Journeys Summer 2017

M E NTORSHI P S PIVO TAL REL ATIO N S HIPS HEL P S TU DEN TS F IN D PU RPO S E AN D PAS S IO N IN THEIR PU RS U ITS

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On the cover For his Catalyst project, Ishaan Madan (Class of 2016) worked with an INSEAD professor to develop an algorithm to model basic human emotions.

To capture his work, Madan shared several of the equations he used regularly. We coordinated with our facilities team to create a beautiful iron window frame that was completed less than an hour before the photoshoot. The iron frame, giant sheet of glass, and Madan got set up in the rainforest where Nikon Ambassador Scott Woodward captured our very own A Beautiful Mind inspired image.

Learn more about the value of our mentorship program on page 5.

Online sas.edu.sg/publications

Editorial team Kyle Aldous Kinjal Shah Vanessa Spier

Design team Haziq Hairoman Amos Ong

Communications interns Sandhya Bala, Class of 2017 Clara Fong, Class of 2017

Contact communications@sas.edu.sg

Connect

Š 2017 Singapore American School All rights reserved.

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I S S U E

CONTENTS 01

Contemporary Learning Spaces

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Bending the Wire, Breaking the Mold

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Captivating Classrooms: APEx Gym

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Scoreboard

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Then and Now: Baseball

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Alumni: Demystifying the Supermarket Apple

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Five Minutes with Mr. Tan

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Alumni: Eagles on Wall Street

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For the Love of Reading

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Alumni: A New September

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Second Grade Superheroes

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At Your Service

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TRi-Time at SAS

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Notable Mentions

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The SAS Space Odyssey

Featured 17

Personalized Learning Journey

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JOURNEYS III

By D r. C H I P K I M B A L L Superintendent

CONTEMPORARY LEARNING SPACES

A NIGHTMARE OF THE PAST, OR A VISION OF THE FUTURE? It’s the age-old education question: how do kids learn best? And as far as facilities go, do students best learn sitting in rows of desks, or in flexible environments where they can explore and learn in a variety of ways? This isn’t the first time educators at Singapore American School have considered that question, or tried new learning environments.

In the late 1970s, SAS began experimenting with a new approach called Individually Guided Education. This personalized approach was adopted in part to account for the diversity of our student backgrounds; plus, the movement was sweeping the US and was considered to be the most effective emerging teaching methodology. Mostly remembered for its open classroom layout and multi-grade mixes of student learning groups, the movement did away with whole-class lessons and standardized tests, and promoted a less detailed curriculum.

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The experiment of the 1970s had some successes, but in many other respects had deep failures, with unintended consequences for a generation of students and educators.

The physical space often resulted in one large unregulated open space, and noise and distractions were a consistent battle cry of classroom teachers. But there were successes as well. The best open classrooms had planned settings where students learned at an individualized pace, guided by teachers while circulating through centers of learning. Teachers helped students negotiate each subject and learning center activity on the principle that children learn best when they are interested in what they are doing. There were sound concepts that have persisted in good learning theory for the subsequent 50 years.

An Individually Guided Education classroom at the SAS Ulu Pandan campus was designed to hold about 120 students in an open environment.

So why did the open classroom concept of he 1970s fail?

There were obvious physical challenges with acoustics, and the physical design didn’t take into consideration how space can be used in multiple ways, not just through open space.

But as important, teacher training was inadequate and curriculum was unstructured.

Teachers were presented with a new space and a new teaching approach, but without training and clear standards, they reverted to what they knew—a style of teaching that wasn’t supported by the buildings they taught in or the materials they were asked to teach. It was a pedagogical and physical clash that ultimately failed.

As we consider providing the best possible educational experience for our students, we are cognizant to carefully examine the drivers for change, ensuring that we have learned from

the past, and taking into consideration the most current research in how to facilitate high levels of learning for our students. We know that we need to carefully balance pedagogy, practices, and facilities. In the 1970s, and in other cases since that time, facilities drove practices, to the detriment of both. This is one instance where “If you build it, they will come,” just didn’t work.

Over the last several years, we realized the need to change our pedagogy and practices to help students acquire skills they need most for their future—our desired student learning outcomes of character, collaboration, communication, content knowledge, creativity, critical thinking, and cultural competence. We invested significant resources to leverage what we know about the learning process and are preparing our teachers to deliver these best practices.

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New early learning center hub environments create more opportunities for personalized learning and grouping/regrouping of students to meet their specific needs.

Dramatic advances in brain research have caused us to refine our understanding of how kids learn. Aside from spaces, we know more about how to engage students in meaningful ways so that they are learning more and better than ever before. Further, we know that our new insights about pedagogy and practice create outcomes that are attractive to colleges and will benefit students throughout their entire life.

In our case, pedagogy and practice are well on their way to delivering on personalized learning and the skills students need. I’m proud that we didn’t build new facilities ahead of the work on our culture and practices; rather, we’ve taken the time to find the right approaches to teaching and learning and are allowing facilities to follow.

The 1970s taught us that facility design on its own cannot force pedagogical change.

However, we are quickly reaching the tipping point where the pedagogy and practices at SAS are now restrained by our architectural constraints. We know that our learning spaces must reflect the collaborative, flexible nature that our curriculum and teaching strategies will increasingly employ.

A flexible learning environment is just one part of personalized learning. We will always have a common, guaranteed, and viable curriculum— which includes competency-based learning progressions—a non-negotiable institutional

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commitment that we hold dear. We embrace excellence as one of our tenants. The loss of curriculum from the 1970s won’t be repeated here. Ever.

We are also at a point where we need to strategically plan our facilities as they age.

We’ve entered a facilities master planning process to plan the SAS campus of the future that aligns with our 2020 strategic plan.

But our community won’t have to wait years to experience glimpses of the SAS campus of the future. Together with the facilities task force and our master planning partner, we are in the process of planning several “pathfinder” projects for next school year. These smaller scale immediate projects will allow us to experience in the short term the learning environment we eventually want to implement throughout the school. They will enable more inquiry-based learning, collaboration, and interdisciplinary studies.

Our first pathfinder projects will reimagine some of our kindergarten and sixth grade classes for this August and will create flexible spaces in the high school center of innovation to support Catalyst and other technology and elective programs. We will also leverage these ideas in our kindergarten Chinese immersion program set to launch in August.

Our teachers have been planning for months how they will effectively utilize these new

environments to explore ways they personalize learning. And going forward, professional development will enable all faculty to make the most of these learning environments.

As we consider our vision—a world leader in education, cultivating exceptional thinkers, prepared for the future—we are excited about our emerging pedagogy, practices, and facilities to support our vision.

Already we’ve learned a lot from our contemporary learning spaces. Our early learning center, with its two-year old hub-style learning communities, has found increased attentiveness and higher levels of student engagement. Two of our fourth grade classes have been using a modified hub concept, removing a wall between classrooms and creating different learning zones to team teach.

They have seen incredible results and students love it!

Educational and technological fads come and go. At SAS we are committed to investing in strategies that we know will ensure high levels of learning and leverage the individuality of each student. We know some of the key skills students will need for their future— collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking—and we are committed to making sure that they develop those skills deeply. If we know that adjusting the way we arrange classrooms will enhance these skills, how can we provide anything less?

Components of contemporary learning spaces • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Purposeful learning environments Natural barriers Noise-cancelling materials Quiet areas Spaces configured for large and small group projects and individual work Shared resources Partitionable spaces Indoor-outdoor connections to expand the learning environments Movable, flexible furnishings Collaborative planning spaces for teachers Opportunities for handson learning experiences in conversation with other children Strategically leveraged technology for individual learning Student-directed learning

The middle school pathfinder project will create a flexible and fluid space to enhance teaching and learning.

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Opening Eyes, Opening Doors:

Mentors at SAS Mentorship comes in a variety of flavors. A proven approach to drive rich learning and development, mentorship inspires students to explore opportunities they didn’t know existed.

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labo ion ompetence C ult ural C

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edge l w o n K ontent

Ishaan Madan (Class of 2016) worked with an INSEAD professor to develop an algorithm to model basic human emotions.

By CARA D’AVANZO Staff Writer Creating a solar battery pack, writing a nature guidebook, founding an improv theater league, developing a space station experiment—the sky’s no limit for SAS high school students working on Catalyst projects! But how do these students find adults who know about such specialized topics and can help them on their way? Enter the mentors.

At SAS, mentors play a crucial role in our high school programs. The semesterlong Catalyst course allows juniors and seniors to develop a unique, personally compelling project. Integral to a successful Catalyst experience is finding and working with a mentor. Center of Innovation coordinator Dennis Steigerwald notes that this element of the course was included very deliberately. “A key ingredient to success in our heavily networked world is finding and learning from more experienced individuals in one’s field of interest,” he explains.

“Teaching Catalyst students these skills in a safe, structured environment will be of great value to them as they move through higher education and into careers.” Quest students also work on Catalyst projects with mentors (see box on page 8). With Catalyst a graduation requirement next year, all SAS students will have at least one experience working with a mentor during their high school years.

What’s in it for me? Why mentors put up their hands Why would a busy professional want to spend an hour a week advising a young person for no reward but the student’s gratitude? In fact, mentors report many benefits of extending a helping hand, including the chance to reflect on their profession by seeing it through an outsider’s eyes. They learn about the next generation by building a relationship with an interested youngster, develop skills other than those their job normally requires, fulfill a company’s commitment to social responsibility, act on altruistic values in a concrete way to help someone else perhaps as they were helped at some point, “pay it forward” for when their own children need such help, give back to the broader community, support SAS as a parent, graduate, or friend.

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“A key ingredient to success in our heavily networked world is finding and learning from more experienced individuals in one’s field of interest.

Teaching Catalyst students these skills in a safe, structured environment will be of great value to them as they move through higher education and into careers.”

Dennis Steigerwald

Laleh Lodhi (Class of 2018) conducted extensive research into different aspects of stem cells: the development, the various types, the ethical debate, the usage of stem cells, etc. Lodhi worked side by side with researchers at the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) called the Norris Ray Dunn Lab.

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Unlike a teacher or coach, a mentor is selected by the student, who seeks help on a specific project. The student directs his or her own learning, while the mentor provides perspective, feedback, and suggestions based on expertise and experience. A mentorship gives a student an unusual and often inspiring chance to work one-on-one with a professional in an area of interest.

Mentorships support the school’s commitment to personalized learning, as they allow a student to focus on a topic of interest—even a highly specialized one—and work with an expert in that field.

These partnerships also further the SAS desired student learning outcomes (DSLOs), especially collaboration, communication, content knowledge, and critical thinking.

Over the past two years, SAS, working with strategic partners, has developed an effective, large-scale mentoring program. Rather than trying to match students with mentors, we follow the “youth-initiated recruitment” model: students themselves find mentors, with SAS faculty providing support and direction. Students are taught how to create and leverage a professional network; how to develop an efficient working relationship; how to appropriate dress, behave, and communicate in a professional setting; and how to effect closure when the project is complete. Mentors are briefed about their responsibilities and sign the Mentor Memorandum, acknowledging the school’s expectations and requirements. The student collects written or video samples of interactions to record how the mentoring relationship progresses.

This year, 170 students found Catalyst project mentors. Meetings may take place via phone or videoconference, so mentors need not be in Singapore. Allen Wang, for instance, wanted to write a series of political articles, so he looked up “best political blogs” and was impressed by a California-based weblog. “I emailed the editor-in-chief and got a positive result literally five minutes later,” he says. “When I finish an article, I email it to him and he gives me feedback. For my Africa articles, he put me in contact with his friend who is an ex-banker and ex-lawyer and has a master’s degree in Middle Eastern political studies.” Other students value face-to-face meetings, like Alexis Ma, whose project is an epistolary memoir. “I find it beneficial to talk to my mentor [an SAS writer-in-residence] in person, as I can ask clarifying questions and request further suggestions,” she says. Some students also visit mentors at work, like Ruth Jaensubhakij. “My mentors work hands-on with special needs students,” she explains. “The fact that they’ve given me the chance to do that myself and sit in on their classes has really contributed to my project.”

Quest Mentors Each of the twenty-one seniors in the innovative Quest program is working with one or more mentors on a portfolio and senior project, which is a combination of research methods and Catalyst requirements. “Quest is a skills-based program rather than content-specific,” says Darlene Poluan, “and we know we three Quest teachers are limited in our knowledge. So we seek to build a community of learners who can give our students area-specific guidance.” Quest mentors have similar responsibilities as Catalyst mentors, but make a year-long commitment and have regular contact with Quest advisors. As with current Catalyst mentors, Quest mentors span a broad range of specialities, including fine arts, sociology, filmmaking, and diplomacy.

“We also have a student working on Japanese translation. Her mentor, an SAS parent, connected her with Yuki Ishimaru, an interpreter for Clint Eastwood and Ken Watanabe on the set of Letters from Iwo Jima,” notes Poluan. “You never know where a mentor’s expertise might take you!”

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Around half our students find mentors through parents or friends. Ruth, for instance, found her mentor through her church. “When I mentioned that I was looking to connect with a music therapist, my friend offered to put me in contact with one she knew from work. She talked to my mentor about my project in person, then gave me her email, which is how we initially made contact.” For students who need help finding a mentor, the center of innovation maintains a list of over a hundred “connectors,” adults in various fields who can put students in touch with willing professionals. This approach has proven highly successful. No matter how students and mentors connect with each other, both parties must fill out a protocol so Catalyst teachers can ensure the match is appropriate.

