I S K VO I C E M o n t h l y
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E d i t i o n
November 2011 - Volume 7, Edition 2
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
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K r a k o w
Be Respectful Be Responsible Strive for Excellence
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
S c h o o l
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K r a k o w
Brick by Brick
Here at ISK, one of our missions as educators is to guide our students in personal development as we shape tomorrow’s citizens. We take great care in providing an atmosphere that fosters respect, responsibility, and nurtures personal growth. Some of you may have heard or read about a man who lives in Krakow named Ryszard Nowak. He recently suffered the terrible tragedy of losing his wife in a car accident. He is now the single father of three school-aged children. To make matters worse, not long after losing his wife, an airplane crashed into his home. Luckily everyone survived, but unfortunately due to issues with insurance, he is unable to collect funds to rebuild his house. His family is now residing in government housing and do not know when they will be able to return home. After hearing this story and reading information about Mr. Nowak’s situation Ms. Oswald and Coach Zajdel have decided that this would be a wonderful opportunity for our school community to reach out to a local family and help make a positive difference in the lives of those in need. In the coming weeks, we will introduce a project called BRICK-BY-BRICK. Our goal is to raise enough money to purchase the 2,000 bricks needed to rebuild the Nowak’s home. At 2 zloty per brick, we are hoping to raise approximately 4,000zl through a variety of fund-raising activities. Our first fund-raiser will be held on a Friday evening in December. Coach Zajdel, Ms. Oswald, and several high school student volunteers will host an evening of spaghetti, games, popcorn, and a holiday movie so that parents can take advantage of a child-free evening. What a great opportunity to take care of last minute holiday shopping or enjoy a romantic evening! More information will be sent home shortly. Currently some of our students are busy translating a documentary that tells the Nowak’s story. We will introduce BRICK-BY-BRICK to our students during an assembly in December by viewing the short documentary and ask for their ideas, and suggestions on how we can work together to help this family. We would also love to hear from our parents and families who may be interested in assisting in this initiative. Please take a moment to read about the Nowak’s story (the news stories are in Polish) and contact Coach Zajdel or Ms. Oswald if you have any questions or would like to join them in organizing this project. Contact: Founded in 1994, ISK is an independent, not-for-profit school that provides a world-class education for children Ms.Oswald soswald@iskonline.org fromZajdel 3 years old to university entrance. Beautifully situated just outside the Krakow city limits, our spacious Coach azajdel@iskonline.org campus provides a quiet green setting with fresh air and a studious atmosphere... Not only will this project continue to develop empathy in our students, but it teaches them the importance of social responsibility and provides opportunities for positive personal growth. 2
ISK VOICE November 2011, Volume 7, Edition 2
6 Speech in Moscow
Message from the Director .......................... 4 Speech and Debate, Moscow, Russia ......... 6 Speeches Excerpts ....................................... 10 The Voice of a Shakespearean Actor ....... 11 Tennis Tournament, Riga, Latvia ............... 12
12 Tennis in Riga
Family Fun Afternoon ................................. 16 Thanksgiving ................................................ 18 Light and Shadow ........................................ 19 Basketball Fever ........................................... 20 Angle and Exposure .................................... 24 Physical Science ........................................... 25
16 Family Afternoon
Dark to Light ................................................. 26 Life Science ................................................... 28 Earth Science ............................................... 29 AP Biology ..................................................... 30 Biology ........................................................... 31
22 Focus on Middle School
Dignity Day ................................................... 32 Fall Traditions ............................................... 33
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Message from the Director As is normally the case this time of year, there are many exciting things happening at ISK. I wanted to update you all about these various events and programs, and, of course, to invite parents and community to our upcoming Winternationals.
to attend the Parent Teacher Conferences scheduled on November 16th, please contact the School Office to arrange a meeting with your child’s teachers.
Special thank you goes to all parents and members of the PTA for a very successful Holiday Market, the largWinternationals est annual fund-raiser. PTA President, Malin Blomqvist, Under the direction of Sarah Wadiak, Mike Glenn, and reported this event raised approximately $5,000 PL up home room teachers in grades 1 – 8, students are busily over 50% from last year. Our parents do so much bepreparing for the performance of “Around the World in hind the scenes to support our students, faculty, and ad80 Minutes.” The performance is scheduled for Decem- ministration, so please know how much we appreciate ber 16th in the new Sports Field House at 6:00 pm. The your commitment to our school. script is written by ISK students and the poems, songs, dances, and dramatic pieces are designed to celebrate With many holidays coming up, well wishes to all. the many traditions and cultures of the world. The PTA Mamie Heard will organize a food festival from around the world to Director be served in the MPR immediately following the performance. Note that due to the length of the performance, Pre-School and Grade 0 students will have their own ISK BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ CORNER creative performance following the winter break. CEESA Competitions Congratulations to the students and faculty sponsors who participated in the CEESA Speech and Debate Tournaments in Budapest and Moscow. ISK was well represented in the finals and congratulations to Frankie Reene for her 3rd place in Oratory. Sports Update Sports Field House: Floor covering has been purchased allowing us to use this as a multi-purpose facility. Basketball League: ISK participated in the Festival of Basketball on Sunday, November 27th at Academy of Physical Education in Krakow. Over ten teams representing 100 students played a total of 6 games. ISK sponsored two teams: Grades 2 to 5 (11 students) and Grades 6 to 7 (6 students). ISK teams won all games! The next Basketball League games are scheduled in midJanuary. Basketball uniforms have also been purchased for ISK varsity students and faculty who play a Krakow league. Go Hussars!
