American School of Paris
the ASPect November 2010
N e w s f r o m o u r c o m m u n i t y, f o r o u r c o m m u n i t y
Champions... SP’s Girl’s Varsity Volleyball team scored a first in ISST history by jumping from Second Division champions last year to ISST Division One champions this year! After three days of fierce competition in Brussels the Lady Rebels beat Frankfurt International School in the finals. In addition, the girls ended up with three All-Tournament Team players selected: Kara McClain, Brooke Hodenfield, and Anne Halverstadt. And on a tough and muddy course in LonThe ASPect is kindly sponsored by
don, 11th Grader Olivier Torchiana peaked at the perfect time to become the 2010 ISST Boy’s Varsity Cross Country Champion! As one of the smallest schools taking part in the International Schools Sports Tournament, ASP is especially proud of its crop of champions! Han Hoegen said: “It is such a tremendous result to win Division 1 for the girls this year. With the pressure building after sharing a win and our first loss with the for 3-years undefeated International School of Amsterdam just the weekend before ISST!
This made the team alert and they did manage to live up to their role of favorites to win the 2010 ISST! Congratulations girls, coaches and thank you parents for all your support. “Olivier Torchiana winning the Varsity boys Cross Country ISST is a result of his focus, talent and training since he joined the team as a 7th grader! We are so proud of him and it so well deserved." (See pages 20 & 21 for full results and pictures)
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Again!
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Keeping
Promises
Keeping promises and honesty are central to all we do. Let us explain. place a new DRAFT mission that defines targets for our school’s future. We want our mission to define the special distinctiveness that sets us apart from all other schools. By testifying how we are unique, we also certainly justify our reason for existence.
When the ASP strategic planning process began with convening students, parents, faculty and staff for the future search seminars, the school committed to using the data gained from these meetings to develop a draft for a long-term school improvement plan, our strategic plan. Nearly 250 people were involved in the ASP future search seminars, creating a rich body of information and common themes for continually improving our school.
From Ideas to a Plan of Action Our strategic planning group of 37 students, teachers, staff, parents, board members and administrators (see names below) took our ASP community’s aspirations, embodied within the future search data and common themes, and after three days of intense work, brought home a new DRAFT document detailing ASP’s beliefs, mission, high priority student learning objectives and strategies to be implemented.
A Microcosm of Our Community Everyone on the strategic planning design
The Aspect - November 2010
Decisions, Decisions team is a volunteer. We made every attempt to ensure that the makeup of this group mirrors the nature of our community. The planning team represents every component of the school community. We have members from our parent community, students, alumni, faculty and staff, board of trustees, and school administrators. We want to emphasize that members of this team do not represent their constituency in any political or local sense. We have certainly tried to ensure that membership includes many cultural perspectives as well as community involvement.
From Belief to Strategy The output from the strategic planning group was to arrive at a set of beliefs or fundamental values for our school’s ethical code as a first step. Essentially, these beliefs describe the character of our school as well as defining a target of the quality of interactions we want in the name of learning. As an example, one belief is stated as, “Honesty and integrity are central to all we do.” We need a public declaration of our school’s heart and soul. The belief statements helped us in our planning session to examine our present school mission statement and to set in
The tough part is that our planning team needed to identify all the possible options for school improvement and 21st century programming available to us, to deliberate on these and to agree on how we wish to be unique now and into the future. Obviously our strategic planning group looked at the strengths and weaknesses and critical issues within the current reality of ASP and relied heavily on the data from the future search seminars. Out of this organizational critique we then looked at factors that impacted the school beyond our borders. As an example, we considered the political and economic future of France and how this might impact our future enrollment.
The Focus is Student Learning From here we looked at student learning. We defined statements of school improvement objectives that define our
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Thus far, nearly 250 people have been involved in the future search seminars, creating a rich body of information and common themes for continually improving our school."
Our Strategic Planning Design Team Students: Eli Rivkin, Anna Bradley Webb, Guillaume Julian, Anthony Ghosn, Zaahir Badruddin, Michael Carden, Stefanos Bennink, Berangere Judis
Parents and Alumni: Terry Bachmann, Nasreen Badruddin, Jordan Lewis, Omnia Nour, Anne Schwartz, David Zeiler Board of Trustees: Lis Seeley, Claire Staniforth, Giovanna Monnas, Betsy Blackwell Faculty and Staff: Elvi Keulen, Emma Silva, Greg Jacks, Janet Stettner, Agnes Poudou, Gillian Lynch, Joseph Scanlon, Andrea Neubauer, Tim Trainor, Craig Vezina, Hal Judis, Mario Chioini
Administration: Margaret Coleman, Kathy Miner, Aaron Hubbard, Larry Love, Laurence Feniou, Michele Calon, Mark Ulfers school’s commitment to achieve specific and measurable results toward improving student learning. We tied these objectives very closely to our target, the DRAFT mission statement. These objectives define what we must achieve to truly live out our mission and be true to our school’s beliefs. Another way to say this is that these student-learning improvement objectives take the lofty language of our mission and define action while seeking specific results. Our objectives are student centered. After arriving at a set of student learning objectives we set strategy and defined a road map for meeting our objectives. Our strategies define how we marshal people, facilities, equipment, and any number of other resources toward achieving our desired future results.
Three Intense Days To accomplish the above tasks our strategic planning group needed three intense days of debate, discussion and decision-making. To be clear, our strategic planning group is advisory in nature. This group completed (for access to the draft plan, see link below) a draft of the strategic plan for our school and has sent this to our board of trustees. We must also share this draft with you. Obviously we will be looking for your feedback, ideas and constructive comments.