Besides helping with a specific project, mentors may open students’ eyes to the realities of the work world and the demands of a particular profession. “I learned a lot about maintaining a professional relationship—especially being accountable, responsible, and timely,” says Ruth. “Responding to emails quickly, not being late to a session, making sure to use the right language, thanking them (a lot of thanking was involved!) for how they helped me—[these are] all really good skills that I hope to be able to apply to future endeavors.” Allen learned about the less glamorous side of journalism. “It was surprising to hear how stressful journalism can be; outside of reading and writing articles on politics, you have to deal with hackers and trolls a lot of the time,” he notes.

In the end, most students find their mentorships extremely rewarding. For Alexis, “every aspect of it has been phenomenal. Through the mentorship experience, I have learned to keep my mind open and allow different perspectives to influence my project.” Allen has been inspired by finding “really exceptional people out there in the world, who not only bear amazing credentials, but have an enthusiasm and energy that make you feel encouraged and excited about your own interests.” Our generous mentors give SAS students the chance to be educated and inspired about their current passions and their future possibilities.

Ruth Jaensubhakij (Class of 2018) worked with music therapists from the THK EIPIC Centers at Ang Mo Kio to research, develop, and design a curriculum that teachers can use to integrate music into their special needs classrooms.

Message to students, from mentor Hannah Ryan

Founder and CEO of travel startup and app Roommate I want to tell all you high school students going through the mentorship process that it teaches you more life-lessons than you probably imagine.

Approaching professionals to ask for help is intimidating. Getting told your idea is going in the wrong direction is uncomfortable. Sending emails to people who aren’t responding to you is awkward. Managing your time for a long-term project can be daunting. But all these things are actual real-world issues that we are all stuck with, all the time. And you are going to be better prepared for all sorts of challenges: for asking professors for help and pursuing internships and emailing your bosses and organizing your time. And of course for pursuing your passions. I believe you will look back and be glad you had this opportunity.

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Interview with a mentor

Samuel Coronado, entrepreneur and business development consultant Why did you volunteer to mentor an SAS student?

My wife works at SAS, and I saw a natural fit between my professional experience and skill set and the innovative, project-development experiences of SAS high school students. I’ve co-founded two entrepreneurial ventures and consulted on many more, and I know that exposing students to new trends, tools, and solutions is extremely important, as they will soon be an active part of this reality.

Who was your mentee, and what was the project?

Zoe Adamopoulos is developing a business idea combining a passion for clothing and fashion with a desire to help others. She wants to design clothing and accessories and hire vulnerable people, identified through NGOs, to produce them. She will then sell the items through online platforms.

How did you provide feedback and encouragement?

Zoe Adamopoulos introduced herself via email, and we continued to interact, mainly through emails. I came to school two or three times, and we met in the library and the Makerspace.

How did you enjoy the experience, and why?

I was pleasantly surprised. Few things are more fulfilling than watching energetic, smart, and self-driven young people direct their energy towards something that will impact others, especially if they are doing this for more than just financial reasons. I think it is our responsibility as adults to help kids understand the many available resources, to share with them our experiences, and to help them ask the right questions and reach their own conclusions.

Would you mentor a student again or recommend the experience?

Yes! In fact, I am doing it again, working this semester with another SAS junior.

I would recommend mentoring because it’s a great learning experience for the mentor as well as the mentee, as it keeps you connected with the next generation’s world. You can use your existing skills to guide them, while learning something new in return. It’s a win-win situation!

Final thoughts about mentoring at SAS? I find it so interesting that SAS kids are developing projects in areas like coding, writing, and fashion design. This multi-disciplinary environment creates opportunities for collaboration between people with many different backgrounds and interests. The kids are eager to listen to different viewpoints, to explore them, and to experience things for themselves. Mentoring is a great opportunity to help them out while enjoying this interesting process and keeping connected with SAS.

Interested in mentoring an SAS student?

Email dsteigerwald@sas.edu.sg

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JOURNEYS 10

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High School

At 5:00 a.m. each morning the doors open to a classroom where both minds and bodies are made stronger. For two years the APEx (Athletic Performance and Exercise) facility has opened its doors to students, faculty, and the community to offer complete access to strength, conditioning, and grit. Chuck Shriner and Kim Criens helped bring this space to life when they saw a growing need for a large-scale fitness facility filled with old-school barbells and plates as well as cutting edge equipment and machines. The gym is the first phase in a complete overhaul of the health and fitness offerings at SAS. Keep an eye out over the next few years as APEx becomes the hub for more fitness classes and greater training opportunities for athletes and amateurs alike.

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APEX

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The athletic eagle logo was designed by a student as part of a Catalyst project.

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These plyometric boxes will help you improve your stamina and your vertical as you incorporate box jumps into your workout routine.

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It doesn’t matter how much you lift, there are enough weights for you and all your friends to come get in a solid workout.

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Squats. Deadlifts. Bench Press. Grab a bar and get to work!

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JOURNEYS 12

Then 1959

During the 1958-59 school year, the first varsity softball team took the field. At the time softball was the most important sport and offered a direct connection back home to the US for many of the expatriates attending SAS. Principal A.V. Fisher oversaw a program that included 48 boys from grades four to eleven who were divided into four school teams.

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Now 2017

Today, SAS offers 11 IASAS sports, as well as 20 intramural activities. In 2016-17 SAS hosted the inaugural IASAS tournament of boys baseball and girls fastpitch softball. The boys and girls teams put on a dazzling show as both teams capped off the weekend with gold medal victories!

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JOURNEYS 14

Feeling inspired to replicate a Mr. Hoe classic at home? Find the full recipe at www.sas.edu.sg/recipe.

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By S A N D H YA B A L A A N D C L A R A F O N G Communications Interns

Mr. Tan, grandson of Mr. Hoe, has been working at SAS for the past 30 years – since he was 12 years old. He says working with family can be hectic, but fun and rewarding. Read more about Mr.Tan’s story below!

What’s your favorite restaurant?

My mum’s house! There is nothing like a home-cooked dinner.

What are some of the most popular dishes the students enjoy?

Monday - sweet and sour pork Tuesday - crab foo yong Wednesday - beef broccoli and curry chicken Thursday - char siew rice Friday - chicken rice and fish and chips What is it like working for a family business?

You have to balance relatives, uncles, and nephews.

You can draw the line, but the line is always blurred.

Sometimes you don’t know if Mr. Hoe is talking to you as an uncle or as a boss. I have learned two things in a family business: do not be greedy and do not be selfish. That’s all. That’s the bottom line.

Tell us about your own family.

My kids are five and one. When I see them, I tell myself that I must be a good person and in return they will grow up to be good people. There are three principles I always adhere to and teach them: do good, think good, say good, and all good will come.

What do you love about high school students?

I feel like an unofficial counselor. There are some students who ask me a lot of questions; I don’t know why they ask me! But I always tell them, don’t concentrate on these small things; focus on your studies, get good grades, go to university, then you will succeed.

What is your favorite time of the day?

After 3:30 p.m.! I can bring out my laptop, sit in the cafeteria, and just do my work.

What is a favorite memory at SAS? Some early learning center students created this card for me to remind me about recycling.

Even though it’s simple, it reminds us to be environmentally friendly. So that is why we’re changing the cafeteria; we changed the cutlery, the disposable plates, and next year we’ll have mugs for students to reuse. This gift reminds us that we’re moving in the right direction.

What is something nobody knows about you?

I used to have a lot of hair!

What was the first thing you learned how to cook?

Hamburgers by Mr. Hoe.

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JOURNEYS 16

By D r. J E F F D E V E N S High School Psychologist

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Extraordinary care begins by meeting students where they are on their own personalized learning journey

Terry struggled throughout high school, barely meeting the graduation requirements. Watching him cross the stage receiving his diploma, I reflected on the numerous conversations we had with his parents and teachers throughout the year. Terry was a kid who hadn’t met all the developmental milestones indicating he was ready for adulthood, but I knew he would eventually.

kindergarten and grade 12. You bet I had gaps in learning. What I lacked in skill I made up in will, determined to learn, to graduate, to move forward. Those formative years shaped my practice and softened my heart for kids who struggle with traditional learning and life journeys. I shared Terry’s story with a friend, educator, accomplished author, and public speaker. In response, here’s what he wrote:

Fast forward six months.

Terry showed up this past week at school. Since graduation, he’s been traveling, working, reflecting, planning, and finding himself. He needed a year off before beginning college to sort out heart issues, to figure out who he is, and to make plans for the future. During our conversation, Terry commented, “When I was in high school I knew I could do the work, but I couldn’t see the bigger picture as to why. I didn’t know who I was, what I believed, or even why I believed it. I’m still sorting this out.

I guess I’m not finished growing up.” I so enjoy working with kids like Terry. They remind me that life’s trajectory isn’t a straight line. It’s filled with dips, twists, bumps, plateaus, and valleys. If kids persist, they’ll have one heck of a ride!

Terry’s story is my story, maybe even yours. I grew up in a single-parent home, the only child of five to graduate from high school, attending at least 10 (I lost count after 10) different schools between

“There’s no way I was ready for college when I was 18. I wasn’t focused enough, academically. When I eventually went to university, it was only thanks to upgrading courses at a community college. Because I was paying my way, there was no way I was going to fail. At least, that’s how I saw it. Before getting to university, the last time I had received an A on my report card was in the seventh grade. I went through grades 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 without getting a single A. My report card was littered with D grades, and at least two Fs every year. To this day, I only have grade 10 math (D grade) and an introductory Algebra 11 (another D). In contrast, college and university seemed so much easier for me. Kids who did well in my high school trailed my results in college. I graduated with distinction, which is what it said on my transcript. But I never liked school, not even college or university. Perhaps Terry and I have plenty in common.” – Andrew Hallam, author of The Millionaire Teacher and The Global Expatriates Guide to Investing S Uu M m M m Ee Rr

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JOURNEYS 18

After 25 years in education, I’m convinced the overwhelming learning issues teens face are

Heart Issues 19 JOURNEYS

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So, what’s your story? I suspect quite a few readers can relate to Terry’s, Andrew’s, and mine. Looking back, school may have held few mountain top experiences. The same may be said for your child at this moment. They may be valley dwellers, attempting to make the ascent to the summit but running out of time. Sure, they’re learning, but they’re struggling with meeting predetermined deadlines (i.e., semester grades due, graduation, etc.) and this is making you nervous, very nervous.

Take heart—at some point, they’ll make that ascent.

And, what will they find at the top? A vista filled with mountains and valleys.

Mountain tops, valleys, plateaus, ascents, and descents are part of life’s journey. When kids struggle academically, our focus on matters of the heart should be as thoroughly explored as academics. After 25 years in education (21 of which have been in international schools), I’m convinced the overwhelming learning issues teens face are heart issues (i.e. worth, purpose, meaning, value).

This isn’t to suggest there aren’t corresponding academic issues; there are, but matters of the heart must be addressed first, before any significant headway is made in the books.

There are a myriad of variables affecting rates of learning including motivation, maturation, emotions, peer influences, and genetics. In Terry’s case, it wasn’t bad parenting, genetics, or negative peer influences, but it was self-pity. Coming from a divorced family, not hitting academic milestones like other kids, and grappling with self worth created the perfect recipe for wallow stew. Part of the challenge we faced was addressing his feelings, validating them, and then attempting to develop a plan he could own—but we ran out of time. We weren’t able to work through his issues in time for him to demonstrate he was a responsive and responsible adult. Our meeting was a wonderful affirmation he’d get there. There’s more to be sorted, but he’s developing the right mindset, surrounding himself with positive influences, and planning and preparing for the future, all healthy markers of adulthood.

All kids don’t learn at the same rate or even in the same ways. As a result, all children don’t learn at high levels (i.e. meet the standards) at the same time, depending on the metrics used. Believing all kids should is a disservice to parents, teachers, and kids. This message communicates to parents, “if my child isn’t learning at high levels, it may have something to do with how I’m parenting” (maybe); it communicates to teachers, “if all my students aren’t learning at high levels it may be because I’m not an effective teacher” (perhaps); and it communicates to a child, “if I’m not learning at high levels it may be because there’s something wrong with me” (possibly). This has all the trappings of guilt-city.

Instead, how about stating, “All kids can learn!”

Our focus shifts from the outcome (i.e., meeting the standard, earning high marks) to the process (i.e., effort, time management, emotional regulation, good decision-making skills, etc.). This statement acknowledges that life sometimes hits kids square in the face with circumstances bigger than they can handle, resulting in limited to lackluster output until matters of the heart, head, and home are sorted out. This is part of the reason we have 18 counselors, three school psychologists, and a host of learning support experts serving in Singapore American School. This is also part of what it means to be a school community of extraordinary care. Add to this schoolwide advisory programs and our 2020 initiative focus on pastoral care, and one begins to understand how intentional SAS is in supporting all areas of kids’ lives. We are here to help.

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JOURNEYS 20

FOR THE LOVE OF By KINJAL SHAH Communications Writer

Reading is one of the biggest predictors of children’s success in school and even later in life. SAS elementary teachers offer a glimpse into how they foster a love of reading among students young and old.

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Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words.

— Betty Smith

In the elementary school library alone there are 90,000 print materials! And over 1,500 books in each classroom library.

So many resources to tap into. So many opportunities. How can we get our kids to discover that magic hour? How can we encourage them to become voracious readers, prolific writers, and lovers of books?

In this age of short hours and shorter attention spans, helping children enter a world of imagination, and discover new and unfound interests is a challenge most parents and teachers are familiar with.

Singapore American School’s elementary teachers offer a glimpse into how they foster a love of reading among students young and old.

