance for International Students in Rotterdam looking for financial aid. More information about Kristian’s startup can be found here: http://thejeurnalist.com/ attention-broke-students-2/. After a gap year spent working and studying in Holland, Bo Hitzert is now a first year student at the same University. She loves being able to connect with other ISP alumni who are also on campus, and has been working hard as a member of The New Fashion Society’s marketing team, organizing various fashion events in the community.
Paulina Wydrzynska, who will be spending a semester at the Rotterdam School of Management in January, has been making the most of her last few
ISP Newsletter February 2015
months at the Anglo-American University in Prague. She is now the co-editor of the University’s newspaper, and has started working at the Hard Rock Café downtown. She is excited about the opportunity to spend a semester in the Netherlands, and cannot wait to continue her Journalism and Communications degree upon returning. We wish ISP’s class of 2013 all the best for the new year, and hope to be hearing about their continued successes very soon!
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Would you like to see your class notes in the newsletter?
We would! Please consider volunteering as your year‘s Class Correspondent. Reach out to your classmates twice each year for photos and notes, and send them to the Advancement Office. Contact us for more details, advancement@isp.cz.
Class of 2014 Anna-Rosa Eerikainen Class Correspondent rosiefinland@gmail.com
Lilly Persina is currently studying In-
ternational Business Management Fast Track at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. She has started to learn Dutch and is enjoying exploring a new country and riding a bike just about everywhere.
University in the UK. She is also playing on the Football and Basketball teams for the university in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) League, in which both teams are very successful so far. She plans to do a Masters in Physiotherapy or Sport Medicine.
Muktar Usmanov is planning to ma-
Nina Sharma is studying Economics
jor in Economics at the Fordham University in New York City. He has signed with a modelling agency NYC and plans to find a part time job and an internship in a finance company. He has also begun working at a start up called “Book a student.” He loves the environment, the liberal arts core, and the provided courses.
Marko Stehlik is attending Maastricht University, where he is in the process of attaining a Bachelor’s in European Law. He is fully enveloping himself in the Dutch culture and has the final goal of having a PhD in a law field.
Holli Demirel is studying BSc Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough
Honors at Delhi University in India. She plans to receive her undergraduate degree in economics honors and afterwards she plans on finding a job or continuing her studies by doing her masters either in the States or in Delhi.
Anna-Rosa Eerikainen is currently
attending the Anglo American University of Prague, focusing her studies to Communications in Media. During her free time, she continues to play guitar, cross country, photographing and writing songs. Her future plans involve doing masters in International Relations or returning to Finland where she would study Intercultural Teacher Education as her major.
Marie Simkova is studying Anatomy and human biology at the University of Liverpool and is going to graduate into medicine in just a three years time.
Carter Janzen is attending the Appa-
lachian State University in the States where she studies Elementary Education. She has partaken in a ministry called “Cru” and is also planning on joining a club called “App Educators”. Anna-Rosa Eerikainen - Going home?
ISP Newsletter February 2015
Annual Fund
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Thank you to all those who have already supported the Annual Fund! Have you responded yet to the Annual Fund appeal? If not, please consider making your donation, of any amount, as soon as possible. • To make your donation in Czech Crowns, use Acct.No. 4200372026/6800 • Or send a US$ check to the Advancement Office at the School. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent permissible. • An anonymous parent is matching any gift up to a total of € 50.000!
Alumni Reunion: June 6, 2015! Mark it in your calendars now! An ISP all-years reunion will be held at Camino Blackfriars in London on June 6th (33 Blackfriars Lane). The venue will be exclusively ours for the evening, and you can expect a few surprise guests (including ISP‘s Keith Richards) to make an appearance. For the latest information (and to tell us you‘re coming), visit the reunion facebook page at www.facebook. com/ISPLondonReunionJune2015 (if you don‘t use facebook, drop us a message at alumni@isp.cz).
... and don’t miss Student Raffle March 16 - 24, 2015
We are pleased and excited to announce another Student Raffle! It will give our students an opportunity not only to win fantastic prizes, but also to participate in raising funds for the Scholarship Program at ISP. The scholarship will help change someone’s life by giving the opportunity to get an education that students may not get otherwise. Raffle tickets will go on sale Monday, March 16, 2015. Tickets will be available in the Cafeteria every day from 2.30 to 3.30 and during the lunch break. The winning tickets will be drawn by Dr. Bieber in the Cafeteria on Tuesday, March 24, 2015.
Night at the Palace Friday, May 1, 2015
The event of the year, and ISP’s offical fundraiser for Scholarships. This annual, high-profile event is held at the Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle. It starts at 19:00 and continues late into the night. The event, encompassing the entire Palace, includes a Silent Auction, features multiple musical acts, food stations, dancing, a Martini Bar, cigar rolling, Black Jack table, and much more. Invitees include the ISP parent community of over 60 nationalities, faculty & staff, Alumni, representatives of companies that support the Scholarship Program, and Czech community leaders. Not to be missed!