In September the ISK community elected two new members to the ISK school board: Barbara Myrczek and Eric van der Steen. Thank you to all who participated in this successful election. The 9 voting board members met in October for 2 days of board training. During this weekend emphasis was placed on looking towards the future and what kind of school we want ISK to be in the next 5 years. On a more routine basis, the School Board is responsible for setting school policies, overseeing school finances, and hiring the school director. The School Board meets once a month at 5:30pm on the second Tuesday of each month. The meetings are posted on the school website. The meetings are open to the greater ISK community. The meetings follow a routine agenda. Minutes from the previous meeting are voted on and then reports are given from the director, the finance committee, the governance committee, the PTA and the teacher representatives. Please vist the ISK website for more information on the School Board.
Parent Involvement Studies show that students achieve better results at Elyssa Sicard school and learn more effectively when parents are in- ISK School Board Member volved in schooling. For those parents who were unable 4
Winternational
December 16th
December Events Calendar December 3rd SAT at ISK December 5th Deadline for university applications checklist for Grade 12 December 6th Szlachetna Paczka due for Nursery – Grade 5 December 8th Grades 9-12 at Director’s home December 7th – 8th Pre-School through Grade 5 Field Trip to Animal Shelter December 13th School Board Meeting in MPR at 5:30 December 16th Winternationals – “Around the World in 80 Minutes” (Grades 1-8) Mid-Quarter Reports go home to parents (Grades 0-12) December 20th Field Trip to Fredrick Turner Exhibit in Krakow for Grades 6-12 December 22nd – January 8 Winter Break
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Speech & Debate
CEESA
Moscow Russia
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After months of preparation, planning, presentation and fund raising, eight mighty middle school students from ISK made their way by plane, train, metro and school taxi to this year’s MS Speech and Debate Tournament hosted by the Anglo-American School of Moscow! Not only did we enjoy the fierce competition of eleven CEESA schools, but we greatly enjoyed seeing the sites around Red Square, eating Russian food, shopping in the Russian Markets, and being hosted by warm and friendly families from the Anglo-American School of Moscow! It all began back in September with students raising funds washing cars at the ISK picnic! Three bake sales and a wonderful evening performance of scenes and speeches accompanied by a delicious spaghetti dinner with deserts and all the trimmings rounded out our fund raising of over 2,300 zloty. During the after school Speech Club on Thursdays, Coaches Lucas and Lucas were joined by Coaches Kuzniar, Peariso, and Wadiak, as the preparation and rehearsal is very time consuming when drafting, editing, blocking, timing, cutting and researching pieces for competition.
Red Square: After a complimentary breakfast of cereal, bread, yogurt and hot chocolate followed by a walk to a bank to exchange euro for rubles, students enjoyed a welldeserved Starbucks break before walking 25 minutes to Red Square. Though it was drizzling, we were glad it was not a bitterly cold Moscow day. How glad we were to visit
Starbucks in Cyrillic!
the historical Red Square! We loved the clock tower of the Kremlin, Lenin’s Tomb, and the uniquely magnificent St. Basil’s Cathedral, which we entered and enjoyed for more than an hour. We then walked through the most grand shopping mall we had ever seen, housed inside the former government offices on Red Square. After entering a living Orthodox church, viewing the memorial to
Excited to be on our way to Moscow.
A very smooth, on time Lufthansa flight took us to Moscow via Munich. From the airport, we found the AeroExpress Train taking us on a 40 minute ride into the city (notorious for its traffic jams!) We were warmly greeting by our “Russian Tour Guide,” Oksana, who kindly guided us from the train to the Moscow Metro which we rode two stops and then walked 10 minutes to our hostel. (Oksana is a close friend of Coach Adam and his wife who lives in Moscow and was such a gracious guide for us both the first night and the entire second day visiting Red Square!) The Hostel: None of these well-traveled adventurers had ever spent a night in a hostel! The coaches, Mr. and Mrs. Lucas, explained that by using hostels, one can travel the world in a much more economical fashion, (though perhaps not quite as fashionable!) Indeed, though we all felt like we were camping on these bunk beds(!), many students said our night together in the hostel was the highlight of the trip! That evening, all students rehearsed their Duet Acting pieces and received some last feedback prior to competition before calling it a night.