The structured reading program at SAS focuses on a child’s individual needs, taking into account his or her background knowledge. From kindergarten through eighth grade, teachers follow the Lucy Calkins’ Readers’ Workshop program based on Columbia Teachers’ College units of study, ensuring 60-90 minutes of reading time per day. It’s less about teaching students to sound out words and read sentences on a page, and more about students engaging in and understanding what is being read at a deeper level.

SAS’s youngest learners are offered contextually appropriate reading experiences through age-appropriate high-quality literature and rich book-related discussions.

“Teachers encourage children to see themselves as readers by ‘reading the pictures’.

Throughout the day, they find multiple opportunities to look at books, listen to stories, and have discussions around them”, says Jo McIlroy, deputy principal at the early learning center at SAS. Donalyn Miller, a reading teacher and author of The Book Whisperer says, “The best way to improve children’s reading test scores? Provide access to books, encourage free choice, give children time to read, and actively support their reading development at school and home. No test prep packet or computer program can ever replace what high-volume, high-interest reading, and strong reading communities already do.”

Students in lower elementary classes have access to book boxes at their desks.

Children refill their book box, and choose their own books from age-appropriate sections on a weekly basis. Starting out with reading contracts, goal cards, and book boxes encourages even the most reluctant reader to open and discover a new world.

Students also receive kits with strategies for solving words, followed by non-fiction reading units where they research a variety of topics. The year ends with a character unit involving series books and analyzing their favorite characters.

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Both Melissa Clark and Kristi Goldhammer, first grade teachers at SAS, say they constantly receive comments from parents, a favorite being, “I was worried I couldn’t find my child anywhere in the house, until I saw him sitting in a corner, completely engrossed in a book!”

Students in the upper elementary grades are encouraged to make connections while reading, eventually summarizing and synthesizing, and prioritizing and organizing the information they have read to enhance their working memory and cognitive flexibility.

In the fifth grade classroom, students read books that help them become more proficient. According to Jee Young Kim, fifth grade teacher at SAS’s elementary school, “It is pretty incredible seeing the growth that many fifth grade readers make within the school year.” Research has shown that talking to peers about their reading improves comprehension and engagement. Book clubs are a great way to facilitate deeper thinking, analysis, and building a reading community. Students are actively in charge of their reading through books clubs leading to rich discussions on complex characters, perspectives, themes, symbolism, and more.

Apart from a robust reading program, SAS has a variety of activities that foster a love of reading among children. As a celebration of individual reading units, students participate in book clubs, presentations to parents, read-a-thons, the Festival of Reading, and more. For 2016-17, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) contributed $200,000 to the SAS Foundation for the signature academic visitors-in-residence program, bringing renowned authors, illustrators, artists, actors, and dance professionals to campus to work with students in all three divisions.

The comprehensive academic visitors-in-residence program allows students to deeply understand the craft and work of professional artists and develop a lifelong appreciation for the arts. Students are able to develop relevant learning skills in relation to creativity and different modes of communication.

These visits result in a greater sense of community that connects the head and the heart.

This year, authors and illustrators Todd Parr, Steve Jenkins, and Robin Page participated in SAS’s Festival of Reading and worked in-residence with children from the early learning center to grade five, in art rooms, and in classrooms helping them to explore the art of storytelling and illustration.

So, what can parents do to complement the efforts of teachers when it comes to helping children to become lifelong readers?

START NOW If you’re not already doing it, make a habit of reading to and with your child, no matter how young they may be. Little ones are immediately attracted to colorful images and older ones gripped by stories. Don’t ever stop reading!

MAKE READING A LIFESTYLE At school. At home. In the car. At the beach. On a train. A book can go anywhere. Never leave home without a book and your children will follow suit.

FAMILY TIME Find a cozy place at home. Get pillows, stuffed animals, and choose a time when you’re relaxed.

Sit by your child and read with them. Make those precious moments available to your children.

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MAKE BOOKS ACCESSIBLE Have books available for the kids. Bedroom libraries, book shelves, and reading rooms all encourage children to pick out a book and get reading.

LET YOUR KIDS SEE YOU READ Put that phone away. Parents need to model that they are readers. Keep books and magazines at arm’s length and read as much as possible. Make reading part of family time where the whole family sits together and reads.

LIBRARY DAY Weekly family trips to bookstores and libraries are a great way to get children excited about reading.

SAS has a fantastic library for both parents and children to borrow books.

APPROPRIATENESS Hard books hurt. We read books that we enjoy. Not those we are struggling to read. Choose books that are at an appropriate level for your child.

BOOK CHOICE What’s on your bedside table? A mix of fiction and non-fiction books? Book choice is a strong motivation for readers young and old. Let kids pick out books at the library or bookstore. They’ll most probably want to read them more than those you pick out for them.

READING SESSIONS Get some friends together and have a reading session. Read poems and encourage shared reading.

Follow up with a book exchange and you’ve got a book party!

EXPLORE PASSIONS Research shows that children are drawn to books, toys, and imaginary play when screen time is minimal. It is also a great way to learn new things and explore your passions together. Use it as an opportunity to research a topic and start a project together. “My four-year-old son is obsessed with airplanes—we have seen planes in museums, watched video clips, drawn planes, and talked about planes. More importantly, we have synthesized and advanced his knowledge and passion by reading about planes,” says Susannah Wilcox who teaches third grade at SAS.

RECOMMENDED READING LISTS Every month, SAS librarians recommend age-appropriate reading lists for children from prekindergarten through high school and even for adults. The lists are published on the Perspectives blog on the SAS website and shared on the school’s official Facebook page. All books are available in the SAS libraries.

READ-A-THONS Participating in read-a-thons at school or among a small group of friends is a great way to ensure accountability when it comes to reading struggles.

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Fiore D., Fifth Grade Brady Baca, Eleventh Grade

Amy Ong, Eleventh Grade

My writing skills.

I guess I just love that I’m alive. I’m so grateful that I get to live and experience life, and I hope I use life well.

The fact that I don’t care about what others think of me; my self confidence.

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Olivia W., Seventh Grade

I can make people laugh.

Tell us one thing

ve

That I am creative.

e lf

yo

My hair because it is golden.

Lucas G., Fourth Grade

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Evie F., Kindergarten

about yo

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By S A N D H YA B A L A AND CLARA FONG Communications Interns

Alexandra F., Eighth Grade

I like my social skills.

Sheena C., Second Grade

That I have a family and a lot of brothers.

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Maksym Watson, Tenth Grade

That I have friends.

Angela Huang, Ninth Grade

My work ethic.

What’s your story?

The bonds of friendship. The mentorship of teachers and staff. Memories made in moments big and small.

The learning that shines through perseverance.

Every interaction, every pursuit, every class, and every activity at SAS weaves the fabric of our community to make us who we are.

We want to celebrate all things SAS. Share your story with us, and we may share it with our community online or in Journeys.

Connect with us at communications@sas.edu.sg and help us tell the story of what makes SAS a special place.

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Superheroes to the rescue!

Running 1,000+ miles in superhero costumes, capes, superpowers, and all, 287 second graders show what it takes to stomp out hunger in Singapore.

By SUE BARBER, LISA HOGAN, AND LAURA TERRILE Elementary School Teachers 29 JOURNEYS

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It’s official! Each one of our 287 second grade students at SAS is a…superhero! More precisely, each of our second grade students is a service superhero!

Since the beginning of the school year, students have been building their awareness and understanding about the concept of service and making a positive impact on our community. Our students’ learning has gone beyond the classroom with various lessons including a walking field trip as well as the culminating annual second grade walk-a-thon. Second graders have learned that they can and do make a difference to our local community in Singapore.

We started our year with several inspirational books such as My Heart Will Not Sit Down and Boxes For Katje. These books highlighted awareness and individual efforts that make a difference. Students learned about different types of service: direct, indirect, research, and advocacy.

In October, students donated toys for Singaporean children in need. The high school service club Food From the Heart helped wrap the toys and transported them to the Food From the Heart annual toy buffet in early November. Our students helped add many smiles to numerous children through this indirect service.

Just as we were learning about our geographical region of Asia, we also zoomed in to help our neighbors to the north, Cambodia. Collaborating with Caring for Cambodia, along with various grade levels across SAS, students contributed personal care items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and

soap. During our annual second grade Asia fest, students wrapped care packages with the supplies for families in Cambodia.

Having participated in a couple of different indirect service ventures, our students were ready for direct service. In March, all 13 classes were armed with a plan to help a specific child, walked to a local market, and purchased Singaporean food staples.

Students found their items in the store and problem solved how much they could purchase with their $5.00, provided by the SAS Office of Learning.

Each class returned with bags full of food – enough to make a food bag for each family in need. All 26 bags were delivered to families at Seng Kang Primary School.

Now the students were ready to make an even bigger difference! Through various student written and performed public service announcements our students shared our message with the entire grade level. We are service superheroes! We can and will make a difference right here in Singapore!

We walked and ran during our annual walk-a-thon, securing sponsorship money along the way. April 13 was the day that 287 second grade students became superheroes. Our students set goals for how many laps they would complete and most pushed beyond their goals. Our second grade community met students at the track and with each step our students confirmed that with effort, each one of us can make a difference in the lives of others. We were hot, we were sweaty – but we were smiling, knowing that we were helping our local community. In the words of several second graders, “We are stomping out hunger!”

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TRi-Time at SAS 06

By BETSY HALL Middle School Te a c h e r o n Special Assignment

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SAS middle schoolers were given 30-65 minutes a day for four weeks to pursue an area of personal interest. That’s when the magic began.

How might I build my own cello? How might I juggle while jogging for five kilometers? How has war influenced fashion? How might I work with Mr. Hoe to develop new healthy recipes for the middle school cafeteria? In March and April 2017 during our four-week TRi-Time program pilot, all SAS middle school students had time to awaken their curiosities and craft driving questions meant to propel personal investigations. Similar to Google 20% Time or Genius Hour, TRi-Time opens a door to possibilities, helping kids make time in their busy schedules to question, investigate, create, and reflect based on topics that spark their own imaginations.

TRi-Time allows students to personalize their learning while trying things that intrigue them, whether exploring knowledge new to them, learning a new skill, or creating something from scratch. Through this independent work, students hone their creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills while simultaneously working to build a growth mindset. As students venture into this personal uncharted learning territory, homebase teachers help students navigate the learning process, guiding them through lessons aimed at strengthening students’ habits of inquiry.

The idea for TRi-Time first bubbled up during the middle school research and development work which began in late 2013. This school year, in order to begin to bring the vision of personalized inquiry to life in the middle school, teachers spent the first three quarters of the year preparing for the program launch, developing inquiry lessons, trialing protocols, and pursuing their own TRi-Time investigations. Once teachers were confident in their ability to guide students through the personalized inquiry process, the TRi-Time pilot launched just after spring break. While some students initially struggled to find their areas of interest, most students leapt at the opportunity to search for answers to questions that perplex them. The library maker space was abuzz with builders engaged in the design process, the squishy court and athletic fields were bustling with athletes honing their skills, and every classroom was alive with eager inquirers digging deeply into topics that matter to them.

With the successful completion of our TRiTime pilot this year, the middle school faculty and students look forward to many future iterations of TRi-Time in the years ahead.

If you could pursue TRi-Time, what would your driving question be?

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Anika R., seventh grade

Digital art

Guiding question: Can I create a recognizable drawing on the computer?

Why digital art? I consider myself an artist, but I haven’t really had the resources for digital art. But with TRi-Time, I decided to take up the challenge and teach myself a new medium of art. Besides, the school has some great resources I could use.

Aadi B., sixth grade

Climate change

Guiding question: What is climate change and what can the average person do to help climate change?

Why climate change? During spring break I went to London, where I saw the wilderness and the horrific destruction of habitat—people cutting down trees, animals running around. Right there was my calling.

What do you like most about TRi-Time?

It gives me the choice to explore my passion instead of following a pre-set curriculum.

What have you learned? I always thought there could be a happily ever after. But after studying it, I realized we’ve already ruined the planet. One species goes extinct every 11 seconds. Climate change is a lot more than a factory puffing out smoke and we don’t have much time left here. I hope humanity can offer this one last push before it dies off.

After TRi-Time: After all the research I don’t think I have much choice. You always think someone else will do something about it. It’s not a matter of whether I want to, but I have to. I already have a few things lined up after we finish TRi-Time at school.

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What do you like most about TRi-Time? I had the freedom to explore and it doesn’t really have to be academic. I knew from the very beginning this is what I wanted to pursue.

What have you learned? I always told myself I had to be a good artist with whatever supplies I have available. I don’t always need the fancy stuff. But I am realizing that having those supplies always helps! I have made amazing progress in just a few weeks time. My mum’s reaction to one of my first good drawings was, “This looks like you drew it on paper and scanned it in to make a digital copy!” I was thrilled.

After TRi-Time: After seeing my passion and my work through TRi-Time, my parents have agreed to buy me supplies I can use to pursue digital art, so I will continue to teach myself.

Sara B., SEVENth grade

Trying to find healthy options for the cafeteria at SAS Guiding question: How can we use healthy eating to improve our cafeteria?

Why the cafeteria? My family tries to live a healthy lifestyle and it’s something I am passionate about. But I wasn’t sure if I was eating right at school. After researching on healthy eating, I wanted to interview Mr. Hoe at the middle school cafeteria and see if I was able to make a difference in the menu offered.

Ethan H., seventh grade

Building a cello

Guiding question: How can I build something we use in our daily lives?

