PSI Life Spring Issue 2017 by Pechersk School International

PECHERSK SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL

SPRING 2017

PSI LIFE

PERSONAL EXCELLENCE

EDITOR’S LETTER

DIRECTOR’S NEWS

BOARD UPDATE

UNPACKING OUR NEW MISSION STATEMENT

PRIMARY PRINCIPAL

PERSONAL EXCELLENCE IN THE EC

GRADE THREE USES THE WRITING PROCESS FOR PERSONAL EXCELLENCE

4 WAYS TO ACHIEVE PERSONAL EXCELLENCE IN UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE

WELCOME TO RUSSIAN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE CLASS!

PERSONAL EXCELLENCE IN THE SPANISH AL CLASS IN PSI

MORE TO THE MUSIC

SECONDARY

SECONDARY PRINCIPAL

MYP GRADE 10: INDEPENDENCE & EXCELLENCE

GRADE 11 HOMEROOM

LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

MAKERSPACE

AUTHENTIC SELF

DP VISUAL ART SENIOR EXHIBITION

COMUNITY

PTA

CAS: PROJECT WITH A LONG HISTORY

CAS: LIFE CHANGING ACTIVITIES

PSI SPORTS

SOLUTION FOCUSED TOOLS FOR PARENTING

ALUMNI

LITERACY MONTH 2017

PRIMARY

PSI LIFE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE WWW.PSI.KIEV.UA

Chief Editor – Emma Zelenina emmaz@psi.kiev.ua

Copy Editor – Patricia Puia patriciap@psi.kiev.ua

Layout Design – Max Mart Printed by: “Ukrdruk” Publishing company

PSI Life is published quarterly by Marketing and Communications Department of Pechersk School International, Kyiv for students, alumni, parents, and friends of the school.

Founder Pechersk School International, 7a Victora Zabily Kyiv, Ukraine, 03039 Phone: (380 44) 377 5292 Fax: (380 44) 377 5242 communication@psi.kiev.ua www.psi.kiev.ua

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P E R S O N A L E XC E L L E N C E

DEAR PSI COMMUNITY:

By Emma Zelenina, Marketing and Admissions Manager

Please enjoy reading our Spring 2017 edition, which is focusing this time on one of the components of the PSI Mission Statement: ‘Personal Excellence in the classroom and beyond’. I am very proud that our students develop and demonstrate personal excellence in everything they do, both at school and in their personal lives. In this issue, you will find lots of wonderful examples of our Primary and Secondary School students being personally excellent in ways that will help them achieve the most in their future lives. There are so many stunning projects in both Primary and Secondary School as well as community events in this part of the year, including the Grade 12 Senior Art Exhibition, the upcoming production of Oliver!, the CAS Djerela project, CEESA competitions, and the Rock N Roll PTA event. All of these definitely show that personal excellence is an important pillar of the PSI Mission Statement. I am also happy to see the new facilities coming along so quickly. I hope you will enjoy seeing the interior images of our new facilities in this Spring Edition as we continue the advancements of the Phase II Building Project! Spring is in the air — let’s embrace it. And enjoy your Spring Holiday!

PSI INTERNATIONAL FUTURES FORUM SUCCESS THIS MONTH, FORTY STUDENTS, PARENTS AND STAFF PARTICIPATED IN THE FIRST PSI INTERNATIONAL FUTURES FORUM.

This was an opportunity for the school community to come together and to look at our changing world and how schools like PSI will need to continue to review and adapt curriculum and programmes to match these changes over time. The focus of the Forum was to investigate just what skills students will need to navigate and to be successful in 20 or 30 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time. The Futures Forum established and used three premises and one question to guide the presentations, discussions and thinking: We are educating our children / students to become happy, successful and productive members of society. Our world and society are changing, faster and faster all the time. We are preparing our children / students for a future (tertiary education, work and life), although we can barely conceive what that future will be like. What skills will PSI provide them to ensure their success?

Our guest speaker for the evening was PSI parent and board member, Mr. Peter Erben. Peter is the Senior Global Electoral Advisor and Country Director for Ukraine. His work with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems has seen him lead initiative, in over 20 countries. In particular, Peter spoke about our changing world, education systems and their differences, and keeping an important balance - which include studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; happiness - in our schools and lives.

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Presentations were also provided by PSI parents and teachers:

Our Changing World - Robert Farrell Future Education / Teaching & Learning - Annahita Sarty Technology Innovations - Rory Parkinson General Meeting / Global Citizens - John Burns

The presentations are also available from PSI Reception for anyone interested. This is the beginning of an exciting new initiative at PSI. A Futures Committee will shortly be formed to plan additional projects, events and actions for the coming school year.

Kind regards, John Burns Director Pechersk School International, Kyiv.

DO GOOD AND TALK ABOUT IT

‘Do good and talk about it’ is a rough translation of a German saying and (it turns out) the name of a German book on public relations. I was reminded of it while looking at the feedback from our recent survey on participation at PSI. But before I go into that, let me first take the opportunity to thank all of you who completed the survey. It really is helpful to have feedback from such a representatively large group, and it is much appreciated.

t the beginning of the year, the board set the following goal: ‘Improve participation, interaction and engagement with students, parents and the wider Kyiv community’. We started by finding out how we compared to other CEESA schools and to our own past levels of participation at PSI. We also

wanted to find out if there were any ‘roadblocks’, things that prevented participation and at the same time look for suggestions on what we could do differently. It was these last two points that the survey was focused on. I would summarise the results of the survey as being generally very positive and note that there were no nasty surprises for the board or school administration in the feedback*. It is one thing to analyse the feedback as data and identify similarities and differences in how particular groups responded, but it is another thing to read through the comments and suggestions (and thank you again to all those who took the time to write them). It can be quite challenging to group and aggregate this kind of feedback in order to prioritise areas of

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Rob Farrell, Board Chairperson Pechersk School International, Kyiv, Ukraine

improvement or actionable ideas. There were many great suggestions among the survey responses and we shall be acting on as many as we can in future. But there were a surprising number of suggestions for things that PSI is already doing, which reminded me of the saying above: ‘Do good and talk about it’. It seemed to me that perhaps we could do more to explain why we do certain things. Also, perhaps we forget at times that those who are new to the school cannot know what was happening at PSI before they arrived.

Going forward we will try harder to include the origins of decisions that affect our community. For example, the next PSI Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be an evening event at the school because the most common reason given for not attending the AGM was ‘timing and location’ while of those who plan to attend, 64% preferred the evening over the morning and another 18% preferred the school over the city. Your feedback is having an impact already!