From Words to Action One final and most important step is that each of the strategies will be backed up with very specific action steps to ensure accountability for implementation of strategic intent. The action steps are important because it’s so easy for any organization to talk and talk and talk or continually plan when what is needed most is action. We need to ensure that what we plan results in very specific and achievable steps to ensure that aspirations for our school as discussed and debated by so many of you and the strategic planning design team truly come to pass for the young people of ASP. If you should have any questions about where your school is heading, we trust that you will drop an email, pick up the phone and call, or schedule a meeting. Talk to members of our design team too. We can think of nothing more important at this stage in the process than for us to be
communicating clearly, for you to feel as involved as is possible, and for you to have the confidence that your ideas and thoughts are welcome. To view the future search seminar data: www.asparis.org/futuresearch To view the DRAFT of the ASP Strategic Plan Framework: www.asparis.org/draft All along, our intention has been to swing the doors wide for you to offer your opinion on the future direction of our school. We want this approach to continue. We know the best schools encourage the debate on what is best for our young people and ask all to strive for excellence. Let us know what your think– after all, keeping promises and being honest is central to all we do. We’re a school on the move.
Lis Seeley
President of the Board of Trustees
Mark E. Ulfers Head of School
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China Expedition 4/student experience
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rom exploring Shanghai markets to the incredible Terracotta Warriors; from Tiananmen Square, to the Great Wall; from the hometown of Confucius to the 7000 steps of Taishan Mountain; from the World Expo to an ancient tea ceremony, our students took ten days to explore some of the experiences this incredible country has to offer. In addition the highlight of the trip for the 29 students was the cultural exchange with three Chinese schools, meeting students who have been their penpals for months and sharing their classes. A team of Middle School teachers; Paul Albright, Fay Hutchinson and Dave Lynn joined by Lower School Teacher, Linda Franco and Admin team member Michele Calon accompanied the students on this trip of a lifetime. The team said: “It has been such a pleasure working with such an outstanding group of students. Some of the most gratifying moments of the trip were seeing how our students went above and beyond in interacting with their pen-pals and thousands of other students, from three different schools, during their visit to Linyi. It was clear that there was much
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more being exchanged than gifts and that tremendous lessons were being learned. It is a daunting task to be asked to serve as an “ambassador” at such a young age, but these students were more than up to the challenge. There is a long, long list of people who deserve special thanks for their role in the planning of this trip and of course a very special thank you to Mr Wang En-
lai, the assistant head of Linyi Number One Middle School who accompanied us for the entire trip. We can think of no better role-model for our students to be exposed to and learn from.” During the trip our students kept an Expedition Diary – posted online in full at: www.asparis.org/china2010 Enjoy these short excerpts!
Day 1 - Shanghai by Natalie and Emily Our first meal in China was great! We were seated at round tables with a large plate that could be rotated in the
middle. We were brought, rice, meats, vegetables, tofu, and other interesting dishes that we shared with our table. There were so many different foods that it was almost too much to try some of each of them.
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Day 2 - Shanghai World Expo by Harrison, Miguel and Noah future. This video included Kobe Bryant, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and President Obama. The next room had a video about a girl who had a dream of planting a beautiful garden in her ruined poor neighborhood. With the help of her neighbors and local friends she was able to plat a pretty garden but it was ruined by a thunderstorm, which led to the neighbors to re-plant the whole garden. This was a nice story about accomplishing your goals, following through with your dreams and teamwork. We entered the French pavilion at the VIP entrance thanks to Lafarge. The French pavilion was a rectangular building around a central courtyard. At the beginning you take an escalator to the top and walk down a spiraling hallway till we reached the bottom floor and that was the end of the exhibit. The pavilion consisted mainly of little exhibits about
French culture, art, fashion and food. After we had visited the US and France we broke up into small groups to go to any pavilion of our choice.
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When all of us had finished eating our breakfast we headed to the smaller World Expo pavilions on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River. These exhibits were about the future of China and the world. The pavilions we went to talked about the possibilities of the future utopias and the impact of the environment on the future. After lunch we skipped the long queue at the pavilion of the United States and were ushered into a room where we watched a funny video with Americans attempting (and ultimately succeeding to say hello in Chinese. In the second room we watched a video about the children’s, and teamwork’s impact on the
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Day 3 - Qufu and Taishan By Cory, Baptiste and Bogdan This long day started with a smooth night of sleeping on the train from Shanghai and then a two hour trip to Confucius’s home town. He was a simple monk, who came up with theories about nature, education and classes of people. He was an extremely intelligent man, and had a large number of students he taught extensively. His ideas ranged from “respect your elders” to “it’s lovely to have friends from all over the world”. As you can see, these are both still applied in ASP. We returned to the bus for a two hour ride to the Taishan Mountain! We all wished ourselves good luck for the hike... we were going to need it. We had seven thousand steps to climb with The Aspect - November 2010
backpacks. It started relatively easily, climbing five steps at a time with gaps between these small flights of stairs. The steps started getting steeper, and the gaps were reduced drastically, pushed to the point of extinction! Just as we thought that we could go on no more, we were told to stop for our dinner break: we were half
way there! The second part of the hike turned out to be a lot harder than the first part. Luckily, with full stomachs and a great deal of teamwork, we managed, one (or two) steps at a time. Then, right when we had fully developed serious “stepophobia” (I think we had seen enough steps to last a life time), we saw the end. People sprinted, shoved each other and raced to the top of the mountain, all in good spirit. The joy was enormous: we had accomplished something huge.
student experience
Day 4 - Taishan and Linyi Arrival
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Day 5 - Linyi By Justin, Alana and Drew
To go down the mountain, we had two options: some people wanted to walk down the stairs and the rest took the cable-car and bus. The walk took only three hours, half the time it took our group to walk up the previous evening. When we arrived at Linyi we were warmly welcomed with a reception hosted by the heads of the Linyi Number Middle School. Some of the dishes were shocking like the chicken dish that had the feet and head in it, and there were some other crazy mixes. We were all polite and tried all the dishes.
