Beyond King's (Vol. 7, Spring 2019) by King's Academy

Vol. 7, Spring 2019

KingsAcademyJordan KingsAcademyJOR King’s Academy KingsAcademyJOR King’s Academy

IN THIS ISSUE 3

Peter Nilsson Appointed Third King’s Head of School

It’s Always Sunny at King’s

Understanding the Past, Rewriting the Future

To the Stars and Beyond

10 Fashion Forward 12 Gamifying the Classroom 15 The Templeton Prize 16 Kareem’s Got Rhymes Like Dimes 18 Catching Up With the Kolaghassis 20 Finding Common Ground Through Art 23 Shattering Glass Ceilings 24 Going Global: Exchange Students Travel the World 28 Gettin’ Down — Off Campus! 30 Dubai: The Smartest City on Earth? 32 The Making of a Musical 40 The Legacy of John Austin 42 Farming Food in a Freight Container 44 Being the Change 46 Serving the Written Word 48 Renee Underhill ‘13 Strikes Back 50 Of Creative Control 52 Why Michael Dagher Finds King’s A Worthy Cause 54 The Inventors 56 Ballin’ Out 60 Bringing Back the Music 63 Razan Abdelhadi ‘10 on the Joy of Giving (to King’s!) 64 Making the Middle School Their Own 68 On the Agenda: Inclusivity and Accessibility 70 Positive Agent for Change 71 6 Tips on How to Really Get to Know A Country When Traveling 72 A Message to Alumni from KAAA 74 Class Notes 80 Advancement Update

EDITOR’S NOTE Spring 2019 Volume 7 Editor in Chief Vera Azar Writers Muna Al-Alul, Vera Azar, Thomas Cahill Designer Shadi Hasweh Contributors

As 2018-2019 winds down, the words that come to my mind are “end of an era.” For nine years, King’s Academy has been shaped by the vision of one man: Headmaster John Austin. Austin’s departure at the end of this academic year to take on the position of head of school at Deerfield Academy comes at a time when the school is stronger than it’s ever been, a testament to Austin’s tenacity and determination to make King’s a world-class institution. For more on this subject, see “The Legacy of John Austin” (p. 40). For me, this year is also the end of an era on a personal front. Thirteen years ago, I moved to the King’s Academy campus with my family to begin marketing the concept of a boarding school in Jordan. My son was then barely five years old, and from the moment the first students started arriving at King’s in 2007, he began asking me when he could attend King’s. At that point I thought to myself “never,” simply because I never imagined I would still be here when he turned 14 and could join the 9th grade. I was wrong. He came, he thrived, and he is graduating this month with the Class of 2019. And I have been able to witness first hand, as a mother, how much King’s has grown and developed and improved…and how much it has given my son. I hope you will find that Beyond King’s this year once again reflects the vibrancy of our community, the innovation of our programs, the growing success of our young alumni, and the excellence and dedication of our teachers. While I am proud of all the articles in this year’s magazine, I’d like to point to three that truly live up to our mission: •

• •

“Jordanian History: Understanding the Past, Writing the Future” (p. 6), about a new course that teaches students to think critically about Jordan’s history and place in the world and to develop the habits of responsible citizenship. “The Making of a Musical” (p. 32), which demonstrates King’s commitment to autonomous learning. “Gamifying the Classroom” (p. 12), about maximizing enjoyment and engagement in the classroom through capturing the interest of learners and inspiring them to continue learning – exactly what we aspire to do at King’s.

Vera Azar

BEYOND KING’S

Johanna Lee ’13, Hannah Szeto ’20, Suhayb Jawhari ’11 Photography Wasim Ayesh, Thomas Cahill Front Cover Photograph by Ian Chute Mohammad Alqudah ’19 and Nadia Salfiti ’21 performed “The Downfall II” — also choreographed by Alqudah — at the King’s Annual Dance Concert Back Cover Photograph by Wasim Ayesh The Albizia julibrissin, also known as the Persian Silk Tree, graces the King’s Academy campus where, in the summer, it bursts into beautiful pink blooms. Beyond King’s is published by the King’s Academy Department of Communications and Publications P.O. Box 9, Madaba-Manja 16188 Jordan. tel +962 6 430 0230 ext. 1005 email beyondkings@kingsacademy.edu.jo www.kingsacademy.edu.jo © 2019 King’s Academy, Jordan. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without express written consent from the publisher.

PETER NILSSON

APPOINTED THIRD KING’S HEAD OF SCHOOL BY VERA AZAR

he King’s Academy Board of Trustees announced in January the appointment of Peter B. Nilsson as King’s third head of school. Nilsson begins his tenure in July 2019 and succeeds Dr. John Austin, who is taking on the position of head of school at Deerfield Academy. Nilsson’s appointment brought to a close a search process that began in August 2018 through the establishment of a search committee from among the trustees and the appointment of Carney Sandoe and Associates to launch a global search effort. In their selection process, the trustees sought a visionary leader who relentlessly strives for excellence: “We wanted an energetic thought-leader in education who is as eager to keep learning as to take action, someone who inspires through character, hard

work and talent,” says Chairman of the Board of Trustees Bassem Al-Salem. “We sought a leader who is excited to absorb the local culture in order to bring out the best in the dual JordanianInternational identity of King’s.” They found those attributes in Nilsson, who comes to King’s from Deerfield Academy, where he has most recently held the position of director of research, innovation and outreach. In that position, he has connected research to school practices and developed systems for ongoing growth and innovation in the faculty. He has also explored strategic goals outside of the traditional school model. This is particularly important to King’s, as the school continues establishing itself as a leading academy that can provide an exceptional traditional boarding school experience in a digital and hyper-connected world.

Nilsson, who was a boarding student himself at Phillips Andover Academy, holds a Master’s degree in educational leadership from Columbia University Teachers College and a Bachelor’s in English and music from Middlebury College. Before his current position, he was assistant dean of faculty, assistant academic dean, and an English teacher and sports coach at Deerfield. Nilsson’s own path in life reflects his belief that teaching happens both inside and outside the classroom and that a student’s personal growth is measured by more than academic markers. He was a musician in New York for four years, where he composed and performed. Nilsson is joined at King’s by his wife Crystal, their four-year-old son Oliver and their baby daughter Everly Orion.

SPRING 2019

It’s always

SUNNY

at King’s

SOLAR SYSTEM REDUCES KING’S ENERGY COSTS TO ZERO BY THOMAS CAHILL

he next time you visit campus, take a long look at the staff and Middle School parking lot canopies, the roof of the gym, and the area near the nursery. What’s different? King’s has officially gone solar, and is now home to thousands of panels installed in several spots on campus.

BEYOND KING’S

Designed and built by Saudi Arabian power generation company ACWA Power, the new network of solar grids comprises 8,130 photovoltaic (PV) panels that boast a collective area of 15,730 square meters. Photovoltaic solar panels produce electricity directly from sunlight, as opposed to solar thermal panels, which use the sun’s energy to generate heat.

The project was initially agreed upon in the spring of 2017, when Chairman of the King’s Academy Board of Trustees Bassem Al-Salem and Chairman of ACWA Power Mohammad Abunayyan signed a memorandum of understanding. ACWA Power generously donated the full cost of the system, or about

$3 million, to King’s. “ACWA Power is proud to contribute to the enhancement and sustainability of King’s Academy as we believe in the importance of the school’s message and vision,” Abunayyan said.

on campus has been powered by electricity, from the Dining Hall to the Academic Building to the dorms and gym…electricity consumption has been the most expensive item on our budget every year.”

The largest independent power producer in Jordan, ACWA Power develops, funds and operates corporate sustainability and responsibility initiatives in Jordan in addition to 10 other countries from North Africa to Southeast Asia.

The environmental ramifications of the solar panels are profound; the system offsets the equivalent of 2,300 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. If that is hard to visualize, try to imagine 303,600,000 gallon jugs filled with carbon dioxide.

In the end, the solar system took just over a year from the date of the agreement to become fully operational. It was almost completely installed by May 2018, when HRH Crown Prince Hussein Abdullah ’12 visited campus to inaugurate it. Work continued into the summer and by mid-summer the system was up and running.

The system generates 2.6 megawatts, or 2.6 million watts, of power for the school. For context, this amount powers the equivalent of nearly 400 households. It is designed to meet and exceed the energy needs of King’s Academy, and will in fact send excess output to the main power grid every year.

Director of Operations Ola Bseiso is thrilled with the new system. “It is our energy solution,” she says. “Everything

This school year was the first full year for the solar system, and Bseiso explains that it was one of observation.

“We have been assessing our energy consumption and the solar production, and we have been working closely with the Jordanian electricity company to monitor our usage and output.” In addition, the panels will ultimately reduce the energy cost of the school to zero. And King’s will be able to put the substantial savings to good use. “The money can go to financial aid,” says Bseiso. “It can go to projects that Facilities are working on to enhance the student experience at King’s, like adding air conditioners to more classrooms.” The effect of the solar panels extends far beyond the King’s campus. Jordan as a country is looking to the future as it encourages sourcing electricity through sustainable sources and increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources to the national energy supply. The photovoltaic plant will contribute tangibly toward the nationwide supply and underscores the significance of the country’s effort.

SPRING 2019

UNDERSTANDING THE PAST, WRITING THE FUTURE Modern Jordanian History with Ghassan Gammoh ‘10 BY THOMAS CAHILL

Mr. Ghassan and students walk through the Flag Square, where official Jordanian military ceremonies take place

ince his arrival at King’s in 2014, Ghassan Gammoh ‘10 has taught various courses on the Middle East within the Department of History and Social Studies. However, during the 2017-18 academic year, Gammoh, a native Jordanian, noticed the absence of a class focusing specifically on Jordan and its history, and ultimately began to write curriculum. Finally, this year, Gammoh offered and taught an innovative new course called Modern Jordanian History. “When I was a student at King’s, I was always taught in my history classes to look for the missing voices and perspectives. I think this course comes 6

BEYOND KING’S

from that idea,” says Gammoh, a member of King’s very first graduating class. “We are not confident in our own history and we need to know the history of our people and our region so that we can represent ourselves accurately and know how others view Jordan.” Open to upperclassmen, the course begins with an overview of ancient Jordan (from ~8500 BC) and concludes with an examination of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s reign and a final capstone project. The course takes a critical look at the 20th century and the deep, wide-ranging changes that Jordan and the Levant witnessed during that period. Significant topics and events include the Great Arab Revolt,

the First Arab-Israeli War, the Six-Day War, the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace and the Arab Spring. Natasha Al-Bakri ’19, a student in the class, had studied Jordanian history at her previous schools, but never found her courses fulfilling or challenging. “They didn’t provide a deep intellectual understanding of the past of this country,” she says. “It always felt like there was something missing. I wanted to find the missing puzzle piece through this course.” Sayf Abdeen ’19 notes that, as a Jordanian, “understanding more about Jordan’s history in the 20th and 21st century is integral.” After taking the Grade 10 Middle Eastern history class,

he wanted to “dig very deep” into the recent history of the region and the country. The course provides students, who are a mix of Jordanians and Americans, with the opportunity to wrestle with profound questions that span political science, history, economics, gender studies and identity politics. What does it mean to be Jordanian and how did the concept of citizenship evolve during the 20th century? How does Jordan’s ancient history play a role in national identity today? What role has religion played in the formation of Jordan? How can Jordanian culture be defined? As an American studying at King’s, Katharina Maltzahn ’21 saw the class as a perfect opportunity to learn about Jordan. She particularly enjoys the personal relevance of Jordanian history for other students in the class. “I love hearing the perspectives of my classmates, most of whom are Jordanian, and hearing the stories they share of their ancestors who lived in the time frame that we are studying.” Beyond the personal pertinence of the material, one distinguishing feature of the class is its bilingualism: it makes use of both Arabic and English. Though classroom discussion is conducted in English, Gammoh makes extensive use of Arabic primary sources, translating for students as necessary. Occasionally, students are allowed to write assignments in Arabic if they want to.

The course provides students with the opportunity to wrestle with profound questions that span political science, history, economics, gender studies and identity politics. Guest lectures and classroom visits are a central component of the course. Among the guest speakers this year were renowned archaeologist Dr. Moawiyah Ibrahim and Dr. Baker AlMajali, a historian and consultant to the Royal Hashemite Court. During his visit, Al-Majali discussed the political ramifications of the Great Arab Revolt in depth and displayed archival photographs from the 1910s. Students not only enjoy hearing from such speakers but also take advantage of the chance to clarify points from classroom discussions. “We often use this opportunity to ask them questions that have remained unanswered throughout the unit,” says Al-Bakri. Elaborating on the value of such visits, Al-Bakri says that “they make the connection between the course and our everyday life more real.”

In addition, speakers who visit the class often discourse with students in Arabic. Students in the class who speak little Arabic support this arrangement. “Even my American students are saying, ‘Let them speak in Arabic! We want the most authentic experience!’” says Gammoh.

SPRING 2019

lectures and field trips, the aim of the course is to enable students to create their own understanding of Jordanian identity grounded in modern historical, social and political developments. Gammoh’s specific goal in creating the class revolves around situating Jordan in the world. “It’s not just Jordanian history – it’s Jordanian history in the global context,” he says. “So, I’m preparing them to acknowledge other perspectives on Royal Court consultant Dr. Baker Al-Majali discusses the Great Arab Revolt with students

Thea Porter ’20, Liam Patterson ’20, Katharina von Maltzahn ’21 and Natasha Bakri ’19 discuss artefacts from HM King Hussein’s personal collection at the Royal Hashemite Court.

After reaching out to the Royal Court archivist, Gammoh gained access to all sorts of unique resources, including the signed Um Qais Conference paper of 1920, photographs of the Arab Legion from the 1930s and 1940s, and letters between the Hashemite leaders and the United Nations. They also were able to read articles from the Al-Qibla, the mouthpiece of the Great Arab Revolt, and gain insight into different aspects of the Revolt in the 1910s. For the students, the use of these sources brings a unique level of flexibility and sense of ownership to the class. “The plans continuously shift in alignment with the students’ interests, or newfound sources that shed light on a little known aspect of Jordanian history,” says Abdeen. “It’s energizing and enthralling to feel like the student is also part of creating the course.” 8

BEYOND KING’S

In addition to hosting speakers, students go on field trips throughout the year to sites of historical significance. On one excursion, students visited the Royal Hashemite Court, including Raghadan Palace and the Flag Square, as well as the Museum of Parliamentary Life and the Museum of King Abdullah I. The trip gave Bader Al-Majali ’20 the opportunity to “step into the minds of the Hashemites and look around,” he says. Faisal Hidayah ’20 enjoyed viewing the athletic trophies in King Abdullah I’s glass cabinets. He elaborates, “they demonstrated to me that the Hashemites did not only appreciate political entities but also respected athletic and social movements and organizations within the country.” Through all of the Harkness discussions, research projects, guest

issues that Jordan has faced – and also being able to synthesize those and come up with a valid argument.” As for Bakri, she wants to understand “our strengths and weaknesses and the reasons why we became what we are today. I wanted to understand the past and write the future with my efforts.”

TO THE STARS AND BEYOND

Interest in astronomy skyrockets as King’s gets world-class observatory BY THOMAS CAHILL

y September, King’s students will be able to get closer to the sky than ever before. A stateof-the-art observatory is currently being erected between the King Abdullah II Spiritual Center and the Hess Family Dining Hall. When completed, it will be the most technologically advanced telescope system in Jordan and one of the best on the Arabian Peninsula. Funded by King’s Academy board member and long-time donor Tarek Aggad, the observatory will utilize imaging equipment including a 51-centimeter telescope mirror, an automated filter wheel that allows for imaging of 10 wavelengths, and an extremely sensitive charged-coupled device for direct imaging. According to physics and astronomy teacher Ian Chute, the equipment is world-class. “Professional astronomers use these instruments in research observatories,” he says. “Our telescope is bigger and our imaging equipment is more sensitive than those of observatories at many major research universities.” The observatory, which will be fully operational in the fall, will serve two primary purposes. The first is visual observation, “which is basically observing astronomical objects — star clusters, planetary nebulas, and galaxies,” explains Chute, “and the second is astrophotography.” The construction of the observatory reflects a surging interest in astronomy

on campus. In fall 2018, more than a dozen students, along with Chute, established an astronomy club. This year, the club hosted several telescope viewing events in front of Alnilam House with an 8-inch portable telescope. At these viewings, students observed the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and the Pleiades, an open star cluster close to Earth. Elias Tannira ’20, an astronomy enthusiast, also notes that the club “gave several lectures about telescopes and how to use them.” Over 65 students are currently registered members of the club. Some of them are new to astronomy, and others are amateur astronomers, including Tannira, who has been looking at the sky since he was a boy in Birzeit, Palestine. “For a while, I just looked at the sky when I got bored. Then I got in with a bunch of the university students at Birzeit University,” he says. “I got to work on bigger telescopes and saw a lot of beautiful deep sky objects, and was hooked.” When he arrived at King’s, Tannira maintained his interest in astronomy but lacked the requisite equipment. “I got here and wanted to continue, but the school didn’t have telescopes or viewing instruments,” he says. Gifted a telescope for Christmas 2017, Tannira spoke in multiple School Meetings about astronomy and staged multiple well-attended viewing sessions. He expects the positive trend to continue with the arrival of the observatory, saying, “I know that interest is high, and I think the physical space of the

observatory will give students really cool opportunities.” On the curricular side, Chute will offer an astronomy elective course that will allow students to learn how to use the observatory and make and analyze images. The goal of the course will be for students to discover how and why astronomical objects are distributed throughout the universe. Astronomy students will be able to take advantage of Jordan’s dark sky sites, from which distant astronomical objects can be observed, as field trip destinations. Wadi Rum, while renowned for its views of the Milky Way, is not ideal for research-based astronomy as it lies at a low elevation. Chute has his sights set on several locations in the north of the country, including the Sharhabil Bin Hassneh EcoPark. To document the sky, several sophisticated 50-megapixel cameras have been ordered for students to take with them on their outings. The observatory’s use will not be limited to King’s students: Chute and his students plan to throw “star parties” for the general public and to invite students from other schools to observation sessions. The observatory, however, offers a unique opportunity specifically for King’s students. “They have the chance to do something that most high-schoolers and college students never get to do,” says Chute. The sky is truly the limit for astronomy at King’s. SPRING 2019

FASHION FORWARD

LENA AL-KAISY ’17 IS MAKING WAVES IN THE WORLD OF FASHION

ince graduating from King’s, Lena Al-Kaisy ‘17 has dedicated herself completely to her calling: design. Currently a sophomore at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Al-Kaisy has already exhibited and sold several designs, received several internship offers from fashion directors, and rubbed shoulders with some of the most important figures in the fashion industry. Beyond King’s spoke with Lena this year about her RISD projects, her experience meeting some of her heroes, and her recently exhibited work.

the creation of bracelets, garments, and masks.