Clock tower strikes 12 noon.
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all the fallen soldiers and the millions of souls who lost their lives around World War II, and taking more photos in front of an amazing statue of horses, Oksana guided us
Cool statue with our guide Oksana.
into a large mall where we enjoyed eating Russian blinis, prepared especially to each individual order! Satisfied, we resumed our walk back to our hostel where we were promptly picked up by the AAS school taxi which took us to school where our students were warmly received by their excited host families! Before the competition began, Coaches Lucas and Lucas were called upon by the AAS Middle School Counselor. In front of the entire battery of team coaches from 11 schools and further judges in training, she asked, “Who are the coaches from Krakow? We timidly raised our hands. She continued, “I just want to tell you and everyone here that that group of students is the most courteous group of Middle School students that I’ve ever found! They stopped by my office yesterday evening asking for directions, and we had such a lovely chat!” Needless to say, the first day of competition was thrilling and fierce! We were extremely pleased with the performances our students gave. Almost all had prepared
Morning of the second day of competition. 8
three entries and were kept busy either debating, speaking, acting, or watching others debate! After four rounds of debate and two rounds each of individual events, ISK was very proud to have four team members in two final rounds, with one student receiving a medal! Hanseul and Peter made finals in Duet Acting, with Peter and Frankie entering finals for Oratory, a speech to persuade. Frankie earned 3rd place in Oratory! Though we wished we’d earned even more medals for all our hard work, we learned that medals are not everything---we were extremely pleased that each of us had done our personal best and grown remarkably in our knowledge and performance skills! (We might add that in comparison, many schools much larger than us had only one or two finalists and no medals at all; this included Moscow, Budapest, Zagreb, and St. Petersburg. Warsaw had one finalist and one medal. The strong schools this year were Vienna and Budapest. We learned that these two schools created a Speech/Debate class during school hours for their team to practice...and scheduled mini tournaments with another school to prepare....something for ISK to consider
The triumphant team!
for next year!). In conclusion, we cannot imagine having a better time in a more worthwhile competition! All in all, both coaches were extremely happy with the team’s spirit and unified effort in giving their very best during both the competition and the entire journey. They were indeed ambassadors from ISK that we can all be proud of. Team members are already thinking up our topics and entries for next year’s tournament....in Vienna! (Our High School students will be headed for Riga!) We greatly thank all parents and teachers who helped support our team to make this event possible, with a special thanks to our dear Coach Adam who prepared all the arrangements for our trip. Here’s to eloquent speech!....and the watchword “Practice, practice, practice!!!” The competition and trip was a wonderful demonstration of our school’s motto, “Be respectful, responsible, and strive for excellence!”
Student Perspective I walked onto the stage; knees wobbling and breath uneven. Fifty people sat expectantly in front of me; three judges scribbling furiously on their rubrics. The judge nodded - I took a deep breath - and gaining confidence from my smiling peers, I begun. -Hanseul Cho, Grade 8 Moscow. The heart of Russia, which warmly welcomed us with frigid winds. Who? Middle schoolers from ISK - Frankie, Hanseul, Magda, Natalia, Sophie, Peter, Gabriel and Richard. Thanks to our coaches, Mr. and Mrs. Lucas, the Middle Schoolers were able to put together six-minute original oratories, oral interpretation pieces, debate teams, duet acting scenes, and more - and took them to competition to the AngloAmerican School of Moscow. After a cozy night in a hostel room - all together in one room - we had the opportunity to visit Red Square, the Kremlin, and St. Basil’s Church. We had a wonderful trip to Starbucks for breakfast and set off. Hundreds of pictures later, our guide, Oksana (organized thanks to Coach Adam), led us to a delicious lunch consisting of traditional Russian food - blini. Later that day we drove to AAS and got picked up by our fabulous host families. The next day students gave their best effort in the first and second rounds of debate, and some finals of speeches, oral interps, impromptu, and duet scenes. Last year, about 80 students participated MS Speech and Debate, but this year, more than 100 of students from all over Europe participated, so it was much harder to get in finals and get medals. However, for the results, two ISK students got into Speech finals, one ISK team got into Duet Acting finals and one ISK student got third place in Oratory. But the medals and results are not what matters - it’s the work and fun that in the end are memorable. This year, all of our students did our best, and we also did a much better job than last year. On the last day when our coaches asked us about this trip, all of us had said that this was a most memorable trip we’ve had - also because it’s last MS year for some students. It was a delightful trip, and we actually learned quite a lot of things through this competition - and all of us wanted to participate in this competition next year! A big thanks for everyone who supported us -Coach Adam, Mr. & Mrs. Lucas, Mr.Piotr and more. “Everyone gave their 100 percent” ~Frankie Reene, Grade 8
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Speech Excerpts The Subconscious Mind Sophie von Weiler, Grade 8 ...When you’re awake your conscious analyses problems, step by step thinking logically and consequently. Your subconscious, on the other hand, analyses everything at once. This way, your subconscious is infinitely times more powerful than your conscious. This doesn’t necessarily mean that its “smarter”, but it means you can process things much faster. In conclusion, your subconscious is your partner in crime, the only thing in the world that knows more about yourself than you do. It watches over you warning you with instinct when you think you’re lost. You can greatly expand your potential if you learn how to connect to your subconscious. With a few simple steps you can achieve more than you ever could have dreamed of. Your subconscious is a powerful thing and I believe that only very few people have realized its true potential.