Why the cello? Often players just know how to play, but not build it. I think a cello is quite beautiful and I have wanted to build one for a long time. TRi-Time gave me the opportunity to do so.

What do you like most about TRi-Time? The opportunity to do something you really want to do is one of my favorite things about TRi-Time.

What do you like most about TRi-Time?

Offering tips and suggestions! I requested Mr. Hoe add brown rice sushi and it was on the counter the week after I suggested it.

What have you learned? I was really nervous when I first went to interview Mr. Hoe. I found out that the cafeteria actually has healthy and fresh food, but that fact is not very well advertised. I feel so much more confident, empowered, and amazed that I was able to go in and make suggestions after research and that the cafeteria was able to implement them.

After TRi-Time: I will continue to gather feedback and suggest more things in order to improve the perception of the middle school cafeteria.

What have you learned? I learned a lot about the cello itself and I think it will make me a better player. I also learned that if you want to pursue something and need help, you just have to ask. There will always be someone willing to lend you a hand.

After TRi-Time: I will miss TRi-Time, but I will probably try building another cello and perfect it.

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Faith J., eighth grade

Designing and prototyping a tree house Guiding question: How can I plan, budget for, design, and build a treehouse?

Adam B., eighth grade

Stock investment

Guiding question: How can I make money through purposeful investments in the stock market?

Why the stock market? I was talking to my dad about choosing a topic for TRi-Time and he thought it would be great if I was able to do something like this as he had some money he was willing to invest in the stock market.

What do you like most about TRi-Time?

Doing something I’m actually interested in excites me! If it’s something I’ll be interested in doing outside of school, then that’s a really good TRi-Time project to pursue.

What have you learned? I have been speaking to my uncle who is an investment banker. Using real money, I have been taking guidance from my dad and uncle to invest in stocks. I did make money in the first few days, but currently I am in the red and hoping that in the long run it will be profitable.

After TRi-Time: My dad and I go through my portfolio weekly. I will be sticking with it and keeping track of the stock. Reflecting on the experience I had, I am planning to create a video for people who are just starting to invest and don’t quite know much.

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Why the tree house? I was planning to build one with my grandfather over the summer and thought it would be good for me to plan and design it during TRi-Time.

What do you like most about TRi-Time?

I get to do a lot of stuff that interests me other than my electives. I would have never done this if it weren’t for TRi-Time.

What have you learned? The designing process was pretty challenging and difficult and I had to figure out many things along the way.

After TRi-Time: I will continue to work on this and finish up some of the things. I have always liked working with wood, but it’s not very easy to do it in Singapore.

GOING THE DISTANCE WITH

NATIONAL HISTORY DAY B y M AT T E L M S S o c i a l S t u d i e s Te a c h e r

In the wise words of SAS high school junior Hana Matsudaira, a now famous National History Day (NHD) Finalist, “Accept the fact that there will always, always be something to do on your project.� Her words could not be more valuable if they were written in gold.

Each September, SAS middle school students start preparing their NHD projects in hopes of capturing a bit of historical magic. Students at SAS compete against other schools in South Asia and if their projects make it through the various levels of the competition, they could earn the coveted title of National History Day Finalist.

The process starts in the fall by analyzing the yearly NHD theme. For 2017, students sought out research topics related to Taking A Stand in History. Selecting a topic of their own interest, students scour the library shelves for any and all secondary resources related to their area of focus.

Then, as the days and weeks pass, they refine their research questions and hone in on the primary sources that will bring life to their project. By early November, students have selected to work as an individual or in a group to create websites, exhibits, performances, documentaries, or historical papers. While each category has its own strict guidelines, each category also offers new opportunities for creative expression.

Ultimately, projects submitted to the South Asia finals in March take more than 100 hours per person. Those who place first or second in their category continue on to the National History Day Finals at the University of Maryland in June, where they can look forward to an additional 100 hours of work. Indeed, NHD is not a sprint, it is a marathon with a few wind sprints thrown in for good measure.

Here are the middle school eagles that are going the distance this year: Individual Documentary First Place Noemi E., Hannah S. Choices and Decisions Through Words and Action Junior Group Documentary First Place Oscar D., Christopher Y., Aryan K. Japanese American Women: From Citizen to Enemy.... An Untold Story Junior Group Documentary Second Place Arsh S., Adil F. Rabindranath Tagore: Taking A Stand Through Literature Junior Individual Websites First Place Lia S., Chiune S. Taking a Stand in the Path of Humanity Junior Group Websites First Place Zi Hui L., Kyleigh G., Aditi D. Soviet Ballet Dancers: Dancing Their Way To Freedom Junior Group Websites Second Place Rahini T., Suhana K. Lewis Hine Behind The Camera: A Crusade Against Child Labor Junior Group Paper First Place Varun O. Anastas Mikoyan: The Soviet Ambassador Who Stood Between Castro and Nuclear War Individual Performances First Place Shoshana H. My Rifle, My Pistol, and Me: The Filipina Resistance Against Japanese Occupation Group Performance First Place Kayla E., Meera P., Nathan S., Oliver Z. Giving Humanity a Human Face: The Enduring Stands of St. Maximilian Kolbe Junior Group Exhibits First Place William A., Theo L. The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out of the Closet Junior Group Exhibits Second Place Ryan N., Simon H., Sean C. Linking the Untold Stories of the Tiananmen Square Massacre

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A GEM AMID OUR BASEBALL DIAMONDS By JODI JONIS Staff Writer

INSPIRED TO BUILD THE PHILIPPINE AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP FIELD, COACH OSCAR TEACHES BASEBALL WITH A DIFFERENCE. Back in the farthest corner of the SAS campus on the SAS baseball diamonds, you’re likely to find a gem of an altogether different sort in the form of coach Oscar Marcelino. Marcelino has been our baseball coach for CSA (formerly SACAC) for the last 13 years and his coaching style happens to support some of our school’s highest values: character, service, community, cultural competence, and baseball. Okay, maybe baseball isn’t officially on the list of DSLOs (desired student learning outcomes) but it has been the critical element in his life through which Marcelino has developed all these traits and he uses it to create and give back to his communities.

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Coach Oscar Marcelino (far left) with some boys from his baseball program in the Phillippines.

For the last five years, Marcelino has been collecting used baseball gear from the baseball community in Singapore and giving it a second life by donating to communities that desperately need equipment in the Philippines. Almost all of the donated items come from the SAS community.

Marcelino said, “These parents are so generous, they give us so much! They give their bats, shoes, gloves, old uniforms, everything.” He also collects non-baseball clothes as well because there will always be brothers or sisters who need something.

He takes anything and everything, and in any condition, explaining that for kids who have nothing there’s plenty of life left in even the oldest pair of cleats.

When the school year ends, Marcelino heads to the Philippines and starts sorting. Once all the caps, gloves, and jerseys have been organized and every shoe has its mate, the piles of gear are ready to be delivered. He will already know the 12-or-so different areas where he’ll take the gear. Because Marcelino has run clinics all over Southeast Asia, he is well acquainted with the baseball scene in the Philippines. He is always on the lookout for communities with the potential to sustain an ongoing baseball program. Whether in remote areas where locals may have never seen a foreigner before, or a fishing village less than 10 minutes from Manila, Marcelino has started programs, hired coaches, leveled fields, and donated equipment so that baseball can live and breathe.

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Just as important as the donating, is the opportunity to create a meaningful cultural exchange. Marcelino regularly brings teams of SAS boys and their families with him to the Philippines to play some ball, help distribute the donated items, and most of all to create an experience that will enrich both communities well beyond the length of their trip. On one such visit an SAS parent asked his host how long the boys would get to practice that day. He pointed to the two goats out in center field and explained, “We know it’s time to go home when the old lady comes to take her goats away.” Marcelino delights in this story because it epitomizes the cultural interchange that baseball has made possible.

Oscar Marcelino was born in the Philippines and lived there until the age of 15 when life under President Marcos became intolerable. He and his brother moved to America where his passion for baseball was fostered. Things were looking good for this serious young player at Brevard Jr. College in Florida when a rather large third base runner steamrolled over his leg leaving his foot pointing in the opposite direction. Thus ended his aspirations of playing major league ball. There was likely some dramatic disappointment that followed, but it was not long before the idea of coaching took root in his mind and so began a career that would take him to 32 countries, place him in dugouts with some of the world’s best players, and ultimately bring him to our very own SAS baseball diamond.

His advantage was that most people start coaching in their 30s, but because of his injury, he started learning a full 10 years earlier. He had more skill and experience to offer when Major League Baseball asked him to be their international envoy promoting baseball across Europe. This he did for 15 years and Marcelino can tell you about the successes of each kid he helped find a college, where the boy went on to play, whether he made it in baseball or business, how hard he worked to learn English, and definitely about the amount of heart he had.

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“WHETHER IN REMOTE AREAS WHERE LOCALS MAY HAVE NEVER SEEN A FOREIGNER BEFORE, OR A FISHING VILLAGE LESS THAN 10 MINUTES FROM MANILA, MARCELINO HAS STARTED PROGRAMS, HIRED COACHES, LEVELED FIELDS AND DONATED EQUIPMENT SO THAT BASEBALL CAN LIVE AND BREATHE.” Marcelino, whose son is the assistant coach at University of San Diego, will tell you, “If I coach your son, or if I coach a professional ballplayer…it’s all the same to me.” And you actually believe him.

Until you remember that this man has coached the likes of Kris Bryant.

You may be thinking, wait a minute, the Kris Bryant?

Third baseman for the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs and National League MVP? Why yes! As well as four-time all star player, twotime world champion second-baseman for the Boston Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia! And despite this knowledge you somehow do believe him when he says he’s just as happy coaching your kid as any pro.

Though he is nowhere near retirement, he is starting to envision what he would like to leave behind.

Inspired by outreach programs like Habitat for Humanity, Marcelino’s vision is to build a baseball field in that same small fishing village outside Alabang. He imagines our SAS boys helping out on service trips over time. “This is a good project for the kids. Let’s flatten out the ground one visit, dig the dugout next time, then we can put up a backstop until we have put something here that they won’t forget and that can help them continue to do this every year.” Alongside the field he would have a wall; a brick wall where every kid who worked on the field would have his name engraved. The SAS Memorial Wall. When I asked what he would name the field, he thought a minute and said, “Philippine American Friendship Field.”

Was it this person that said that? Or that person that said this?

Turn the magazine upside down to find out if you matched the quote to the right faculty!

1

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Melissa Takacs, College Counselor

Pauli Haakenson, Elementary School

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James Toney, Middle School

Chris Smith, Elementary School

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Heidi Ryan, Middle School

Jennifer Koltusky, Middle School

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Dan Chassagne, Middle School

Simon Gustafson, Elementary School

I worked in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, as a popcorn vendor.

I’m a twin – and we were born exactly two months early (due date 2/22, born on 12/22), and we both weighed just over two lbs at birth and stayed in the hospital for two months until we were released.

I’ve led experiments on National Geographic’s “Food Detectives”.

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I had a Scottish accent in kindergarten after spending my early years in Edinburgh.

Before I became a teacher I worked as a crew member on a 55’ gaff-rigged schooner that sailed off the coast of Maine.

I am the youngest of a family of eight and the oldest is 16 years older than I am.

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I produced my own line of cozy fleece clothing for children.

I sang with a 100-piece choir at the Star Theatre.

ANSWERS: Heidi Ryan– 7; Chris Smith– 6; James Toney– 1; Pauli Haakenson– 4; Dan Chassagne– 3; Jennifer Koltusky– 8; Melissa Takacs– 2; Simon Gustafson– 5

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By KINJAL SHAH Communications Writer

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SpaceLab at SAS creates history as the first high school team in Singapore to send an experiment to space.

Sleeping in late one morning, Sunita Srivatsan, a senior at Singapore American School, woke up to the beep of an email message from International Space Station’s (ISS) Project Leader Dan Saldana, based in California, US. He needed to set up a Skype call to talk about an issue with the microlab that SAS was sending to space.

Srivatsan’s heart skipped a beat. It had taken her and five other students from the SpaceLab at SAS a year’s worth of meticulous planning, collaboration, and research to set up an experiment to test radiation levels in space using strands of melanin.

And now, an engineer in Houston had inadvertently turned on the experiment prematurely, effectively mooting it. The SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket, which would carry the experiment, was scheduled to launch in 10 days.

It was only a year ago that Srivatsan attended a talk by ex-NASA scientist Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya, CEO and founder of Bhattacharya Space Enterprises. Excited by the prospect of sending experiments to space, Srivatsan decided to dig for more information. As part of the Bhattacharya Space Enterprise program, there were eight lab spots available in Singapore to send experiments to the International Space Station.

This was no usual high school project and Srivatsan wasted no time. Finding the right experiment, zeroing in on the details, and looking for sponsors to fund this was an integral part of the launch. She was going to need a team that respected commitment to a year-long project, had the passion to drive purpose, the grit and determination to overcome multiple challenges, and willingness to invest in hard work for success.

More importantly, the project required the emotional strength to keep positively focused in the face of delays, lack of time, and the knowledge that the experiment may never see the space beyond the four walls of Bart Millar and Meredith White’s robotics lab, let alone outer space.

Starting from scratch, Srivatsan and her team of five—Jaclyn Chan, Keshav Jagannath, Annie Kim, Madeline Smith, and Devansh Tandon, conducted weekly brainstorming sessions. Nervous about meeting with the SAS administration and the advancement office to discuss funding and public relations for the project, the team pressed on with one goal in mind—going where no high schooler in Singapore has ever gone before!