UNPACKING OUR NEW

MISSION STATEM

P E R S O N A L E XC E L L E N C E

N MENT

At the beginning of this 2016-2017 school year, we launched our newly revised Mission statement, created by a committee of teachers, parents and administrators, with input from all segments of our community. We are continuing this year to ‘unpack’ the ideas and goals represented here, so please keep an eye on our PSI Life publications, our PTA meetings and other venues for more information.

In this issue, we would like to cover the following pillar of Mission Statement: personal excellence in the classroom and beyond. Mission Statement

Definition

Personal excellence

At PSI, students work with teachers to define their own standards for excellence both in academics and areas of passion and work to achieve those

What It Looks Like

Student goalsetting Student led conferences and portfolios Student Parent Teacher Conferences Standards based reporting A variety of external and internal assessments, as well as Self assessment and reflection Recognising high achievement as well as personal effort

Ukrainian Externum Programme Academic Honesty Policy PYP Exhibition, MYP Personal Projects, DP Extended Essay Sports competitions, theatrical and musical performances, Model United Nations, Maths Counts, Destination Imagination, and other opportunities that showcase student talent Placements at top ranked universities around the world

Primary SCHOOL

PRIMARY

P E R S O N A L E XC E L L E N C E

FROM THE PRIMARY PRINCIPAL The theme for this issue is personal excellence. This does not mean being perfect. It means understanding who I am, what my strengths are and what areas I want to develop. In other words, it means having a growth mindset. Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University has been the leader in championing the idea that ‘[A] growth mindset is the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience’ (Dweck 2006, p. 7*).

by Tatiana Lopukhin, Primary Principal.

t PSI, self-reflection and setting goals are cornerstones of all we do; in fact, they are now a part of our Mission Statement. The School has defined what it means by personal excellence: ‘At PSI, students work with teachers to define their own standards for excellence both in academics and areas of passion and work to achieve those.’ To support this crucial element of the Mission Statement, teachers might have students set goals. We see it when we have students at our student led conferences share their portfolios and show parents how they have learnt and grown over the year. Our report

cards focus on the standards we teach and how the students are working towards meeting those learning objectives. We allow for student choice on projects and topics, so that other academic areas and interests can be explored and developed. Lastly, our assessment practices focus on supporting students on their learning journey, not punishing or rewarding them. Many of these behaviors are automatically associated with older students, but a growth mindset and personal excellence begin with our youngest learners as well. You will see 3, 4 and 5 year olds talking about what they used to know and what they know now. You will see them celebrating new learning and even setting goals. This is because we want to develop these habits of mind so that they will be a part of who the children are, and that will make them excellent students as well as wonderful human beings. 11

PRIMARY

PERSONAL EXCELLENCE IN THE EC By Clare Cannon and Debbie Lirette Early Childhood Homeroom Teachers

As the 2016-2017 school year begins to draw to a close, we are excited to see the dynamic changes and growth happening in both our students and the PSI school community.

At PSI, we believe that personal excellence is an integral part of who we are as a school and an international learning community. Our school Mission Statement states that we promote â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;personal excellence in the classroom and beyond.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; In the Early Childhood (EC) programme , we have interpreted personal excellence as the ultimate goal for how we teach, learn, and grow in the EC. We believe that children and teachers are collaborative

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learners and researchers together on an educational journey. Children and teachers learn and grow from our shared learning experiences as we are able to explore, investigate, question, and challenge ourselves in the classroom. In the EC, children partake in play projects that are directly related to our units of inquiry. Through careful observation, teachers discover student interests and look for how they can be connected with the central idea and lines of inquiry for each unit. By engaging students in meaningful play based on their interests, we are able to help all children develop personal excellence by providing them with rich, meaningful learning experiences.

In the ECU, personal excellence is exhibited in the following ways: — Crafting a rich classroom environment that acts as the ‘third teacher’ for our students — Providing rich learning provocations that will help engage students with deep and meaningful learning experiences — Using documentation (ex. photos, videos, speech bubbles) to further inquiry and help both teachers and students understand the learning taking place, and how the learning can be moved forward — Creating Play Projects that are the result of the discoveries, learning, and research that both the students and teachers have made throughout a unit of inquiry — Providing ongoing professional development for teachers and teaching assistants to ensure that we are delivering the highest quality instruction in early childhood education for our students.

In the EC, we are excited to be continuing our learning journey into the internationally-renowned Reggio-Emilia approach to learning for our youngest learners. Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach and philosophy to education once said, that ‘learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning how to learn.’ As a learning community of students, teachers, teaching assistants, and parents, we are excited about working together to promote the personal excellence of our youngest learners to make their thoughts, inquiries, and learning visible, as we continue to learn and grow together in the classroom and beyond.

3 PRIMARY

By Jessie Stoll and Valeria Laitinen

GRADE 3

USES THE WRITING PROCESS FOR PERSONAL EXCELLENCE

Throughout PSI, students use the writing process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, conferencing, and publishing to create their own personal best writing. Grade Three recently completed this process to create persuasive letters for multiple audiences.

o start, the third graders brainstormed possible issues they would like to see changed, and who the audience would be to make that change possible. Examples of topics included asking PSI Director Mr. Burns to add carpet to classrooms or to reduce the amount of homework at PSI, letters to parents asking for a later bedtime or more play time, and letters to classmates to persuade them to choose one action project over another.

Once the students chose their topic, they started by planning reasons to support their proposal. Students used their critical thinking skills to choose their three strongest reasons. Through a teacher-led mini-lesson, students learnt to develop a five-sentence paragraph with a topic sentence, three supporting details, and a concluding sentence. Next, students used a graphic organiser to add further details to support each of their three reasons. This tool enabled students to expand their single paragraph into a five-paragraph persuasive letter. As the students drafted, they received instruction from their teacher in the form of mini-lessons on persuasive writing words, paragraphing, and choosing strong arguments to help them enhance their writing.

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With their completed drafts in hand, students used checklists to independently revise and edit their work. Students edited for writing conventions such as spelling, capital letters, and punctuation, and then revised to ensure their letters made sense, that they had supporting details, and that persuasive and transitional words were utilised. After self-editing and revising, students paired up with a partner for a student conference. Each partner had the opportunity to both take on a leadership role by being the editor/revisor, and to receive advice, and discuss their own writing with their partner. Following the student conference, every student sat down for a conference with their teacher. During this conference, the teacher could target specific goals for each student as a writer, allowing each student to receive additional

instruction and targeted support in the areas of writing they most needed. Finally, students published their letters and presented them to their intended audience. Four third graders were particularly excited to share their ideas with Mr. Burns, and to hear feedback about why their ideas could work or would be a challenge for PSI. Students were able to share their own perspectives, and listen to the perspective of their audience. The use of the writing process helps each student develop and grow as a writer by using each step thoughtfully to evaluate and improve upon his/ her own writing. Through a combination of individual, partner-supported, and teacher-supported work time, students are able to take ownership for their own writing and focus on improving in the areas most pertinent to their own development. 15

PRIMARY

Four ways to achieve personal excellence in Ukrainian Language Classes By Olga Ivanova Primary Ukrainian AL Teacher.