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Give teenagers a break Peter Huson, Grade 8 ...We teens do stupid things like this, but it’s not really our fault, well it is, but we can’t help it. We LOVE the feeling of thrill and taking risks. But thrill doesn’t just mean skydiving, it can also be a feeling of wanting more friends, and finding the confidence to try something new. This is preparation for moving out of the house on our own. Thrill’s not only a bad thing. I lived in Brazil for two years and in the first summer my parents sent me to a Brazilian summer day-camp. I was really reluctant to go but i finally gave in when my parents “bribed” me with some extra dessert. I knew no portuguese at all, so I had to use sign language to ask where the bathroom was. (Make peeing sound and movement.) After only a week of the camp however, I knew the basics of the language, had made some new friends and all the other kids there knew me as: “That crazy American guy.” So why do teens screech through red lights and do doughnuts in shopping mall parking lots? When we’re driving with parent supervision, we won’t do this, but with our friends it’s a completely different story. Our risk-taking rises not from stupid thinking but from a higher placement of reward, to impress our friends.
The VOICE of a SHAKESPEAREAN ACTOR at ISK! Once again ISK students experienced the VOICE of a professional Shakespearean actor! Grades 3 through 12 were given workshops on how to better use the most valuable instrument, the voice, for better effect on both the stage...and the stage of LIFE! Daniel Foley of Performance Exchange had visited us twice before at ISK. In the past he worked on our body movement, with masks, and with helping us to better speak Shakespearean text as a chorus. This time we asked him to focus on bettering our enunciation, learning to work with our bodies as a coordinated group, and how to project a piece of Shakespearean text. In reading over the students’ feedback or evaluation forms, we found that students found the vocal exercises both challenging and useful Daniel introduced the topic by stating that in the past, eloquence was indeed an art. His stated that he is worried that one day our lack of communicating with one another save through our touchpads and keyboards is going to cause us to one day speak nothing but grunts and hurrumphs to one another! Instead, he treated our students to delicious words from King Henry V. Many high school students recalled the verse “O! For a muse of Fire!” which they learned to recite in its entirety to the perfection of a Shakespearean stage actor! They learned to project their voices so that they would fill an entire outdoor theatre!