Awed by the students’ passion and determination to succeed, SAS administrators and staff pledged their support and helped students understand and navigate the logistics of this experiment. For the current year, SAS was the only school to leverage this opportunity, making it the first high school in Singapore to hit space.

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The team’s mentors, Priyadarshini Majumdar, a National University of Singapore graduate student, and Dr. Bhattacharya, devoted precious time, patiently responding to questions, and guiding every step.

Majumdar was instrumental in encouraging the team to focus on the various stages of the mission, formulate a plan, and execute it. In six months’ time, the students went from finding it hard to visualize how everything would fit into a microlab to building the engineering model and constructing the flight model in about a week.

She fondly recollects a time when, sitting at Srivatsan’s dining room table, they decided that this project was going to work like a company.

And, in a short amount of time the team learned to play off of each other’s strengths.

Departments were defined and roles were assigned. The payload department was to be headed by Devansh, Jaclyn was in charge of hardware and software, Keshav was to handle integration, Annie was responsible for marketing and maintaining the log book, Madeline was the associate who had to know fairly everything across all departments and build the knowledge for passing it down, and Sunita oversaw everything as the CEO. This start-up mentality offered great agility.

Majumdar guided their decisions, troubleshot issues, and worked very closely from conception to completion.

“I have seen them work really hard and of all the other groups that I have mentored, they impressed me the most. I have personally learned a lot from each of them. If tomorrow I had to mentor another set of students, I’d surely set the SAS SpaceLab team as an example,” beams a proud Majumdar.

Juggling school work, exams, and other extra-curricular activities was no easy feat.

Calls via Skype and FaceTime, frantic emails, messages, and meetings that stretched longer than scheduled were the order of the day. The amazing team dynamics, the ability to handle pressure and criticism and be accountable went a long way. Asked about their regrets, the team says they have none. They couldn’t have done it better. They made mistakes but learned from them and did the best they could in the given situation and time.

Furthermore, Dr. Howell Ivy, head of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California also offered valuable feedback and advice on the project, claiming that their documentation was extremely professional.

So when the chips were down (thanks to the experiment being turned on in error for 18 hours), not one person on the team batted an eyelid. Srivatsan called for a meeting and a recovery plan was hatched. ISS was planning

It Takes A Village The team is all praises for their advisors Meredith White and Bart Millar. Millar went through a summer training program specifically for this project and the students understand that it was a huge commitment on his part and are truly grateful. Admiring their personalities and teaching styles, the students were quick to point out that they could not have had better mentors within SAS. “They gave us the freedom to learn independently, and whenever we needed it, they were there to support and guide us,” says Srivatsan.

The students are thankful to Mr. Dennnis Steigerwald, who helped connect the project with the SAS community; to Ms. Joanna Fitts and Dr. Kevin Piers, who offered invaluable advice about the biological aspects of the experiment; to the SAS Foundation; Dr. Haiyan Liu, an SAS parent who shared her expertise and offered use of her lab space at the National University of Singapore; parents in the SAS community; and teachers like Martha Began, who first mentioned Dr. Bhattacharya’s talk to Srivatsan.

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to ship it back and they had about a week to redo the whole experiment. The team zoomed into action.

It was time for some tough decisions: Do we take everything off and rebuild the whole experiment? Because that was most hygienic.

Or do we leave on the same capsule and flush out the bacteria and melanin? Though that would take a lot less time, the results may not be accurate, if not cleaned properly.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and taking shortcuts never really benefitted anyone. Deciding to rebuild the experiment, they set to work. Even with technical and logistical challenges—finding the right kind of melanin, testing it to see if it works—later, there

seemed to be progress. Time was running out.

Frustrations mounted.

A project with such high stakes, topped with the usual school workload, called for long hours, sometimes up until 11:30 p.m. at night. But the idea that their experiment was going to space kept them going. With eyes on the goal, the whole team, including the advisors, worked hard for that one week to make sure their microlab was redone to perfection and ready in time and shipped to San Jose.

At the time of writing this article, the team is excitedly awaiting the June 1 launch, ready for the ride of their lives. And if it does turn out that melanin indeed protects cells from radiation, then this experiment will be a defining moment for future space research. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will genetically modify plants to produce more melanin, making it easier to grow plants in space.

Space and Robotics at SAS The SAS robotics program was launched when Bart Millar and Meredith White took the first Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) underwater robot to Hong Kong in spring 2012. Working with zero budget, without proper tools or a dedicated shop, they accompanied ten SAS students to the event.

There, they finished 10th among 15 competing teams.

Both White and Millar have had experience with robotics and STEM in the US, so they felt ready to expand robotics at SAS. Now, robotics encompasses four sections of Introductory Robotics and two sections of Robotics Science, which includes three regional events that are part of worldwide competitions.

Every year, SAS teams travel to Taipei to compete in VEX Robotics Competition; to Sydney for FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC); and to Surabaya for the underwater MATE event. In 2016-17, 40 SAS students attended one or more of these events.

The team successes have also been mounting up. Four SAS teams made it to the playoffs in Taipei, with one team winning first place. In Sydney this March, the SAS team finished fifth, earning a spot as an alliance captain, picking two other FRC teams from Australia to compete in the playoffs. Finally, two SAS teams traveled to Surabaya in April, placing second and third respectively.

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JOURNEYS 44

TEACHER FEATURE: JAMES TONEY

By KINJAL SHAH Communications Writer

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Inner-city kid, Walt Disney World intern, campus tour guide, Japanese manga fanboy, globetrotter, popcorn connoisseur – sixth grade reading-language arts teacher James Toney knows what it means to defy the odds and teaches kids to appreciate the resources they have.

Sitting in an inner city classroom in Los Angeles, James Toney, just out of college, waited for his students. He was teaching grade two at Norwood Street Elementary School and, unaware of the struggles of their home environment the day before, was never quite sure if the kids would be in stable enough physical and emotional health to be able to deal with basic math problems and language skills. With 99 percent under the poverty line, a meal at school was probably the only meal that was guaranteed each day for some of them.

While teaching underprivileged kids through Teach For America, this potential child psychologist fell in love with teaching. Worlds away from the privileges of Singapore American School and other international education institutions that dot our island, the students at inner city schools came from diverse populations, often with immigrant parents living in impoverished neighborhoods. Having spent the first 10 years of his life in a setting right out of the US television series The Wire—in the inner city of Baltimore—Toney was no stranger to old semi-blighted neighborhoods, burdened looks of desperation, and the struggles of everyday living.

The son of immigrant parents, Toney was continuously reminded of the importance of education. His mother came to the United States from Ghana to work as a helper—called upon to look after her father’s new children. She met Toney’s father, a man from the rural south, in the high school they attended together in Manhattan, New York City. Often, his mother would talk about her own two kilometer long bare-foot walk to school in

Ghana, encouraging him to take advantage of every opportunity he received and be grateful for it.

An underlying perception of inner city neighborhoods is the implication that where you start in life is where you end up in life. Toney was able to break out of this vicious circle because he was given the opportunity and the resources.

When his mother remarried, they moved to Baltimore County and then to Virginia where he went to high school. With access to solid educational resources in Virginia, Toney was able to earn multiple scholarships to attend the College of William and Mary.

At William and Mary, Toney participated in many social and multicultural committees, traveling around, encouraging minorities to apply to his college, and also became a tour guide on campus.

Between studying and offering tours, he heard about how people regretted not going overseas or participating in study abroad programs. Doubting the affordability of an overseas education, he let the thought rest, even though the idea excited him.

Curiosity got the better of him, and a little research later, he was able to opt in for a direct tuition exchange, with an opportunity to study in Australia in his fourth year of college.

Meeting people who were teaching overseas and visiting a teacher friend in Japan exposed him to the world of international education. Back in the US, and armed with a degree, he started working with Teach For America. After four years, budget cut backs, introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act,

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JOURNEYS 46

James Toney (far right) having dinner with his fellow colleagues in Japan.

dwindling numbers due to gentrification, coupled with some other reasons, led him to take up an opportunity that presented itself.

Before he knew it, Toney was on his way to the other side of the world yet again. The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program took him to the Land of the Rising Sun. In one of his strongest teaching experiences, Toney taught elementary and middle schoolers in Japanese public schools. Living in a new culture with people of different language and mannerisms was trial by fire. Having completed his master’s degree while living in Los Angeles, teaching in Japan was the easier part. The same can’t be said for communication!

Wholly immersing himself in local cultural experiences, Toney learned Japanese, took lessons in using the katana (a Japanese sword), enjoyed taiko drumming, and was involved in cultural festivals all year long. One of his favorite memories is his students calling him Tony Tony Chopper, a character on the Japanese One Piece manga and anime series.

One thing led to another and he was soon on his way to Venezuela, then Qatar, and finally Singapore.

Only six years after his gig in Japan, Toney was invited back to JET as a presenter and guest panelist in 2013 to talk to adults who were exiting the program and interested in becoming teachers in the international community.

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Through his own experiences in inner city schools in Los Angeles and schools overseas, Toney observes that kids across the globe behave and respond in a similar fashion – often facing similar emotional issues, dealing with similar social dynamics, and displaying similar learning skills.

“But, there’s also something to be said about the way you’re brought up by society…by your parents, and I think that needs to be acknowledged a lot more, especially in international schools. Sometimes communication gaps arise from cultural differences that just never really get discussed, leading to problems,” says Toney.

“With more open discussions, there will be fewer problems as kids get older if they’re allowed to share where they’re coming from with differences openly acknowledged.”

A natural storyteller, Toney shares his life experiences with his students to make learning more real. Service, diversity, and culture are topics close to Toney’s heart and he’s happy to be able to bring these up with his sixth graders at SAS. “I can tell that a lot of them want to talk about those subjects,” says Toney.

Toney models his teaching behavior after his favorite teachers—the ones who were able to give their students a little bit of themselves, leaving a

A NATURAL STORYTELLER, TONEY SHARES HIS LIFE EXPERIENCES WITH HIS STUDENTS TO MAKE LEARNING MORE REAL. lasting impression on individual learning journeys.

His fourth grade teacher, Ms. Cooper, loved to use humor, tell stories, and talk about her own life experiences—including an obsession with the soundtrack of the movie Dirty Dancing. “I love to joke around and have fun in my class but reading all these stories…we just spoke about Malala today and about people who have to fight to get an education, especially women…is ever so inspiring.

I often talk to them [students] about problems that I am interested in, those that I’m passionate about, and they respond in amazing ways,” Toney says.

He feels very strongly about kids who have access to resources, especially compared to his students in Los Angeles and continuously encourages them to take advantage of those – good teachers, the latest technology, and a healthy environment.

“I want them to do more with it than just sit and take in what the teacher says”, he adds.

When asked about his current sixth graders and what he’d like them to remember, he’s quick to emphasize the growth mindset they need to adapt – about their learning and about experiencing the world. “I don’t want them to remember me as their teacher, but as a facilitator of their learning process,” he says. Students today can look up anything they want. Teachers need to guide them in the right direction.

While growing up in rough neighborhoods, Toney was intentional about surrounding himself with friends who may have also had similar backgrounds, and immigrants who chose to work hard, following their passions and turning their lives around. He and his friends kept each other focused on getting good grades, staying out of trouble, and playing sports.

He wished the same for his siblings—two younger brothers—one, a teacher in Taiwan (playing music on the side) and the other, who works with HBO, editing their scripts. Toney has come a long way since the inner city streets of Baltimore.

One of his favorite things is receiving news from his past students and catching up through email or social media, knowing he has made an impact on their life and what they’ve made of it.

Nowadays, Toney enjoys traveling within the continent and zipping around in his car – exploring local neighborhoods and eateries and enjoying a slice of Singapore life.

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Season Two IASAS Tournament Baseball Record: Gold The boys baseball team played strong throughout the entire tournament and ultimately topped ISB in the final to come away with gold.

Softball Record: Gold What an exciting inaugural tournament for the Eagles softball team! The girls’ hard work in practice and throughout the season paid off with an undefeated record at IASAS. The Eagles dominated the tournament by scoring a total of 55 runs, while only allowing 12 from the competition.

Track Girls Record: Silver The girls track team had strong performances from freshman Lara WestwoodMarsh in her individual events as she claimed silver in both the 100m and 400m finals. The 4x400m team snagged gold and helped carry the girls to an overall second place finish.

Track Boys Record: Bronze The boys track team scored valuable points in the 1500m, 800m, discus, and snagged gold in both the medley relay and the 4x400m to secure a bronze medal for the weekend.

Badminton Boys Record: Silver After finishing 4-1 in tournament play, the boys finished strong and came out with a second place finish.

Badminton Girls Record: 5-2 Fifth The girls showed a lot of heart over the weekend and continued to play hard in spite of a few setbacks. It was a great opportunity for growth.

Golf Girls Record: Fourth The girls played hard and just missed a few opportunities. it was a great learning experience and opportunity for growth.

Golf Boys Record: Silver The boys golf team had a consistent performance throughout the weekend and scored a second place finish overall

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JOURNEYS 50

H E L P I N G H A N D S F O R T H I R D - C U LT U R E K I D S :

Alumna Ellen Mahoney and the Power of Mentors I N S P I R E D B Y H E R O W N T R A U M AT I C E X P E R I E N C E S , ELLEN MAHONEY HAD PROMISED HERSELF SHE WOULD S O M E D AY H E L P E X PAT K I D S .

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By CARA D’AVANZO Staff Writer Like many third-culture kids, Ellen Mahoney (Class of 1995) has a complicated sense of home.