Day 6 - Linyi By Clara, Caroline and Alison We rode the bus to a Riverside Poetry Garden, where there was beautiful scenery and fantastic poems carved onto hundreds of rocks. Afterwards, we were lucky enough to go to a Wholesale Market. After lunch, we met with Professor Yao Baohua. She talked about her experience as a child
living in China and during the Cultural Revolution when she was sent to work on a farm for eight years. Then we headed to the Art of War Museum. The museum contained 2000 year-old bamboo strips with chapters of a book by SunBin and his grandson, SunWu. In the afternoon we pulled into the grounds of the Linyi school, and we were greeted with an immense crowd of the students waiting for our arrival. We played thrilling basketball games and had dinner with our penpals.
Today we went to the home of the greatest Calligrapher Wang Xizhi, who lived over 1500 years ago and was born in Linyi. Next to his home was a garden and pond which included a long wall of calligraphy samples, serving as a “calligraphy hall of fame.” We also visited a nearby Buddhist Temple. Our next stop was a school of art called the Wang Bin Studio. The artwork there was exceptionally beautiful. After lunch we met up with our Pen-pals at Linyi Number One Middle School. We had a about twenty minutes to talk with our pen-pals and then we went into their classrooms to give presentations. The class presentations were very exciting and most of the classes included over 70 students. Many of the students had questions about our lives, and even requested some entertainment such as dancing and singing. They were as pleased to meet us as we were pleased to meet them. It was interesting to exchange thoughts on our cultures. We were then shown around the school by our pen-pals. It was an honor to be introduced to the school the way that they did. WOW! It’s amazing, how we could have friends from so far and not even know what they look like, and then to meet up with them at a pizza hut! WOWZERS!
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By Gabe, Misha and Nicholas
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8/student experience Day 7 - Linyi Countryside By Sabrine and Catherine This morning we were on our way to Taiping Junior Middle School. First we looked at an exhibition of students’ artwork; it was amazing to see how talented they are. Then we joined the students with their daily exercises; everyone got really into it and it was a lot of fun! Once we were pumped up, our class got together to plant two friendship trees near the front of the school. Then we separated into three groups and each group went to a classroom full of smiling students, which overwhelmed us with gifts. We spent quite a bit of time with them answering questions, teaching them some French and playing games. Their eyes lit up when we entered the room. We really appreciate the kindness and are thankful for their way of welcoming us with such open arms. After lunch we went to a spa! We had a very fun time. We enjoyed the large swimming pool with slides, underwater-massage seats and hot tubs. Once we were all freshened up and we took the bus to Number 23 Middle School where we met students who were around 16-17 years old. As usual they were extremely kind and excited to meet us, and quite a few students had the most fun, out of all the schools that we visited here. We joined them in their afternoon exercises, which were more complex and harder to follow than they were at the previous school. There were over 3000 students on the field. Then we distributed ourselves into pairs and spoke to classes of about 55 people, all curious to get to know us.
Day 8 - Linyi to Xi’an By Mauro and Trevor Mr. Lynn referred to this day as our ‘recharging’ day which it indeed was.
Day 9 - Xi’an
By Michael, Rob and Max Today we visited one of, if not the most significant archaeological findings of the 20th century, the Terracotta Warriors. Before stepping into the hanger where the soldiers were kept unearthed, we watched a short film on the history and walked around an exhibit on the history. Stepping into the hanger, we closed our eyes and opened them once we were inside. Once our eyes opened we fell upon the beauty of the Terracotta figures before us, all else was forgotten. All that we could think of was the beauty of these mute, yet fierce soldiers and how human hands can make things of such beauty. We learned that every single soldier had different facial features, and that each soldier was an archer, infantryman, low ranking officer, high ranking officer or a cavalryman. We then went on to learn the history. We even had a chance to meet the man who discovered of the first soldier in 1974, a farmer who was digging a well. After lunch we visited the Xi’an Muslim/Silk Market, part of the old Silk Road which stretches from Xi’an to Istanbul, Turkey. The Aspect - November 2010
Day 10 – Beijing By Amelie and Ben We set off to Tiananmen Square to visit several impressive historical sites including Mao’s Mausoleum, the Forbidden Kingdom, and, of course, Tiananmen Square itself. Tiananmen Square is the biggest public square in the world. As we walked around the square, we realized how much we were being watched - one lamp post had 7 cameras! We waited in the line for Mao’s Mausoleum for approximately 20 minutes, but the wait was definitely worth it. Hundreds of flowers lined a cabinet to commemorate Mao. There seemed to a mixed feeling of both unspoken fear of Mao and of pure admiration. We entered the second room. And there was Mao. He seemed to be resting so peacefully that he could wake at any moment. He was covered in a preserving wax, a bright light shone on his entire body, and a flag of a hammer and sickle covered his torso and legs. He looked simply heavenly. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air as people stared in admiration or in shock at the body of one of the most influential men of the 20th Century. After an hour a half visit we boarded
Day 11 - Beijing and The Great Wall By India and Tamara
rickshaws, two by two, and traveled through an old section of Beijing known as the Hotongs - narrow allies where people still live. We stopped off at a home where we were able to appreciate a meal that a real chinese family would traditionally enjoy. It was delicious! After two hours at the Silk Street Market, we headed to an impressive acrobatic show which had many different talents on display; from acrobatics to breath-taking juggling acts. Mr. Lynn, who has been to six acrobatic shows in China, said this was by far the best he had ever seen.