Student Perspective A few weeks ago we were fortunate to have The Shakespearean Actor Daniel Foley come and provide Drama workshops in which he worked with the upper-school students. The end of his seminar finished with a student involved performance in which he engaged the audience to be a part of his act. I believe that his visit was enjoyed by all students as it was a change of pace being a part of a group workshop with a skilled actor, and I also believe that this greatly compliments the addition of drama class this school year. The elementary students also enjoyed the performance given and loved how he linked them into the performance as well as the older students. Overall the visit of Shakespearean Actor Daniel Foley has affected our community positively. Daniel Hobbs, Grade 8
Most of us found the afternoon performance quite alarming! Daniel’s emphasis on VOICE continued as he cajoled the students into making more loud noise than had ever been heard before at ISK! Though the teachers were not impressed, most of the students found this noise making great fun, and then mostly enjoyed seeing their classmates engage in a few impromptu scenes. Daniel HOBBS was again a STAR when he performed, among other scenes, the Ghost of Hamlet’s father! If you would like to better your enunciation, you may try the following tongue twisters. Daniel suggested that just a few minutes a day can get your mouth into much better shape--and better prepared for eloquent speech! a. The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue. (repeat 6 times) b. Red leather, yellow leather. (repeat 6 times fast) c. Unique New York, Unique New York, Unique New York! and d. (Many students’ favorite) Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers! If you’d like to learn more, speak to a student or ask Mr. Lucas for the actor’s vowel chart! Finally, we would like to thank the PTA, which gave a contribution covering half of the cost of Daniel’s performance fee, and to Mr. Allan Haberberg for generously covering the accommodation for Mr. Foley during his stay in Krakow! Mr. Lucas 11
CEESA Tennis Tournament Riga Latvia
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CEESA Tennis Competition
Student Perspectives
When we got off the plane in Riga, Latvia I already had butterfiles in my stomach. At the airport, we had already met some other teams that were also going to the tournament with us from Warsaw and Bucarest. From there we went to International School of Latvia (ISL) and met our hosts and had a short talk at the school with them and then went to our houses. The next day we rode the schoolbus with other kids to the school and from there took a bus to the tennis facilities. After some warm-up time,I played in doubles with Wolf. Although we lost most of our matches, I think I improved a lot of my serves, and besides, it was lots of fun. After one full day of playing tennis we went back to our host houses and slept. Breakfast and back to tennis next day and another full day of playing tennis. Then it was time for awards, and two people on our ISK team won medals. We next rode the bus to a bowling alley where we got to know the tennis tournament participants better and had a blast bowling. The next morning we got to sleep in and I was really reluctant to leave but I had to. We later went on a tour of the city which was very interesting because I learned some pretty cool facts about Riga. Finally, I was back on the plane to Krak贸w. This CEESA trip was so much fun, and I did not want it to end. Peter Huson, Grade 8 13
On the 6th of October 2011, we left Cracow to go to Riga, the capital of Latvia, for a two-day tennis tournament. Our ISK team, was being hosted by the International School of Latvia. Being hosted by other people(families) always gives you a chance to make new friendships and learn more about their customs and culture; it is also a way to make lasting friendships that last beyond the two-day event. Anyway, I myself admit that, I was very nervous and scared when I first saw our opponents talking to each other at the airport. Luckily, Coach Adam kept repeating to us that everything was going to be all right and that we shouldn’t worry to much. After a while, Coach took out his computer and shared the basic rules of the tournament; which included: sportsmanship and positive interaction with opponents. These rules, were considered fundamental if you wanted to give a very good impression to the other team’s players and coaches. Once at the school, the director, took us on a tour guide around the school. It was was huge and impressive at the same time. A few minutes after that, they told us to wait for the incoming hosting families. Karol and I were being hosted by a Russian family. The boy who was hosting us was called Nick who was cool and a little hyper; he explained to us the major streets and buildings in Jurmala. During the tournament I improved my serve, and it was fun to play with different teams from all around the world. In total I played seven games, five of which I won and two of which I lost. It was very hard to win those five matches because each person I played against with had a different technique. Enrique Antolini, Grade 8
Ceesa Trips are great chances to help you improve your game, meet new people and visit new places. It gives you a chance to play against kids from around the world and see how good they are and then think to yourself how you could improve. You also get to know your own friends better. In this tournament I met many new people, I learned more about Latvia and improved my tennis skills. I was amazed at how nice and awesome the kids playing tennis were. They helped out a lot and made the tournament fun. This Ceesa trip also made me want to work on my tennis a lot more and motivated me want to come back next year. 14
Cem Kullukcu, Grade 7
The host family that I got was very nice and gave us amazing food. I was bored during the tournament because I was either playing a match, practising, or fooling around with people. I was so happy to be with my new friends that I didn’t really care too much about the results of my games. This tournament was so fun that I might go back next year. Overall, I had a blast, and this tournament was the best one that I have ever been to. I can’t wait until the next Ceesa trip.