Students are inspired to discover personal excellence through the balance of academic and individual achievement. Every child is unique; that is why they are given the opportunity to achieve goals at their own pace and ability.

any language learners have got their own approaches and methods. There are 4 strands of language learning (reading, speaking, writing, listening). During the learning process, students find the most comfortable strand to develop their excellence. Whether students are aware of it or not, they are constantly absorbing information from the world around them. Even those things the students don’t know or don’t understand have the potential to help them in their search for personal excellence.

Grade 1 students learnt the ‘Rainbow’ poem in order to increase their vocabulary, especially the colours. The class used the Total Physical Response (TPR) method that includes learning language by connecting it to movement. (Photo 1) Students listened to the poem, then acted it out word by word. Later, one of them repeated the phrase while other were acting it. Students worked in groups, with one group illustrating several rainbow poems, while another group created their own poem.

photo 1

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In contrast, Grade 5 is involved in a literacy circle activity where students can explore ideas, pursue insights, tap undiscovered interests, and register preferences and inherited assumptions. The Book Journal was a great place to note their attitudes about what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re reading. Writing down their responses allowed them to discover how they feel about the characters. This kind of activity also helps students develop a regular practice of listening attentively to their own thinking. Also, students exchange and respond to selected journal entries, which allow them to see that the same material can be approached in diverse ways. (Photo 2)

photo 2

Storytelling is another important part of teaching language, because learning is both more efficient and more memorable when the lesson is conveyed through the story. Kindergarten students found proof that a story cannot exist without a hero, actions and setting. They modeled the characters, named them and chose the settings. (Photo 3). Their story turned out to be very interesting because young people live through their imagination. Also, this activity was very useful for the non-native speakers, because it helped them memorise and join the language structures in the Ukrainian language. Grade 3 students also wrote their own story with pictures. (Photo 4)

photo 3

photo 4

For many students, ideas on the page come alive when they are spoken. Reading text aloud provides a way to help all students access the material and develops studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; skills as active listeners. Grade 4 students are involved in a reading project based on the Judy Moody books. Asking questions, they provoked a discussion about the main character, her actions and thoughts. After that, they found evidence in the text, connected the book to their own life experience, and made predictions about future chapters. Such activities stimulate studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; imagination and help them improve reading comprehension, all steps towards achieving personal excellence. (Photo 5)

photo 5

PRIMARY

Welcome to Russian Additional Language Class!

Добро пожаловать в Русский класс!

By Alla Polianska Primary Russian AL Teacher.

In our school, we provide students with an opportunity to learn different languages, such as English, Ukrainian, Spanish, French and Russian. It gives students an opportunity not only to learn a new language, but also to become a part of an international community, learn about different cultures and find new friends. As the saying goes

‘Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going’Rita Mae Brown

n Russian Additional Language (AL) class, students learn how to speak Russian and how to use this knowledge in everyday life. Learning Russian language is important, as it’s the second most widely used language in Ukraine. During Russian classes, students do not only cover ‘survival’ Russian and basic grammar structures. The programme also supports the units of inquiry, with the Russian teacher working collaboratively with homeroom teachers. This helps students to understand the units more deeply, as well as to discuss topics from different perspectives and from a different cultural perspective.

nts play Go Grade 1 stude rs rn the lette Fish and lea alphabet. an ssi Ru e th of

P E R S O N A L E XC E L L E N C E es, it called Cloth During the un eir s created th nt de stu 5 e Grad ‘What I Wear t ou ab s rie own sto Seasons’. In Different

Through out the course of the year , Grade 2 students are wri ting and crea ting posters about ‘M y Schedule ’, using the unit’s vo cabulary .

a students had Kindergarten Hunt, rd Wo g yin lot of fun pla ch words for ea looking for bet. Russian alpha e th of r te let

During the unit called ‘Animals,’ Grade 3 students chose the ir animal, did resear ch on it, and made the ir own books about this animal.

learn students Grade 4 lary bu ca vo ’s the unit go. Parts Bin y od B playing

In Russian AL, we use the whole range of teaching strategies to support students’ progress and celebrate their personal excellence. With younger students, we use various games, such as Go Fish or Memory to reinforce the unit vocabulary. Sometimes, it’s oral games like ‘Please/ Пожалуйста,’ where students have to respond to the instructions they were given. Other times, students watch topic-related movies in order to improve their listening skills and to broaden the unit vocabulary. All these activities as well as many others that are used daily, are great for the younger students in Grades K-1, and help them to be more confidеnt in Russian. Grade 2 and 3 students focus more on writing and reading skills, together with listening and speaking, as this helps them to build on their previous knowledge and gain new skills. Students enjoy creating their own stories and illustrating them, as well as reading the texts and sharing their projects with other students. Grade 4 and 5 students also like to create their own stories and plays, act out, make posters and present their work to others. Another strategy that has proven to be effective in learning a new language and is being used in Russian AL classes is TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling). This is a method of teaching foreign language, where students learn the language through creating their own stories and presenting them to the audience. This helps to set the comfortable and friendly environment in the classroom and use the language in a range of real-life situations.

PRIMARY

Experiencing Personal Excellence in the Spanish Classes at PSI

As modern citizens of the 21st century, our students are involved in diverse activities during their learning process. Many of these are different from the kinds of experiences that their parents and teachers had in their own education as children. At PSI, we pursue a personalised education that matches our position as an IB World School. We respect diverse learning processes at each stage, encouraging our students to discover, develop and further reach their own personal excellence. In PSI Spanish Additional Language (AL) classes this year, we have 33 students from numerous countries and backgrounds, including Ukraine, USA, Russia, Greece, Sweden, Romania, Netherlands, Israel, Azerbaijan, India and Poland. For almost all these students, Spanish is their third or even fourth language. Our goal is to encourage and motivate these students to reach their maximum potential, provide them with autonomy while learning, and develop their communication skills in Spanish from the very first step.