What have you been doing other than studying and designing?

Have you designed anything you’re especially proud of?

Besides my work at school, I attended the conference “Forces of Fashion”, which was organized and held by Vogue magazine. I got the opportunity to listen to anecdotes and advice from top figures in the fashion industry, such as the creative director of Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli, and major fashion influencers such as Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Zendaya. In addition, I got to meet one of the most iconic figures in the industry, Anna Wintour. Besides managing the Met Gala, Anna is the longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue and the artistic director for Conde Nast.

My favorite project that I did last semester was for a final assignment; we were asked to use embroidery to create a mask that expresses our identity. I decided to combine two important aspects of my identity as an Arab woman and a Palestinian to create a mask that would allude to the gas masks worn by Palestinians, eventually leading to my “Revolution Mask”. Does the mask actually work?

What are you currently studying at RISD? During my sophomore year, I’ve started learning the skills and doing projects related to my major. After learning how to make a shirt and skirt, I was asked to create a garment that references the basic skirt and shirt using white fabric; I ended up creating a garment that’s inspired by architectural building constructions, as well as the spaces created between them. A different design class I took focused on the theme of identity; my projects for this class varied from expressing social issues, such as gender double standards, to incorporating Arabic calligraphy into

BEYOND KING’S

My mask doesn’t function as protection against gas chemicals, but rather as something that serves to empower its wearer. The design does not aim to demean the suffering nor the negative associations and reality of the Palestinians behind these gas masks; rather, it’s my aim to draw attention to these things through my apparel work. Ideally, this mask would be worn by women, making them look powerful and fierce. The battlefield is often considered a space of masculinity; however, Palestinian women are as involved as men in the fighting, and I wanted to create a piece that reflects that.

Wow! It must have been surreal to meet her. Seeing her in person was obviously a dream come true! And the best part about “Forces of Fashion” was the opportunity I had to network, socialize, and ask questions while having lunch with famous designers, magazine editors, and fashion directors; it was inspiring listening to their stories of how their lives and careers changed just by being persistent in achieving their goals and being confident about their work. It strengthened my belief to never give up, no matter what.

Have people outside of RISD gotten the chance to look at your designs? RAW, an organization located in California that chooses specific talented individuals to exhibit at their annual exhibitions, has asked me to exhibit some of my designs. The organization holds exhibitions in 61 locations around the world each year. This year’s exhibition theme was “Ovation”, and I was chosen to showcase my work in Boston. It was an exciting experience for me because I got to connect with other artists and people who are working in the art industry, and most importantly got my name out there as people took my business card and followed my social media accounts. Do you think the experience of exhibiting your work will influence your future path? Well, it was a successful exhibition for two reasons; first, I sold some of the art pieces that I created just a year ago during my freshman year at RISD, and second, I was offered internships by different fashion and art directors after they saw my work. Most of the participants in the RAW exhibition have been a part of the art industry for seven years or more; being one of the few young people in this showcase was a huge compliment and truly inspired me to continue on with my hard work.

SPRING 2019

GAMIFYING THE CLASSROOM

In the Middle School, a fun new educational tool is literally changing the game on how to make the classroom a more engaging place. BY MUNA AL-ALUL

hen George Morganis landed a job

last year as a faculty member at King’s Academy, he found a school that echoed his passion to make the classroom a more fun and engaging learning space. Over the summer, Morganis had some time to prepare for his 7th Grade humanities class and — after getting the green light — an idea that had been brewing in his mind for a while began to take shape. This year, when a fresh crop of 12- and 13-year-olds walked into his classroom, they would also be walking into an alternate universe of warriors and mages, battles and quests. They would be walking into the world of Classcraft. Classcraft is an Engagement Management System (EMS) for educators looking to increase engagement in their classrooms. The similarity of its name to the wildly popular video game World of Warcraft is no accident. It is based on the concept of gamification: bringing a video game element into the classroom to ‘gamify’ learning. Playing in teams, students choose and design individual characters from three unique classes (warrior, mage, healer), each of which come with their own health, ability points and powers. “Game designers have unlocked a secret that teachers maybe haven’t realized yet,” says Morganis. “Games are challenging but also incredibly engaging, and kids constantly go back and keep trying. That begs the question, how can we get that level of engagement and commitment in our own classrooms? That’s where the concept of taking what works in video games and interweaving it into the classroom experience comes in.”

Engagement management systems such as Classcraft aim to impact educational outcomes that are key to students’ success, such as academic performance, classroom behaviour, social and emotional learning, school climate, as well as attendance and student motivation.

“Gamification is really an attempt to introduce good habits for students,” continues Morganis. “When you don’t have grades, you need buy-in with kids. If they don’t do their homework, I’m not going to fail them, so there needs to be some desire to do well.”

The response from his 7th graders has been great so far, according to Morganis. He believes the key is relating to kids’ experiences and tying that to course matter. As most kids play video games, they understand the rules in gaming and enjoy playing them. So, translating that to a classroom

BEYOND KING’S

setting, when students do positive things such as handing their homework in on time, their characters level up. Once they reach a certain level they start unlocking powers. “They’ve bought into it,” says Morganis, who is also known as Head Warlock by his class. “They are always asking me if I’ve awarded them XP (points) for their homework assignment yet.” However, if an individual ‘falls in battle’ (is disruptive in class, for example), then the student will ‘lose health’ and the Head Warlock will ‘pass sentence’ on them. This might range from paying someone a compliment, to busing their advisory lunch table all week, to writing an essay about why they keep falling in battle, or doing an extra homework assignment. Another aspect to the game is its group dynamic. Because students are put into teams, if one student falls in

battle then the whole team might lose health. Therefore, students feel pressure to do the best for their team. There is also parental buy-in. Parents are given an account on Classcraft where they can follow their children’s progress. This gives parents an insight into what is going on, and with parental buy-in, student engagement increases because they know their parents are playing along too. There are real-life, in-class benefits too, Morganis explains. “You can teleport. Mages can step outside the class for two minutes, no questions asked. You can get an extra day to do a homework assignment. The most powerful reward is your entire team skipping a homework assignment.” Based on their classwork, Morganis designs quests for the students, with different goals and checkpoints that they have

If an individual ‘falls in battle’ (is disruptive in class, for example), then the student will ‘lose health’ and the Head Warlock will ‘pass sentence’ on them.

SPRING 2019

to reach. Some quests are completed individually, while others are completed as a group. To keep things interesting the game throws in things called ‘boss battles’ and ‘random events.’ “One random event is ‘talk like a pirate day’,” laughs Morganis. “The whole class must refer to me as captain and speak with a pirate accent. It’s hammy, but it’s Middle School! You have to make things fun.” Morganis describes humanities as a little like social studies, with a bit of English, history, philosophy, and some realworld applications rolled into one class. The curriculum revolves around cities at specific time periods, places undergoing change or solving problems. This year they have covered New York City dealing with immigration circa 1910, King’s Academy and culture creation in 2007, the French Revolution in 1789, and Manchester during the 19th Century industrial revolution. The goal is for students to understand the problems of the past.

to be student-centered. He doesn’t want to stand at the front of the class and do all the talking while students sit in rows and listen. Many of his assignments are group-based, in addition to individual work and student choice. As the Middle School does not use the traditional grading system — they follow the standards mastery approach based on students demonstrating understanding of the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn — he has goals and markers to help him gauge how his students are progressing, but they are also responsible for their own progress.

One random event is ‘talk like a pirate day’,” laughs Morganis. “The whole class must refer to me as captain and speak with a pirate accent. It’s hammy, but it’s Middle School! You have to make things fun.

“I’d like to think it is aligned with His Majesty’s vision of helping students of today solve the problems of tomorrow.” As humanities is a new and sometimes difficult subject for students, Morganis tries to make his class as active as possible, and gamification is just one way of keeping it fun, along with providing ample opportunities for students to create and perform. While students know what subjects they will be taking, they have no idea what the activities will be. “It’s designed to be exciting,” says Morganis. “They may take on the role of different characters during the French Revolution and have to interview each other as though they were on television. It’s hands-on, it’s engaging, it’s very interesting.” Morganis’ goal is to create a personalized learning experience for his students, and to achieve that his classroom is designed 14

BEYOND KING’S

“It is the student’s responsibility to get things done by a certain date. They work at their own pace, but they know if they are behind they have to catch up.” This is where gamification helps keep students on track while making things fun. It rewards progress towards standards mastery. “With Middle Schoolers you have to do things a little bit differently,” says Morganis. “I’m trying to instill good habits. I’m more concerned with them putting in a great effort. If I can hand over my 7th graders to 8th and 9th grade and they can do their homework every night on time and engage the material in class, then I’m happy.”

HOW THE KING’S ACADEMY LOGO ENDED UP ON THE TEMPLETON PRIZE SCROLL

n November 13, 2018, His Majesty King Abdullah II was presented with the Templeton Prize in a public ceremony held at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

HM King Abdullah II is the first head of state or political leader to be awarded the Templeton Prize, which honors His Majesty’s leadership and commitment to interfaith and intrafaith dialogue and friendship.

According to the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Prize honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works. Established in 1972 by the late Sir John Templeton, the Prize aims, in his words, to identify “entrepreneurs of the spirit” — outstanding individuals who have devoted their talents to expanding our vision of human purpose and ultimate reality.

So, what does that have to do with King’s Academy, and how did the school’s logo end up on the Templeton Prize scroll presented to His Majesty during the award ceremony? His Majesty founded King’s Academy to instill the virtues of respect, responsibility and leadership in youth who would go on to shape the future of Jordan, the Middle East and the world. For that reason, the Templeton Prize scroll included the logo of King’s Academy to reflect and honor His Majesty’s commitment to education and enlightenment. Upon accepting the Prize at the ceremony, His Majesty said: “Today, I am truly humbled to be recognized by all of you. But let me say, everything you honor me for simply carries onward what Jordanians have always done, and how Jordanians have always lived — in mutual kindness, harmony, and brotherhood. And so, I accept this extraordinary prize, not on my own behalf, but on behalf of all Jordanians.”

SPRING 2019

T O G S ’ M E E R KA

ith his headphones perched atop his head, senior Kareem Abuali ’19 makes his way across campus on a cold February morning. As his friends greet him, many of them comment on the recent release of his debut album The Rumors Are Not True (The R.A.N.T.).

S E M Y RH E DIM K I L um

alb p a r t bu

ps de

m Karee

o ’19 dr i l a u b

ETO ’2

AH SZ HANN

Abuali began thinking about creating the album in August 2018, though he soon got bogged down with schoolwork and extracurriculars, delaying its release until early 2019. Throughout the fall, Rakan Zahran (Big Murk), his producer, would send him beats and he would rap over them, incorporating internal rhymes into his everyday conversations: “I would take people’s words and spit four bars to myself,” says Abuali. Penning the lyrics was a longer process, as Abuali’s perfectionism would often keep him on a certain song for hours: “I could spend as long as half an hour on one line,” he says. “It’s only when I got that line sounding perfect, and it was witty, or it added value to the song itself, that I would proceed to the next line.” Intending to make a statement with his debut album, Abuali focused on showcasing his lyrical skills and firmly establishing himself as a talented wordsmith. He looked to a variety of artists for inspiration, such as Mac Miller and Rejjie Snow, who were, in his words, “really good at painting pictures with words.” But Abuali was most influenced by MF Doom, a rapper whose clever rhyme schemes stood out to him, and this album was inspired by Doom’s 2004 album with Madlib, the producer, entitled Madvillainy. 16

BEYOND KING’S

In fact, the album was named after a bar from an MF Doom song, “That’s That.” The R.A.N.T. was a space for Abuali to rant and discuss big ideas: “We’re doing things, we’re ranting because art is how we communicate,” he says. It was a varied album thematically, one in which Abuali spoke his mind rather than conveying a specific message.

Across its 12 tracks, he honed in on human emotions and timeless qualities, and tried to make music that “someone could listen to in 20 years and still be able to relate to.” In his process, Abuali stayed true to himself in his lyrics. Rather than talking about common themes in rap such as guns, drugs and women, he would talk about issues more personal to him, issues of anxiety and growing up, to which he could relate.

S E M The album incorporated many sonic styles and musical genres. For example, “Ode to Mooncakes” is a beat without lyrics, and “Actual Outro” is a poem Abuali wrote. He and Zahran experimented with different styles: trap, old school, singing, disco and others. On February 15, the night of the album release, Abuali invited a group of friends to his house for a listening party. “The album is amazing in its own right,” says Dario Pomar ’19, who was at the gathering. “And I think it’s enhanced by the fact that it’s made by someone who I know to be passionate about his music.” The King’s community responded with an outpouring of support, and “Sitcom Love” was incorporated into one of the

dances at the annual dance showcase. Abuali appreciates the support, but he was never focused on the streams. He just wanted to get his art out there: “People don’t have to listen to it, but it makes me really happy if they actually enjoy it,” he says. “That something I created appealed to them in a way other art might not have is priceless.” Abuali credits some of the support to the album’s accessibility. Since Zahran created all of the beats, there were no copyright issues. The album is out now on all platforms: Apple Music, Soundcloud, Spotify, Deezer, Anghami — just search “The Rant” or “The Rumors Are Not True.”

to develop his skills as a producer, and try his hand at creating beats. He wants to relearn musical instruments like the guitar, piano and drums, and to immerse himself more in the production aspect of music. “I’m sure Kareem will take university as an opportunity to explore rapping even further,” says Pomar. “I don’t think this is the last time we’ll be hearing from him.”

At university, Abuali hopes to continue refining his craft as a rapper, but also SPRING 2019

CATCHING UP WITH THE

KOLAGHASSIS

Ali Kolaghassi, whose son Talal graduated from King’s in 2018 and whose daughter Haya is a member of the Class of 2022, has served on the King’s Academy Board of Trustees since 2015. Prior to that, he and his wife Lama established a student scholarship to educate two students at King’s. In addition to their continuous support of the school’s financial aid program, they have provided in-kind gifts to King’s, and have been instrumental in securing gifts from others. Kolaghassi spearheaded the innovative Abdali project — the first public-private partnership in Jordan for the comprehensive development of a central district in Amman. He is chief executive

BEYOND KING’S

officer of Saraya Holdings and chairman of Rubicon, and serves as a board member of the Saudi Med Investment Company and Arab Bank Capital, among others. In 2008, Arabian Business Magazine

named Kolaghassi as one of the world’s “100 most influential Arabs.” He earned his MBA from George Washington University. Beyond King’s caught up with him, his wife Lama and their children.

Ali and Lama, we have had two talented students attending King’s Academy with the help of a scholarship in your name. How has that involvement with our students impacted your view of King’s and its mission?

AK: It’s a combination of things. Almost 50 percent of the student body at King’s is on financial aid. My focus was on need and merit. That’s why I designated this scholarship for a student who, without this opportunity, could not go to college. It’s very important to note

that although it’s merit-based, it’s for people who really need it. We would consider it a crime for someone to have the opportunity to graduate from King’s Academy and not be able to continue to the next phase of education.

AK and LK: Part of the philosophy that we live by places emphasis on education. We believe that education is going to be the key factor to improve social and economic standards within our communities. Plus, education is the way to fight radicalism and terrorism. Every person you take off the street and educate is someone who becomes a positive member of the community. The feeling of satisfaction that you get from watching a student graduate who might not have had that chance without support is the nicest feeling a person can have. We exist, we’re here and we must do something for others if we’re fortunate enough. In the past, you have expressed the belief that education can be “a positive force for change and social mobility.” How do you envision the next generation of leaders taking the tools and perspective that they have gained at King’s and enacting positive change? AK: I think King’s has been able to provide the perfect foundation for students. They get both an education and social exposure. We are counting on the new generation to solve the challenges and problems that we currently have, which are a result of what I would call a decline in our education level over the past two decades. We must be realistic and admit to the fact that in the 1960s and early 1970s, we were more advanced in education than in the 1980s and 1990s. We’re proud that we’re starting to come back. In 2017, you created a scholarship for a King’s Academy student who matriculates at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. What inspired you to take this generous step?

Talal, you graduated in May 2018. How do you feel you have changed during your time at King’s? Talal Kolaghassi ’18: I believe I’m able to refer back to ideas as a whole and connect them to other parts of life and I’ve learned how to look forward and apply what I learn to the future. It changed the way I think, not only in the classroom but in my life. King’s also makes you feel at home very quickly. I don’t know if it’s Jordan or the school community but once I adapted to life as a boarder, I felt at home immediately. Haya, you were a member of the first seventh grade class to attend the Middle School at King’s. What was that experience like and what is your favorite part about going to King’s? Haya Kolaghassi ’22: It was really cool. It felt special to be part of a group that was helping establish the atmosphere of a school. I also liked how we were asked for our feedback. It felt like we were really helping. My favorite part about King’s is definitely the relationships you build with your teachers. You become very close to them and it never feels like they’re just the boss of the classroom. You get to know them very well and they are there to help you with anything — both inside and outside of the classroom.

SPRING 2019

FINDING COMMON GROUND THROUGH

Art

Middle School mail art project bridges the distance between countries, cultures and generations.