CEESA trips are amazing. It’s lots of fun because, it’s not only about winning and getting competitive in the tournament, it’s about giving you a chance to make new friends and be hosted by other families. When you are playing the tournament it is like we are all gathered together like a big family; friends, coaches and participants. 15
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Family Fun Afternoon Early Years
First of all, the Early Years team would like to give a big thank you to all the family members who attended our Family Fun Afternoon! We hope all of you had a good time at the show and enjoyed the students’ small performances. The Nursery students did a great job singing “The Wheels on the Bus,” as did the Preschool A students during their rendition of “5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” (performed by the girls), “5 Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree (performed by the boys), and a whole group performance of “The Number Rock.” To finish up the show, Preschool B students gave their parents a little insight into the morning circle time by singing their “Hello Song,” doing the weather chart, figuring out what day of the week it is, and then stomping and roaring like dinosaurs during the “Dinosaur March.” We know the Nursery and Preschool students had a great time during the performance, and we hope that everyone enjoyed the show and delicious snacks as much as we did! Once again, we thank you for attending the Family Fun Afternoon, and hope to see all of you at similar events in the future. Mr. Adam
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Thanksgiving GRADE 3 HAS FUN CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING On November 29th, Ms. Anita came to the grade 3 class to teach us about Thanksgiving. Ms. Anita read a story about the Pilgrims and their trip to America going by a boat named Mayflower. Then we made turkeys and on the turkeys we had to write what we were thankful for. Some people didn’t finish making or writing what they were thankful for. When I looked at the turkeys grade 3 made they looked wonderful. After that, we played pick-up sticks and worked on a wordsearch. Later, all the students ate. Most of the students ate apple pie and drank apple juice. Some ate some animal crackers and drank some apple - mint juice. I had lots of fun on that day. Serena Pham, Grade 3 Ms. Anita came to see grade 3 and to teach us about Thanksgiving. We played a game called pick-up-sticks. Ms. Anita told us about the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims sailed on two ships. A baby was born on the ship. But my favorite part was the snack. We had apple pie and apple juice. We also made a paper turkey and wrote what we were thankful for. Nicholas Strachota, Grade 3
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Grade 2 Last quarter, Grade 2 science was all about Light and Shadow! Throughout the unit, students experimented with light and shadow and learned how they are connected and dependent upon one another! As a class and in small groups, students discussed different light sources, how shadows are formed and what makes them lighter or darker, why our shadows move throughout the day relative to the hourly position of the sun, and concepts involving the definitions of transparent, translucent and opaque. Together with this, Grade Two students have been developing their understanding of the writing process and how to structure a written piece within a logical and understandable framework: writing, editing and re-writing. So, we decided to take our science experiments and our writing practice and combine them into one, cross-curricular extravaganza! Individually, and with determined effort and resolve, students wrote, edited, rewrote and performed their very own shadow puppet plays with puppets they made themselves! The results were fantastic, and the plays were performed for our Nursery, Preschool and Grade 0 classes. Reviewers were ecstatic in their universal praise of the performances. One preschool reviewer called it a “tour de force and a major breakthrough in the realm of elementary performing arts.” Another Grade 0 student added that the performance was “an enlightening and wonderfully inquisitive break from the norm. A triumph!” Congratulations, Grade Two! Mr. Morgan
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Basketball Fever Last weekend was very special for ISK, as it was the first time in ISK’s history for our students to take part in a basketball competition, in which the students could check their basketball skills against players from other schools in Krakow. The students showed excellent skills on the court by winning all of their matches and also showed excellent sportsmanship which impressed the other competitors and parents. The purpose of the festival was to gain as many positive experiences as possible and was not solely focused on competition. The young players were shaping their skills under the guidance of qualified basketball trainers and participated in skill building drills such as ball control and shooting. Parents also participated in the event and demonstrated their basketball skills for their children. A special thanks to Mr. Janas and Mr. Stoklosa, who took part in the competition and were close to the podium. Additionally, the teams watched a basketball show, where a Professional Player presented his dribbling skills and spun a basketball on his finger while lighting it on fire. A true hot shot. The event was organized by Radwan Sport and The ISK Hussars are very excited about being invited to the next festival in January. Coach Adam
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Teams
Grades 2-4 Chiara Maestroni, Kevin Furlan, Spencer Kent, Parker Kent, Kuba Janas, Younghoon Kim, Eve Faure, Oskar Paluch, Nicolas Stratchota Cameron Stratchota, Ann Korneeva Grades 5-7 Cem Kullukcu, Michael Avsdenmoore, Penelope Faure, Zosia Stoklosa, Raffy Haberberg; Ilona Zapadka
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Middle School
Focus On
Highlights - October - November
Science 22
Technology
art
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Medium Close Up
Angles & Exposure Underexposed
Low Angle
Shutter 1/100, Aperture 5.0, iso 100
Overexposed
Depth of Field Shutter 1/50, Aperture 3.5, iso 800
Over the Shoulder
8th grade turned the camera dial to manual and learned how to control light while making pictures look interesting through the use of shot selection. The students experimented with shutter speeds, lens apertures and ISO settings to see how they could use light to create mood or capture an accurate depiction of the moment. Once they had mastered the controls, they moved on to shot selection and staged their own shots to depict the basic shots found in still photography and film. Above: Students took turns taking photos and then had their classmates guess the settings they used. Left: Examples of the staged shots.
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Physical Science in Grade 8
O
n just a typical Monday afternoon, during physics class, our physics teacher walks into our class, all smiles. Half of us groan, while others just sit quietly, obediently opening up their notebooks, ready to take notes. Most of us agree that Monday afternoons just don’t qualify as the best afternoons. Suddenly we all wake up, when out teacher surprises us with an opportunity to develop our curious minds by proposing a sunspot experiment.