At 8:00 we got on the bus to see one of the 7 world wonders, The Great Wall of China. When we arrived at the Wall we took a small hike to the top. We arrived at the top to see the breath taking view of The Great Wall stretching both way for what seemed like an infinite distance. At the end, we begged the teachers to let us take the slide down the wall and hill to the tourist village 150 meters below. It was great. After lunch we hopped on our bus and took a drive to Olympic Stadium were the 2008 opening ceremony took place. We visited the “Birds nest” and received gold medals from the teachers. We then took a relaxing trip to a Tea Ceremony. We tasted traditional Chinese teas and learned in what ways they help with health. Next to come, our Halloween treat. At the Beijing night market you can find many interesting things such as decorations and live edible scorpion. Yes these students did try interesting foods such as scorpions, snakes, spiders, starfish, seahorses, kidney, cocoons, locus, heart and lizards. It was a cool traditional experience for most while others found it icky. This last night in China is one of the most memorable and tasty of all the others. Although everyone is sad to leave this beautiful country we will all be glad to be in our parents arms again. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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10/service special report
From the mouths ospital Rusescu H d re lf A e th ady at ain and alre . I now live g ld a t o n s a th n n g o 10 m head up she is pre Darius. I am n’t hold my are of me – a c c I e k t. ta n e ’t n My name is m ould room apart y mommy c ur one bed o in because m g in v li why. er children don’t know has six oth e ught W . p u it rest and bro ven s a e h r c o u t, B h d ig n a u ers str ternities aro some moth a , 7 m 1 l a is it r p e s o th born in h rn kids at friend’s mo their newbo friends were one of my : e y v ry m a f to le o s t t to s n o ur re m M l because o causes the a y has a diffe h it d ic p o s h b o w ry h l e o e v h E th here. n left at gs or alco orn and the ms with dru b le re b a ro e p w e v e ha e tim re of us. ut most of th y to take ca e n o m h hospitals. B g u runs the no not have e ram, which o g d ro rs P e e if th L o life: m ild ore normal m Inocenti Ch a a ti d a a d le n u e F n, w e other childre we have th the program , h h s it it u w r W t c fo . k ra ly e . We inte g the we Fortunate n’t have this me to durin tart walking s o c n e e v w e m d o n l. If we did a ia y rawl c e la p playro p s l, l e w cra r learn to c us fe e to v e e k e c a n a m p ld s u d o n a with us a we have ng. We w s all day lo m staff play b ra ri c g r ro u p o e in th and ve to stay e would ha program w r a week to om ASP fo fr e fter m that way. a c o s wh our naps a d n d ie e e fr n w e e w n here . Boy did thank our us won’t be d I want to ept us busy f n k o a y t ll s s a d o n re M ie s fr y l. gh, My us. You gu ck next Apri knows thou a ld o b o h h e W d m n o . c a n n h re play wit other child ies to take ope you ca ere will be you! We h foster famil th y h t it a u p w b y , g e in re th y a pla foster c e money e will be in k 25% of th c a b t u c y because w d alrea s a h t n e m This Toussaint break 8 students from the Romania the govern Club and 2 chaperones worked in the playroom run care of us. ou), y k n a h (t , c by Fundatia Inocenti at the Alfred Rusescu Hospital in Multumes
Dear ASP,
Darius
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Bucharest, Romania. Students Dylan Begnaud, Emily Bendix, Ines Duarte, Flor DeNoij, Brooke Holdenfield, Oceane Langreney, Michelle Thissen and Misperi Yigit along with chaperons Cathy McLaury and Jim Denison helped in the playrooms and organized arts and crafts activities for older children. The Romania Club raises money to support the program through bake sales, pizza sales, dodge ball tournaments, etc. The club’s goal is to raise 3,200€ this year. With this money the program buys diapers, baby formulas and everything else needed for the babies, it also helps cover the staff’s salary.)
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service special report
of babes...
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12/service special report
Building Foundations
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group of twenty 11th and 12th graders volunteered to spend their fall break building homes for several poor families in a small Romanian village two hours from Bucharest. Upon arriving at the site, ASP’s Habitat team was met by a spirited construction supervisor, truckloads of dirt, bags of cement, and herds of cows and chickens. “It was really funny to see the chickens running around while we were working,” excitedly remarked 12th grader Kelly Morrison. Within a week, the dirt and cement had turned into the foundations for two new homes which would go to two families in need. In fact, ASP’s group was so diligent and impressive that they were also able to dig ditches for electrical wires and cut wood for the frames of the houses, jobs that the Habitat organization did not expect to see completed until the end of the month. Wheel-barrow engineer Alex Knowles, dirt-packer extraordinaire Danielle Azoulay and concrete supervisor Anthony Webster, as did every team member, had memorable experiences: “It is definitely something we want to do again,” they said. The Aspect - November 2010
Emma Willems and Morgan Claverie added, “It was difficult work, but we’re tough and we were happy to be part of it.” Habitat club President Sietse Goffard and Vice President Beatrice Verez helped to organize the trip and were extremely pleased with the success and ecstatic about another important moment in the trip: “Meeting the family of the homeowners was one of the highlights and made the long-awaited trip well-worth all the fundraising and planning.” The club worked throughout the year to raise over 4,000 euros; 7,000 euros in supplies were donated from this group. The trip would not have been complete, however, without trips to Dracula’s Castle, the Bucharest Palace, and the social bonding. Whether it was peanut m & m’s, the guitar hero competitions, or the melodious music of Henry Ott’s Romanina bagpipe on the mountain-top, the group laughed from the onset of their journey and through all of the chicken dinners until their return to Paris. “The trip was great, but it would not have been as cool without the mix of kids and Mr Semaan, Mr. Kim, and Ms. Ingols,” beamed senior Robb Johnston. Linus Bodicoat nodded in agreement.