Art

BY MUNA AL-ALUL

t wasn’t very long ago that people patiently waited — sometimes for weeks or months — to receive something in the mail: a handwritten letter from a friend perhaps, or a care package from family. Finding that parcel on the doorstep or in the post box was always exciting. Some people couldn’t wait to rip it open, others drew out the process to savor every moment of discovering the contents within. If you were a stamp collector, it was even more fun. Postage stamps told a tale of the journey that parcel had made. 20

BEYOND KING’S

Those simple pleasures are what art teacher Laila Demashqieh wanted her Middle School students to experience when she introduced to them her mail art initiative, Common Ground, three years ago. Mail art is a global movement centered on sending smallscale art works through the postal service. Common Ground uses mail art to bridge the distance between different countries, cultures and generations, Demashqieh explains. Having always been active in both social work and

art prior to working at King’s Academy, Demashqieh provided refugees, orphans and other disadvantaged communities with free art workshops, including Common Ground. It aimed to link them to students, artists and refugees in other countries through an exchange of art work. “I brought the project to King’s because I thought it would be interesting for the kids to learn how it feels to create an art piece, mail it off and maybe receive something back, because with snail mail you never know,” says Demashqieh.

Sima Sunna ’23 found the workshop a lot of fun. “I feel like it’s a great way to make connections even though it’s not online. It’s nice to see you can still mail people and express yourself and see their talent and share yours.” Demashqieh wanted her students to understand that there is more to art. “Art is larger than the boundaries of their house or school. To see and communicate with other students and artists adds a more diverse learning experience.” The seventh and eighth graders mostly create mixed media art such as collage, and in the “anything goes” spirit of mail art, Demashqieh gives them a prompt and they are free to express themselves however they like. “Whenever I go to the art room I feel like I am free,” says Mireille AlDabain ’24. “I don’t feel pressured, I do what I want within the theme and if it’s hung on a wall somewhere, I’ll be proud of that.” Demashqieh believes that collage is a great medium to use, as anyone, no matter their level of proficiency in other art mediums such as painting, can create something beautiful. “There are some amazing pieces,” she says. “The kind you could see in a gallery.”

Once they complete their art pieces, the students mail them the oldfashioned way in stamped envelopes to other students and professional artists in countries all over the world, including Brazil, Canada, Dubai, France, Lebanon, Scotland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In the future, Demashqieh hopes to organize an exhibition where the original art pieces, and the art sent in response, are displayed side by side. The art is also not limited to mixed media. Artists can send music, poetry, or anything that can be put in an envelope and posted. The main goal is the interaction.

“Whenever I tell them I’m sending their work to a professional artist, the artwork is totally different,” says Demashqieh. “I tell them that this artist will spend time creating a piece just for them, so they need to put the same effort into the work they send back. It challenges them more.”

AlDabain was one such student. After sending two small watercolors, she received in response an ink drawing and three pieces of piano music improvised by John Farah, a Canadian composer and pianist. In a handwritten letter he included, he wrote about how he began making art and music, and asked AlDabain to respond with another artwork that she would create inspired by his composition. “The paintings she sent me were so beautiful,” said Farah. “I thought to myself: I’m supposed to be the ‘senior’ artist here, how can I send something as impressive as what this 13-yearold sent me? So, I felt even more a responsibility to send back something meaningful.” “I felt so happy when I heard that someone had replied to me,” said AlDabain, who is working on her response. “It really made my day.”

SPRING 2019

The professional artists take the project seriously; they feel a responsibility to use the exchange to impart some of their knowledge and teach their younger counterparts something, as another student, Elias Telegraph ’23, discovered when he sent his art work to Dubai-based artist Nahla Al Tabbaa. When Al Tabbaa noticed that Telegraph had included the name of his YouTube channel on his collage portraits depicting three figures, she decided to play with the concept.

The professional artists take the project seriously; they feel a responsibility to use the exchange to impart some of their knowledge and teach their younger counterparts something. “I was intrigued by how we could carry on a conversation past the works in order to reach a collaboration beyond just interpreting the piece he gave me,” says Al Tabbaa. “I asked him a set of questions related to his choices in content, color, and his YouTube channel. His answers and explanations inspired me to send him an animation of a three-headed monster, which spoke about how, in each of us, we possess these multiple personalities that we are either cultivating or destroying.” Common Ground has also proved to be a source of inspiration for the professional artists. According to French percussion artist Kattam LarakiCôté, exchanging art with Sama Alissa ’23 pushed him to create something he wouldn’t have thought to do otherwise. “Sama is in love with Paris,” explains Laraki-Côté, who sent her a custommade music video. “Her love for discovering another culture made me 22

BEYOND KING’S

meditate on how, when we grow up, we like to discover what is different from us, and how later in life we like to come back to our origins.” Working with younger learners was an “incredibly inspiring” experience for Al Tabbaa. “They have such an unfiltered, raw and honest way of seeing and speaking about the world, which caused me to stop and think about the choices I was making in my own work.” Demashqieh believes the workshop and the exchanges are helping her students shift their perspective about art. “They are thinking like artists,” she says, noting the improvement in their artwork. “This is how art is worldwide. When you connect artists with students who teach them lessons, they will definitely start thinking twice about how they are going to create their own art.”

“I feel like I’ve grown so much as an artist after doing this workshop,” says Sima Sunna ’23. “I learned new techniques from artists that have mailed me back, and from Ms. Leila and my peers.” In addition to developing their artistic skills, Common Ground gives King’s students the opportunity to get to know other students and artists around the world — sometimes face to face through video — which is helping both sides change their perception of one another. “By connecting with people from this part of the world, now when they hear Jordan mentioned, they understand,” says Demashqieh. “It’s breaking stereotypes, they realize we are all similar. It’s an equalizing experience for both sides.”

SHATTERING GLASS CEILINGS

een-eyed readers of The New York Times may have noticed mention of Dina Shawar ’10, a King’s Academy alumna, in Thomas L. Friedman’s opinion column entitled “Beware the Mideast’s Falling Pillars” published in March. The article touches on how changes beyond the control of the region’s leaders — such as the widespread use of social media — are spurring a new Middle East, and how, in Jordan, the high rate of unemployment is keeping His Majesty King Abdullah II up at night. One way that His Majesty is attempting to reverse this trend and spur the Kingdom’s development is with the launch of a tech start-up hub in Jordan, and by encouraging private-sector start-ups. Shawar, CEO of Adam Tech Ventures, was mentioned as one of a group of young Jordanian starteruppers who are helping to reshape their industries. Shawar has been working as a venture capitalist since graduating from Royal Holloway, University of London with a degree in Economics, Politics and International Relations. Starting her career as an investment analyst at Oasis500 — Jordan’s main tech accelerator and the region’s first — Shawar then joined Silicon Badia, an early stage venture capital firm, as a senior investment associate. This year, she took the helm at Adam Tech Ventures, a seed-stage fund focused on investing in “A* entrepreneurs.” Shawar is a firm believer that startups, tech ones in particular, can have a huge impact on the economy and give the younger generation hope that opportunity can be created in the Middle East. Companies like Adam

Dina Shawar ’10 explains why tech start-ups are the hope for Jordan’s future and why women in the industry shouldn’t be counted out.

BY MUNA AL-ALUL

Tech Ventures invest in start-ups that employ local talent, she explains, and invest in marketplaces that can indirectly empower and employ local Jordanians. “Start-ups and small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) are the bloodline of any country’s economy,” says Shawar, noting that although three-quarters of start-ups fail, the ones that make it are expected to generate high returns and eventually hire hundreds or even thousands of employees. Although Jordan has not had access to the same amount of venture funding as other countries in the region, according to Shawar the kingdom has nevertheless set the standard for what it takes to build a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem. “It is interesting,” she points out, “that among the top 100 Arab startups shaping the fourth industrial revolution according to the World Economic Forum, 27 were Jordanian, by far the largest group of companies for any one country.” “At Adam Tech Ventures, we want to invest first and foremost in exceptional entrepreneurs that we believe can disrupt their industries by challenging the status quo,” says Shawar, whose company invests between $50,000 to $250,000 in seed-stage start-ups, and currently has four deals in their final stages. “Tech companies are constantly challenging the status quo. Instead of seeing challenges, they find opportunities and tackle them. By doing so, they have a great positive impact on the economy.”

Another cause Shawar is passionate about is ensuring that women working in the male-dominated tech and venture capital industries have equal opportunities to men. “I struggled to get my voice heard when I first started working,” she says. “I worked on myself by seeking the advice of mentors and attending workshops like the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s Executive Presence for Women course. I wanted to share my experience with other women and give them a safe place to share theirs.” To provide that space, Shawar and a colleague built a discussion forum for Arab women tech entrepreneurs that holds regular sessions where they address issues unique to women and their solutions. “As a female investment manager, I aim to give females and males equal opportunity,” says Shawar. “I really believe that as a woman I will not have the typical prejudice. In this region, women, especially mothers, are seen as less committed. However, I have found that this is not the case at all. Many companies that I’ve worked with are headed by women, and they are doing an excellent job.” SPRING 2019

GOING GLOBAL EXCHANGE STUDENTS TRAVEL THE WORLD The student exchange program offered through the King’s Academy Round Square Office is becoming increasingly popular each year. This past summer, a record 17 students travelled the world in search of adventure, discovery, culture and learning. King’s summer explorers travelled to Australia, South Africa, India, Peru and, for the first time, to Ecuador, Germany, Japan and Namibia.

BEYOND KING’S

Rakan Abu Tayeh â&#x20AC;&#x2122;20 spent a month on exchange in South Africa where he attended Bridge College School and was hosted by Anselm Tandler and his family.

SPRING 2018

25 23

During her exchange trip to South Africa, Joud Abu Karaki ’19 was hosted by St. Cyprian’s School and Jade Kennedy and her family.

ECUADOR Sadeen Al Sabbagh ’20 travelled to Ecuador to participate in The Big Build, a Round Square International Service Project, where she helped to construct community and childhood centers for the 600 residents of a small village. According to Al Sabbagh, the service project was an international affair, bringing together students from 25 schools and representing 13 nationalities and offering a truly multi-cultural — and humanitarian — experience.

One memorable learning experience for the students, according to Al Sabbagh, was taking on the responsibility of being group leader for the day. “This allowed us to lead a truly international team, and develop problem solving and communication skills,” said Al Sabbagh.

JAPAN For Fiona Hansen ’19, who spent six weeks on exchange in Japan where she attended Yakumo Academy, the experience gave her the opportunity to

On exchange in Australia, Majd Shatara ’19 boarded at Scotch College and was hosted by Cooper Young and his family.

experience Japanese culture and food, to observe how the Japanese greet each other and care for their elders, and to visit places such as Harajuku, Shibuya, Senso-Ji, Mt. Fuji, Tokyo Disney Sea and British Hills. During her stay, Hansen participated in a traditional tea ceremony, made new friends, and says she now “has family in Japan.” “I learned more about myself and my purpose in life and expanded my world view,” said Hansen. “I also learned about traditional and contemporary Japanese customs, culture, and language.”

NAMIBIA

Rawad Maiteh ’19 is King’s first student to go on exchange to Namibia, where he was hosted by a family while attending St. George’s Diocesan School.

BEYOND KING’S

According to Rawad Maiteh ’19, his five-week exchange at St. George’s School in Namibia made him more empathetic of people not the same as him, as well as more open-minded about different cultures and traditions. During his stay, he learned about the different tribes of Namibia and the country’s history and its language, participated in community service, and went on safari in Windhoek, where he saw native wildlife such as kudo, oryx and white rhino. The most challenging experience, he said, was a seven-day, 100-kilometer mountain hiking trip which pushed him to his limits both physically and mentally.

“This experience made me realize my potential and know myself better,” said Maiteh. “It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.”

GERMANY Spending five weeks on exchange in Germany exposed Dina Dawod ’20 to many new opinions. While boarding at her host school, Louisenlund, Dawod participated in “deep discussions and heated debates,” particularly in her favorite class there, Global Politics, which she said raised many questions about cultural differences and interconnections — exactly what she was experiencing during her stay. “Although my classmates and I come from different backgrounds, I made new friends quickly and felt the true essence of being a global citizen, as I realized we share many values and interests,” said Dawod.

INDIA Sima Nimri ’20 and Elias Tannira ’20 spent five weeks in India on their exchange trips, attending All Saints’ College, Nainital and the Emerald Heights International School, Indore respectively.

Sadeen Al Sabbagh ’20 travelled to Ecuador to participate in The Big Build, a Round Square International Service Project.

During her five-week exchange, Dina Dawod ’20 boarded at Stiftung Louisenlund in Güby, Germany.

who was also hosted by Roedean, going on safari and feeding giraffes is a memory she will never forget. Abu Tayeh, who attended Bridge House College, said he is most grateful for the support shown to him by his host family and new friends, who welcomed him with open arms. The exchange made Abu Karaki more confident, responsible and independent, she

sites such as Rottnest Island, Wave Rock and Manjimup were memorable parts of his trip. As much as he enjoyed every moment of he exchange in Australia, Shatara said that some of the differences he noted between the two schools made him realize “how great King’s is, and how grateful I am to be here.”

“One of the most important things I learned was some Hindi,” said Nimri, who can now read and speak a few phrases of the “challenging but interesting and beautiful language.” She also took lessons in Indian music and dance, which she says was a significant part of her experience. “I think my favourite part of the experience though, was teaching the girls about Jordan and the Middle East, and teaching them Arabic.”

SOUTH AFRICA South Africa is always a popular destination for King’s students, and this year was no different with Joud Abu Karaki ’19, Omar Khawaldeh ’20, Hazar Ghaith ’19, Salma Al Ka’abneh ’20, Rakan Abu Tayeh ’20, Leen Al Shabsough ’20, and Yasmeen Issa ’20 enjoying several weeks full of fascinating new experiences. Ghaith, who attended Roedean School during her stay, said her most memorable experience was joining her host school in a march for women’s rights during Mandela Week. For Issa,

Fiona Hansen ’19 spent six weeks on exchange in Japan where she enjoyed learning about Japanese culture, language and cuisine while attending Yakumo Academy.

said, and recommends all students try the “once in a lifetime experience.”

AUSTRALIA Australia is another firm favorite for exchanges, with Majd Shatara ’19, Zeena Al Fayez ’19 and Fawzi Al Jawhari ’20 travelling Down Under where Shatara was hosted by Scotch College while Al Fayez and Al Jawhari were hosted by Radford College. Shatara was mesmerized by Australia’s natural wonders, and visits to various

In South Africa, Yasmeen Issa ’20 was hosted by Thandi Warren and her family and attended Roedean School.

SPRING 2019

GETTIN’ DOWN — OFF CAMPUS!

Dance teacher Ryuji Yamaguchi gives back to the community BY THOMAS CAHILL

n 2006, when Ryuji Yamaguchi arrived in Jordan to visit King’s Academy, he had no intention of being an educator. “When I came to see the school,” says Yamaguchi, “my first question was whether there was a viable community for me to continue being an artist in.” For the first several years of his tenure at King’s, he focused on maintaining his dance practice; when he wasn’t teaching, Yamaguchi dedicated himself to collaborating and performing, both solo and with Jordanian and international artists. By the time he left King’s in 2016 to obtain his master’s degree from Columbia University, he had firmly entrenched himself in the Amman dance scene. Though he wasn’t initially sure that he would come back to Jordan, Yamaguchi ultimately returned the following year with a shift in perspective; he was curious to assess the school’s contribution to the country and region as a whole. “I felt like I wanted to work 28

BEYOND KING’S

on the question of whether an elite boarding school like King’s is a net positive for society,” says Yamaguchi. “How do we give back? How do I, as an educated foreigner from a wealthy country and as an artist who has certain skills that are possibly more valued than other skills, contribute to where I live?” To answer his own questions, Yamaguchi has dedicated himself to teaching and facilitating off-campus opportunities for dance since returning from New York. Through various classes, workshops and outreach programs, he has leveraged his accumulated knowledge of the Amman dance scene for the benefit of Amman-based artists and facilitated connections between dancers and choreographers. He has maintained his collaborative artistic practice in Amman – “for myself and for the school, it has been important to go out into Amman and collaborate with people,” Yamaguchi says – but after giving one particular workshop,

he decided to prioritize providing dance instruction. After offering several on-campus sessions during the 2017-18 academic year, Yamaguchi offered a free fourday contemporary dance workshop in collaboration with the National Center for Culture and Arts in May 2018. He was subsequently asked to create a performance for the June opening of the exhibit “In the Margin” at the National Gallery of Fine Arts. Yamaguchi enjoyed the first workshop so much that he engineered a routine using the same participants. “Since then,” he said, “I’ve been thinking more about offering than collaborating.” Since September 2018, Yamaguchi has been offering a weekly contemporary dance class at the French Institute in Amman. “I felt that there needed to be a consistent class,” he says. The class is linguistically accessible — Yamaguchi hires a translator — because of his association of language with

movement. “Most of the people who come might prefer to have English, but I felt like Arabic language should enter their subconscious when they’re moving,” states Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi has also taken advantage of the resources available to him as a King’s community member. He realized that he could use the King’s swimming pool for the benefit of the greater community, and so he organized a contact improvisation workshop in the pool. In addition, Yamaguchi frequently drives his dance students to and from his classes. “I drive them a lot, because I have a car and many of them do not. Some of them who live in Amman are unable to take a bus to Weibdeh, so I drive them there, then drive them home afterward.” And in collaboration with Rana Matar, from the Learning Center, he organized and gave a workshop for wheelchair users in the Gallery.

Once in the classroom, Yamaguchi introduces his students to various facets of contemporary dance. “I am most interested in students making their own dances, and tapping into their own senses of aesthetics,” says Yamaguchi. He teaches composition and improvisation, central components of contemporary dance, and emphasizes that it is incumbent upon each student to develop their own movements. Yamaguchi helps provide the setting and group for them to do so. “It’s important for them to be part of a community while finding their own movement vocabularies.” In addition to being linguistically accessible, the class is also financially affordable. Particularly since beginning his second stint at King’s, Yamaguchi has become acutely aware of the harsh economic realities that many artists in Amman face. “There are many artists in Amman who are trying to make a living out of being an artist,” he says. “For me, there’s a balance of trying to provide free opportunities, or funded opportunities, for others, while not lowering the expectation of how much an artist should get paid in Amman.” In his classes at the French Institute, Yamaguchi charges market rate but gives many scholarships; if not for that, his students would not be able to attend. “They are very skilled artists, and I felt a responsibility to provide opportunities for them,” he says.