Grade 8 Physics has done a lot of interesting experiments this year. One of these experiments was about sunspots. In September, our class decided to measure the size of the sun’s sunspots. At first our teacher talked about how we would do it and what we would use. Then we proceeded outside with telescopes and cardboard boxes that we would use to help us measure the sunspots. Our class split up into two groups and started working! We set up the telescopes and put a blanket on our heads, to shade the telescope so the sunspots would be more visible. Then we saw them! Their reflection was showed on a blank piece of paper that was directed towards the telescope. Each of us had a different role in the duration of the experiment. One of us sketched the reflection of the sunspot onto the piece of paper. A lot of us agree that it was most extraordinary. So extraordinary that most of us got carried away and started burning grass and paper with a magnifying glass. I think that this experiment was really useful to all of us. The next physics class we had, we had pictures of the sunspots and measured the dimensions of them. They were five times bigger than Earth! I really enjoyed this experiment and I think that all of my classmates agree with me. Cecilia Prouse, Grade 8 25
Art Grade 7 students worked directly with a still-life example to create volume from a two dimensional surface. The students used value in the form of dark to light to give their image volume. Paulette Lidert
Dark to Light 26
Value
Volume
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Life Science in Grade 7
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n Life Science, Grade 7 students have been studying how DNA is expressed, that is how it produces characteristics, or traits, that we can see. A while ago, in mid-19th-century, an Austrian monk Gregor Mendel correctly guessed that every gene comes in more than one version. The two versions of a gene found in every cell may be the same but they may also differ. One of them may be stronger (dominant) than the other one (recessive). We have a task for you. Here is a set of human traits (or characteristics) which are coded by pairs of genes. For each trait there are two `versions’ - a dominant and a recessive one. Which ones do you have? Radek Brzezowski, Life Science Teacher
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Earth Science in Grade 6
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rade six is having fun learning about elements in science class. As you can see in the picture, Martin is checking if the elements are correctly lined up or not! We saw that some of them have low and high melting and boiling points. In the science class, we were talking about the elements. What do they look like? How do they react? What are the atoms made of? Every one had to research four elements from the table. After that, we made our own table of elements :) We were checking if there were mistakes or if all the information was correct. That exercise is good for team work and for our research skills. On a long piece of paper, we marked the melting and boiling points of our elements. We are not only reading and writing, we also go to the science lab and do experiments. In the lab, we were finding the density of metal and water. We were also looking at different reactions of elements and compounds. Shelly Master and Bella Mitoraj, Grade 6
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AP Biology
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he AP® Biology class in its multitude (that’s Beth and Sonya) recently visited the Institute of Environmental Sciences at the Jagiellonian University’s Campus. The mission was to assist in a genetic investigation on newts – amphibians (frogs’ cousins) with a tail. Our host and guide, Mr. Zielinski, checks the captured newts for typical genes to see how diverse their population is. The method used for the comparison of DNA (genetic material) from different organisms is known as gel electrophoresis. First, the scientist needs DNA from an organism. In this case, he catches a newt and cuts a small tip of the tail. Then the newt is released, heals up quickly and lives happily ever after. Second, the sought-for fragments of DNA are multiplied using a technique called PCR. Next, the mixture of DNA fragments is loaded into small holes in a piece of clear gel. Electric field makes the fragments of DNA travel in one direction inside the gel plate. Small DNA pieces travel faster, large fragments are slow. Finally, the gel plate is obsrved in ultraviolet light and the position of glowing DNA pieces is analyzed. Fragments from different newts have been “racing” alongside and now can be compared. Our students witnessed and took part in most of those stages except for catching newts. Maybe next time? Radek Brzezowski, AP Biology Teacher
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Biology in Grade 9 G
rade 9 Biology classes in ISK were recently very interesting and fruitful. We have been working hard to cover a great deal of material related to energy and homeostasis, but also had fun time conducting self-designed experiments and presenting the results to the class. Each student had to come up with a relevant experiment, outline it, conduct the test and prepare a presentation to the class. Projects varied, but were all done with great care and precision, similarly to the presentations.
Measuring the pH of water, examining soil composition or growing chives in different environments were just few of the project topics. Presentations were done in different forms, but mostly using PowerPoint. We all had to explain clearly the goals, purposes, steps and results of our experiments in a way that was interesting for the audience, but also informative. Audience-engaging activities and discussions were hence common, and I have to say, very effective. Frequently discussions emerged from the presentations and gave everyone a chance to talk a bit about the currently presented experiment. According to me, such a method of sharing some knowledge with others worked quite well. Presentations were rather short, as each took around 10 minutes, but additional discussions and questions after the speeches took a lot of time. After each presentation we exchanged some comments with the presenter regarding their experiment in general, techniques they used and the overall appearance. This peer revision worked pretty well, as everyone received some constructive feedback from their classmates. The good sides and areas of potential improvement were then pointed out to aid the presenters in future projects. Both the experiments and presentations were very well done, showing a great real of interest in the subject. Mateusz Mroczka, Grade 9
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D ig n i t y Day 2011
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his year we celebrated Dignity Day at the International School of Krakow on October 20th. Prof. Aleksander Skotnicki was our special guest, who searched for an answer to the question - What is dignity?