She spent most of her childhood in Japan, and when she moved “home” to the US at 13, she would visualize her rambles in Tokyo to calm her fears of getting lost in her new neighborhood.

After returning to Asia and graduating from SAS, Ellen faced new challenges upon moving “home” again for college. Her experiences eventually led her to create a mentoring program specifically for third-culture kids.

Moving to Singapore in high school was a new start for Ellen, who never felt accepted in her Connecticut school. “My favorite memories of SAS are of my amazing teachers like Mrs. Donohue, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Imperi,” she recalls, “and of the delicious food made by Mr. Hoe!” She enjoyed tutoring children in HDBs with the community service club, and remembers the impact of her senior Interim Semester experience: “I spent the week teaching elementary students at the Ulu Pandan campus.

We were like teacher’s aides, and it was great!

I loved working with the kids, and the SAS teachers were really encouraging.”

Upon entering an Ohio college, Ellen found herself “confused by the culture, values, and norms of the very American town I moved to.”

Far from family and alienated from her college peers, Ellen became depressed. She couldn’t sleep, concentrate, or form new relationships.

She heard from school friends having similar problems; some dropped out of college, some turned to drugs, and one took his own life. After a second friend attempted suicide, she told herself, “Someday, I’m going to counsel teens like us to cope better with this transition.”

Her favorite teacher, Mrs. Donohue, helped Ellen through this difficult time. “I went back to Singapore and told her I wanted to drop out,” she explains. “She convinced me to enroll in one summer class at the University of Oregon.

I went reluctantly, thinking Oregon sounded even more foreign than Ohio – and I absolutely loved it! I transferred to UO, and Mrs. Donohue even helped me find a place to live. I remain so grateful to her; I consider her my first mentor.”

After college, Ellen became a teacher, then worked for iMentor in New York. In 2008, she was awarded a City Council Citation for her work there.

A former teacher in Japan asked Ellen to consider designing a mentoring program for the school’s graduates, who also faced difficult transitions “home.” As she worked on this, she says, “It dawned on me that this was my moment! I had sworn that one day I would help expat kids. The time had to be now. Months later, I resigned from my job and started Sea Change Mentoring.” Since then, the company’s vision has expanded; now, besides pairing third-culture students with third-culture mentors, Sea Change brings youth-mentoring best practices to international schools. “More and more schools are incorporating mentorships to support personalized learning, transitions support, alumni development, and student well-being,” explains Ellen. “In the last year, we have formed partnerships with amazing schools as well as international organizations. I am passionate about youth mentoring, and it is an honor to combine my love for this work with my love for this community.”

Coming full circle, Ellen now advises SAS how best to incorporate mentors into Catalyst. “When I looked at how far the school has come, at its vision, values, and priorities, I knew we could do some interesting work together,” she says. “I think SAS is a real leader in personalized learning and a model for other schools embarking on this path. It’s nice to see a school adapting to a changing world with an eye to what the future may look like for its students.” Reflecting on her decision to create Sea Change Mentoring, Ellen says, “I am so glad I did this. It is very difficult work getting a business up and running.

And sometimes our students’ stories hit really close to home. But it means so much to me to help young people who are struggling; to guide thriving students to new opportunities; to empathize with parents who want the best for their children; and to come back to the international school community that gave me so much when I was growing up.”

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JOURNEYS 52

DEMYSTIFYING THE SUPERMARKET APPLE: ’14 W E I K AT

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T I O ILH

iter f Wr f a t AN S N TI I X HING KOH ELIS

R CE, FROM CKEN RI HI AND C G S N ’ I , FY HOE OOD YSTI F MR. M G E TO D ODIN F 2014, DEC O A Y. ASS W L C G , N IT A LO LHO I E W M E CO K AT I HAS By

How did you and your family come to Singapore, and when did you join and graduate from SAS? We moved to Singapore because of my father’s work. I attended SAS when I was in kindergarten (2003) and half of first grade. My family moved back when I was in seventh grade, staying until I graduated in 2014.

I understand that IDEO is a global design company based in Silicon Valley, and that you work as a fellow at IDEO Colab, IDEO’s R&D wing looking at emerging technologies. Tell us more about what you do!

At IDEO Colab (http://www.ideocolab.com/), we believe in asking and prototyping human questions behind new technologies, and in solving problems collaboratively. We explore the limits of Virtual/Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things through the human-centered design process. We build with Colab member organizations such as Fidelity and Nasdaq because we believe creating the future and developing uses for human-centered technology cannot be done by one organization.

In multidisciplinary teams, we start with technologies to build concepts around human needs, from creating a more representational credit score to a more transparent food system. My work ranged from building out skills for an artificial intelligence API, designing brands, modeling businesses, and interviewing experts in a variety of industries.

I’ve also previously worked at the Food + Future Colab (now Food + Future, https://foodfuture.com/).

It’s a venture accelerator focused on demystifying and decoding food, and aims to create a more transparent food system by bringing minds from all backgrounds together. Food + Future Colab was a collaboration among IDEO Colab, Target, MIT

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JOURNEYS 54

I realized what I studied did not matter as much as the story I tell about why I’m studying it.

A story I often tell is, “I’m interested in system design to create an impact. I feel that studying globalization helps me to understand how businesses act globally, and how they can be improved upon to positively impact others.

Media Lab, and others, and we created ventures to increase trust, access, and understanding of the food industry.

What are two things that most people don’t know about food?

By the time you pick up an apple at the grocery store in the United States, it can be over 12 months old. We often expect produce to be in the store even though it is not in season. Another fact: 40% of fish in the United States is mislabeled. Yikes!

What were some of the learning experiences you had in SAS that inspired what you do today?

SAS’s electives helped me define and shape my interests. Ms. Barbara Harvey taught me how to imagine an idea and implement it through art.

Mr. Martin Williams’ Design and Innovation class introduced me to the human-centered design process I use daily. Ms. Ursula Pong taught me how to keep my mind sharp by focusing on my body and the food I eat. And history, English, and social studies courses taught by Mr. Clay Burrell, Mr. Eric Burnett, Mr. Jason Adkison, Mr. Doug Mabie, and Dr. Michael Clark taught me to think critically about the world.

These teachers inspired the entrepreneur and design consultant in me, and the combination of my courses gave me a strong interdisciplinary perspective to problem solving. I’d also like to give a shout out to Mrs. Paula Silverman and Ms. Mimi Molchan!

What is your favorite Mr. Hoe’s dish, and what was your favorite part about living in Singapore?

Chicken rice on Fridays!

The mix of cultures, people, ideas, and food.

Geographically, it was a great jumping-off point to discover new countries and cultures.

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Where do you go to college and what are you studying? Was it easy or challenging to decide on what to major in?

I’m a rising senior at Northeastern University in Boston, majoring in International Affairs and minoring in Interaction Design and Global Social Entrepreneurship. I entered college through the business school but craved a more flexible major, so I changed majors after my first semester.

I realized what I studied did not matter as much as the story I tell about why I’m studying it. A story I often tell is, “I’m interested in system design to create an impact. I feel that studying globalization helps me to understand how businesses act globally, and how they can be improved upon to positively impact others.” I also feel that it is important to know where an idea or business fits in the global context and the possible consequences—especially regarding the emerging technology I work with at IDEO Colabs.

Strategically taking classes where I can connect my interests to improve the way I think as an entrepreneur is more important to me than studying something I am not passionate about.

What do you dream about?

I dream about a lot, from having a dog to hike with, to coming back to Singapore.

I’m often imagining abstract realities as a thought exercise called design fiction. What if pillows could save your dreams? What will wildlife evolve into in the year 3,500?

Career-wise, I mostly dream about working with a team to solve a complex problem or change how people think about the world by introducing a new perspective. I am lucky to work with people daily to do this.

On the side, I’m working with some friends on a company, too; we’ll see what happens!

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JOURNEYS 56

EAGLES ON W A L L S T R E E T: THREE SAS ALUMNI WORK AND C O N N E C T AT ICONIC S&P DOW JONES INDICES Three Eagles, generations apart, find themselves in one office, rekindling a lifetime of SAS memories.

By Kristina Doss Staff Writer

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Michael Mell recalls the first time he realized that two of his colleagues at S&P Dow Jones Indices attended his alma mater Singapore American School.

He first met Andrew Montanarella at the New York City office nearly a decade ago. The two had a natural rapport and realized their common background while comparing notes. Lucas Chiang joined the company more recently and, once again, the global SAS network became a whole lot closer, thanks to an office conversation.

At first glance, the odds of making the SAS connection so easily don’t appear to be in their favor.

After all, the New York City office is located more than 9,500 miles away from where they attended school in Singapore. They also attended SAS at different times and life took them to various parts of the world once these Eagles left the nest. But Mell and his colleagues are not surprised at the ease with which they found each other, or even that they ended up at the same iconic Wall Street institution—and on the same office floor to boot—thanks in part to the lessons they learned at SAS.

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JOURNEYS 58

Left to right: Andrew Montanarella, Lucas Chiang, and Michael Mell.

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“My personal belief is that all of us who experienced SAS have a certain openness that leads to discovering what we have in common,” said Michael Mell, who is the product manager in charge of S&P Dow Jones Indices’s custom indexing business throughout the Americas.

“It probably comes from constantly being around people of different backgrounds, so the ability to quickly find common ground among SAS alumni is a skill we have learned.”

Mell, Montanarella, and Chiang represent three different generations of Eagles. Montanarella attended SAS in the 1970s, whereas Mell and Chiang went to the school in the 90s and 00s, respectively.

When asked to share memorable moments about their time at SAS, each alumnus focused on the inspirational lessons their teachers taught that went beyond what was written in any textbook.

Montanarella (1975-1979), for example, remembers having trouble with a French lesson and the teacher pulling him aside and encouraging him not to give up. “She said things can get difficult, but we have to face these moments head on and embrace the challenge,” recalled Montanarella, the senior sales director for asset management firms in New York. “She said ultimately we can achieve anything we want to; it just takes hard work and the will to continue. I will always remember that.”

Some of these lessons, the alumni said, helped inspire them to pursue a career in the global financial services industry and successfully navigate a career at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The company, which traces its history back to 1896, is the largest global resource for essential index-based concepts, data and research, and home to iconic financial market indicators such as the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

“My 10 years at SAS were not so long ago and I feel as though my skills and career today are an extension of who I was in school,” said Chiang (Class

of 2010), a sales associate who supports the North American sales team in contract negotiations and relationship management. “My parents were not business people, so my intro to business class, taught by Tico Oms, was quite literally my introduction to business. I feel extremely comfortable working with a diverse group of people, just as I did at SAS, and I have carried the same work ethic I fostered in high school to my job at S&P DJI today.”

Echoing Chiang’s sentiment, Mell (Class of 1996) keyed in on the diverse and welcoming environment SAS fostered to make connections with others. “SAS equipped me with the tools to operate in a global economy by being able to effectively collaborate across different cultures, faiths, and countries,” Mell said. “I can go anywhere in the world and make friends with people I’ve never met from different backgrounds, thanks in part to SAS.” Since leaving SAS, each alumnus pursued higher education, traveled, and—for Montanarella and Mell —started families.

Mell went to Connecticut College and then graduate school at Columbia University. He is married with three kids.

Chiang went to college at New York University and spent one year abroad in Paris.

According to Montanarella, his family moved from Singapore to Amsterdam and then to New York.

He attended Manhattan College for his bachelor’s degree, as well as his MBA in finance. Montanarella also has two kids: a 16-year-old boy and a 14-yearold girl, whom he describes as his “pride and joy.”

He would some day like to show them Singapore – home to a school that taught him life lessons such as how to be a good communicator and served as a jumping off point for learning about the rest of the world. “I hope that one day I will have a trip with them to Singapore,” Montanarella said. “They are both very curious about it.”

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JOURNEYS 60

A NEW SEPTEMBER lane, to City from an airp n io L e th of s ew Ulu From sweeping vi King’s Road and ’s S A S at s on nversati classrooms and co Francesco Zargani s, ie dd bu h it w to movie nights Pandan campuses, ne. uresque memory la ct pi n w do k al w takes a NI SCO ZARGA E C N A R F Y B 1986 CLASS OF

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On a warm June evening in 1986 as the sun set and humidity coated the tapestry of angsana and mahogany trees, the rattling taxi ornate with Chinese decorations and pungent incense, turned sharply left off Tanglin Road and onto Orange Grove Road; I was sitting in the back alone wearing a tie, dress pants, and some magnificently electric blue sports coat missing from the Miami Vice wardrobe department. The driver grindingly shifted gears as I balanced a folded graduation gown with its matching vintage faux cardboard cap on my lap. It had taken over five minutes from my home in Pandan Valley to that left turn, but I wanted to beg the driver to slow down to a crawl. I was swept up in a flurry of emotions as we made our way past bits of what until that moment had been my entire life.

The next morning at seven, a plane would leave Changi airport with me on board, and as it would catch lift on the moist air, contracting below would be more than an empty room in my parents’ house or the sinuous lines of the expressways and the beaches. Left behind would the life of a boy who had become a man in a city-state at the very edge of the southern and northern hemispheres—Sumatra and its jungles to the south, Malaysia and its gum forests to the north.

An education in a school that was not just an international school: it was a congregation of happy vagabonds, enamored of life and sharing a wanderer’s love for the transient. Yet, within the tent, the unity was permanent: we were of King’s Road and Ulu Pandan, just as today we are of Woodlands. That single jewel in our pocket shined brighter with the passing of time and with distance between our nows and our yesteryears. Today we gather in New York or Singapore, in London or San Francisco, or anywhere, and we are right back to our familiar.