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for Families-Literally!
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14/visiting author
Girl Power at ASP! by Virginia Larner, US English Department lively and convivial with comments ranging from a father’s concern about how to best encourage his young daughters’ sense of self to a student’s admission that she felt good about who she was, thanks to the efforts of a supportive mother. Ms. Lipkin has continued to correspond with members of the ASP community and express her appreciation for such a warm and open welcome at our school.
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oetry is said to be a “voicing, a calling forth”. It is in this register that guest speaker Elline Lipkin addressed the ASP community last month. A research scholar at UCLA’s Center for the Study of Women, Ms. Lipkin is the author of the prize-winning 2006 poetry anthology The Errant Thread, as well as the acclaimed 2009 Girls’ Studies, a “clear and easy-toread guide to the emergent and diffuse field of girls’ studies in the United States.” On these two days Ms. Lipkin ran studentbased sessions that engaged IB psychology candidates in the research skills she used while conducting case studies, questionnaires, and observation surveys that fed her insightful work on teenage girls. Likewise, drawing from her doctoral thesis in creative writing, she beautifully read a number of her own poems to IB and AP English students, evoking stark memories of her mother’s childhood in Rwanda, her father’s strong European roots, and her own personal narratives of yearning set in Paris and New York. One afternoon about ninety people— students, faculty and staff, and parents— gathered in the Cube to listen to Elline’s informative talk on key issues of empowerment, body image, and media impact on teenage girls, as discussed in her recent Girls’ Studies. The Q and A session that followed was The Aspect - November 2010
She would like to keep the conversation going by having you write in comments about teenage issues (affecting girls and boys) on her website www.girlsstudies.com that is now up and running. Let’s respond to her beckoning invitation.
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I thought Elline Lipkin’s talk was interesting and thoughtprovoking. Even though she has such an accomplished career, I liked that she was so friendly and open to our questions when she talked to us. My favorite poems that she read were the ones about Paris and life abroad.” Emma WillemS (Grade 12)
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I was incredibly impressed with the pieces of the poet. I find that she awakened in me a pride in the city of Paris where I live.” Claire Agius (Grade 12)
school news
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ASP talent tops out in China
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experience, I underestimated how much you can learn about someone’s character through the music they play rather than what they say. It was a fantastic opportunity to play with high class musicians from around the world and was the perfect excuse to visit Beijing.” Lukas Papenfusscline notes, “Being surrounded by a mélange of culture, appreciation and togetherness under the umbrella of jazz performance is an unforgettable experience. Put it in China and you’ve got a recipe for a once-in-alifetime thing. Understanding a different culture and its relationship with the arts as well as appreciating the subtle differences which underscore all peoples truly fed into the inspirational and invigorating experience which the music created.”
SP seniors Rob Seeley and Lukas Papenfusscline have just returned from Beijing, China, where they were among the most outstanding performers at the AMIS International Jazz Festival. Both were selected via very competitive auditions last spring, Rob for the Big Band and Lukas for the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. ASP Band Director Neal Yocom was also busy at the festival working with the top jazz combo, which happened to include Rob Seeley. One memorable moment for the ASP group came at the Friday night combo concert where both students were featured as soloists in a crowd-rocking version of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.” Rob Seeley writes, “Although I predicted the week to be an extremely memorable
Supporting Excellence The Excellence Fund 10-11 was launched this month. With each invitation to participate in annual giving, parents were given an invitation for coffee with Head of School, Mark Ulfers and Director of Advancement, Michael McNeill to ask any questions they might have with regard to school fundraising. We are looking forward to a successful second year of annual giving at ASP! Please join in support of: l
Academic Excellence: Innovative Programs that push the limits for student learning
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Tools for Excellence: Ensuring technology for tomorrow
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Teaching Excellence: Investing in teachers you remember for life
Coffee dates at 8.30am in the Advancement Office. RSVP to mmcneill@asparis.fr l
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December 2 The Aspect - November 2010
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I never saw another ASP was delighted to welcome Terezin survivor and artist, Helga Weissova-Hoskova to ASP for a 3-day transformative visit.
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he 82-year-old artist, Helga discovered the Power of Art as a child in the most terrifying of circumstances, as she fought for her life in a Nazi concentration camp – Terezin – in the Czech Republic. To quote from Art, Music and Education as Strategies for Survival : Theresienstadt 1941-45 «The Theresienstadt ghetto differed from all other ghettos. It was designed to decieve the outside world and to hide the truth of the murder of the Jews from public opinion .» Helga followed a simple and yet painful direction from her father – Draw what you see – and the result was the stunning exhibition hosted in the Cube of art that survived because it was preciously hidden by her and others from the camp. Post-war the artists from Terezin have become an inspiration worldwide. Drama Teacher Gillian Lynch explained her long association with Helga and Terezin : «I was given the opportunity to attend a workshop at Theresienstadt, shortly after arriving at ASP. I came away forever altered. The next year , ASP was invited to attend the International Festival of Tolerance held in Terezin and I returned with Upper School Art Teacher, Cora Enard and students. I then began working on an adaptation of the play «I Never Saw another Butterfly» inspired from the story of Terezin for our
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Middle School students to perform. The show incorporated many of Helga’s drawings from the cycle drawn in Terezin, as projected images onto the stage. » To welcome Helga to ASP for three days of intensive workshops and presentations with students, faculty and parents was an honor and for many a live changing moment. Gillian continued : «This was Helga’s first time in Paris. She wanted to see everything . Many stepped up to ensure that any free moment was filled with visiting Paris. Parents Corine Ott and Lisa Barsumian visited the Musee d’Orsay with her. English Teacher Chris Friendly gave an amazing guided tour of the masterpieces in the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Pantheon. A dinner was hosted especially in Helga’s honor by the President of the Board Lis Seeley as well as a guided tour of Monmartre and even a ride through Versailles. Following her talk on Thursday evening Helga attended the US Fall Concert which she enjoyed immensely. She confided that it also brought her back to softer memories of when as a mother herself, she went to listen to her son and later his daughter’s play at their school’s concerts. Both are now professional musicians . Her visit was mémorable for everyone in that it gave all the moments to reconnect with that which makes us truely who we are human beings. »
visiting author
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butterfly
Helga with US teacher Chris Friendly during her visit to Le Louvre.