Grade 1 Spanish students started their Spanish lessons this year. They are a very active and joyful group, who started with the basic greetings and commands. They were further motivated to learn numbers and colours with the help of games, and during the current unit, they are designing and writing comics using the expressions about feelings they have learnt. Grade 2 Spanish students are making tremendous progress this year, improving their skills, learning new vocabulary, and making connections as part of the learning process. The unit about transportation was very successful, and this spring, they are designing a poster about their favorite animals and the environments where they live, including lots of descriptions. Grade 3 students really enjoyed the last unit about body parts and clothes, especially when they had to draw the closest possible model to the original based on the description in Spanish

¡HOLA AMIGOS ! P E R S O N A L E XC E L L E N C E

provided by other students. They also practiced descriptions using themselves or other students or teachers as models, which were both very funny and very accurate. Grade 4 is a great group with twelve very active students. In the last unit, they performed the theater play ‘La Memoria Perdida’ (lost memory) where they made up the plot of the story, the characters, the scenario and the screenplay. They also gave presentations to other students, talking about Spanish cities like Barcelona and Madrid, world famous artists like Francisco de Goya and Salvador Dalí, and the traditional dance of Argentina - the tango. Grade 5 students recently presented their play ‘Super Mario,’ based on the popular video game, where they adapted

the scenario and the script. All the students tried their best to learn the dialogue and to have correct pronunciation. In short, throughout the Primary School, students in Spanish AL are striving towards personal excellence, even in a language that is not their own. ¡Buen trabajo estudiantes!

By Don Javier Larrauri Puebla, Primary Spanish AL Teacher .

PRIMARY

More to the Music By Gretchen Foster Primary Music Teacher .

Music class provides opportunities for all students to succeed. At PSI, students are able to explore a variety of musical concepts and skills. Each student finds certain aspects of music interesting and then may struggle with another. By providing time to create and explore with instruments and music, students find their musical passion. They are then able to develop their skills through their individual musical interests.

foundational skill that students develop across each grade level is rhythm reading. From Early Childhood (EC) to Grade 5, students build on their prior knowledge. The youngest students at PSI spend a good deal of time working with the steady beat. They move creatively, play different percussion instruments and learn how to start and stop. In Grade 1 and 2, there is a focus on rhythm

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reading and creating rhythm patterns. Patterns begin with four beats and then become longer as the students develop their confidence and skill. Applying their rhythm reading skills to instruments is important, so in the second half of Grade 2 through the beginning of Grade 3, students play the xylophone and connect their rhythmic knowledge to basic pitch reading. Grades 4 and 5 students learn complex rhythm patterns and explore syncopation through recorder and multiinstrument pieces. Developing the singing voice is one of the most important parts of music education. Singing is not every childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite activity. As students get older, it can be a challenge to get them to sing properly. By letting the students choose their songs, there is an improvement in their attitude toward singing. In EC to Grade 1, we spend a lot of time accessing our singing, or head voice, and working on echo singing. In Grades 2 and 3, we begin reading lyrics along with small sections of musical notation. In Grades 4 and 5, students read the proper sheet music that includes rhythm, pitch and expression.

Grade 3 is spent learning about xylophones and how complementary parts are layered to create depth in a piece of music. Students in Grade 3 also begin notating their own guided compositions to prepare for playing the recorder. In Grades 4 and 5, students learn to play the recorder. Playing the recorder is when all the different musical skills are combined and the students begin to make real music. Students are able to read the notes and rhythms on the treble staff and connect that knowledge to the recorder individually and as a group. The more exposure students have to different instruments, genres of music, musical games and activities, the more students are able to develop their own musical preferences. The subjective nature of music allows students to develop their unique style in a safe and encouraging environment.

Most students will say that playing instruments is their favorite part of music class. In EC through Grade 1, students spend most of their time exploring un-pitched percussion instruments (drums, tambourine, maracas, etc.). We use instruments as sound effects, to keep the steady beat, or to add interest to a listening piece. Later in Grades 1 and 2, students begin learning about pitch and using pentatonic (5 note scale) notes on glockenspiels and boomwhackers.

Secondary SCHOOL

S E CO N DA RY

P E R S O N A L E XC E L L E N C E

FROM THE SECONDARY PRINCIPAL

It’s easy to point at statistics about academic excellence at PSI. At our honours assembly in March, 119 students (just over 60%) took home awards for outstanding results on their first semester report cards, with additional awards going out to Physical and Health Education students, IB Diploma students taking leadership in service projects, and perfect attendance awards.

he data is even more impressive when we look at our graduates. 100% of our students who apply to universities get offers, many students receiving more than one letter of acceptance. Former PSI students have attended Yale, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, University of Toronto, Maastricht in the Netherlands, and Hong Kong University, as well as specialised colleges for the arts, design, tourism, and theatre. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story of ‘personal excellence’ at PSI. The strength of our school is that students are able to explore their talents, abilities, passions and limits in a wide range of areas that extend beyond the classroom. Our students are not just scholars. They are athletes, artists, musicians, and poets. They debate international issues in Model

by Patricia Puia Secondary Principal

United Nations, create complex programmes in robotics, and design and market new products in Design class. In their Week without Walls, they zipline across mountains in Slovenia, write original fables in Lviv, cook their own meals over campfires in Carpathia, and recreate the Berlin Wall for the annual Week without Walls assembly. In the MYP homeroom programme, called Personal Excellence (or PEx), they explore the best ways to make choices that lead to a safe, happy, and ethical life as adults. In short, in virtually all areas of life, PSI students can explore what it means to be excellent, to achieve more than they thought possible, and to make their mark as leaders, creators, and thinkers. Learning at PSI doesn’t stop at the classroom door, and neither does personal excellence. It’s in everything we do here.

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By Paul Horkan, MYP Coordinator.

he focus for our Grade 10 students these past weeks and months has been on their personal projects. What are they? The official IB guide states that the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;personal project encourages students to practise and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills, to consolidate prior and subjectspecific learning, and to develop an area of personal interest. The personal project provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce a truly personal and often creative product/ outcome and to demonstrate a consolidation of their learning in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). The project offers many opportunities for differentiation of learning and expression according to each studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s individual needs. The personal nature of the project is important; the project should revolve around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Project Guide, May 2014). Our Grade 10 students have created artistic wall murals, a collection of short stories based on the lives of characters in four different cultures in the 18th century, an analysis of dreams, writing and recording an album, designing an aircraft, robots programmed to fight fires, designing computer games and a theatre production. There was an exciting variety of products, all developed through inquiry and demonstrating the Learner Profile attributes. The Grade 10 students are also piloting

the IB MYP e.assessments. They will be sitting conceptually designed online exams in Maths and Science. They will be provided with access to an online portal where they will be challenged with a range of resources and materials (case studies/problem to solve) in order for them to demonstrate their skills and conceptual understandings in those subject areas. Some are also currently in the process of submitting work from Drama class as part of the electronic portfolio submission. They are responding to a set of prompts provided by the IB MYP team. Our Grade 10 students are managing all of this with aplomb and we applaud their originality, independence and dedication.