That June evening my taxi drove by Holland Village, where stores used to stock up our uniforms: my elbow rested against the cold and rattling window, and I was thinking how to my left beyond those HDB flats bronzed with a late afternoon sun, was King’s Road. That new September, for the first time in four years, I would not get off a school bus in the school’s driveway wondering who had returned, who was new, and who was gone. I would not walk into the administration office and greet Bonnie and be welcomed by that melodious accent and voice: “Mr. Zargani, what kind of trouble are you going to get yourself in this year?” nor would I make my way to Mike Imperi’s class and tell him about my achievements over a summer of doing the absolute best of doing very little. Summers always ended with an eager anticipation to get back to that family in King’s Road. Yet those summers had reached their last, since I was about to find myself in the ballroom of a luxurious hotel which would be my final student assembly.

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We grow up only once, and I grew up in Singapore, surrounded by SAS mates. Speeches were made, music was played, conversations and jokes whispered while we were finishing our years in at SAS. Some of us were leaving soon, and others staying through the summer; all would begin a new September far away from our King’s Road and would never again don that uniform that had been an easy companion to now hilariously dated haircuts. We were all beginning new lives and were mostly aware of the blessings of a unique expatriate life, we were probably underestimating the significance of Singapore and SAS in our spirit and our upbringing. I was very fortunate to be living a life of privilege, not just because of the amahs and drivers and difficult Interim Semester choices between Kathmandu, Nepal or Australia. I was aware of the richness of the experience I was afforded because of the expansion of my personal horizons, and the strengthening of my cultural sensibilities.

These things, I appreciated as I was living them, fully aware that one day they would come to an end, and I will continue to pluck the fruits of that personal experience throughout my exile—that is what I have called life after Singapore.

The lessons learned at SAS and in Singapore have always stayed with me, a testament not just to the quality of the teachers, the institution, and the country, but a validation of a life many of our parents chose with trepidation. What became much more relevant with wisdom and the passing of years was the camaraderie that existed between us alumni who shared into this existence, into this way of being. Without a doubt we were all good chums back then, as we stormed between classes, books under our arms, donning worryingly short-shorts. Over the years I have been at various alumni events and the instantaneous bond that forms between diverse set of alumni is always striking; one that clearly transcends class years or individual circumstances through which we circumnavigated the globe and found our lives intersecting on the southern tip of Malaya.

What I underestimated and what I always try to emphasize when communicating with current students is the impact of the sudden withdrawal from this life when we return to our homes—or what we thought were our homes before we lived through the Singaporean experience. Whenever travel or living abroad is discussed it is all too common to bring up the term culture shock, but the

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reality is that for a lot of us Third Culture Kids (TCKs), orphans of Singapura, the culture shock is reversed upon our return. Suddenly we sit elbow to elbow with single-culture people, and while it is no fault of theirs, we find great difficulty in adapting ourselves to our new quarters, feeling very much alone. A melancholic undercurrent and yearning for the island and our peers infuses itself in our daily new world. To adapt is to accept this feeling, nurture it, and take away the enrichment a TCK’s lifestyle brought. Admittedly, one of the things the newer generations have working for them are new technologies which make the world smaller. It is a whole lot easier to keep in touch these days, and also SAS now has a much more formalized alumni association that facilitates and encourages the strengthening of that bond. For those of us who graduated when dinosaurs recently met a large meteoroid, it was either usage of ridiculously thin airmail paper and envelopes or telephones that were still attached to walls.

In 2006, during the 50th anniversary celebrations, I was asked to address a group of students and share my experience as an alumnus, as an Eagle from the Lion City. After the initial amusement about a fellow like me addressing any student from a pedestal of expertise, it dawned on me that there was much I could share and the afternoon turned out to be extremely rewarding. What it also highlighted was that the same challenges that former mullet-donning émigrés faced were universal. How do you begin a new life without Singapore and SAS, and how do you carry them with you to enrich this new life? Confusion of identity, where do we meet the we that is us? The great thing about being a TCK is that our identity is multidimensional and multifaceted. A normal passport photograph is one face, one cringingly cock-eyed portrait; a TCK’s passport picture should really be three-dimensional. TCKs dread the classic question: “Where are you from”? For years, I answered with: “My parents are Italian, I am American, but I grew up in Singapore”, and by the time I uttered the word “Singapore” the questioner was already bored to tears and had moved on. Now I simply answer Singapore, and—of course—I am faced with the inevitable grand and unique joke: “Soooo, did you ever get caned?”

Since graduating from SAS I have tried to preach about the significance that a school and a small city-state could have on a young, developing mind, and character. I will admit that some of the details of history lessons, or some of the books I read for English, or some of the fantabulous acrobatics I performed in Algebra have become foggy with the advent of years. While the individual ingredients thrown into the cauldron of my education may have lost their exact weight and measures over the years, the richness of the education is not to be measured in each individual bit but in the complete landscape.

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So what, exactly, did SAS and the Singapore experience teach me? That I should make courtesy a way of life. That I should listen when spoken to and when I spoke each word should receive its due weight. That colors are truly more vibrant for the colorblind, and that spices magnify flavors. It taught me that what you might find delectable I might think a smidge bit despicable, but that is quite all right. Kings and queens in the valleys might be hermits on the mountain tops, and in a room full of the world you soon love the world. Teachers taught me to hold on to their words, and often had led lives similar to ours; how many of my mentors lived and taught in Lebanon or Japan, India, or Taiwan, before they landed in my class and met yet another teenager who thought himself as some astute gift to humankind?

Yet SAS taught us patience, and that together with the Confucian vein in the Singaporean mindset, combined to align ourselves with the Wise and listen even when we are at times distracted. It would be dishonest for me to portray us little Eaglets as models of refined etiquette and perfect pupils, far from it. Vignettes abound of less honorable snapshots of our student life. No, our lives were not the polaroid (can we use that word in our world of pixels?) of perfection, but were lives well lived and absorbent of the environment we were privileged enough to be in.

Whenever I pass by in the corridors of social media I am moved by the deep affection that students feel towards their teachers, and when in 2006 we were all thrown together in a few large buses it was impossible to find any line of demarcation between instructor and instructed: that is a great testament to the educator, when the world no longer can differentiate between teacher and student. Job well done.

As with any job though it is different when it’s steeped in passion. SAS taught me not to be afraid to think differently, not to be afraid to be an individual, and while social mores and peer pressure were not absent between Farrer and Clementi, in an environment where a South Korean, an Australian, a Texan, a Swede, a South African, and an Italian-American mutt go to the movies and a night of celebrant riff-raffs, is there really room for non-acceptance?

TCKs, when you return from the island do not be afraid to continue to carry it in your pocket, close to your heart. Do not be afraid of the void that you will feel in the absence of all those close friends that like you came to a southern tip of the Malayan peninsula: some by way of Subic Bay, some from Melbourne, and others still from Toronto or Johannesburg: we all would arrive before summer’s end and walk through the gates of Ulu Pandan or King’s Road. Now it’s Woodlands, but the walk to and the walk back are the same.

A detailed version of this article was first published on the Perspectives blog.

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Homecoming

nce nderer. Si a w s i th d te k nes awai I moved bac Good fortu e, ec i p l a n ily gi ori w live happ o n I I wrote this e. r o p to Singa e Yong th Catherin permanently i w d n la s i that tiful eside me on b e in our beau er th s a ears in 6) who w La. The y i (class of ‘8 gr n a h S home. at the the journey n o n June evening o i s s i t an interm between, bu

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Hostel life at SAS Looking back:

With close to a quarter of high schoolers in 1959 attending SAS as boarders, hostel life was as much part of the experience as was schooling. Hostel living added an entirely new dimension to attending SAS that was shared by hundreds of students. Transitions were smoother and there was always someone to watch out for you.

Between the Lutheran Hostel, the Caltex Hostel, the Methodist Hostel, the Cairn Court Hostel, and other missionary hostels, as well as a few Photo submitted by Chuck Root (Class of 1967)

Chuck Root (Class of 1967) recounts that the Methodist hostel had no air conditioning and no fans, with girls housed upstairs and boys down, with one bathroom on each floor. At dinner each evening, students sat where their napkin ring was placed--at either the big kids’ table or the little kids’ table. Some memories include trips to the movie theater (with a satay man in front), and Saturday night mandated letter writing to parents and shoe polishing.

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Bottom photos submitted by Tom Philpot (Class of 1966)

“As much as possible we try to keep it like a home. I’m here when the children are here. It’s rare when I’m not. I am the one person to whom they are responsible. My mornings are filled with planning, shopping, and taking children to the doctor. In the evenings, after dinner, we say devotions. It’s a chance for us all to be together as a family.”

Betty Snead, housemother, on the Methodist Hostel

run by oil companies and other independent groups, the one thing that almost always stood out was a feeling of living with family.

The Methodist missionary children’s hostel had a unique identity in that for most of its existence, from 1958-1982, it was run by the same person – Betty Snead. A missionary teacher, Snead was a surrogate mother for hundreds of kids for 20 years. She viewed the position as her life’s calling and created a family and home that all her former charges recall with respect and affection.

m m e r Photo submitted by Cathy Murphy-Rau (ClassSofu 1978)

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SAS Hat $20

SAS water Bottle $27

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SAS sweatshirt $45

PTA

LEARNING FROM THE BEST In May 2016 the PTA donated $200,000 to the school to support programs and activities not covered by standard tuition fees. One of the most prominent programs supported each year by the PTA is our academic visitors-in-residence program. This program allows our students to work side-by-side with New York Times best selling authors, award winning dancers, accomplished poets, and more. The workshop setting allows students to learn firsthand about what it takes to write a novel as they sit next to a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient like Robin Hemley. Playwrights and directors like Joachim Matschoss offer direct feedback to our budding theater students as they hone their craft. New York Times best selling author Sonny Liew spent time inside the high school art studio guiding our AP art students. More than 20 visiting artists have worked directly with our students from preschool to grade 12 this year and inspired, taught, and motivated the next generation of artists.

PTA Sponsor visiting artists Elementary Author/Illustrator Steve Jenkins, Robin Page, Todd Parr High School Writers Perspective Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye Middle School Author-in-Residence Kathryn Erskine, Sara Holbrock, Michael Salinger Middle School/High School Dance Artist-in-Residence Danz People, White Noise Creations Middle School/High School Theater Artist-in-Residence Neil Ferrelly, Mark Hill, Ian Johnson, Joachi Matchoss, Hannah Northcott, Chris Salisbury Middle School/High School Visual Artist-in-Residence Arturo Correa Innovator-in-Residence Robin Cecil Hemley, Sonny Liew, Jason Erik Lundberg, Hannah Ryan, Shivani Singh Instructional Assistant Professional Development Robyn Lynch

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UNIFY. IGNITE. SOAR. Play with purpose. If it's important, it's worth working for.

At Singapore American School, students discover they are more capable than they ever thought possible and then work hard to realize their true potential.

Teamwork and collaboration mean finding a common purpose and then exercising the flexibility, creativity, and resolve needed to cross the finish line.

When united, our students find power in every game, on and off the field.

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

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JOURNEYS 72

WHY I GIVE AN INTE RV I E W W I T H EVY GO Z ALI (‘97)

By ANNE DUNCAN Associate Director of Advancement

Evy Gozali graduated from Singapore American School in 1997, the first class to graduate from our Woodlands campus. Today, she is running a vineyard and winery in Bali, Indonesia together with her mother. As a donor to the SAS Foundation, I spoke to her about her student experience and ultimately, how this impacts why she gives back to the school today.

How did your experience at Singapore American School influence your career path and ultimately, your operation of a vineyard and winery in Bali?

After studying at SAS through four years of high school, the most important lessons that I learned were open-mindedness and that life is about having fun in whatever you do. I also gained a strong independent spirit from my teachers and learned to believe in the strength of the power inside of you and act from there.

Tell us what makes Sababay wines unique in Asia?

At the end of 2009, my mom and I were exploring Bali and the new highway that had opened to the north.

We witnessed the grape harvesting season in Buleleng and met grape farmers who were making less than US $100 annually. My mom, who didn’t even drink wine at the time, knew she could help the farmers earn a better living and improve grape farming for the next generation in Indonesia through the development of a vineyard and winery. Today, we grow the grapes and make the wines that reflect the flavor of the grapes in our microclimate in Bali. We have formed a bridge between the local farmers and our end customers through our integrated farming concept. We are so proud of our work and have recently received 25 international awards recognizing our vineyard and winery. We are the fastest growing winery in Indonesia.

Today, as the owner of a vineyard and winery, my career has very little to do with the economics and finance degrees that I earned in university, but it is these important lessons that I learned at SAS that help me most today.

Can visitors to Bali pay a visit Sababay winery?

Yes, we would love to have visitors from SAS if they are in the area. Please contact me directly via email (evy@ sababaywinery.com or info@sababaywinery.com) to make an appointment before you come!

What do you remember most from your time at SAS? I was actually a nerd in high school. I loved my accounting class so much that I took advanced accounting the next term. I loved watching dance and choir performances. And I loved participating in all the bake sales for my service clubs. One of my greatest memories was my high school Interim Semester trip to France in my junior year.

You recently joined the Eagle Society and make an annual gift to the SAS Foundation. Why has it been important for you to give back to your school?

It is important for me to give back to SAS in any way I can. I want SAS to be here in the future and continue to breed students who are multi-talented, have a strong will to solve world problems, a creative mindset, and an international awareness in these challenging times.