The power of the individual By Lukas Papenfusscline (Grade 12)
The human spirit and ideas represented by art can never be destroyed even by the greatest tragedies. Thousands of plays, songs, operas, drawings and other works of art were created by Jews during World War II which expressed their experiences in the midst of atrocities they endured. Much was lost through destruction and the death of artists during the Holocaust, yet much survived to inspire generations. Artist Helga Weissova, now 82, diligently expressed her experiences and what she witnessed in concentration camps with drawings and paintings beginning at the age of 12, and continues to this day to create haunting, shocking works of her experiences in Terezin in her native Czechoslovakia and later Auschwitz, Freiberg and Mauthausen. Her art gives us a glimpse of the horrors of dayto-day life in the camps, but is also a testament to the power of the individual and the power of art. The art created by Jews in World War II was a rebellious blow against evil. Songs performed for the King of Denmark and the visiting Red Cross at Terezin boldly expressed inmates’ suffering through the clever use of double entendres and hidden meanings. Many children also spent their days
writing poems which were rarely sad but rather focused on the beauty of life in the midst of suffering and the love they felt for one another and about their longed-for futures. Even Helga’s drawings were not always sad. She often drew what she hoped to do after the war, where she hoped to be and with whom. I traveled to Terezin with a group of ASP students when I was in eighth grade with Gillian Lynch and Cora Enard. I was shocked by the horrors of the Holocaust that survivors talked about — of the boxes of ashes of victims thrown in the river as the allies approached the camp, the dreadful living conditions, ever-changing laws and grueling work conditions. But my overwhelming feeling was one of inspiration and admiration for the strength of people like Helga who endured so much and lived to bear witness to an appalling period of history and still keep faith and love intact. I was struck by the power that art can have in such a defeatist place. Art raised hopes, helped express love, hate and frustration, and nurtured a human community that strengthened support and perseverance.
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18/visiting author
Momentum
“The quantity of motion affecting an object” by Elizabeth Lefevre With MOMENTUM, artist Jonathan Saiz explores the contrasts and relationships found between representational painting and non-representational sculpture by combining the two mediums; a theme that is consistently present in his work. In this ASP site-specific piece he focuses on the forces of painted ocean surges and waves that collide and shift directions around the weighty large-scale cube it is painted on. It is this mixing of a fixed object with a painted image that often leads to an unexpected visual dialogue that is more than the sum of the two disparate parts. Jonathan Saiz is a professional artist who recently moved to Paris from Denver Colorado. His work is a hybrid of sculpture and painting and often incorporates imagery of movement or tension: The forward rush of an ocean wave or the backwards pull of a “tug-of-war” player. He is a 2001 graduate of the International Baccalaureate Program in Denver Colorado, and studied painting at Parsons School of Design in Paris France, Parsons School of Design in New York and The Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore Maryland. In 2010 he completed a two year Artist in Residency Program at Redline Denver and was featured in “Love Lines” an
international group exhibition curated by Robischon Gallery of Colorado featuring Tracey Emin, Jonathan Saiz, Kiki Smith, Xiong Lijun, Wu Fan, Ann Hamilton,
Calligraphy
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Roger Shimomura among others. Please visit his website, www.jonathansaiz.com, to see more of his work.
These beautiful pieces were created by 9th and 10th grade Studio Art students. The class was introduced to the basic element of design (line) using brush and ink. The Chinese calligraphy was introduced to them as an example to follow. The students then created frames using collage inspired by the art work of a contemporary French artist called Pierre Alechinsky.
Advancing ASP
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Bollywood Gala Plans Taking Shape Plans are moving full steam ahead for ASP’s big Bollywood Gala to be held on Saturday March 19.
O
ur team of volunteers is buzzing to make sure this celebration of ASP will be both the party of the year and make a significant contribution to the school’s future success in nurturing and educating our children. Here are just a few of the exciting developments we can share with you.
creative and fun items that will entice and delight young and old.
Advance Tickets on Sale at the Holiday Boutique
Location, location, location! We are thrilled to announce the venue for a night of fun, glamour, and glitz Bollywood style: the prestigious Pré Catalan. Ideally located in the Bois de Boulogne, tucked between the city streets of Paris and the banlieue communities where many ASP families live, the Pré Catalan will provide the perfect backdrop for this schoolwide happening.