Prof. Skotnicki talked about his work and about himself. He teaches at the Jagiellonian University, and he also is a doctor who takes care of sick people with problems of blood and the bone marrow. Prof. Skotnicki was a great person to invite for Dignity Day celebration. He told us a story of two people: a boy from Palestine and a girl from Israel. The girl saved the life of the boy by giving him a part of her bone marrow. The girl did not matter that the boy was from a warring country and she saved his life. This is how every person should act, to help disregarding the religion, look, nationality or language. This is dignity which we have to remember about. Prof. Skotnicki answered many hard questions like what does it mean to die with dignity? He also was very open to questions and I think he gave everybody a good lesson. Prof. Skotnicki talked about his work in an interesting way, presented different points of view on life and made attempts to answer all questions we asked. It was definitely worth reflecting on the deep idea of dignity as, quoting from Aristotle, dignity consists not in possessing honors but in the consciousness that we deserve them. Joanna Mroczka, Grade 7
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About our Special Guest Prof. Aleksander Skotnicki is a physician, and a senior faculty at the Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University. His patron, late Prof. Julian Aleksandrowicz, was a Jew and a Polish patriot, who suffered from Germans during the World War II. Prof. Skotnicki’s social activity focuses on building bridges between Jews, who survived Holocaust, and Poles. He is an author of life stories of Jews who used to live in Kraków before and during the World War II. He also is an author of photographic exhibitions on the Jewish-Polish relations.
Fall Traditions
The 4th Grade Halloween field trip to the Strachota family home in October exploded with fun, with students trying new experiences and sharing things learned about this North American tradition. As Halloween itself, October 31st, landed during our fall break, fourth graders decided to experience this holiday a few days early. We ventured to learn about some of our “Home and Host” countries’ customs and holidays in support of our Social Studies theme. Room mothers BJ Kent and Anita Strachota kindly helped prepare the day’s activities so the outing would be full of memorable and educational experiences. To begin with students completed a Halloween word search as several students attired themselves in ghoulish or Jedi costumes, followed by a group photo taken whilst we were all still dry and with make-up in place. Next, students learned the process of making pumpkin soup from scratch from Ms Anita in order that it would be ready by lunch time. Next, we moved into the living room to hear each other’s research about where the tradition of Halloween began, and what the different elements of Halloween represented throughout history. For example, we learned that people got dressed up in scary outfits to scare away the ghosts the one evening in the year when they would come around. Then we moved into the sun room with the heated tile floor where ten pumpkins awaited their designers. Students had previously researched artistic designs on the Internet a few days earlier and came equipped with their design in hand. A few found the chosen design a little too complicated; however, everyone finally enjoyed the process of digging their hands in and scooping out all the pumpkin seeds and pumpkin goop with a little encouragement. All ten cleaned and freshly carved pumpkins were laid outside for a final photo shoot whilst Ms. Anita grilled hamburgers on a beautiful blue and sunny late October day. Finally it was lunch time with everyone asked to try the pumpkin soup and, much to the surprise of many, the entire portion was gobbled up! Hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and cheetos, fancy water and punch with frozen eyeballs and gummy worms decked the amply supplied table...someone even blessed the table with a spill! Next students enjoyed their recess time playing outside chasing one another, taking turns jumping on the trampoline whilst the dining table was set up for the arts and crafts project. Students excitedly chose a piece of 12” by 12” orange hued fabric, then added a fist full of plastic pellets and another handful of stuffing to carefully create an ornamental cloth pumpkin which used a little stick from the garden. Younghoon enthusiastically made two; one for his baby sister and the other for himself with a little help from BJ. Mrs. Lucas was especially delighted with everyone’s originality and perseverance to see the project through to the end. To conclude the day’s activities, everyone moved out to the garden to lean about and experience ‘Hot Gourd Toss’ played to music, and try ‘Bobbing for Apples,’ where almost everyone got very wet with icy cold water! Before our taxi arrived to take us back to ISK, all students went around to the front door to ‘Trick or Treat’ for a candy. Everyone piled in with carved and cloth pumpkins, happy faces, full tummies and enough good memories to last a long time. Mrs. Lucas 33