Yamaguchi’s desire to contribute to the larger community has taken him all over Jordan. He went to Al-Wehdat, the Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, and gave a day-long workshop in an UNRWA school there.

Yamaguchi’s desire to contribute to the larger community has taken him all over Jordan. He went to Al-Wehdat, the Palestinian refugee camp in southeast Amman, and gave a day-long workshop in an UNRWA middle school there. In December 2018, Yamaguchi traveled to Irbid, where he gave a contemporary dance seminar funded by MEDEarts and the Arab Theater Training Center. The workshop culminated with a video performance. And already in 2019, Yamaguchi has hosted many Jordanian teenagers at varied, lively on-campus workshops. Ultimately, Yamaguchi recognizes the power of teaching classes to students in Amman, knowing that his students at King’s benefit most in the end. “I might bring the students into Amman to watch these new artists or I could bring them to King’s to teach workshops or collaborate,” he says. “The students here really desire to connect and interact with artists who come in, so I’m trying to facilitate that.” SPRING 2019

DUBAI: THE SMARTEST CITY ON EARTH? Omar AlMajali ’10 works towards happiness with Smart Dubai BY THOMAS CAHILL

mar AlMajali was surprised when the Dubai government came calling in 2018. At the time, he was happily employed as a strategic consultant with Deloitte. But after learning more about the job on offer, he knew he wanted to get on board. AlMajali was subsequently hired by Smart Dubai, the government wing directing Dubai’s transformation into a smarter, happier city. 30

BEYOND KING’S

What does it mean to become a “smarter” city? “Not even the smartest city out there knows how to define it,” AlMajali says. For some cities across the globe, smart cities focus primarily on serving residents as well as they can. For others, the focus is technological advancement. For Smart Dubai, AlMajali says, it is a mix: “We leverage cutting-edge technology to enhance city services and makes the lives of citizens easier and happier.”

In his role, AlMajali has two areas of responsibility. First, as a leader of the Global Leadership team, he manages relationships with smart city stakeholders worldwide, including governments, private companies and other delegations, who are interested in partnering with Smart Dubai. For example, AlMajali recently received representatives of a major Japanese telecom operator. “They present what they do, I present the Smart Dubai story

to them, and we discuss how we could potentially collaborate. Sometimes that ends merely with that introduction, and other times it concludes with a memorandum of understanding.” In addition, AlMajali leads Smart Dubai’s Emerging Tech group. After the government realized the need for an emerging tech market valuation, they asked him to supervise the production of an economic impact report. “We needed numbers,” he says. “Fortunately, the report is promising and the growth prospects are high. So what we are doing is establishing a department around emerging tech and creating strategies to attract foreign investment.”

government offices. That initial trial was so successful that Smart Dubai reintroduced Rashid as a general city concierge tool. “So you can ask it, ‘where can I live in Dubai?’ and it will generate listings and areas,” continues AlMajali.

technology projects, according to AlMajali. “We’ve been working on a major project meant to digitize all government services. If you want to register your vehicle, or apply for a new business, you can do that while you’re sitting at home watching Netflix.”

Smart Dubai also has utilized blockchain, an innovative encrypted data-structure technology, to streamline the city’s medical licensing. There are four institutions in Dubai that grant medical licenses, and their databases, until recently, were not synced and did not share data. “So if you’re licensed in Abu Dhabi, and you want to move to Dubai, you need to go through a lot of red tape,” says AlMajali. “Doctors

While Smart Dubai is clearly making life easier for the city’s residents, is it actually making their lives happier? AlMajali admits that happiness is subjective, but goes on to explain how the government is attempting to quantify it. “We have this thing called a Happiness Meter — it’s three smiley faces at every government touchpoint on every mobile and web app,” he says. “In every interaction you have

For some cities across the globe, smart cities focus primarily on serving residents as well as they can. For others, the focus is technological advancement. For Smart Dubai, it is a mix.

Smart Dubai was launched in fall 2013, and there are a number of examples of how innovative technologies have enhanced the city’s services. Rashid, an interactive smart chat bot, was initially established to cater to entrepreneurs interested in opening businesses in Dubai. “You could use natural language to communicate with it,” says AlMajali, “and it answered all questions related to starting a business,” saving entrepreneurs time sitting in

were asked to stop practicing because their licenses weren’t in the database.” Now, with the use of blockchain, data is shared automatically and securely between the databases, eliminating any license snares.

with the government, you fill out this survey. So now, we have an immense amount of data to analyze.”

The future for Smart Dubai looks very bright. “The city wants to be #1 in everything and it’s very ambitious,” says AlMajali. To that end, Dubai is undertaking unprecedented smart

thank you!

So the next time you’re in Dubai, go ahead and fill out that Happiness Meter. AlMajali, and the city of Dubai,

SPRING 2019

THE MAKING OF A MUSICAL

Tracing the process of King’s first musical, Once Upon A Mattress, from start to finish

BY THOMAS CAHILL

BEYOND KING’S

SPRING 2019

ast fall, students took to the stage to perform the first-ever musical in the history of King’s Academy. Of all co-curriculars offered on campus, the musical was unique in its enormous scope and remarkable length. For three months, the cast and crew toiled continuously in preparation for three performances in early December. In one way or another, the musical involved every faculty member from the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, as well as various staff members including carpenters, tailors and electricians. It required the methodical mass acquisition of resources for costumes, set design and audiovisual equipment. It needed five different fall co-curriculars to provide the musical numbers, character costumes, robust stage set and technical equipment necessary for performances. And most impressively, the musical drew on the diverse talents and continuous persistence of 58 King’s students. Last fall’s production was Once Upon a Mattress, a comedic adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. Director Alison Trattner relocated the musical, originally set in 15th-century Europe, to the medieval Middle East, as she explained in her director’s note: “We begin in a castle, which we have imagined as Ajloun Castle, in an era between the Mamluks and Ottomans in a region of the Levant.” The actors’ costumes represent a

BEYOND KING’S

combination of medieval European and Arab cultures, and all actors were asked to research the historical contexts of both the medieval Levantine and European settings to gain insight into their characters and the time period. Although Trattner directed the musical, students from all four grades were collectively responsible for the successful execution of the show. “They have been stalwart,” said Trattner of the students. “They really know who they are and they are very good at supporting each other. They fully understand the period and their characters and what they want. They took complete ownership of the musical, the cast and the crews and the co-curriculars. They are all, without a doubt, the driving force behind the play.” What follows is a visual portrayal of the making of Once Upon a Mattress. The photos were taken at all stages of the musical and in various settings, from audition posters around campus to the costume design co-curricular in an art classroom to blocking sessions onstage in the Abdul Majeed Shoman Auditorium. Students and faculty members were interviewed about the particular aspects of the musical they were involved in, and their quotations appear below the photographs. The end result is a kaleidoscopic array of moments of comedy, challenge and joy from the making of the musical.

Posters and banners advertising auditions were hung around campus during the first weeks of September.

AUD I TI ON S Jamila Kurani ’19 (Princess Winnifred): “This year I was auditioning for one of the lead roles so it took a lot of preparation. I came in and performed one of my favorite pieces and I felt that I would blow her away, so I was confident and a little nervous.”

Elias Tannira ’20 (King Septimus the Silent): “I wasn’t really sure what the auditions would look like, as I haven’t really auditioned before. I was put on stage and told, ‘You’re a wizard’…it was way outside of the box. I was like, ‘do I act like I’m Harry Potter? Do I act like Gandalf?’”

Abdel-Qader Abuoqah, Alison Trattner and Joanna Tutinji discuss threads for costumes in Abuoqah’s tailor shop.

Haseeb Haddadin ’21 and Zeid Halaseh ’21 warm up for singing rehearsal with Yousra Al-Dokum.

TAILORING

REHEA R SA LS

Alison Trattner, Director: “We wanted to manifest the cultural blend of medieval Europe and the Levant — a kind of a ‘Medieval vs Mamluk’ look. With that in mind, we made several trips to downtown Amman to choose the materials.”

Dongmin Kim ’19 (Sir Harry and Knight #3): “The singing is rewarding. Every time I leave the singing room, I feel like I accomplished a lot. Before I sang, I was like how am I gonna do this? And after that, I actually did it! I was nervous, but then I made some progress.”

Abdel-Qader Abuoqah, Costume Creator and Tailor: “For some costumes, you can be really creative, even if you have historical background for them. And you don’t have background for each character, so you imagine and create something. And this is the beauty of working on the musical.”

Yousra Al-Dokum, Vocal Instructor: “The music is beautiful and rich but the melodies are slightly complicated for students this age. With hard work, though, this group overcame all difficulties.”

SPRING 2019

BEYOND KINGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

Jude Hajhamad ’20 and Chao Shang ’19 rehearse a number with the Pit Orchestra.

Tutinji works with students to embroider a hat for the show.

ORC HE STRA

C O ST UME S

Yanlin Wu ’20: “The difference between pit orchestra and other orchestras is that in pit orchestra, the music playing depends on the actors and actresses onstage. It is hard to respond fast to all the pauses and transitions, especially when we are not very intimately familiar with each piece.”

Sascha Tahabsem ’22: “I started with designing costumes for the first two weeks, then afterwards started sewing with a professional sewer and helped with creating the hats and accessories. It was fun to work it all out as our designs were completely inspired by the theme of the musical.”

Carolyn Cunningham, Faculty Violist: “This music takes the audience on a journey through the story, and when they hear a familiar theme, the audience will know which characters are being featured, or what the mood of that section is.”

Joanna Tutinji, Costume Design Instructor: “The designs, fabric and accessory choices were extremely intentional to set the right tone for the play. Costumes have a profound ability to alter a character’s performance.”

Cast members rehearse the choreography for one of the many show numbers.

REHEA R SA LS Yiran Zhao ’21 (Lady H and Singing Minstrel): “Always hitting the beats while dancing with the music is the most challenging thing for a cast, because the rhythm is complicated and it challenges our understanding.”

Mohammad Al-Qudah ’19 (Choreographer and Sir Harold): “It is my first time being a choreographer for a group as big as this. I have been dancing for five years now, but I came to realize how different teaching is from performing.”

SPRING 2019

Wadei Tadros ’22 and Alexandrea Geokgeozian ’22 construct a detail for the set’s castle wall during Set Design.

Fuad Al-Khoury ’21 tests the sound system during a rehearsal at the Abdul Majeed Shoman Auditorium.

SE T UP

SOUND SYSTEM

Tuleen Nasser ’22: “This was the first time for me working on props and design — stuff that goes on stage. I was fairly familiar with acting and with theater but this was the first time for me working from this side. It opens a whole new perspective of what really makes a performance.”

Fuad Al-Khoury ’21: “Without light and sound a play wouldn’t be called a play. It all depends on how the actors sound and how light presents the actors to the public.”

Rand Abdel Nour, Set Designer and Instructor: “Students learned how to sculpt, make molds, paint textures and work with textile. They researched castles and drew their own sketches. As soon as we started painting the castle the students were so involved they worked on it for eight hours straight!”

Seokhyeon Hong ’20: “I’ve been doing this for three years and I’m really glad to have a proper team this year. Last year, I lost all the lighting cues that I recorded on opening night. I successfully did it without losing any cues, but it was the worst experience I’ve had in my life. However, this year, I don’t have to worry that much as there are more people that can do the cross-check.”

Cast members perform a pivotal scene on the musical’s opening night.

THE SHOW Haseeb Haddadeen ’21 (Wizard): “The first night I was focused on saying all my lines and knowing the right dance moves. Then I started to focus more on showing my character and showing the wizard’s role within the castle walls. All the lines came out naturally and the dances felt much more fun.” 38

BEYOND KING’S

Ruofei Shang ’21 (Lady-In-Waiting and Prologue Pantomime Character): “It’s like a blink, everything passes so fast. I couldn’t believe we were actually doing the show. I can still remember the first day when everyone was sitting on the stage of auditorium and reading lines together.”

STAGE MA NAGER S

Rakan Haddadin ’19, who played Queen Aggravain, acted out a scene in full costume.

C HA RAC TER S Nadia Salfiti ’21 (Jester): “Getting into my character and understanding her took a lot of deep reading into the text and some decision making. I had to decide exactly what my character wanted and how she was going to get it.” Dario Pomar ’19 (Prince Dauntless): “I had never done a proper musical and the characters were really self-directed; you have to coordinate with everyone else and you need to make sure you have your lines right because the orchestra’s playing with you and overall, with such a big cast, you’re responsible for building your own character.”

“That the students of the musical performed only three times after three full months of hard work may seem insufficient; perhaps the value of the musical, however, does not lie in the performances. The process of a theatrical production is at least as important as the ephemeral product. In just a matter of hours, our performance will become memory, but the self-discipline achieved, the relationships forged, the imagination honed will endure.”

Each person involved in the fall musical had a very specific role. Whether a member of the cast, the orchestra, or the sound and light crew, each student had a good idea of what he or she should be doing. However, for the show’s stage managers, Kenan Hamarsheh ’19 and Natasha Bakri ’19, each rehearsal presented different challenges. At the beginning of September, their duties were fairly straightforward – “We helped with auditions and hung posters around campus,” says Bakri – but grew more intense and complex as opening night drew closer. Though the specific responsibilities varied, most involved managing the cast and crew and ensuring that everything was done correctly, from supervising light cues to teaching actors choreography and blocking. Neither Hamarsheh nor Bakri had directed or stage-managed before Once Upon a Mattress, and both tackled new tasks in their roles. For Hamarsheh, who managed the backstage environment and worked intensively on acting and set transitions, the biggest difficulty was balancing his directorial role with his friendships. He says, “Bossing around some of my closest friends was harsh, but I was able to strike the balance between goofing around and being serious, and the actors could tell.” Bakri, who gave cues and served as a liaison between cast and crew, persevered through exhausting rehearsals, confident in the final product. “It was challenging to balance schoolwork, college applications and theater. At one point, I could not remember the last time I sat with my friends at dinner. But what kept me moving forward was that I knew it would pay off, and it did.”

Alison Trattn er: D i r e c to r SPRING 2019

THE LEGACY OF JOHN AUSTIN

After nine years at the helm, Headmaster John Austin leaves a robust and thriving King’s Academy BY VERA AZAR

hen John Austin began his tenure as King’s Academy headmaster in 2010, the school was just emerging from its infancy. It had some 400 students representing 23 nationalities in grades nine through 12; its first cohort of students — numbering 83 — had just graduated; the financial aid budget stood at US $4.7 million, divided among 209 recipients. The school that Austin leaves today has 650 students, in grades seven through 12, representing 40 nationalities; its 10th graduating class is its biggest ever, with 169 members; and its financial 40

BEYOND KING’S

budget has swelled to US $12 million, covering 325 recipients. It would be correct to say that Austin guided and steered this healthy growth in the school. But to stop there is to diminish the impact that Austin has had on King’s. The fact is, King’s Academy as it looks today has been shaped — if not transformed — by the unwavering vision of Austin, a vision that puts students and their learning above all else. From the outset, Austin began working towards that goal. “Because King’s is a young school, there’s an appetite for change and innovation and creativity

that doesn’t always exist at other, older schools,” he says. “Change is built into the DNA of the school in a way that makes it very exciting.” Change has certainly been a constant with Austin at the helm, as he left his mark on everything from online learning to establishing an entire Middle School. In 2011, he brought the Global Online Academy (GOA) to King’s, empowering students to thrive in a globally networked society. “GOA gives kids more curricular options so they can explore more subjects and pursue ones they’re interested in,” he says.

Indeed, GOA, of which King’s is a founding member, is being lauded in the world of education for what it offers students. According to Dean of Admissions at Stanford University Rick Shaw, “GOA is special in that they allow curious young people to explore what they’re passionate about by learning with a spectacular teacher and other, equally interesting, young adults.” In 2012, Austin launched Arabic Year (AY), which brings students from around the world to King’s for a year of Arabic language immersion and experiential learning. “AY is really the only program of its kind in the world, allowing adventurous, international students to intensively study Arabic, immerse themselves in Jordanian culture, and learn more about a region of the world that is rich in history but widely misunderstood and misrepresented in the media,” he says.

All the research and my experience as a teacher tells me the people who are most successful and happiest are deep learners. In 2013, when the College Board invited King’s Academy to be one of 100 schools worldwide to offer its innovative new diploma program, AP Capstone, as part of the curriculum for the 2014-2015 academic year, Austin jumped at the opportunity.

“Creating classrooms where kids are learning by discussion is a powerful way to get them to develop skills of debate and dialogue,” Austin says. In 2016, Austin established a Middle School at King’s, “to create a more coherent and intentional educational program, and to provide students with a longer ‘runway’ for success.” Eschewing the grading system, the Middle School focuses on character development, debate and selfexpression, collaborative teamwork, understanding and evaluating multiple perspectives, and finally, play (see related article, “Gamifying the Classroom” on page 12). The Harkness method, AP Capstone and even the Middle School were all springboards leading to Austin’s ultimate goal — to transform the school curriculum into one that promotes critical thinking and “deep learning.” Towards that end, he has spent his last year at King’s working closely with select faculty and heads of departments to develop and enlarge the capstone program, to expand the arts program, and to increase the number of elective courses that are not aligned with any third-party exam — “courses not driven by reductive test measures but by interesting questions and projects.” Austin’s rationale is simple. “All the research and my experience as a teacher tells me the people who are most successful and happiest are deep learners,” he says. “They are driven by passion and curiosity, and they wake up every morning excited and eager to think — to think deeply — and to be creative.”

How could he not, when, as he says, AP Capstone “investigates a small number of questions in great depth, provides opportunities for independent research, and emphasizes the skills of critical problem solving, collaboration and public presentation.”

Students who are deep learners, he says, are not learning because they want to do well on their AP Exams but because “they’re excited about the questions, and their minds and imaginations are joyfully involved in the world of ideas.”

In 2015, he introduced Harkness tables in King’s classrooms, to encourage debate and discussion and to “put the student at the center of developing meaning,” to use the words of Dean of the Faculty John Leistler.