S E CO N DA RY

GRADE HOMER Personal excellence is not a destination we reach. Students are in a process of constant improvement. Aristotle said: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Our students realise that personal excellence is not about knowing what is excellent, but about following excellence all the time, in every little thing they do. And Grade 11s want to be the best at what they do by working to their full capacity academically while maintaining a healthy social life.

rade 11 students work on their organisational skills and punctuality. They come to school on time. They are students who are inquirers. They are eager to learn new things and strengthen their current skills. They are gifted personalities who develop their talents in music, art and drama. You can see Grade 11 students engaged in the school music and drama production and in different sports. 11th graders also strive to be better humans to others and better members of our school community. They take an active part in school social life and services. They show initiative and enthusiastically contribute to CAS activities. All

of them are involved in more than one CAS project and are ready to take risks and develop new skills. In fact, some Grade 11 students received awards for active and responsible participation in a variety of CAS projects. As individuals, they are courteous and respectful, positive and cooperative, friendly and caring about each other. This group of students is open-minded and ready to accept different personalities, nationalities, cultures, beliefs and lifestyles. They travel a lot and gain knowledge about different cultures and intercultural understanding. During the Week without Walls in London, they showed curiosity about everything

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E 11 EROOM By Zina Volkova, Secondary Homeroom Teacher, Russian Teacher .

they saw and experienced. Our Grade 11 students develop their personal excellence in academics as well. They put a lot of effort into their studying and demonstrate good academic results: Six students in Grade 11 got Honours Award for the first semester and one student received High Honours. Fourteen students got only As and Bs in Attitude and Application. This group of PSI students will make PSI really proud when they have successfully passed IB exams, have been awarded IB diplomas, and have joined the most reputable universities. In the meantime, they are striving hard to demonstrate personal excellence right here at PSI. 29

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arch was Literacy Month at PSI, and the school celebrated accordingly, with independent readings of original pieces, library games that gave students the chance to share the titles of books they’ve read and, finally, the English Language & Literature-organised Pop-up Performances. This took place during the last week of March, with Secondary School students performing in the PSI courtyard for their peers. These performances ranged from memorised original poems in English and Bulgarian, to skits in Spanish and Russian, to reading scenes from some of Shakespeare’s plays. It was a competitive event, with spectators showing their appreciation by giving ‘Busking Bucks’ to the performers they liked the most. The students with the most bucks then had a choice of several prizes, while collecting points for their houses. Literacy Month is always a wonderful series of events, and in Language & Literature, it raises the questions. What does the English language do for

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our lives? How to we interact with the world and what good do we contribute to it in the process? We are speakers of language; thereby we get to harness the power of language for ourselves. This year in English Language & Literature at the Secondary School level, students have been striving for personal excellence in their reading, writing, speaking, and listening. They have been exploring the history of the narrative through the genre of myths and legends in Grade 7, the importance of a well-researched argument in Grades 6 and 10, analysing visual texts for meaning and manipulation in Grade 9, the nuances of spoken and written poetry in Grades 6 and 8, and the culmination of all of these in the Diploma Programme. Throughout these explorations, the students have been asking the question, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What is the importance of personal excellence in this pursuit, and what is the importance of striving for clear communication, for understanding of meaning behind purpose?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; As we move into the spring

with its plentiful opportunities to display their knowledge during Literacy Month and beyond, students have concluded we are all consumers of both language and knowledge. In so doing, their own possibilities for personal excellence involve this consumption of the language, but more significantly, creation and development of the language. By Kelli Karg Secondary Language and Literature Teacher .

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By Rex Santos (IT Director) and Rory Parkinson (DT & Tech Integration)

MAKER In a world where half of the population is under the age of 25 and ‘more people have access to a mobile phone than a toilet,’ (Wang Yue, 2013) technology is truly ubiquitous for this new generation of digital natives. This has resulted in a lively debate concerning the impact of technology on humanity’s future. Some futurist commentators, including Thomas Frey, predict ‘up to 2 billion current jobs will disappear by 2030.’ (Frey Thomas 2012). Although other roles will be generated to replace them, few commentators can accurately predict what they will be. With this in mind, how do we prepare students for such a challenging world?

n response to these challenges, businesses have advocated governments and educational institutions to prioritise Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Prominent leaders like former US President Barack Obama have also helped raise STEM’s profile. More recently, advocates of STEM have incorporated the arts, which often cross over with innovative design, resulting in STEAM. An interesting movement that has sprung up as a result of STEAM has been Makerspace. This stemmed from the ‘Do It Yourself’ culture, where the mindset was to improve upon or fix design issues of everyday life. Soon collaborative areas of these like-minded individuals were formed, with peer-to-peer learning as the main driver. With public accessibility to 3-D printers ramping up, it became the perfect storm of innovation and a means to create solutions. Although there are elements of STEAM incorporated across the PYP, MYP and DP curricula, there is a need to provide increasing opportunities for PSI students. With this in mind, we will be offering a Makerspace ECA for the last quarter. The aim of the PSI Makerspace is to provide time and space for analytical collaborative exploration where tinkering and inventing are encouraged.

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RSPACE During this time, participants will have access to various sets of Lego blocks, PTA-donated 3D printers, broken electronic items used for parts, circuit kits, coding boards, and other resources that may kickstart creativity. By offering this ECA across all grade levels, the hope is to provide a platform to generate various perspectives and allow students to take control of their learning. In truth, a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;solutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is not always the end goal. Rather, it is the process of exploring the hows, the whys, and the what ifs. In time, we plan to provide more Makerspace ECAs and develop new curriculum that infuses elements of the Makerspace Movement. What will you create next?

REFERENCES Wang Yue, 2013, More people have cell phones than toilets U.N. study shows, Time, accessed 23 March 2017, <http://newsfeed.time. com/2013/03/25/more-people-have-cell-phones-than-toilets-u-nstudy-shows/>. Frey Thomas, 2012, 2 billion jobs to disappear by 2030, The Futurist Speaker, accessed 24 March 2017, <http://www.futuristspeaker.com/ business-trends/2-billion-jobs-to-disappear-by-2030/>

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AUTHENTIC SELF What is personal excellence? In the Secondary School Arts programme at PSI, students are encouraged to push their own boundaries and go beyond what their brains think is possible. But how is this personally excellent? It is an interesting phenomenon that, as many students grow older, they often become more self-conscious and chose to stay within a strict mode of behaviour for fear that they will embarrass themselves in front of their peers. A lot of younger students, on the other hand, are far less inhibited and are willing to be risk-takers with their thoughts and imaginations. Many of our younger students in the Primary School are living examples of this. You can visibly see in their everyday play that they are very active imaginatively. When we see our older students (and adults) at â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;play,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; it is a very different visual picture. Somehow, as people become older, this area of their lives dissipates or is buried deep to protect or project an image of themselves.