Auction on the Agenda We’re planning not one but three auctions as part of this festive event: an online auction that will run from Tuesday, March 1 to Friday, March 18; a silent auction to be held at the Gala and of course, an exciting live auction on Gala night with a handful of exciting items you won’t want to miss. There will be something for everyone and every budget from classroom creations to holiday homes, souvenirs of your time in Paris (jewelry! art! wine!) to trips you will never forget. Principal for a day, front row seats for graduation, story time with your child’s teacher: count on those items and much, much more. To make this event super successful, we’re looking for a wide array of auction items from the school community. Have a special talent you can share? Cooking classes and professional services are always a hit! Have a vacation home you can spare for a week
or a weekend, or swimming pool that would make a great venue for a kids birthday party? Does your company have box seats for the theater or sporting events? Direct your ideas or questions to Theresa Schott at jtmmurphy@earthlink.net or Michael McNeill at mmcneill@asparis.fr. We are looking for
The first group of tickets for what promises to be a sell out event will be on sale at ASP’s Holiday Boutique on Saturday, December 4. Tickets are priced at 175 euros, a steal when you consider that this includes a champagne reception, dinner and drinks, plus dancing and entertainment, all in the company of your friends from ASP. We expect tickets to go quickly; don’t get caught short and left out of the fun! For those willing to make an extra commitment to the effort, we’ll also be offering patron tickets at different levels; a portion of patron revenues will be used to underwrite faculty and staff tickets to the Gala. There’s much, much more to come. Watch your e-mail and ASP’s new Web site for Gala news and developments: www.asparis.org/gala2011
The prestigious Pré Catalan takes its name from Louis XVI’s hunting captain, Théophile Catelan. Catering in the salons is provided by Lenôtre under the direction of Guy Krenzer, Meilleur Ouvrier de France for cuisine, and wines selected by Olivier Poussier, Meilleur Sommelier du Monde. Inaugurated as a restaurant during the Belle Epoque, the historic setting features period rooms and art, all nestled within the verdant setting of the Bois de Boulogne. Learn more at www.precatelanparis.com
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20/ sport news
ASP's Athletic
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sport news
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Pride! I
n addition to the Girl’s historic championship success and Olivier Torchiana’s triumph (see the front page), ASP has plenty to celebrate, both on the courts, courses and pitches with all the teams that took part in the Fall Season International Schools Sports Tournament – and off them, with our wonderful ASP community. The Boys Varsity Volleyball team went to Brussels and finished in fifth position. Congratulations to Max Jackson who was selected to the All-Tournament team. In London, in addition to 11th Grader Olivier’s champion success, becoming the 2010 ISST Boy’s Varsity Cross Country Champion, another 11th Grader, Jenny Wood, also picked up a medal, finishing 4th in the Girl’s Varsity race. Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls and JV Boys cross country teams all finished in 5th team place; and JV Girls finished 8th. Overall ASP finished in 6th place. The Girls Varsity Soccer team traveled to sunny Cairo for their tournament and finished 7th. Jane Kirkham, one of our youngest and newest Rebels, was voted to the All-Tournament team. And congratulations to the Boys Varsity Soccer team who won the Arvid Paarsonen Fair Play Award for 2010; a huge honor as this is based solely on the observation of the referees and is representative of the standards and goals that ASP pursues. This was an extremely competitive championship in adverse weather conditions and our boys finished 7th, just missing out on the semi-finals after a nail biting penalty shoot out in the quarter finals. James Mackenzie and Marko Stojkavic were chosen to the All-Tournament team. Athletic Director Han Hoegen said: “The ASP community continues to amaze us. The feedback from the visiting teams about your warmth and hospitality was again second to none. MERCI!” And the housing challenge for our Soccer Tournament brought out the true ASP spirit with Lower and Middle School families stepping up to help. One family with Kindergarten and Grade 2 children had this to say of their experience: “This has been a positive experience for us and it was a pleasure having these boys over! My daughter’s subject at school these days is Community - what a great way to have an example of helping our school community and continue learning at home. This gave me an opportunity to discuss these matters with my kids and continue and educate them in the spirit of accepting the differences, being open minded and being involved in our school community. The kids actually expected the boys to stay another week with us and to be at my son’s birthday party this Saturday!” A huge thank you to all the families and fans who supported our Rebels both abroad and at home. A special thank you to our Boosters, led by Darla Pape, student volunteers and especially our host families who had lots of muddy uniforms to wash! And last but by no means least - A special mention to our most recent ISST host, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, born on Thursday, November 11 while his family was housing a visiting athlete! That’s dedication! Congratulations to the Rodriguez family. The Aspect - November 2010
22/learning outside the classroom
Middle School by Mary Carley
I
n October the 6th graders kicked off their unit on the middle ages with a trip to two fascinating castles. First stop was Guedelon, a medieval castle construction site where artisans are constructing a castle using only medieval methods and materials. Students observed stone cutters, carpenters, rope makers, and many others working together to build a castle. The castle is expected to be completed in 2025. Our second stop was a visit to Ratilly, an authentic medieval castle located just a few kilometers away. The castle now houses a pottery studio and functions as a center for the arts. The Sixth graders who are new to Paris got a chance to practice their French and discover a new region of France. Our advanced and Francophone students served as interpreters for those who needed help, and in the evening Francophones entertained and challenged their peers to improve their French with board games about Guedelon and castle building.
‘‘
I think that Guedelon was a very special experience that brought the past to preset. The idea of building a medieval castle like they did in the Middle Ages is amazing. There were so many different workshops. The most interesting part is that they made most of the materials and they used the same techniques used to build the castle as the workers did in the Middle Ages. I would love to try to work as a stone carver for a day at Guedelon. It would be fun! I hope I can come back when the castle is finished in 2025.” Sonia Ben Amar (Grade 6)
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learning outside the classroom
Time Machine ‘‘
“At Guedelon I had a blast. I learned a lot about castles and the medieval times. This field trip was valuable to me because we were learning about this in social studies, but we only watched movies and looked at maps and text books. We heard about Guedelon a lot, but to see it was amazing. We had a tour guide who knew everything and we learned to much more about castles. Going there was like seeing the past in the future. It was a clue to a very important piece of history. Guedelon will be finished in 2025 and I can’t wait to see what the scientists and historians will learn.” Joe Morro (Grade 6)
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24/student experience
International Solutions
in Istanbul!