Which leads to his beef with the external restraints imposed on King’s. “One of the great virtues of the American independent schools is their independence,” he says. “They’re not subject to really strong external

restraints. We have to operate within a structure that puts the brakes on. Tawjihi [Jordan’s General Secondary Education Certificate Examination] has a direct impact on the courses we need to offer, the kind of program we offer — it weds us to the College Board in ways that can constrain innovative and creative education.” “I’m not anti-disciplines,” he emphasizes. “Disciplines are a useful way to think about the world — it’s important for kids to think like scientists and historians, or to write like journalists. We do need to ensure that all students have those basic disciplinary competencies, but once kids have established a certain basic level, they should be given more flexibility and choice and the school should help them discover what they’re good at and give them the opportunity to express and deepen these strengths.” Austin has a lot to be proud of. He specifically mentions his pride at the growing reputation of the school and its emphasis on deep and creative learning. But there is one thing that stands out for him, the thing of which he is the proudest. “In the end, it’s about the kinds of relationships that the school has been able to foster between students and teachers,” he says. “When I walk around campus I see kids who have really good, healthy friendships, who are engaged in their work, who are excited about all the opportunities outside the classroom, who are working closely with their teachers. That’s what it’s all about.” When asked if he has any words of wisdom for incoming Head of School Peter Nilsson, Austin does not hesitate. “Stay true to the mission,” he says. “Continue to focus on the three things that matter — faculty, students and program. Continue to hire and recruit the best possible people you can find who understand the mission and who love the children. Continue to recruit outstanding kids from Jordan and the world, and from a mix of backgrounds. Continue to think carefully about the educational program. And protect financial aid, because it is at the heart of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s mission for King’s.” SPRING 2019

FARMING

FOOD IN A FREIGHT CONTAINER BY THOMAS CAHILL

n old shipping container arrived on campus last fall. From the outside, it was an innocuouslooking, beige structure that might have fallen out of the sky. The inside, however, contains one of the most innovative farming systems in the world. The shipping container is what is called a freight farm. Produced by Freight Farms, a company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Boston, the container is 320 square feet and contains an advanced hydroponic growing system, meaning that its plants are grown in a mineral nutrient mix instead of soil. The King’s freight farm was installed behind Atair House in November and subsequently painted by students from the Middle School. The goal of the freight farm is to maximize food production while minimizing water use and the distance between the farm and the site of consumption. At capacity, the freight farm can grow 3,000-5,000 maturing plants simultaneously — the same amount of food that could be grown on two acres of farmland. Yet the farm uses fewer than 10 gallons of water per day, a reduction of about 90 percent, according to Freight Farms Client Services Director David Harris. 42

BEYOND KING’S

Called the Leafy Green Machine by Freight Farms, the unit produces greens for the Dining Hall. “Right now, it’s producing spinach, kale, chard, and romaine,” says Director of Operations Ola Bseiso. While capable of growing other types of vegetables, the Leafy Green Machine is designed specifically to produce greens. And thanks to a staggered schedule, the farm will yield fresh greens every day. Seeds are first placed under light for two weeks until they become sprouts. Then, during the seedling stage, the plants grow deep roots and begin to show leaves, taking three weeks to fully mature. When mature, the vegetables are harvested in the morning and placed in the Dining Hall for consumption in the afternoon. The freight farm’s lettuce will pair nicely with the surrounding crops. “On one side of the freight farm, there is a large fruit tree section — apples, peaches and other fruits,” says Bseiso. “And to the left are around 25 soil beds with various plants. And the best part is: it’s all organic!” Beyond its beneficial nutritional and environmental effects, the freight farm offers ample opportunities for learning.

“You can see the entire process of plant growth happening, from the seedling all the way to harvest,” says Harris. Dima Kayed, head of the Physical and Life Sciences, says that teachers of chemistry and biology intend to incorporate the freight farm into their classes, including looking at the dynamics of plant growth, types of plants, lighting, testing water quality, and other elements.

In addition, the trajectory of Freight Farms offers a case study for entrepreneurial students: eight years ago, the freight farm was only an idea, and now it is a full-fledged, successful product with a presence in nearly 20 countries. Harris is hopeful that King’s students will gravitate to the freight farm. “You should care where your food comes from, as it doesn’t just appear on your

table or plate,” he says. “There’s an entire industry built around it. Students can now understand the food system from a sheltered, air-conditioned box.” But it’s not just about looking at the food; it’s about eating it. So if you find yourself in the Dining Hall, grab some lettuce from the salad bar, because odds are it’s the freshest salad you will ever eat.

SPRING 2019

Being the

CHANGE New sustainability co-co seeks to raise awareness and change attitudes BY THOMAS CAHILL

hen asked why he advocates for the environment, Kareem Abu Ali ’19 refers to his roots. “I spent the first 15 years of my life in Hong Kong,” he says. “It was a very clean environment and nature was part of everyone’s lives. When I got here, I didn’t find the same attitude towards the environment and the ground itself.” Abu Ali was one of the first members of the Environment and Sustainability co-curricular (co-co) that was established at the outset of the 20182019 academic year. The successor to the Ecos and Greens Club, the co-co is supervised by Dana AlKhundakji, a faculty member who teaches chemistry. During the summer of 2018, Al-Khundakji participated in professional development that focused on sustainability education and ultimately inspired her to share her ideas with students. “A lot of it,” she says, “was focused on how we can take advantage of the resources we have. I knew that King’s students would be interested in that message.”

BEYOND KING’S

The co-curricular aims to raise awareness in the school community in order to spread best practices related to sustainability, Al-Khundakji explains. The group seeks specifically to understand the interplay of individuals, the community, and society at large in improving the situation of global warming, spreading renewable energybased design, and increasing local biodiversity. After the first couple of weeks meeting as a co-co group, students quickly realized the importance of prioritizing environmental awareness. Abu-Ali says, “We had a lot of ideas in the beginning but we agreed that awareness was a critical part of sustainability, going from the ground up.” Al-Khundakji was thrilled with this conclusion. “I think a lot of students know what to do, but they don’t understand why they should do it,” she says. Throughout the year, students in the co-co completed several projects on campus. They focused on improving soil quality and soil regeneration by making compost. They organized several opportunities for mulching and delivering nutrients to trees. They investigated plastic and paper waste in the Dining Hall and Al-Kaziyeh and

presented recommendations on waste reduction to the Upper School. The co-co also established a plant nursery, harvested citrus fruits, and performed audits on waste disposal and upcycling at King’s. Members of the co-co also frequently presented videos of their projects and about relevant environmental topics at School Meetings. “We decided to have ourselves be the spokespeople,” says Duanduan Lin ’20, “in an attempt to make it feel more relatable for our peers. We thought it would be a visually engaging way to spread environmental awareness.” As the co-co members found out, spreading environmental awareness is not always a walk in the park. Abu Ali notes the difficulty in motivating students to take a vested interest in the environment and change some of their habits. “We are making things less convenient, so we really have to think through how we are asking community members to change their behavior.” Lin agrees, saying, “It’s important not to annoy or exhaust students and community members by mentioning these topics too frequently.”

The Environment and Sustainability co-curricular also organized King’s first-ever Sustainability Fair. The fair, which took place in April, displayed student and faculty projects with connections to sustainability across different subjects: physics, chemistry, biology and psychology, mathematics, economics, and performing arts. The work of the co-co is not limited to the King’s campus. When students noticed the widespread use of plastic containers at farmer’s markets in Amman, they created a petition. “Plastic bags are convenient and cheap,” says Lin, “but the environmental impact is significant. We think the markets could either charge the customers who need plastic bags or use biodegradable containers for their products.” Once completed, the petition will be sent to the Ministry of Environment. Despite the challenges, the students agree that it was a very fulfilling first year. Abu Ali says, “I didn’t expect to get a lot done beyond making people interested in the cause, but we accomplished a lot more than that.” With a significant number of seniors in the co-co, the younger members will have a big chance to step up next year once the seniors graduate. SPRING 2019

Serving the Written Word Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar talks about being true to his writing and shares some of the secrets of his trade. BY MUNA AL-ALUL

ountless books are read throughout a student’s years at school, but it isn’t often that they have the opportunity to meet the author of one of those books. So, it was with great anticipation that the school community welcomed Hisham Matar, the British-Libyan author of In the Country of Men — required reading for English 10 — to King’s Academy in March. Currently living and writing in London, Matar is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and associate professor of Professional Practice in Comparative Literature, Asia & Middle East Cultures, and English at Barnard College. His debut novel, In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won numerous international prizes. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, was published to great acclaim in 2011. In 2016, Matar, whose work has been translated into 30 languages, published his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, The Return. Addressing students in the Abdul Majeed Shoman Auditorium, the author shared some of the secrets of his 46

BEYOND KING’S

craft and offered fascinating insights into the process of writing. Peppering him with questions about In the Country of Men, students also took advantage of Matar’s presence to answer any lingering questions they had about the novel. “I’m going to let you in on a secret,” said Matar, responding to a question about why he chose to write his novel from a child’s perspective. “The writer is not the authority on a text. I always assumed that as a reader; as a writer I realized that is not the case. The real authority on a character is neither the writer nor the reader, it is the text itself.” He went on to explain that although a writer makes countless minute choices during the process of writing, and must have a certain critical faculty to be able to write well, the book evolves without “a concerted choice.” “To be honest, I don’t know if I chose,” said Matar. “Every book I have written felt like an object that extended my world; it’s a very strange thing to describe. It’s like you are slightly behind a vehicle that’s being driven, and you have to guess where it is going

next. That is the wonderful thing about literature, it’s alive and always waiting to be engaged with.” Matar went on to describe his process of starting a book, taking In a Country of Men as an example. “I had an idea for a poem. I started writing a poem. Three hours later I realized it was not a poem at all; there was a very strong narrative voice that wanted to engage with its own consciousness. It is a very exciting place to be on the page.” Being a writer is often like being an investigator, according to Matar. The writer must figure out where the story is going to go, after which the process of writing takes on a “practical concern” with a goal each day to write a little more, while continuing to push that curiosity into the text and discover more about that narrative voice. For Matar, the reason he writes is to “add to the shelf” and contribute to the literary enterprise, a realm he says has given him so much pleasure. And faithful writers, he believes, are ones that are honest to their text; their book should never serve a cause or a message – “even noble ones.”

“Your value judgements are to do with fidelity, how honest you are to the text,” said Matar. “You don’t write a text to praise or denounce something, you write because you want to create this space of consciousness. That’s what I mean about fidelity and honesty.” Books can easily become a display of a writer’s abilities, he added, cautioning aspiring authors to be careful about managing their egos.

the book knew when and where and how to end.” “Something about that moment felt like it was sending an echo back across the whole book. As if at that moment, it became whole. With every book I finished, it felt like the ending was in some sense as surprising as the beginning. I just felt that I had finished.” Ending his talk with some advice to King’s students — noting that his advice

about writing applies to everything in life, be it writing, work or relationships — Matar reminded students of the importance of finding joy and pleasure in everything they do. “Finish what you started with the same energy and childish enthusiasm. You must find that energy, it’s something that needs to develop, it’s not something that should be taken for granted. It’s easy to start a new story, but to carry it through, discipline is necessary.”

Matar describes the text as “a master” and the writer its servant, whose role it is to meet its needs and requirements. “The text humbles you when it reinforces its obligations, tastes and requirements,” he said, going on to share how he made the decision to end In the Country of Men the way he did. “The way the book ended, if you can imagine you are writing every day, pushing the text forward, what happens next is not always linear. You stop, go back, move things around. There is some sense of progress. For all I knew the morning that I finished the book, I could have had another year of writing. I didn’t know when it wanted to end. But I functioned on the assumption that SPRING 2019

n February 11, 2019, hundreds of teachers at Denver’s South High School exited the school single file. Forming a line along the road, they proudly hoisted signs reading “ON STRIKE FOR OUR STUDENTS” and “EVERY CHILD DESERVES A WELLPAID TEACHER.” Passing drivers sounded their horns in support, raising cheers from the growing crowd. Among the sign-holders was Renée Underhill ’13, a teacher in the Denver Public Schools (DPS). Like her colleagues, Underhill had spent many impatient months waiting for negotiations between the teacher’s union and the DPS to create more favorable working conditions for teachers. When the negotiations fell apart, teachers took to the snowcovered streets to strike.

RENEE UNDERHILL ’13 STRIKES BACK Fighting for Teachers’ Rights in Colorado BY JOHANNA LEE ‘13

BEYOND KING’S

Underhill didn’t always want to be a teacher. While a high school student in Denver, Colorado, her hometown, she was interested in international affairs and planned to pursue an education and career in the field. Wanting to challenge herself and to do something different, she enrolled in an Arabic course at a nearby college. Several months into her study of Arabic, Underhill was talking with an exchange student who had lived with her family for a year. She told Underhill about the new school she was attending: the first co-ed boarding school in the Middle East, taught primarily in English. Underhill was immediately captivated, and began preparing her application. “I had a real academic transformation at King’s,” Underhill says of her experience in the Arabic Year Program. “Going to King’s made me see how well education could be done. Our classmates seemed to really enjoy learning, which was very different from the school I was in before.” Although Underhill’s time at King’s was short, it had a huge impact on her future plans. Following her graduation, she enrolled at The George Washington

University as a double major in Arabic and Middle East Studies. In her free time, she began reading articles about education. Gradually, she tied her interest in education to her major in Middle East studies and Arabic, and, after graduating in 2017, she took a job as the first ever Arabic teacher at Denver’s South High School. Of the 1,600 students at South High School, over one-third are immigrants. Some 67 countries are represented in the student body — with 62 different languages spoken. Many of the students are refugees or asylees, some of whom

had received little to no formal education prior to moving to Denver. Facing the challenges of creating an Arabic program from scratch as well as facilitating a safe learning space for students who carry severe trauma, Underhill was unflinching. She took preparatory classes in English language acquisition and on how to recognize and handle trauma in teenagers. “To be a teacher is a lot more than just knowing how to present material,” she says. “When students are doing something I don’t like, I understand that there’s

a really good reason. I can recognize that someone is hurting and work to make the classroom environment feel safer in some way. I know I won’t be the perfect teacher every day but I can have my eyes open to their experiences.” Under President Barack Obama, the number of refugee students at South High School increased quickly. However, the funding for teachers and necessary staff such as nurses, trauma specialists and translators stagnated and salaries haven’t kept up with living expenses. “There are a lot of teachers who can’t take care of

themselves,” says Underhill. “And if you can’t take care of yourself how can you take care of your students?” The teacher strike that was launched on February 11 was officially about pay, but for Underhill, the strike was a chance for public school teachers to be recognized for the outsize role they can play in a student’s life.

as we have to have granola bars in our drawer so kids aren’t hungry during class and unable to focus.” After three days of striking, negotiations between the teacher’s union and DPS finally came to an agreement, including salary raises for all public school teachers in the district. The agreement also paves the way for future discussions on the allocation of necessary resources for students and teachers. Looking back, Underhill says that the nurturing environment at King’s allowed her to focus on her personal

development and growth. “From my perspective as a student, it seemed so mission-based and students seemed to be really living the school mission,” she says. “It felt so positive, everyone was focusing on growing.”

“The role of teachers has been changing,” she says. “It’s no longer just instruction: we’re counselors, social workers, even cafeteria workers,

SPRING 2019

OF CREATIVE CONTROL Student directors take the reins in three English-language plays BY THOMAS CAHILL

n his first two go-arounds with the Winter Play Festival, Zayd Lahham ’19 was a versatile actor. During his freshman year, he was Elvis Presley in an original student-written play, and sophomore year, he played Lady Bracknell, from The Importance of Being Earnest. “I really enjoyed the acting,” Lahham says, “but I wanted to direct a play as soon as I found out seniors could.” Two years later, he got his wish. Lahham was one of four senior English play directors this winter. Along with Dario Pomar, Lahham co-directed Private Lives, a humorous tale of a divorced man and woman who honeymoon in the same place with their new spouses. Kenan Hamarsheh directed Waiting for Godot, an 50

BEYOND KING’S

absurdist existential play involving two tramps by a tree waiting for a man who never comes. Finally, Natasha Bakri directed The Play That Goes Wrong, a comedy of errors that results as a woefully unskilled cast attempts to act out a murder mystery. More than ever before, this year the group had control over every aspect of their productions, beginning with play selection. Lahham spent a weekend reading and watching one-act plays, only to settle on Private Lives after Pomar suggested it. But in his research, Lahham discovered The Play That Goes Wrong and passed it on to Bakri, who immediately knew that, in her words, “it was the perfect fit for me.” Hamarsheh had wanted to direct Waiting for Godot ever since reading it in AP Literature.

“Some thought it was boring, but I saw it as a masterpiece. I jokingly said in class I wanted to direct it, and my classmates supported the idea,” he says. Students who auditioned for the Winter Play Festival did so for all three plays. Specific auditions differed between directors: “For The Play That Goes Wrong,” says Bakri, “I had them not only read a sample of the script but also do a little improv show to see their chemistry.” Hamarsheh kept a piece of paper with exactly what he wanted to see from each character from Waiting for Godot. After auditions, the four directors sat down to figure out the most appropriate roles, and ultimately were able to cast all of the students who auditioned.

The directors then set in on the substantial work of their plays; working on acting and blocking, and generally ensuring that each line, scene and part contributed to the end product that they desired. For Private Lives, the co-directors complemented each other during the rehearsal process. According to Pomar, “Zayd and I split up our roles — he came to me at one point and said, “‘you’re the bad cop and I’m the good cop.’” Lahham doesn’t dispute this characterization. “I was focusing on the writing and acting details and day-to-day while Dario was working on the bigger picture stuff and making sure things got done,” he says. Other elements of directing the plays were less than glamorous. Faculty member Alison Trattner, who directed the fall musical, Once Upon a Mattress, noted that without a tech theater program, “[the directors] had to learn how to operate lights and sounds, stage

manage, manage their money, manage their actors – they learned to do everything through the doing.” Hamarsheh and Bakri served as stage managers for the fall production. Yet for both, the winter play brought on new, unexpected responsibilities and challenges. Hamarsheh learned that his decisions have real ramifications — as stage manager he did not feel like his mistakes had real consequences because of Trattner’s presence. But “while directing,” he says, “I learned that all my actions have consequences and every detail matters.” Bakri, who also had an assistant, Kamal Fakhoury ’20, on the set, concurs. “It’s very different when you’re behind the wheel,” she notes. “I had to pick my cast, design my set, and brainstorm every day for the next day’s cocurricular period and plan each scene. As a director, you see the bigger picture

of what the production is going to look like, work on a wider range of things, and you aim towards a certain goal at the end of each day.” Other seniors were similarly fulfilled by their experiences directing. “I have been doing theater for three years now, and every single time it is rewarding, no matter what play it is,” says Bakri. Hamarsheh agrees. “Seeing the fruition of my thoughts and ideas come to life is a feeling I cannot describe. Successfully directing Waiting for Godot is one of my greatest achievements.” For Pomar, directing was so immersive that he became obsessed with Private Lives. “For the months we were working on it, it was all I wanted to do and all I wanted to get done, and when it finally happened it was just, wow,” he says. “We all put so much of ourselves in it and I’ve never experienced anything like that at King’s.”