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Through the arts, we strive to reawaken this imaginative quality that we all possess. Through the arts, we strive to reawaken this imaginative quality that we all possess. One of our main goals is to encourage students to live ‘outside themselves,’ to think and act spontaneously, thereby revealing a little of their own true nature. This connection is important for us all to be genuine to our true self and not the self our environment wants us to present. Students across all the Secondary programme have been applying these principles both in class and out of it. Recently, students have really extended themselves through performing in the Kyiv Inter-schools Shakespeare competition. The acting, direction, and design were largely studentdirected and our students took away many awards that showed a great level of engagement. Over 40 students are currently rehearsing for the spring production of Oliver! This has really been a great

chance for students to become fully engaged on all levels of the production and they are showing an excellent level of dedication. Probably the greatest highlight of the school term has been the DP visual art exhibition. The students exhibited an impressive array of pieces that showed a deep and meaningful investigation of humanity and our environment. The opening was a truly stunning event that has capped off the quarter beautifully. So, again, what is personal excellence? To me, being personally excellent is to be our authentic selves, as only then can we really express our true beliefs and come to terms with who we are. As Shakespeare says, ‘To thine own self be true, then thou canst not be false to any man.’

By Simon Ferry HoD Arts

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DP VISUAL ART SENIOR EXHIBITION

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community

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PTA NEWS T

he PSI Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has started a new initiative called the Community Involvement and Social Responsibility Initiative (CISRI). This grant competition for PSI students will be announced twice per academic year in Primary and Secondary School. The purpose is to support the students’ social responsibility projects (social, community, elderly, disabled, children, environmental projects, etc.). After a thorough consideration and evaluation, selected projects will get funding from PTA and the students will implement the projects and report on their results. Thus, we hope to inspire students to become critical and creative thinkers who are empowered to take action in the local and global community, as well as to give students opportunities to learn about global issues by responding to local issues in a competent and efficient way.

On Valentine’s day, PTA hosted a well-attended bake sale. Thank you to all who baked, sold or bought the Valentine goodies! In April, PTA organised a party and fundraising event - the ‘PSI Rockin’ Night’. We had so much fun at D-12 in the city centre enjoying great music, drinks and food! There were smiling faces everywhere and a lot of dancing, chatting, bidding and overbidding going on. Amazing teacher promises, company and parent donations and country baskets were auctioned. THANK YOU to all who donated or bought these amazing gifts! Both these events raised a lot of money for the CISRI Initiative. We’ll have more details at an upcoming PTA meeting The PTA is here for you, parents and staff at PSI. Our main function is to keep our PSI community vibrant and contribute to the school’s motto: A Place Where We Belong! 41

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CAS:

By Yuriy Kamenivskyy Grade 12 Student

PROJECT WITH A LONG HISTORY PSI has cooperated with the Djerela Centre, a charity association for people with intellectual disabilities, for more than fourteen years, making it the longest-running CAS project in our school. The project has two major aims. The first is to improve the living and studying conditions of the centre’s visitors through donations, support, and volunteering. The second is to help integrate the visitors into our community by socialising with them and thus letting them learn communication skills. All of the fundraising we do is aimed at fulfiling the first goal. This year, students have already run two successful fundraisers that allowed us to improve the conditions of both the Djerela Centre on Heroiv Dnipra and the charity’s dacha in Boguslav. We participated in the annual PTA Winter Bazaar for the second year in a row and were able to actually raise even more funds than last year. In addition, every single week, students from PSI visit the centre located next to the metro station Heroiv Dnipra. For one hour, they engage in social activities with the visitors of the centre. Because of their disability, all the pupils at the centre struggle to socialise with their peers ‘on the outside’. Through socialising via activities, PSI students help them develop crucial communication skills they can’t learn elsewhere.

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We also had a breakthrough in achieving goal number 2. We finally started the long-planned activities and lessons in the centre. In order to do this, we have established lesson plans. Previously they were redundant due to the simplicity of the visits, but now we have to plan the activities and games to ensure that pupils enjoy themselves when we teach them. English lessons proved to be a real hit amongst the visitors, and all of them are excited to learn more. So far, we’ve only taught them numbers 1 to 30; however they have made great progress and hopefully by the end of next year, they will be able to act out a play in English. Because the Djerela CAS team grew in size, we were finally able to send two different groups of students to the centre. This was exciting to the visitors, because they are able to interact with more people on a weekly basis. For most of them, the PSI students are the only people they socialise with other than their parents, the staff in the centre, or other visitors. Djerela has many ideas lined up and we’re sure our big ambitions will come true. All we need is to have faith in ourselves and be determined to reach our goal. Here’s what our team members have to say:

Roman: This project means a lot, even though I only joined it at the beginning of this school year. I feel like this is a great cause and even if there are only a few of us committed to it, it only takes one person to make a difference. Alex: Djerela is a place where I can help out and see the smiles on their faces. We get to know them and therefore have a greater understanding of them. At the same time, we also learn new skills and information that I found beneficial for my future. Gaby: I first joined the project because I felt related to it. A person very close to me had a disability. Going to Djerela and being able to interact with some of the people there changed my perspective about disabilities and who this person really was. It has been a very important experience. In short, the Djerela Project is more than an IB obligation. It really ‘nails down’ the idea of CAS. We are trying to do something to help those who need it the most in our community. When going to the centre, we get a feeling that we aren’t just doing it for a ‘check’ on your report card, but we’re serving this world, and making it better.

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CAS:

By George Kent Grade 11 Student

LIFE CHANGING ACTIVITIES The Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) programme is an integral part of the IB Diploma Programme (DP). Each DP student must meet CAS requirements in order to receive an IB Diploma. Balancing the three areas of the CAS programme is one its most important features. Project stages, such as researching, planning, action, and reflection are also integral components of CAS.

currently participate in several different CAS Projects in school and several outside of school. In school, I am part of the Kindergarten Building Project, which builds playground equipment for a local kindergarten, and the Band Project, which performs music for adults and children with disabilities. Outside of school, I play the violin; over winter break, I went on tour with the DC Youth Orchestra Program (DCYOP) in Chile. I also play on a local Ukrainian hockey team.

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On the DCYOP tour, we traveled to Chile and played several concerts, combining our youth orchestra and several Chilean ones. We played two concerts in Santiago, the capital, and then two more concerts in Valdivia, a smaller city in the south. The goal of the trip was to bring youth of different nationalities who spoke different languages together through the common language of music. We ultimately achieved our goal, as many of us made Chilean friends without knowing a single word of Spanish. The entire experience changed the way I viewed music and the way it can bring people together. Participating in the tour helped me learn more about myself and others. That is fundamentally the purpose of CAS: learning about yourself, while also having a positive impact on others. I also play for the local Kyiv hockey club Krizhinka as the sole non-Ukrainian. Being part of this team has taught me about my teammates.