by Bristol Lewis (Grade 7)
L
ast month, 19 members of the Middle School Model United Nations club embarked on a four day trip to Istanbul, Turkey. These students would represent The United Kingdom and Turkey, at the 5th annual JMUN conference at Hisar school in Istanbul. The theme of the conference was “Protecting the Right of the Child”. Altogether, over 400 students from Turkey, Egypt, Greece, the Netherlands and France attended the conference. Despite the rainy weather, the group spent their first day touring around Istanbul. They visited the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, and went shopping at the Grand bazaar! They also took a boat cruise to Asia, where they visited a local mosque. As is tradition, they enjoyed lunch at Burger King (where everyone did eat like a King), and a delicious dinner at a local Turkish restaurant. After dinner, everyone went on a night walk around the Blue Mosque and the surrounding historical district. The next three days were spent in simulation settings where students tried to find solutions to keep children away from harm and injustices. Some topics that members debated included: children in war zones, child abuse, children in natural disasters, child trafficking and more. Every delegate put effort into coming up with solutions and debating what their country believed in. Every student also The Aspect - November 2010
made sure to get their views out through empowering speeches and questions that were thought through and clever. It was fun and interesting to work with other students from different schools all around the world, to see what their points were on the issues. We are very proud of what our school put into this conference and were very impressed by all the delegates, but especially the brand new members to MUN, who caught onto the process very fast. After a full day of debating, the school who
hosted the conference put on a dance to celebrate what every committee had done to help solve the many hardships that children have to face around the world today. Everyone on the plane ride back to Paris could not believe that our trip was already done and wished that it went on longer. We had a great time in Istanbul, but now we are looking forward to all of the upcoming conferences, especially the one we will be hosting in March, so we can all try our best to solve our world’s problems, one step at a time.
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26/school news
African magic! by Sietse Goffard (Grade 12)
F
or two full and unforgettable days last month, ASP came alive with the vibrant sounds of singing children and beating drums! We proudly hosted the African Children’s Choir, a world-renowned group of 24 talented young children from countries including Kenya and Uganda. They treated us to a variety of singing and dancing workshops during their exciting visit, which culminated in a spectacular final concert. Featuring traditional African dances, lively chants, and gospel songs, their performance blew away the massive audience of students, parents, and teachers alike. A huge thanks to Aaron Hubbard, Chris Chater, Gillian Lynch, the PFA, FOTA, the housing parents, the organizing students, and everyone else who helped make this event such a shining success!
The African Children’s Choir was founded 25 years ago by Ray Barnett, a humanitarian worker who spent much of the 70s and 80s working in war torn Uganda. On one trip, Ray and his companions gave a small boy a ride from is decimated home to the safety of another village. During the journey, the child did what he knew how to do best – he sang. In the midst of despair, the boy’s song revealed a glimmer of hope,
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a reminder of the beauty and dignity of this boy and his people. Ray knew that if only a group of these children could go to the West, people would be deeply moved and certainly want to help. In April 1984, Ray and team of volunteers went to Uganda to select 31 vulnerable children who would become the first African Children’s choir and with funds raised from their first tour, a children’s home was
established in Kampala. Today the wider charity, Music For Life, operates homes, projects and schools for vulnerable children in Sudan, Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana helping thousands of children forge a future where they had none. For more information about the African Children’s Choir and the work of Music For Life: www.africanchildrenschoir.com
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school news
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28/school news
Water is Life!
E
very year our Upper School students in the National Honors Society choose a humanitarian cause to support and leading a school wide fundraising program. This year the students have chosen Amman Imman, an NGO founded and directed by ASP Alum Ariane Kirtley - which brings water and life to a drought-ridden and forgotten corner of Africa. http://www.ammanimman.org/ ASP was delighted to welcome Ariane on campus again this month to meet and work with children from Lower, Middle and Upper School. The mission of Amman Imman (which means “Water is Life” in the local dialect), is to bring water to the people of the Azawak area in Niger where every year hundreds of people die of thirst and disease. In November last year, she spent a full day presenting to captive audiences in the Lower, Middle and Upper School about her work and how empowered children can be to help other children. And she returned to continue to inspire our students as they launch their own fundraising efforts in support of Amman Imman. She said: “What a truly amazing day it was for me! I felt so invigorated by the connections I made with ASP’s students and staff. You all welcomed me so wonderfully - I felt so special. I need more days like the one The Aspect - November 2010
I spent at ASP. It reminds me of one of the most beautiful reasons that Amman Imman is so important - spreading the knowledge and compassion for the kids of the Azawak by opening the hearts of kids elsewhere in the world.” Ariane, graduated from ASP in 1996, attended Yale University majoring in Medical Anthropology and went onto receive her Masters from the Yale School of Public Health. After graduation she obtained a Fulbright Scholarship and spent a year traveling across Niger studying the variations among
different ethnic groups concerning health behavior, knowledge and resources. During that time she visited a region called the Azawak and was astonished by the dire conditions she witnessed: “I saw children traveling up to 30 kilometers a day in temperatures as high as 125F searching for water. The children would return with cups of mud, and my visit fell during the rainy season! I returned a few months later to witness for myself how such a terrible situation could worsen. I saw a population of over 500,000 people suffering from a sheer lack of water.” The rainy season in this area, such as it was with a few minutes of rainfall each day, has reduced from five months to just 30 days over the last 10 years. But she also brings a message of hope and empowerment. Since 2005 Ariane has established Amman Imman and is raising funds to build bore-hole wells, drilling nearly 1000meters to reach the clean and plentiful water below the desert. She explained to children from all divisions: “Water allows you to grow your own food, build a home and allows a family to stay clean and avoid disease. It also means children can spend their day at school rather than skimming through muddy marshes and the presence of water attracts other NGOs to invest in the region – to build schools and health centers, set-up food relief programs, and combat the environmental degradation of the region.”