SPRING 2019

WHY MICHAEL DAGHER FINDS KING’S A WORTHY CAUSE

King’s Academy founding donor Michael Dagher has given generously to the school since its early days. Beyond King’s wanted to learn more about Dagher and to find out why he feels King’s is such a worthwhile cause.

BEYOND KING’S

You’ve had an extensive career within the telecommunications industry in the Middle East, starting with Motorola, Fastlink, Oracom, Umniah, and now DAMA Ventures. Tell us a little bit about your experience. I started in the telecom industry in the early 1990s when I worked for Motorola in the US. We took the opportunity to pursue investment opportunities in the Middle East and Europe at a time when there was no existence of mobile services. This ultimately led us to make investments to establish the first mobile company in Jordan in collaboration with the government. It was an interesting stage where there was no significant expertise in the market in Jordan or elsewhere in the region. It gave us an opportunity to tap into a market from an investment level and from a human resource level, where we could attract significant talent into the operation.

I always take it upon myself to give back to the community. It is the least we can do for the communities in which we live and the countries where we have established ourselves. At the time we started, we were a company with fewer than 100 employees and we eventually grew in the late 1990s to a company of over 200 people with a subscriber base of 60,000 people. We then deployed new technologies and services, which helped exponentially grow the market to close to one million subscribers by 2002, run by an operation of about 800 people. As a founding donor, please tell us what first prompted you to give to King’s Academy?

King’s is truly a brilliant idea and a differentiator in the region, in the educational market and on a philanthropic level. I always take it upon myself to give back to the community. It is the least we can do for the communities in which we live and the countries where we have established ourselves. There was a great opportunity to give back to King’s Academy, which had a clear mission and clear agenda about its goals. You have the Michael Dagher Science Wing named in your honor and you and your wife, Amani, sponsor a King’s student who is interested in pursuing a career in medicine. What compels you to support science-focused initiatives? That was my wife’s idea. We have four children and none of them pursued the medical field so we thought that would be good to sponsor someone who is looking for success in that field. Medicine is a field that touches everyone’s life. I think if we can contribute to that, it’s quite positive. I think we have enough engineers and business people but we can never have enough doctors and nurses. You attended the 10th anniversary celebrations in 2017. How have you seen King’s Academy evolve over the past decade?

One thing I’m proud of is the consistency of the institution. It set a clear path for itself from the outset, was able to see that through over the past 10 years and will hopefully continue to do so during the years to come. That’s quite a rarity in our region. You don’t find many establishments that are able to fulfill such a huge initiative. To be part of it and see it and experience it through its campus and services and community is invaluable. It gives such tremendous satisfaction and we need to keep it going forward in the same direction. Going forward, what do you think King’s should focus on? Its leadership. You cannot have such a fine institution without the leadership and the people supporting leadership. Also, the commitment from everyone. I know that it has not been easy economically or politically but you cannot give up on such an initiative. What do you hope the next 10 years will bring for King’s Academy? More students! Again, it’s a unique model in the region and in Jordan. So we need to preserve and expand it so that we can attract more talent and bring more diversity among the students from all over the world.

SPRING 2019

The

INVENTORS BY MUNA AL-ALUL

Innovation runs in the Abu Dahab family. Literally following in the footsteps of their mother, Jordanian businesswoman and founder of the International Robotics Academy Lama Sha’sha’a, siblings Natheir and Salma Abu Dahab, classes of 2021 and 2024 respectively, joined her at the 2018 World Investment Forum (WIF) that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The siblings participated in the Student Ideas Challenge by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development that, as part of the Empretec Women In Business Awards, was designed to engage youth in exploring entrepreneurship as a key tool in achieving one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Participating youth were provided with the opportunity to interact with high-level investmentdevelopment stakeholders from around the world. Beyond King’s caught up with the Abu Dahabs to find out more.

Inventor: Natheir Abu Dahab ’21 Invention: recognition software to help persons with BY MUNAFacial AL-ALUL disabilities navigate computers

BEYOND KING’S

Inventor: Salma Abu Dahab ’24 Invention: A trampoline that generates electricity

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR INVENTION

Natheir: Back in sixth grade, I participated in Lego League and we had to come up with a project related to learning. We came up with the idea of creating a hardware solution to help disabled people who can’t use their arms use a mouse. This hardware would normally cost between USD $2,000 to USD $20,000 to make; our solution reduced that cost to only USD $30, which is a massive improvement. I decided to continue to develop my product and make it software-based instead of hardware-based. It now tracks your face using a webcam and maps the cursor to that, so I can move the mouse in two dimensions and can move around the screen quite easily. To solve the issue of clicking, I decided to switch my software to Java, which enables me to track the face and eyes too. The idea is that it tracks your face on the screen; when you close one eye it stops the cursor in place, when you close both eyes it clicks. You have to close them longer than half a second to avoid it clicking every time you blink. This software allows users to use a computer completely hands-free. It is human-computer interaction. I have seen hardware solutions released that surpass my original solution, but I have yet to see a software solution that does what mine does, so that is interesting!

Salma: I am an athletic person. I do Taekwondo, and I also like to learn about kinetic energy. I wanted to combine these two ideas, so I created a trampoline that uses a compound of electricity and Piezoelectricity [the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials in response to applied mechanical stress]. When you apply pressure to the trampoline through jumping — it’s a small trampoline but I am working on making a bigger one — the electric current will flow to another circuit which stores the electricity. I came up with this idea when I was younger for a science fair that I didn’t end up taking part in. They liked the idea though. I am still a kid myself, so I wanted to work on a project that was more fun, for children. TELL US ABOUT THE WORLD INVESTMENT FORUM

Natheir: Going to the United Nations Palace of Nations was amazing, as well as being able to talk, and feel — as a student — that I had a voice among these people. A lot of times, as youth, we are heard in our own schools and communities, but not at a larger level. Many of us have great ideas that would work if we could find a way to iron out all the details. I think when you are a kid, your brain works in a simplistic way and you approach things one step at a time. Adults, on the other hand, think things through from start to finish, testing and going back and forth. If you have a child visionary coming up with ideas, and adults taking those ideas and finding a way to make them work logistically, that would be a great thing.

Salma: At first, participating was overwhelming, because not many people get an opportunity like that. There were a lot of people there when I was presenting, so I was shaking a bit, but it turned out ok. When I first found out I would be participating I was very excited because my mom was nominated for the Empretec Women in Business Awards (and won the silver award), so just to get a glimpse of what she is doing was really important to me. I’m really proud of her. WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP FOR YOUR PRODUCT?

Natheir:

I got offers to help me develop my product further. To have the opportunity to take your tiny little project and move it forward and distribute it to the market is an insane opportunity for a sophomore in high school. At the forum, there were investors, people offering exposure of my product in other countries, and people willing to put me in contact with university professors to further develop it. So far, I have followed up on all the offers I found interesting and am waiting for responses. WHAT OTHER INTERESTS DO YOU HAVE?

Natheir:

My interests are programming, I have a lot of fun with that. I also solve the Rubik’s Cube and enter competitions. These interests have really helped me in other areas; for example, if I have a massive task coming up I would think about how I can divide it up into multiple steps to find the most efficient solution, whether that be my homework or my AP Computer Science class or an upcoming project in history. So, these hobbies have really helped me have that modular style of thinking.

Salma: Taekwondo is my passion and runs in the family; my grandfather, father and brothers do it and play with me. It’s nice and I feel it is a good sport because it teaches you not only to use your legs and hands, but really teaches those sequences technically, which helps me with other technical things, for example, when we were doing coding for minimesters. I want to try different things. I do research, which is so much fun. I might take part in a robotics competition next year and was thinking about joining the school newspaper. WHAT FUTURE CAREER WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE?

Natheir:

I would have a lead engineering position in a rocket company — if I could choose, at SpaceX or Rocket Lab — or start my own company.

Salma: Since I was two years old, my mom would notice that whenever we went to the pediatrician I would always observe the doctor’s equipment closely. Since I learned more about technology, I want to apply that to medical things because I want to make the world a better place. SPRING 2019

BALLIN’ OUT

BEYOND KING’S

Boys varsity basketball seniors speak on success BY THOMAS CAHILL

King’s boys varsity basketball teams have had consistent success for several seasons. This year’s squad won the majority of their games and placed first or second in their tournaments. However, despite the success, several players expressed that this season felt different from years past. The main reason for this sentiment, they say, was seniority: of 13 varsity players, 10 were seniors. “There’s no arrogance in this team,” says Saif AlFaqih ’19. “The chemistry is alive and everyone is friends.” Anas Badran ’19 agrees, saying, “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to help each other.” The following photograph spread details different elements of the seniors’ season. From practice to the meaning of basketball on a personal level, it demonstrates the hard work, the strategic thinking, and the passion that went into each and every day of the season and led to wins.

PRACTICE

Saif Al-Faqih ‘19 “Practices vary from week to week. We may have shootingheavy practices and work on plays with the coaches. Then there are other practices that are so tiring that you can barely take your shoes off after.”

Abdallah Omari ‘19 “Leading up to tournaments, practices are really tough. They require a lot of stamina and bodywork; but this is what it takes. We listen to a lot of music when we’re practicing to inspire us.”

SPRING 2019

COACHES

Kareem Abu-Ali ’19 “Coach Iyad and Coach Will like to take a ground-up approach and want to see us apply the skills and tactics from practice in games. They aren’t afraid to push us beyond what we think is the maximum we can handle, which keeps us on our toes.”

Marcus Liaw ’19 “Coach Iyad is very analytical and can see what we are and aren’t capable of. He worked as a referee and it helps to have that perspective. Coach William focuses on teamwork, so that’s become a huge part of our play — making one more pass and being unselfish.”

SQUAD

Naseef Berro ’19

Anas Badran ’19 “We’re a tight-knit group. We’re not afraid to talk to each other. If we’re going through things, if we want to criticize each other, we can talk however we want about anything.” 58

BEYOND KING’S

“It feels different how as a senior you’re leaving this team, and how this is your last season with this squad. So, we try to help and encourage young folks to practice and join the JV team in order to be able to become a varsity player one day.”

COMPETITION

Hoshing Lau ’19 “We try to run a lot of fast breaks, because we have several really explosive players. We also play pick-and-roll a lot and try to find an open spot for shooters, because we have some snipers. So we can both drive and shoot.”

Saif Al-Sururi ’19 “Our squad has a lot of fitness and stamina, and we always show up with the mentality that we are the better team. In games, we play pressure-based defense and the coaches have us playing a high-flying offense.”

WHAT IT MEANS

Fouad Jaber ’19

Mohamed Metwally ’19 “I’ve always let basketball speak for me, and especially my work ethic. When someone looks at me playing, I’m proud to have my head down, ready to go to work. So it’s definitely an expression of who I am.“

“It’s the way I let out, the way I articulate myself and the way I stay focused throughout my daily schedule. It keeps me active and encourages me to do the most I’m capable of. Basketball became my motive to keep going through my senior year.” SPRING 2019

BRINGING BACK THE

MUSIC When the classical music scene suffered a blow, Amman’s young musicians rallied to ensure that the music in their lives would endure BY MUNA AL-ALUL

BEYOND KING’S

hen the Amman Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Jordan’s national orchestra, was disbanded in 2012 due to a lack of government funding, it came as a blow to musicians across the country. Reem Abu Rahmeh, a pianist, music teacher and dean of the Middle School at King’s Academy, felt the disappointment particularly keenly, although she was well aware that when times are tough, the “non-priority” arts programs are often the first to go. “It was very frustrating when the ASO closed,” Abu Rahmeh recalls. “I sat with a group of students who were in the school orchestra and we talked about it and what we could do.” The group regularly participated in community service and outreach programs, and from that grew the idea to bring together student musicians from other schools around Amman and create a shared musical experience. Over the next few months the idea gained momentum, and Abu Rahmeh began reaching out to other schools with established music programs to bring together as many groups as possible and attempt a collaboration whereby the professionals as well as the students would find support. And so, in 2013, the Jordan’s Youth Musicians Conference (JYMC) was born.

SPRING 2019

Hosted each year at King’s Academy, JYMC brings young musicians together to engage in the process of music making and performing. It also aims to raise awareness about the importance and need for music to be inculcated in Jordan’s people by sharing musical experiences and expertise with one another and the community. Growing from around 75 participants the first year to around 150 for the seventh annual conference in 2019, JYMC has become one of the most anticipated events of the year for Amman’s musical youth. This year, participating schools included Amman Baptist School, American Community School, Amman Academy, Bishop’s School, Ahliyyah School for Girls, Islamic Scientific College, National Orthodox School, Whitman Academy and the National Music Conservatory. During the conference, students and teachers spend a weekend at King’s rehearsing either as a whole or breaking out into sectionals to practice predetermined pieces of music that they then perform at a concert on the last evening. JYMC includes an orchestra as well as a choir component, and for the first time this year, a guitar ensemble and a group for beginners. The directors also make rehearsals a priority in their respective institutions the two weeks prior to the conference to familiarize the students with the pieces they will be playing. “Preparatory rehearsals help us ‘get out of the page’ so students know their parts and can listen to what’s happening around them more,” says King’s music teacher Nadine Cunningham, who organized the last two conferences. “So we work more on ensemble and adding musical nuances that weekend.” Hind Sabanegh, the music department coordinator and band director at Amman Baptist School, believes that it is just as important for teachers working in the same field at other schools to meet and collaborate, as it is for students. “It’s a chance to exchange

BEYOND KING’S

ideas, brainstorm new possibilities and ideas, as well as a space for personal development. We can all learn from each other.” “When schools get together for events, they are usually competitive games to showcase who is more competent in any given field,” adds Sabanegh, who has participated as a conductor at JYMC for three years. “In music it’s different; we bring in all those talents to make and create music. Students walk in as complete strangers and leave as orchestra members and part of a supportive community.” A senior at King’s, Jiwoong Jeon ’19 has played the clarinet for four years, the bass clarinet for three years, and participated in JYMC twice. “JYMC is great for learning about the variety of instruments and how they work in an orchestra, which is essential for a musician,” he says. “Most school bands in Jordan only have woodwinds, brass and percussion, so when they participate in JYMC they can learn about the strings or rare instruments like the bass clarinet.”

Hosted each year at King’s Academy, JYMC brings young musicians together to engage in the process of music making and performing. “My favorite part of JYMC is having more people to listen to,” Jeon adds. “At JYMC I can play better, and everyone can play more as an orchestra because we hear every part that the composer added. I believe we can learn a lot from listening to better players, and JYMC is a great place to meet a better player.” King’s students also participate as organizers, coming up with a slogan for the year, planning social activities

such as games, quiz nights and dinners, greeting participants, and providing support throughout the conference. Abu Rahmeh believes that the conference has been sustained for so many years because of King’s commitment to music and the arts, and thanks to the school’s mission to generate and implement change not just within the confines of the school, but across Jordan. “One of the things I like about JYMC is that, although it takes place on campus, it’s not just a King’s thing,” says Cunningham. “King’s is a school that is constantly expanding its reach beyond its walls, reaching out into society and bringing people into the fold of what we are doing,” explains Abu Rahmeh. “We’ve invested in JYMC for its educational value, so King’s is the hub of bringing people in but also folding them into an experience that is of high value.” One of the most important aspects of JYMC, according to Cunningham, is that it teaches students that one of the main reasons they do music is to share the experience with other people. Whether that involves playing with others, or performing for an audience, it demonstrates that with hard work, time and effort they can create something unique that has a lasting effect on people. “If we want change to happen we can’t go top down, we need to go bottom up,” says Abu Rahmeh. “Each year, over 100 kids leave JYMC and take this experience with them wherever they go. Once they graduate from school, even if they don’t work with music, they will be parents, audience members, members of society that support the arts. That’s how change starts happening.” “It’s about what we can change in the fabric of our society to instill long term change in how mindsets and attitudes are shaped,” she adds.

RAZAN ABDELHADI ’10 ON THE

JOY OF GIVING (TO KING’S!)

When a school’s alumni body is young, it is hard to expect them to give back financially to their alma mater. Yet what counts most in alumni giving is that it happen, not how much is given. Razan Abdelhadi ’10 is one alumna who has always been committed to giving back to King’s. Beyond King’s spoke with her to find out why.

a gift to King’s? Why do you feel that giving back is important?