I learn about their aspirations, and also their views on certain issues. It also helps me with my Russian. Similar to the DCYOP trip to Chile, I get to know many people who have shared interests but different backgrounds from me. The PSI Band Project also involves music. The members of this CAS group learn and play different songs together every week, which will culminate in a series of performances for different audiences in April. In the Kindergarten Building project, we are actually building and assembling materials for the playground equipment, which we will install at the end of the year. All of this action is essential to CAS and the development of the individual DP student. It is through the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;taking actionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; portion of CAS that students experience situations which shape them into the adults they will become in the future. This is why CAS is so important to PSI and the IB Diploma Programme.

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by Ric Floyd, Athletic Director

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CEESA SWIMMING 2017 This is our second year of having a PSI Panthers Swimming Team attend the CEESA Tournament. This year, the tournament was held in Bratislava, Slovakia from 2nd - 5th May 2017.

he small team of nine swimmers had an amazing experience, made a lot of new friends, and swam for new personal best times during the various events, as well as winning the first ever Swim Team trophies for PSI, with a total of 9 medals. Our Middle School Boys team finished with the second place trophy and the Middle School Girls team finished with the third place trophy.

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS:

Bronze – 50m Freestyle: Melisa Sayan Silver – 200m Medley Relay: Melisa Sayan, Artemia Kalugin, Finola Quinn, Nikolaya Oresharova Gold – 100m Breaststroke: Artemia Kalugin MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS:

Our team members were coached by Mr. Holland and Ms. Desjardins. Team members for CEESA were Melissa Sayan, Artemia Kalugin, Finola Quinn, Nikolaya Oresharova, Artem Balan, Ivan Doroshenko, Ivan Plaksii, Joshua Vandegrift and Alec Pender. Other Panther swim team members were Rens Van Wingerden, David Aronson, Connor Tobin Healy and Maddox Wintzer.

Gold – 100m I.M.: Ivan Plaksii Silver – 200m Medley Relay: Ivan Dorosenko., Ivan Plaksii., Artem Balan, Alec Pender Bronze – 100m Freestyle: Artem Balan Bronze – 50m Butterfly: Ivan Plaksii Silver – 50m Backstroke: Ivan Plaksii MIXED TEAM:

Silver – 200m Freestyle Relay: Melisa Sayan, Ivan Plaksii, Finola Quinn, Artem Balan

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MIDDLE SCHOOL BASKETBALL 2017

Our Middle School Boys team had a tough learning tournament with many younger players who will be ready for next year at CEESA. We finished in 4th place with 2 wins, which meant we played in the 3rd Place Trophy game but we were not ready for the pressure of a trophy game this year.

he Middle School Girls team came away with 4 wins out of 6 games and finished with the 3rd place trophy. We lost the first 2 games on the first day, which proved to be very close losses, as we could have easily been in the grand final.

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All four of our teams competed well in the Kyiv School Sports League, with the girls making it into the Finals Day for KSSL for trophies Middle School Boys Division 1

Middle School Boys Division 1

Our boys teams were coached by Mr. Santos, Mrs. Santos and Mr. Palmer. We also had a student assistant coach: Sam Sharpe (11V). Team members for CEESA were William Laitinen, Ivan Rybakov, Andreas Spanoudis, Conor Tobin Healy, Andrija Nesic, Martin Nikov, Anton Liden, Ding Yifei, Rustam Valiyev and Benedikt Schumacher and Panthers Team - Vitaly Antonov, William Purcell, Markian Voronovych and Ivan Plaxii

Our girls teams were coached by Mr. Huasz and Ms. Holzman. Team members for CEESA were - Kateryna Ushmayeva, Saga Liden, Anna Nikonova, Elyse Demkiw, Maria Cherep, Olga Nikonova, Liza Lindholt, Maria Houdaifa,, Daria Figlus, Mariya Shevetovska, and Panthers Team Ekaterina Gorshunova, Aleksandra, Bhamini Khandige, Sonja Monastyrski, Artemia Kaluhin and Jantawan Kent

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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL 2017

This year, our High School Girls Basketball teams competed strongly in the Kyiv School Sports League and our boys had a development year.

They both attended CEESA Tournaments again after a year off, and the girls finished with a 3rd place trophy and a sportsmanship trophy. The High School Boys were coached by Mr. Faircloth and Mr. Pettijohn. CEESA team members were Jens Liden, Shon Averbuch, Sam Sharpe, Stefan Chordas. Erik Vitek, Cody Fritz, Jassem Ammar, Shon Averbuch, Leonard Baumann, Nikolai Lawrence and Panthers

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team Members - Anuar Bekturganov, Nemanja Paunic and Aldiyar Bekturganov The High School Girls were coached by Mr. Santos and Ms. Heart CEESA team members were Sonia Ringger, Zoya Schmitt, Katerina Schmitt, Emily Cairns, Maia Laitinen, Kai Fritz, Lara Arencibia Pender, Alexandra Huitfeldt and Gabriela Pachon. Panthers team members - Anna Waschuk

CEESA All Stars selections were - Zoya and Katerina Schmitt for the girls squad and Cody Fritz for the boys squad - Congratulations! Thanks for the good effort, Panthers! This year was a developing year for high school boys basketball. Next year, we will hopefully benefit from the experience of this year. Our girls are now looking at going to the championship game for CEESA next year and making the top 3 in KSSL.

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SOLUTIONFOCUSED TOOLS FOR PARENTING

Sam Owen wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Always think in terms of solutions. Focusing on the problems usually gives us more of them.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Solution-focused counselling strategies have become very useful in coaching and parenting, as they help children achieve their own personal excellence by focusing on solutions rather than the problems.

e have all seen our children upset about friends, grades, siblings, and more. Using some basic solution-focused tools can help your children find their own solutions, building upon the strengths they already possess. It turns them into problem solvers rather than problem dwellers.

TOOL ONE: Verbalise their hope and what that hope would look like if it was reached. You can do this with the following two steps. Step 1: Ask them to verbalise what they want to do better. What is their biggest hope? Help them word it in a positive way. For example: I want to be nicer, instead of I want to stop being mean. Step 2: Ask If their biggest hope was realised, what would their day look like? How would they react to others? What would others notice in them that would be an indicator that something was different? You can also have them act out their hope by showing you how they are nice, share, etc.

2 By Felina Heart, Primary Counsellor

TOOL TWO: Identify instances: Ask if there are times when they accomplished their hope previously and how they did that? Example: When were they nice to others? What were they doing that allowed them to be nice?

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TOOL THREE: Scales can help children gauge where they are, what they are already doing well, and what they can do to make things better. On the scale, 1 is the worst things can be and 10 is almost perfection. You can ask your child to scale anything. For example: How nice are you on any day? How focused are you? How much do you believe that you can do better? Once they give a number, ask what are they doing that puts them at that number, and if they moved up 1 point on the scale what would that look like? For younger children, a visual scale works well. In my office, I have a velcro scale on my wall with figures they can move up and down. You can have them draw the scale, place a line on the floor to represent the scale and have them move along the line, or other strategies. Be creative!

TOOL FOUR: Avoid negative talk. When your child focuses on the problem, try to redirect to their strengths. You can do this by first acknowledging how they are feeling. Then ask questions that allow them to think of good things. This might include how they have managed to handle things so far, how they have stopped things from getting worse, or what has made them happy over the past couple of days even though they are having a tough time. As Lailah Gifty Akita stated, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;There is always a solution to any challenging situation.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; With solution-focused tools, we can help our children learn to develop a mindset where they are seeking solutions, instead of focusing on the problems. This then allows them to achieve their own personal excellence.

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ALUMNI AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VERONICA MOROZOVA AND WILLIAM WATSON, FORMER PSI STUDENTS

Please introduce yourselves Hi! I’m Veronica, a London-dwelling, pickle-loving, freelance copywriter and mother. William is also a London-dweller and a parent, but a pickle enthusiast he is not; he’s more fond of lager, which is why he’s currently working as an Assistant Manager at a fancy gastropub in North London. How long were you at PSI and when did you graduate? I spent 11th and 12th grade at PSI. William is a much more seasoned PSI-er, having spent 6 years of his youth at the school. I graduated in 2008 and William in 2009. How was your life at PSI? It was great. We both met lifelong friends and each other. I should’ve probably mentioned by now that we’re married! What were your favourite subjects or activities and what did you like the most about PSI? I was always fond of English and was probably the only person in my grade who enjoyed Theory of Knowledge. I also loved the Fall Trips; our trip to Lake Baikal in Siberia was epic. William is a history buff through and through. He was pretty much best mates with Mr. Mockett. 56

The biggest success at PSI? I’m quite proud of my CAS award and the fact that we founded the cheerleading squad as a means to avoid doing any ‘real’ sports for the ‘action’ hours. William had some glory moments with CEESA.

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Where did you study after PSI, what was your major and why did you choose this major and this particular university? I went on to study Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. A couple of years later, I did a Master’s in Politics (also at Goldsmiths). I based my uni choice on a range of things. I wanted to be in London. I looked at notable alumni in the field I wanted to work in, and the general feel of the university. Of course, I took into account things like rankings, but more than anything, I wanted to make sure I’d enjoy my course.

Do you keep contacts with some PSI friends? What do you miss the most about PSI? Our wedding felt like one big PSI reunion! I miss the sense of community; it was a genuinely warm, open and welcoming environment. I can definitely say I don’t miss having to do maths homework, though!

Anything special about your life story you would like to share with us? Will and I began dating in the summer of my 11th grade year, and we even won ‘cutest couple’ in our high school yearbook survey (cringe). Fast forward ten years and here we are - married, with a kid. Who would’ve thought??

How did PSI help you in your path to where you are now? PSI helped me learn about the all-important values of acceptance and tolerance. In my opinion, one of the most valuable things a good education can give you is the tools to be a decent person. It also helped boost my confidence, both in terms of academia and my social life.

As we heard, your husband also graduated from PSI. Could you share more info about your ‘PSI family’? Our PSI family extends beyond just Will and me. Phil, Max and Arthur were Will’s best men at the wedding, and Alina was my bridesmaid - all graduated from PSI. Max and Alina were our officiators at the wedding ceremony.

What advice would you give to the students in Grades 11 and 12? Stay focused, but don’t overstress. Be honest with yourself and your teachers. If you find yourself struggling, don’t be afraid to ask for help! Try to see the bigger picture. You may be hating the IB, but try to remember that it will equip you with a whole bunch of valuable resources you’ll be using the rest of your life - trust me. And, of course, don’t forget to enjoy yourself. I still look back on high school years as some of the best in my life.

What is your life today? Any special projects and initiatives? We’re juggling parenthood with professional goals and aspirations. I’m enjoying my work as a freelance digital marketing consultant and copywriter. I get to pick my hours and my clients; they’re mostly small businesses and startups. William is enjoying his work in the hospitality industry. We’re both super busy with work but always make sure to squeeze in time for travels and seeing our families.

What are your plans for the future? I want to get more involved in volunteer projects in Ukraine. Professionally, I have this dream of running my own small, vintage store, filled with great art works and furniture pieces, whereas Will wants to have his own bar/restaurant. We both hope to trade London for a sunnier climate one day. I’m also keen to travel more, learn more, and make a positive impact on society.

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Literacy Month 2017 by Pam York and Polina Spencer, PSI Librarians

ne of the highlights of the PSI school year is our annual Literacy Month, when we celebrate reading, writing, and the joys of the many languages in our community. To launch Literacy Month 2017, we had a visit from Marc Levitt, who is a writer, storyteller, educator, radio host, filmmaker and a keen researcher of Third Culture Kids issues. He was with us for three days and worked with students from EC to Grade 10 as well as running workshops for teachers and parents. Marc’s visit inspired students to consider their own identity and put their thoughts on the page contributing to his website, http://www.thirdculturestories.com. Along with many of our usual, popular literacy month activities such as ‘blind date with a book’, literary quizzes, Get Caught Reading, Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) time and dress up as your favourite book character, this year we introduced a range of new and exciting activities. These included a Reading Bingo Challenge for students of all ages as well as

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parents and teachers. We saw collaboration between the Primary and Secondary School foreign language departments to provide students with opportunities to read in both mother tongue languages and additional learnt languages. The Secondary English Language and Literature department led the busking competition, where students were competing through busking intending to impress the audience and earn busking bucks. In a change to the Primary School Family Literacy Afternoon this year, students from Grades 3, 4 and 5 volunteered to run activities for students from younger grade levels and their parents. Once again, we invited all students to submit entries for our writing competitions: the Alexander Award and PSI Young Authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Award to be published in our annual Ink Stains Magazine. Students strived for personal excellence in reading, writing and performance across the whole month and will be able to take the skills, knowledge and understanding they gained to positively impact their future learning.

SQUARE METRES OF

METRE HEATED SWIMING POOl

SQUARE METRES OF NEW PLAYGROUNDS

NEW BUILDINGS ADDED TO OUR CAMPUS

SEAT AUDITORIUM

SQUARE METRES OF GYMNASIUM WITH CLIMBING WALL

SQUARE METRES OF

NEW CAFETERIA

TWICE THE CURRENT SPACE FOR THE NEWS EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTRE

NEW CLASSROMS

NEW DANCE STUDIO

OFFECES AND MEETING SPACES

SEATING CAPACITY FOR THE NEW CAFETERIA

PECHERSK SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL KYIV