Let’s start by hearing a little bit about what your time at King’s Academy was like. What are some of your fondest memories of King’s and the most valuable lessons you learned? My time at King’s Academy was an invaluable experience. The fondest memories I have of King’s are the lifelong relationships I built with my now closest friends throughout my high school journey, the festive graduation period and learning how to play the violin with my favorite music teachers. One of the most valuable lessons I learned at King’s is to take ownership of shaping your own life and experiences. Learning this early has helped me accelerate my career. Where has life taken you since graduating from King’s? Right now, I am a senior consultant in the Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Analytics and Robotics pillar within the Data and Analytics team at Ernst & Young (EY), focusing mainly on financial services clients. I joined EY in September 2015 as part of the graduate program and I am based in the London

office. I have worked on a range of client engagements from data visualization and reporting, to machine learning proof of concepts and demos. I studied neuroscience at University College London (UCL) and then I did a Master’s at Imperial College Business School. I went into neuroscience with the mentality that I really wanted to study something I was interested in but not necessarily going to work in. I did the master’s to build a bridge between neuroscience and getting into business. Alumni can be hesitant about donating for several reasons. Some might not know what donations are used for, some might not feel like the amount they’re able to give will make an impact. What compelled you to make

Personally, I think it is essential to give back to your community and be part of the change that you want to see in the world. King’s Academy embodies the egalitarian ideals of gender equality, progress and equal opportunities through education, which I believe is one of the most effective tools for social mobility and change. I think it’s important to be a part of the combined effort to make that happen. What prompted you to allocate your gift towards student scholarships? In my opinion, providing scholarships is one of the most unique and essential attributes of King’s Academy. I think it is the thing that contributes to social change the most. I read somewhere that King’s Academy is the only school in the Middle East that gives scholarships to so many, which to me makes it even more valuable and important. Also, if people don’t understand where their donation is going, a gift to scholarships is a way of ensuring that your gift is going directly towards students. SPRING 2019

MAKING THE MIDDLE SCHOOL THEIR OWN BY MUNA AL-ALUL

The King’s Academy Middle School has come into its own since opening three short years ago. In fact, the Middle School has developed a unique identity so that, rather than simply being the precursor to the Upper School, now serves to inspire it, by introducing revolutionary modes of education, communication and community building. In particular, the Middle School is going the extra mile to make sure that its students and faculty feel a real sense of unity and belonging. As many educators know, building a strong scholastic community has long-lasting benefits: students

who feel valued, supported and heard are more likely to be academically motivated, and to reach outside their comfort zone, because they believe that they are capable and able to learn. Each year, the Middle School actively seeks out new ways to achieve its goal of creating a welcoming, supportive and empowering environment for its seventh and eighth graders, and has implemented a number of inspired and engaging activities, campaigns, initiatives, and systems to achieve that.

Bake and Bond Bake and Bond is an informal weekly activity that takes place outside the classroom. Dean of the Middle School Reem Abu Rahmeh and Middle School Counselor Sarah Nino invite a group of five students at a time to Abu Rahmeh’s on-campus apartment, where they spend a couple of hours poring over cookbooks and recipes, stirring ingredients, and listening to music while chatting and getting to know each other in a fun and casual setting. While waiting for the goodies to bake, the group gathers in the living room to play games or just talk. The students often take the opportunity to ask their teachers questions such as what to expect in Upper School and what dorm life is like. “Once they see Reem and me outside of the classroom, having fun, joking and playing with them, they get to know a different side of us, not just as dean and counselor,” says Nino.

BEYOND KING’S

Dive In

A new workshop offered by Sarah Nino to Middle School girls, Dive In presents the opportunity to counsel in a different way. Seated on bean bags in Nino’s comfy, welcoming office, the girls are introduced to topics such as puberty, self-worth, self-image, choices in life and relationships with parents. Taking turns holding the ‘talking stick’, the girls hold reflective discussions on the topics, as well as drawing and writing about them. The workshop helps preteens develop greater awareness of themselves and others and is a lovely way to bond, according to Nino. Seventh and eighth graders

she says, and often don’t feel comfortable talking about these issues, which makes it the perfect time to approach these topics. (Boys will have the option of signing up for this workshop in coming semesters.) “The girls say great stuff about how they grew and became more self-aware because of these workshops,” says Nino, “and parents have called to thank me for giving their girls this opportunity. They are more open, they talk to and share more with their parents.”

experience a great deal of emotional turbulence at this age,

Big Brother/Big Sister Program The Big Brother/Big Sister program matches incoming Middle Schoolers with juniors and seniors from the Upper School. It starts on Orientation Day, with the Upper Schoolers waiting to greet their assigned seventh or eighth grader at the school entrance and guide them throughout the day. The big brothers and sisters will also check in on their little brothers and sisters throughout the year, cheering them on at games, theater productions and piano recitals, or just hanging out with them during breaks. As well as the big brothers and sisters, many Upper Schoolers lend their support to their younger peers by volunteering at activities such as the Middle School MUN or Jordan Model Parliament, or work as the sound and lighting crew for the Middle School play. SPRING 2019

Advisory Program

The Middle School advisory program is quite different to that of the Upper School. For a start, there is a lot more of it. Middle Schoolers and their faculty advisors meet every single day, either at a morning advisory session, or during sit-down advisory lunch. Advisory groups consist of a diverse group of around five students including both boys and girls who represent different nationalities and backgrounds. There is power in being present, according to Middle School faculty member Andrew Rikard. As they see each other every day, advisors and advisees are always in conversation and get to know each other very well, developing a strong and supportive bond. The advisory curriculum, developed by counselor Nino, is tailored to what the students need to know now. The year starts off by introducing the rules and expectations, digital responsibility, schedules, time

dress code, and a fun competition to teach students how to knot their ties. Throughout the year, topics become more reflective; the groups discuss mindfulness, feelings and emotions, dealing with stress, broken friendships or death, new year resolutions, community, changing the fixed growth mindset, thinking outside the box, and how to develop a love of learning. “Each week I send the advisors videos, group activities, art activities, outside activities, group discussions, and debate topics to use when we bring the groups together,” says Nino. “It’s not just discussion and writing. I encourage them to go outside and take a walk or a picnic, be mindful of what is around them, take advantage of the sunshine and our lovely campus.”

management, Dining Hall rules, how to bus lunch tables,

Be An 11 Be An 11 is an annual Middle School campaign that encourages the community to cherish one another, which is one of King’s guiding principles. Instilling the values of respect, responsibility, kindness and empathy, the campaign is in essence an anti-bullying campaign. When students enter King’s for the first time in seventh grade, they come from very different backgrounds and have been exposed to different values and environments. Be An 11 works to develop a common language among the Middle School community, one that builds a sense of connection and unity between all members, so that they feel safe, welcome, cared for and valued. When students feel that they are coming together for a common purpose, they feel comfortable enough to meet and even exceed their potential. 66

BEYOND KING’S

No Grading

There is no traditional grading system in the Middle School. The aim of this is to shift the mindsets of students from strategic learners, where they take shortcuts and learn simply to gain a test score, to deep learners who learn for the love of learning. Instead of grades, student progress is assessed through reflection, feedback and goal setting. This process fosters in them a sense of ownership over the assessment process. According to Rikard, this method of learning allows students to think, talk and write about issues in a way they never would if they knew they were being graded on them. The freedom of no grades results in real conversations that are deeper and more meaningful, that students can relate to. “You could do these assignments with grades,” says Rikard. But the freedom it gives the kids, when they aren’t thinking about how to fulfill the requirements, but how to explore ideas, is really powerful.”

Being Heard The small community of the Middle School, numbering 85 this year, means that every faculty member knows every student’s name. They also know that young people just want to have their voices heard, and they feel their primary job is to listen to them. “Middle Schoolers are warring inside of themselves,” says Rikard. “There is an adult and a child perpetually beating each other up in their brains. They want their frustrations to be heard, and once you hear them, some of that frustration goes away. We give them a space where they aren’t being assessed or punished, but where we can say: I hear you, I see you, and your voice matters.”

Harkness Discussion The Harkness table isn’t limited to Upper School classrooms; the Middle School uses them too. The Harkness method empowers students to express their own ideas and perspectives, and know that the people listening — their teachers — trust and respect their ideas as creative and valuable. King’s Middle Schoolers say they enjoy having the freedom to work out ideas for themselves through the Harkness method, and being entrusted to discuss difficult issues on an equal footing among their teacher and peers. “I, and the Middle School as a whole, believe that those creative perspectives and ideas are astounding and worthy,” says Rikard. “Because we believe that as a group, the kids believe that about themselves, or at least they can.” SPRING 2019

On the Agenda: Inclusivity and Accessibility King’s is on the right track in terms of offering students with disabilities a fully accessible and inclusive learning environment BY MUNA AL-ALUL

Persons with disabilities visit King’s to take part in the 2016 Jordan Model Parliament conference

elebrating the differences and diversity of its students is an important part of the King’s Academy mission. But how does the school go from meaning what it says, to getting it done? When discussing the subject of differences related to disability, how does King’s ensure that integration is not just some abstract concept?

As a relatively young school at barely 12 years old, King’s certainly has a way to go in terms of offering students with disabilities a fully accessible and inclusive learning environment. But according to Rana Matar, a faculty member in the Learning Center, the school is on the right track — if not ahead of the curve — compared to the majority of schools in Jordan.

“Part of teaching students how to celebrate differences is demonstrating that education should be accessible, and inclusive,” says Zina Nasser, head of the Learning Center at King’s Academy. Inclusive education means different and diverse students learning side by side in the same classroom.

“When we talk about accessibility, we aren’t only talking about ramps and elevators to make buildings accessible to people with physical disabilities,” says Matar. “We are also talking about the style of learning, the kind of education and environment that we are offering to students.”

BEYOND KING’S

In 2012, King’s Academy launched Kursi wa Kitab (meaning ‘chair and book’), which aims to raise awareness about the needs of children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Jordan. Currently, Jordan only has one school for children with CP. After grade 10, students are required to transfer to a different school, and face many challenges as they struggle to integrate into a community that is not equipped to meet their needs and where there is a stigma towards people with physical, or any type of, disabilities. Through Kursi wa Kitab, King’s students meet with these children and their families to understand their challenges and help to build a bridge between

them and the community. They conduct social activities for CP children and their families, raise funds to purchase wheelchairs, build ramps on campus and across the country to make buildings more accessible, and forge collaborations between international CP programs and local institutions to help establish new or more comprehensive physical therapy and education programs. “When we started, our students didn’t know how to communicate with people with disabilities,” says Matar. “They had to learn how to interact with them and realize that although they may be of a similar age, disabled kids haven’t always been exposed to the same experiences socially and emotionally that they have, so they needed to understand those differences, and learn new ways of communicating.”

school continues to increase both its physical accessibility — it has built more ramps across campus and installed an elevator in the Middle School — and the level of educational support. That’s where the school’s Learning Center comes in. “We prefer not to have shadow teachers inside the classroom,” explains Matar. “We want to teach our students with disabilities to become more independent, so when they go away to college they are more confident. But we can’t just leave our students to fend for themselves, they need extra support outside the classroom, so that’s where we come in.”

Most recently, Kursi wa Kitab — which is a member of the Zero Project, an international effort to find solutions that improve the daily lives and legal rights of all persons with disabilities — is working on providing previously unavailable educational opportunities to people with disabilities in Jordan. This year, King’s partnered with the American University in Madaba to offer disabled students a graphic design course, with King’s students offering one-on-one assistance during their classes.

With a number of its students having various disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, Asperger’s syndrome and visual impairments to name a few, Matar believes it is paramount that the

Another way that King’s is raising awareness about accessibility and inclusive education is by inviting guest speakers to talk about the issues. In March, King’s welcomed Zein AlMaha Oweis to share her experience living with a visual impairment. Oweis was born with a rare genetic eye disorder called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) that results in her vision suddenly decreasing without warning. By the age of 21, she had lost all of her peripheral vision, in addition to being night blind and partially color blind. Despite the challenges she faced, Oweis moved abroad alone to pursue her higher education, where she studied journalism, and gained a great deal of confidence and independence. Now back in Jordan, 24-year-old Oweis has committed herself to raising awareness and understanding of disability, accessibility and inclusivity.

Zein Al-Maha Oweis

“All families struggle when their children graduate because educational programs don’t support them after school,” explains Matar. “We wanted to provide disabled students with a new educational experience. So, I check what is missing in Jordan, and try to fill one of those gaps through our initiative. It’s part accessibility, and part helping them to engage with the community, so they aren’t stuck at home.”

“We are accepting more students with disabilities, and I hope we continue to become more inclusive, because we have a lot of kids in Jordan who need the kinds of opportunities, such as exposure to languages and cultures and new experiences, that King’s can give them,” says Matar. “The diversity at King’s is enriching, classrooms are small, so there is more time for students with their teachers inside and outside of the classroom.”

At the start of each year, the Learning Center prepares for their students’ needs, preparing a psychology report to present to teachers, who they meet with to discuss alternative learning strategies and styles and what kind of accommodation students might need within the classroom. Learning Center faculty are in close contact with teachers throughout the year, but also offer additional support outside the classroom. That support could be in the form of adaptive computer technology or intensive one-on-one instruction to go over the day’s lessons, or more time to complete assignments.

“Jordan is still developing and trying its best to accommodate the disability community,” she says. “I personally feel that one of the ways we are going to move forward as a country on disability matters is if society’s mentality continues to change,” she continues. “If there is more openmindedness and acceptance and less fear, then maybe there would be more exposure and understanding.” “That is why I urge students, educators and parents to celebrate being different,” says Oweis. “Because from my experience, it is better to celebrate being different than fearing it.”

SPRING 2019

representative, a role in which she worked with representatives from Bard’s several other partner institutions around the world to bring cohesion to their student bodies. At AQB, Qannam, who is Palestinian, became deeply invested in the Palestinian cause. “I helped organize Palestine’s first-ever Model United Nations for university students,” she says. In addition, Qannam spoke on a panel hosted by Bard’s Model United Nations Conference in New York, staged to “educate the audience about the Palestinian cause.” Inspired by the plight of her country, Qannam took an interest in human rights, eventually majoring in human rights and international law. Studying human rights and refugees at AQB led her to recognize the extent to which communities lack knowledge about refugees and their rights, challenges, and living conditions. “Thus,” she notes, “I have dedicated the majority of my work to raise awareness of the struggle of Palestinian and Levantine refugees.”

POSITIVE AGENT FOR CHANGE Shahd Qannam ’14 pursues her interest in human rights at Oxford BY THOMAS CAHILL

f you had asked Shahd Qannam ’14 what her career plans were six years ago, she would have said she wanted to become an architect. Yet Qannam, currently a student in the MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at the University at Oxford, experienced a drastic reorientation at King’s. “After taking different courses at King’s, I realized I was more interested in subjects like law, public policy, and international relations than I was in science,” she says. After graduating from King’s, Qannam pursued her newfound interests at Al-Quds Bard College (AQB), a partnership between Bard College in New York and Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. At AQB, Qannam was a student body

BEYOND KING’S

One of the ways in which Qannam worked towards this goal was through her role in creating a collective research initiative that combines creative writing and project engagement. Entitled “The Jerusalem of Things,” the project situates the study of refugee heritage and human rights within the context of Jerusalem. The results of the project formed the basis for a research paper presented at a conference at the University of Lisbon in 2016, and in January 2018, the findings were published in Dandilands, an edited volume published in Berlin. In August 2018, Qannam graduated from AQB as the valedictorian of her class. In her graduation speech, she exhorted her classmates to leave their mark and combat societal problems. “At AQB,” she declared, “we learned how to have a stake in our country’s progress and in our own destiny. We must never forget the fight for freedom, dignity, equality, and human rights, and the eradication of hunger, poverty, disease, and corruption.” Now at Oxford, Qannam finds herself preparing to address those problems — by studying her favorite topics at a very high level. She says, “The courses that I am currently taking look at the issue of forced migration from anthropological, legal, and political perspectives.” Her interdisciplinary program focuses on the contemporary political situation of refugees globally and in the Levant in particular. Qannam knows that she wants to work in the field of human rights after she receives her master’s degree. “After I graduate,” she says, “I know that I want to stay in the human rights arena.” Yet her transformative experience at King’s, which she credits to “rich conversations with teachers and classmates,” has taught her that life is in constant flux. “So,” she concludes, “I’m open to exploring [human rights] from different angles and in different locations.”

TIPS ON HOW TO REALLY

GET TO KNOW A COUNTRY WHEN TRAVELING

Last year, Suhayb Jawhari ’11 spent two months traveling in the south of Mexico and in the north of Spain “to learn Spanish through its people.” Here are six insights he gleaned from his travels.

BY SUHAYB JAWHARI

1. Do not travel to the capital

While the capital of a country can offer a lot to travelers, from landmarks to fine cuisine, the rest of the country can offer much more. Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, is one of the culinary and cultural capitals of Mexico. There, I was able to try out the different tastes of Mexico, visit art galleries, and learn about southern Mexico. In Asturias in the north of Spain, I reveled in the mountainous beauty and lush greenery.

2. Say yes more than no Part of traveling is being in the moment. I have so many stories from just saying yes. After meeting some people through my language center, I was invited to their grandmother’s birthday party in Puebla, a city two hours away. I noticed how similar the party was to my family gatherings. It was if I were back in Amman with my own grandmother and family.

3. Travel alone Traveling alone can be daunting. But to me, traveling alone is a reflective act. It gives you the opportunity to be with your thoughts. It allows you to be

attentive to things you might not have seen if you traveled with others. The traveling experience is geared 100 percent towards you when you travel alone.

4. Be comfortable being uncomfortable

This is one of the most important lessons I learned through traveling. You will face different situations where you have to improvise or deal with being uncomfortable to get out of the situation. Learning this will help you with dealing with uncomfortable situations for the rest of your life.

5. Go farming During my travels, I participated in a program that allowed me to work at a farm in return for three meals a day and free accommodation. I went to a beautiful farm in Sama de Grado, Asturias, Spain. For two weeks, I only spoke Spanish to the farmers and to the neighbors. In addition to practicing my Spanish, I learned about horticulture and organic farming, ate healthily, and also buffed up through the farming work! I also learned how to live without social media and technology.

Most importantly, develop a connection, and listen Traveling is about finding a connection with people who are very different from you but whose stories, feelings, fears, and hopes are the same, and can break all barriers of fear and hatred. Traveling is also about listening. First the direct meaning of listening — listening to the stories of people, finding out what they value, what they think, what they fear, what they hope and dream for. But it is also about listening to everything else. To listen to the mountains, or to the conversation between two teenagers finding out what love is. To the church bells and bat calls. To the guard dog sniffing for strangers in the dark night. To the sound of a pink flower falling from a tree onto your dining table. To the sound of your own breath in the silence of the night. To the sound of biting into a juicy mango or the slicing of a papaya. To the builder’s laugh and the artist’s sneeze. To the sizzle of the grilled quesillo and the sound of women making tortillas with their hands. All these sounds build a whole new world in your mind, expanding it metaphysically and physically.

SPRING 2019

a message to alumni from KAAA

It has been a year since the official launch of the King’s Academy Alumni Association (KAAA). Since its founding, the Board of Directors has been working hard on fulfilling the Association’s mission to promote the union of alumni, to foster a spirit of loyalty towards King’s, and to advance the interests, welfare, educational and career-oriented goals of alumni. Since the launch, KAAA has launched several initiatives and organized various events. For example, in an effort to support both alumni and current students, we established a mentorship program that pairs King’s Academy students and fresh graduates with alumni who will offer advice, guidance, and support in major aspects of their lives (collegiate, academic, professional and personal). On another front, the Association is committed to organizing frequent reunions and get-togethers for alumni. Our most successful event saw some 120 alumni come together for a brunch in Amman in December. With the help of our elected regional officers, we aim to regularly organize reunions around the world. In addition, KAAA organized and participated in workshops for current King’s students and parents to help them prepare for life after King’s. Through that experience, we have found that giving back to our community can be as simple as sharing a piece of advice. For this reason, KAAA collated a Words of Wisdom book — a collection of advice from the alumni body — and presented it to the graduating class of 2018 at their senior dinner. This past year has shown us that King’s has created a community that has lingered beyond the walls of the institution. Our hope, as KAAA, is to protect, serve and maintain that community. Dear Alumni, this Association is entirely ours to shape. The success of KAAA largely depends on all of us working together, participating and simply being active members of the alumni community. The Board of Directors is always ready to receive your ideas and suggestions on how to make the best out of being King’s Academy alumni. Please visit our website www.kaalumniassociation.org/ to register for the Association and/or for more information. Yours, Board of Directors King’s Academy Alumni Association

Hayat Abu Samra ’10, Founding Board Member, President Omar AlMajali ’10, Founding Board Member, Vice President Ghassan Gammoh ’10, Founding Board Member, King’s Academy Liaison Jinseul Jun ’13, Board Member, Secretary Farah Kasih ’11, Board Member, Communications Suhayb Al-Jawhari ’11, Board Member, Communications Talal Abu Ghazaleh ’11, Board Member, Finance and Fundraising Dina Shawar ’10, Board Member, Finance and Fundraising Omaymah Al-Harahsheh ’14, Board Member Noor Masannat ’12, Board Member Firas Mouasher ’12, Board Member

BEYOND KING’S

Alumni

winter b

runch at

the Abu

Samra re

sidence

in Amm

an (Dec

ember 2

018)

Giving back to King’s at the UCO’s Summer Institute (August 2018)

Alumni reunio

n in Seoul (June

2018) Giving back

to King’s at th

e UCO’s Sum

mer Institute

(May 2018)

Senior and Alumni Spr

ing Day on campus (Ma y 2018)

SPRING 2019

CLASS NOTES 2010 YAZAN ABU KHALAF Yazan is currently serving as VIP Client Manager at Christian Dior Couture in Dubai. He is enjoying his experience working at the luxury brand and he maintains his passion for food and cooking.

OMAR AL-MAJALI After working as a strategy consultant for several years, Omar recently took a job with the government of Dubai. Read more about what Omar has been up to on page 30. GHASSAN GAMMOH Ghassan is finishing up his fifth year of teaching at King’s. A faculty member of the Department of History and Social Studies since 2014, he received his Master’s degree in private school leadership in 2019 from Teachers College, Columbia University. This year at King’s, Ghassan enjoyed developing and teaching his own course, Modern Jordanian History, and taking his students on frequent field trips around the country.

Yazan Abu Khalaf

HAYAT ABU SAMRA After working in the nonprofit sector in various positions, Hayat decided to pursue a Master’s degree in arts politics from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. This year, she was chosen to be an Eisenhower Fellow Youth Leader, an award given to leaders who will effect positive societal change. Hayat plans to launch an initiative that provides a platform for dialogue and conversation in the MENA region. She is also a board member of the King’s Academy Alumni Association.

Hayat Abu Samra and KAAA organized a winter brunch reunion

BEYOND KING’S

Ghassan Gammoh and his Modern Jordanian History students at the Royal Tank Museum

MOHAMMAD QARDAN Mohammad is a monitoring and evaluation officer at Mercy Corps Jordan and works specifically on USAID Jordan’s Water Innovation Technologies Program. In December 2018, he traveled to and participated in the International Volunteer Forum in Moscow. He intends to pursue a second master’s degree in the coming years.

Mohammad Qardan participating in a panel discussion

TALA SHOKEH After graduating from Ryerson University in 2015, Tala worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers Middle East and is currently a Human Resources Consultant at Mercer Consulting. She works on projects in areas including talent and rewards strategy, human resources transformation, and information solutions for international and local entities in various Middle Eastern countries. Tala also got engaged in December 2018!

Tala Shokeh and her fiance

2011 REEM AL-HADDADIN Reem, a researcher at the WANA Institute in Amman, participated in Stockholm World Water Week 2018, a major annual conference dedicated to discussing global water issues. She served on a panel that discussed water quality, supply and management in the Jordan Valley.

Camping in Canada with Jamil Madanat and Ismail Tamimi Reem Al-Haddadin speaking at a panel discussion

SUHAYB AL-JAWHARI Suhayb currently works as the CAS Coordinator at Amman Academy, where he is responsible for organizing opportunities for experiential learning for Grade 11 and 12 students. He also teaches a class called Global Leadership and Reflection at AA. Suhayb is a member of the King’s Academy Alumni Association and works on film projects with his King’s classmates.

Faisal had this funny story to share: “I went on a camping trip with Jamil Madanat, Jamil Dababneh and Ismail Tamimi. We went with four vehicles; unfortunately, we had to leave without a single vehicle due to dropping three vehicle keys in the lake! While we were canoeing, the canoe that was carrying our car keys flipped and they sank to the bottom of the lake! Nevertheless, we had a blast and now have a great story to tell!” DUNIA AL-RABADI Dunia recently landed a job as software engineer in test at O.C. Tanner, a well-known human resources company in Salt Lake City, Utah, and loves it. She recently submitted applications to MBA programs and is eager to begin her graduate studies. OMAR AMARA After studying medicine at Hashemite University, Omar is working hard on pursuing his specialty in Germany. He encourages his fellow alumni to consider supporting King’s.

KARIM HABBAB Karim lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he works as an architect at BRW Architects. In addition to completing a project at a UNESCO World Heritage site, Karim was recently selected as an Emerging Leader in Architecture by the American Institute of Architects in Virginia. LEEN HAJJAR Leen is currently finishing her first year of the Master’s program in communications at Villanova University in Philadelphia. She will graduate in 2020 with a specialization in journalism and public relations. FARAH KASIH Farah works as a Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility Team Member at Zain Jordan. She is also a member of the King’s Academy Alumni Association board, and constantly reminisces about her time at King’s. She encourages all alumni to reflect on the passion they developed while students at King’s, and to remain conscious members of the strong alumni network.

Suhayb Al-Jawhari FAISAL AL-KABIRITI Faisal lives in Montreal, Canada, where he works at a medical startup company called NXTSENS Microsystems, Inc., which makes semiconductors. He began as a software engineer and is transitioning into managing the manufacturing process of the company’s first medical device. Between December 2017 and February 2018, Faisal returned to Jordan, where he managed a 68-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in Al-Mafraq.

Ghassan Gammoh, Omaymah Harahsheh, Omar AlMajali, Hayat Abu Samra, Farah Kasih, Dina Shawer, Noor Masannat, Jinseul Jun

SPRING 2019

2012 GIULIA ABDEL-LATIF Giulia is currently studying medicine in Rome at Cattolica University. She invites fellow alumni to reach out if they find themselves in Rome!

RAMA AL-NAKIB For the last year, Rama worked for the French government on developing an innovative API (application programming interface) to automate bureaucratic procedures for citizens. She has recently accepted a new position as a software engineer at a Dallas-based Fortune 500 company that works with companies including Facebook and Amazon.

NOOR MASANNAT Noor is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in global public policy, a program hosted by both the Central European University in Budapest and Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Intercionals. Along with her cohort of graduate students, she is working for UNHCR’s Central Europe Regional Office, where she analyzes xenophobia and performs risk assessments of

Rama Al-Nakib and the team with the French prime minister’s chief of staff

Giulia Abdel-Latif and Yara Rawashdeh in Rome SHAREEF ABDELRAZEQ Shareef works as a cost engineer at Consolidated Contractors International in Astana, Kazakhstan. He recently joined Global Shapers, a nonprofit youth initiative of the World Economic Forum, and leads a team that is developing a vertical farm system. Shareef also attended SUM 2018, a symposium on urban mining and circular economy, in Milan, Italy.

Shareef Abdelrazeq pitching the vertical farming project

BEYOND KING’S

FAHER EL-FAYEZ This year, Faher receives her Master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. She recently began a new position as Digital Communications Specialist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. She and her roommate, Lama Nassar ’12, love seeing fellow King’s alumni in D.C. BASIL JAYOUSI Basil recently joined 8x8 Women, a Jordanian startup aiming to launch eight companies in eight different sectors, as an equal partner. Each company will be majority-owned and run by women. Basil is currently working at Reveal Naturals, a Dead Sea cosmetics company, where he secures distribution and wholesale deals in international markets.

Basil Jayousi

different approaches to combat it. Noor’s academic interests involve international water sector regulations and how they affect natural resources and national security. Noor is also a board member of the King’s Academy Alumni Association, where she works to foster alumni loyalty to King’s. She encourages you all to attend KAAA events and get back to campus!

Noor Masannat spending Christmas with Jinseul Jun

DIMA MASRI In 2018, Dima graduated with a Master of Education in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is currently back in Jordan to learn and give back to education in the region.

2013 AWN AL-HADEED After obtaining a Bachelor degree of Laws from the University of Reading in 2017, Awn Al-Hadeed received two Master’s degrees from University College London in 2018; a Master of Laws in corporate and commercial law and a Master of Sciences in security studies. Awn is currently completing his legal training at Al-Tamimi and Co., the largest law firm in the Middle East, and hopes to pass both his Jordanian and New York state bar exams.

2014 MAYSS AKASHEH Mayss graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2018 with an LL.M. in business law with a specialization in taxation. She passed her bar examination in New York and was sworn in in January. Mayss currently works at a firm in San Diego, where she helps investors from Asia establish companies in California, and does pro-bono work on the side, offering free legal services to immigrants and victims of domestic abuse.

Mayss Akasheh

Dima Masri

FIRAS MOUASHER Firas is pursuing his Master’s degree in innovation and management at Tufts University in Boston and is excited to graduate in May. He also serves on the King’s Academy Alumni Association’s Board of Directors.

Awn Al-Hadeed

JINSEUL JUN Jin is finishing up her first year in the Master’s in Arab studies program at Georgetown University. In December 2018, she returned to Jordan to serve as an intern at Human Rights Watch (HRW), where she conducted research on civil society organizations, and she subsequently accepted an internship with HRW for summer 2019. Jin is also a research assistant at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability.

OMAYMAH AL-HARAHSHEH Omaymah graduated from Barnard College in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in economics and human rights. While at Barnard, Omaymah interned as a developmental economics research assistant, and upon graduation she moved back to Amman, where she currently works as an economic researcher at the Royal Hashemite Court. ZAIN KOSSOUS After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in architecture from McGill University in 2018, Zain moved to Toronto, where she has been working as a junior designer at Teeple Architects. She draws models, renders and photoshops images for construction drawing packages, and models designs for residential condo projects. This fall, she will continue her studies in the Master’s of Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design program at Politecnico di Milano in Italy.

Firas Mouasher wins at the Tufts University Ideas competition OSAMA SBEITAN Recently, Osama obtained a certification in design thinking based on Stanford Design School methodologies from the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship in Munich. He subsequently returned to the United States and established a successful startup incubator called the Food Innovation Hub, which he guides as a member of its board of directors. Osama intends to begin an MBA program during the summer of 2019.

Jinseul Jun

Zain Kossous at her college graduation

SPRING 2019

NORA NESHEIWAT Nora graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in molecular biology. After graduation, she matriculated to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, where she is a Master of Science candidate in the two-year genetic counseling program.

2016 WASAN AL-DALABEEH Wasan is finishing her third year of medical school at Hashemite University and is excited to start her clinical rotations at hospitals around Jordan. This year, she has served as a student body representative on HU’s university council. On the side, Wasan has also been working as a content creator for Ask Hakeem, a site that provides the Arabic-speaking community with information about medical conditions and general medical information.

2015 MOHAMMAD ALMAJALI Mohammad is in his fourth year in the pharmacy program at Hashemite University. He is currently studying abroad at the University of Porto in Portugal, where he is immersing himself in Portuguese culture and learning new pharmaceutical skills.

Fathi Awad and Khalil Abdelrazeq ‘15 in Hyde Park

LEEN MADANAT During the summer of 2018, Leen served as a Data Analytics Intern at Pepsico Dubai. She created AMENA’s first Talent Acquisition Analytics Model to predict success in the hiring process using different statistical software programs. She graduated from Muhlenberg College in the winter of 2018 and took a job in January as Data Scientist at Arab Media Group in Dubai.

2017 MARAH AJILAT A sophomore at Oberlin College, Marah interned in the office of New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat in Washington, D.C. in January. She worked primarily on issues central to Espaillat’s political platform, including immigration rights, fair housing, infrastructure reform and social justice. Marah also leveraged his membership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to learn more about contemporary international affairs, including the ongoing presidential crisis in Venezuela. LENA AL-KAISY Lena is currently in her second year at the Rhode Island School of Design. Read more about what Lena has been up to on page 10.

Leen Madanat

Mohammad AlMajali during a workshop at the University of Coimbra

SARAH TAHA Sarah is graduating from Union College with a Bachelor’s in biomedical engineering. She has recently served as a student trustee, a role that makes her a member of Union’s student government and board of trustees. She will be starting in the Leadership Development Program at Stanley Black & Decker, a Connecticut-based major industrial and hardware manufacturer, in June.

NOUR AL-TWAL Nour was selected as one of the 20 Dana Scholars from the Bates College Class of 2021. This award’s recipients are selected based on service to the college and the community, academic excellence and leadership potential.

LEENA ALNSOUR Leena is currently in her fourth year as a medical student at the University of Jordan. In addition to her studies, she serves as president of the International Federation of Medical Students Association. FATHI AWAD Fathi graduates from the University of Westminster in London this year after studying Business Management. He recently ran into Khalil Abdelrazeq ’15 in Hyde Park!

BEYOND KING’S

Sarah Taha presenting her senior project at college

Nour Al-Twal

KAREEM AL-WAZIR Kareem is a sophomore at Carleton University, where he has been a floor representative for two consecutive years with the Rideau River Residence Association and a representative for the Faculty of Public Affairs at the Carleton University Students’ Association. Kareem also works for Carleton’s Campus Safety Services. And he directs two clubs – the “Read the Past, Write the Future” Initiative, and the Carleton chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He hopes that his work inspires King’s students and motivates them to start working on their own initiatives.

NOOR SABHA Noor is currently studying psychology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Offcampus, she serves as a child mentor with the mentoring charity Citywise. Noor is also receiving training to become an email counselor for Childline, a counseling service for children across the United Kingdom. She delivered a TED talk in March on the theme of rebellion and the importance of pushing back against norms.

Noor Sabha after running a 10k for charity

SARIA SAMAKIE Saria is a sophomore at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He remains involved with Fikra 3al Mashi, the education nonprofit he cofounded with Rami Rustom ’16 and William Close ’16. He encourages all alumni to ponder how they can give back to their communities.

Kareem Al-Wazir with a friend, at the Rideau River Residence Association Formal

SHEILA BABER Sheila is currently a sophomore at MIT, where she studies EAPS (earth, atmospheric and planetary science) and physics. She participates in MIT’s Global Teaching Labs and traveled to Korea to teach physics.

Saria Samakie

2018 HAMZEH SHAHIN After graduating from King’s last year, Hamzeh Shahin matriculated to Mutah University, where he studies medicine. He credits Ms. Dima Kayed’s AP Biology class for his success in his molecular biology and biochemistry classes!

Sheila Baber setting up a physics experiment involving cake batter and electricity for students in Korea as part of MIT Global Teaching Labs

RAMEZ RIHANI Ramez is a freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has not yet decided his major or course of study.

SPRING 2019

ADVANCEMENT UPDATE King’s dedicates Samir Abdelhadi classroom On May 10, 2018, King’s Academy named a Harkness classroom The Samir Abdelhadi Classroom to honor the generosity and philanthropic spirit of Samir Abdelhadi, a pillar of the community and visionary in the field of architecture and engineering. The dedication of The Samir Abdelhadi Classroom reflects Abdelhadi’s lifelong belief in the importance of education.

King’s celebrates the Abu Ghazalehs’ generosity On May 21, 2018, the school community gathered to dedicate The Mohammed Abu Ghazaleh Courtyard, which honors of the generosity of Mohammad and Mahira Abu Ghazaleh, long-time friends and supporters of King’s Academy, and grandparents to King’s students Mohammad Abu Ghazaleh ’20 and Tara Abu Ghazaleh ’22. The dedication of The Mohammad Abu Ghazaleh Courtyard celebrates Mohammad and Mahira Abu Ghazaleh’s belief in the importance of education and in supporting educational institutions to provide youth with the best start in life.

King’s honors Arab Bank and Sabih Masri On May 23, 2018, King’s Academy dedicated the Arab Bank Administration Building to honor and celebrate the generosity of the Arab Bank and the extraordinary support of Chairman of the Board of Arab Bank and member of King’s Board of Trustees Sabih Masri, who made this dedication possible. Masri, on behalf of Arab Bank, made what is the largest contribution to King’s Academy in honor of its tenth anniversary. The Arab Bank believes that an investment in education is an investment in Jordan and its support enables the school to empower generations of young Jordanians, who will go on to be the drivers of change within and beyond their communities.

King’s Day Of Thanks On March 28, 2019, King’s marked “A Day of Thanks,” which gave the school community an opportunity to pause, reflect and thank those people who have made a difference to their time at school. The annual tradition organized by the Advancement Office witnessed its biggest turnout yet with hundreds of thank you notes written. “It was so powerful to see the Student Union buzzing with activity and students and faculty writing notes and drawing pictures and thinking about all the people who make King’s so special,” said Associate Head of School for Advancement Davies Bisset. 80

BEYOND KING’S

A GIFT TO LAST A LIFETIME SUPPORT KINGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S www.kingsacademy.edu.jo/giving