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Honor a teacher or staff member with a gift to the SAS Foundation The end of the school year is a time to show gratitude to current and former teachers, coaches, nurses, principals, counselors, and other staff members for a great year. We hope that you will consider making a gift to the SAS Foundation as a way of saying thank you. Your gift will be used to further the great work of our staff and students.

How it works: 1. With a suggested gift of S$50 or more per honoree, make your gift online at www.sas.edu.sg/makeagift.

2. When the form prompts you to indicate whether the gift is in honor of someone, choose yes, and a form will open, allowing you to enter your note of appreciation.

3. One to two weeks after the gift is made, the advancement office will notify honorees with a personal note from the donor.

4. An acknowledgement letter will be mailed to you with a copy of the letter sent to the honoree.

Questions?

Please contact Anne Duncan in the advancement office at aduncan@sas.edu.sg.

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By JODI JONIS Staff Writer

Visual Arts Interim Project 2017: Bridging Gaps, Serving the Community, and Filling Empty Bowls High schoolers buddy up with elementary school and early learning center students, making the visual arts Interim Semester project more meaningful to the community.

It’s a question that high school art teachers hear all the time from preschool and elementary teachers: “Can our kids work with your high school students in the art studio?”

It makes perfect sense, really.

What elementary kid doesn’t like working with clay, painting, and drawing? And wouldn’t it be great to have the high school students mentoring the younger kids? It sounds ideal. The problem is there is never enough time in the day or the curriculum.

This year, visual arts teacher Barbara Harvey decided it was time to finally get the younger kids into the art studio. She has run a visual arts in Singapore Interim Semester program for years, but this time each of her students would be paired with a “buddy” from elementary or the early learning center. She explained that this change alone filled a need in our school community by bridging a gap between the divisions.

Encouraging kids of different ages and divisions to get to know each other makes the whole SAS community stronger.

But high school students wanted even more from their Interim project. They also wanted to make a meaningful contribution to

the larger Singapore community through their visual art. That was the inspiration for incorporating the Empty Bowls model into the experience. Empty Bowls is an international grassroots project that uses the arts to raise awareness and money to end hunger. In the past SAS has offered Empty Bowls as a successful after-school club, so it was not a stretch to reinvent the project. The concept is simple— buy the bowl, get the food for free.

That is how the 2017 visual arts Empty Bowls Interim course came to be. Under the guidance of Deputy Principal Doug Neihart, high school athletics trainer Tomo Tanabe and Barbara Harvey, high school students had a week full of community building, service, and ceramics. To start, they met their elementary or early learning center buddies and each team created a bowl out of clay. The high school students fired the bowls in the kiln and prepared food in Mrs. Ferguson’s homeliving classroom.

Finally the students organized the big event on the last day of the week. The younger students were invited back to buy their bowls for $5. And then they received their food for free.

students decided to donate the funds to Food From the Heart, a Singapore charity that provides money and manpower to collect and distribute food to those who need it locally. In all, 44 Interim students helped 278 early learning center and elementary students create over 300 bowls and raised $1,000 for hunger relief.

Among the many rewards Ms. Harvey can list from the project, the greatest is the connections made between the the kids. “I have had several of the little ones stop us in passing and our students have brought back tales of their young buddies greeting them at the American Club, in the cafeteria, or on the bus.” Her pinnacle evidence of success was the testimonial given by an elementary boy, new to SAS and not yet in his groove, who announced to his mother after working with the high school students, “Today I had my first best day at school.”

Ms. Harvey chalks this year’s Interim up as a big success. Not only did it check the big DSLOs, it proved the maxim often quoted around the visual arts department.

“Take care of community first, and great art will come as a result.”

The last piece of the puzzle was what to do with the money? The S u m m e r

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By CRAIG DERKSEN So c i a l St u d i e s Te a c h e r

Taking Action to Reduce Poverty

Seventh grade social studies students focus on Escaping the Poverty Cycle unit.

The driving questions: Why is it difficult to escape poverty?

How can the poverty cycle be broken?

Students explored the many factors that put and keep people in poverty as well as various sustainable ways to intervene in the poverty cycle, including the efforts of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), microfinance organizations, and social entrepreneurs.

This year we tried to take the action and student agency aspects of our poverty unit to the next level.

As a result, students: • Researched, presented, and voted on which NGOs our Change for Change program will support.

• Organized a sale of used goods we collected in order to generate additional funds for three seventh grade service clubs—Nyaka, XS, and Smile Asia.

• Partnered with Battam-based Anchor Coffee, who runs its business on a social entrepreneurship model, selling their coffee to support a business that is making a difference in the communities where it operates, and generating funds for our Kiva account.

• Separated and delivered foreign change to a variety of organizations around the globe, requiring research and decision making, taking time away from vacations, interacting with adults, visiting charitable organizations, etc.

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These activities have helped to bring our poverty unit to life, making it real to our students and teaching them that they can be part of the solution!

Singapore coins collected in 2017

Amount the SAS Foundation will match

SGD 6,458.18

SGD 2,000

Other currencies collected

Loans made by the seventh grade Kiva account to poor entrepreneurs

28 NGOs supported in 2017: Care Corner Woodlands, Day Spring, Transient Workers Count Too, Doctors Without Borders, Malala Foundation, Prevent Human Trafficking

427

loans ($15,450) in 59 countries

Middle school service clubs supported in 2017 Nyaka, Smile Asia, Gawad Kalinga, Wish for Kids MS Service, XS

By ALISA MAK AT SARIA AND MOE SUMINO Te n t h G r a d e St u d e n t s

Coming Home to Homeland

High schoolers share their experience as they travel to Cambodia to share a few days of their lives with with Homeland community.

Two years ago, we went to Homeland in Cambodia for the first time. We felt nervous—nervous for how the kids might react to new faces and we were worried about the communication barrier.

We were excited, but we felt that the kids may not feel comfortable with us, and instead only with the juniors who had been attending the Homeland trip since eighth grade. Those feelings completely vanished as soon as we arrived at the shelter. Kids swarmed around us, big smiles on their faces, as if we were long lost friends. We turned around to face each other, each SAS student holding hands with two kids while one climbed onto their back and another tugged onto their shirt.

One of the kids Alisa was holding was named Mao—a boy who looked much younger than his three years. From that moment on, Mao stuck to Alisa and, just like all the other kids from SAS and their new friends at Homeland, they built a relationship that would impact Alisa forever.

Little did she know that the following year, as she was getting off the same van at Homeland, Mao would be running towards her with open arms, ready to embark

on more adventures together. That is the beautiful part of being in the Homeland community—not only do you support the education and safety of children in Cambodia, but you help yourself. Your relationship with these kids encourages you to rethink your priorities and it ultimately gives you a purpose in this world. It allows you to build close relationships and to forget the superficial problems that you once cared about, and that these children disregard.

Since 1993, a woman named Mao Long has dedicated her life to helping families and children in need. Three years later, the organization she had worked for closed down, and over thirty hopeless children were left alone on the streets. Mao Long spent that year living on the streets, refusing to leave them behind, doing everything in her power to give them the chance they deserved, until she was finally able to find a small rental room to house these children.

organization that supports, houses, and schools kids who have been abandoned, abused, and trafficked until they can safely be part of a family again. It transforms their lives, creates opportunities that these children would have never had before, and prepares them for a life full of possibilities.

Even with all of the current support, there is so much more that Homeland needs to continue to make a difference. The organization is now dependent on communities like SAS to help them achieve their vision where “all children in Cambodia will have a happy, loving, and understanding family environment which supports their full development.”

That room was the beautiful beginning of Homeland, and after years of hard work, it has developed into a safe haven for dozens of children and will continue to expand as it is aided by clubs like ours. Homeland is an S u m m e r

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1

AT WRITING SEMINAR STUDENTS COLLABORATE TO PUBLISH PAPERBACK ANTHOLOGY

The inaugural cohort of Advanced Topic Writing Seminar’s debut project—an anthology of original short stories set in Singapore—Beneath the Lion City: Irreal Stories of Singapore, is available now!

According to the students, “The collection takes the Singapore we know into the realm of the irreal.

Irrealism is a genre with roots in South American magic realism, and at its heart places impossibilities in actual settings. Our stories turn familiar Singapore into a place where talking cats run taiyaki shops and Japanese bonsais might offer advice.” The stories offer a unique perspective exploring underlying issues at the heart of every third-culture kid – discrimination, bias, and identity. This is a wonderful step towards growing a strong, healthy writing community at SAS.

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SAS FIFTH GRADERS DOMINATE AT FIRST LEGO LEAGUE ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT

Team Techno Terrific – a team of fifth graders beat more than 200 teams to win second place at the First Lego League Robotics competition!

The First Lego League Robotics competition is an international competition that requires teams of four to five members to think about a given theme that will tie into their two major projects—the presentation and the robot games. This year, the competition’s theme was “animal allies,” or how humans and animals interact and areas where we can improve these interactions.

Four teams along with winners Nate B, Eugenie C, Zara H, Michael O, and their captain Ella C, spent somewhere between 75 through 100 hours over five months preparing for this competition. The winning team looked into the issue surrounding elephant poaching and its danger to the elephant population.

They found out that elephants communicate using infrasound and thought of an idea to create warning sensors that would be triggered when poachers were in the vicinity. The alarms would use infrasound to warn the elephants of danger without alerting the poachers.

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SAS TEACHERS SHOWCASE LEARNING AT EARCOS CONFERENCE

SAS teachers Carla Abrams, Dan Chassagne, Cindy Gilbert, Sandy Hill, and Jennifer Koltutsky presented at the 15th annual EARCOS Teachers’ Conference (ETC2017) in Sutera Harbour, Kota Kinabalu. They shared their expertise in the conference strands of STEM, service learning, science, math, tech, social studies, and global citizenship with close to 1,000 other teachers in the Asian region.

5 AN EVENING WITH NEW YORK

TIMES’ BEST SELLER SONNY LIEW

Winner of Singapore’s 2016 Literature Prize for English fiction and author of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, Sonny Liew, discussed his award winning and best selling graphic novel.

Mr. Liew talked about how he was inspired to write.

As part of the PTA-funded academic visitors-inresidence program, Sonny Liew also spent time with AP art students.

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CELEBRATING THREE YEARS OF TEDXYOUTH@SAS

The third TEDxYouth@SAS was held in March 2017. This year’s theme of Prism of Possibilities saw speakers present on a variety of topics from addressing the digital divide, to debunking the stigma against video gaming, to yoga, holistic cancer care, and even poetry! A shout out to the executive team as well as presenters Priyanka Aiyer, Claire Berggren, Matthew Elms, Roopal Kondepudi, Anjali Mehta, and Matt Oey.

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WOOING YOUNG MINDS ONE LEADER AT A TIME – GIN SPEAKER SERIES

In March this year, Valeria Wu, head of the newly established Global Ambassadors Program (GAP), a select group of Global Issues Network Leaders (GIN) in high schools around the world, spoke to students about initiating change in their communities. Through group discussions and issues resolution, Valeria encouraged students to talk, discuss and execute change at a local level.

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FRENCH HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTS NEWEST MEMBERS

The French Honor Society inducted 12 new members this year. Guest speaker, Executive Director of the Alliance Française, AnneGarance Primel, led the induction ceremony.

Congratulations to the newest additions to the FHS family.

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SPANISH HONOR SOCIETY SAYS HOLA TO NEW INDUCTEES

Congratulations to the newest members of the Spanish Honor Society. On April 14, nine young men and women made the list and were inducted into the SHS.

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SCIENCE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

Congratulations to the new members of the Science National Honor Society. At this year’s induction ceremony, guest speaker Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya, CEO and founder of Bhattacharya Space Enterprises, discussed how space technology is becoming an accessible and intriguing career opportunity for younger generations.

10 25 NEW MEMBERS FOR

INTERNATIONAL THESPIAN HONOR SOCIETY

Congratulations to the newly inducted members of the International Thespian Honor Society.

Membership is based solely on co-curricular involvement through auditions, performing in shows, attending festivals and workshops, being actively involved in tech and behind the scenes, writing and directing, attending shows as audience, and a host of other activities which all take place outside of regular school hours.

11 SAS HOSTS INTERNATIONAL

DEBATE EVENT

The SAS debate team scaled new heights as they participated in and hosted collaborative training sessions between the national debate teams from Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States. Teams debated on topics like instituting a global tax, returning national treasures to their country of origin, and the role of religious leaders in politics. Coaches Rick Bisset and Devin Kay were able to make further inroads into the international debate community resulting in new opportunities for the SAS debate team.

13 ARGUING THEIR WAY

TO THE TOP!

The IASAS debate team concluded one of the most successful years in school history. Not only was the team crowned IASAS Debate champions but they also placed third and were named Best Performing International School at the - 52 team Oldham Cup. Congratulations to the high school debate team. Anu Lal, Haewon Lee, Ansh Prasad, and Ruth Jaensubhakij for the win and a special mention for Ansh P. for being recognized as the tenth best speaker in the tournament.

12 SAS SHINES AT IASAS CULTURAL

CONVENTION FORENSICS

SAS had seven forensics performances in the finals in Bangkok this year. Priyanka Aiyer (‘18) took the gold for Oral Interpretation, and Faisal Halabeya (‘18) took bronze for Original Oratory.

Other SAS students in the finals were Vanessa Smiley (‘17) for Impromptu Speaking, Nigel Li (‘17) for Extemporaneous Speaking, Hana Matsudaira (‘18) and Armaan Chawla (‘18) for Original Oratory, and Paige Freeman (‘18) for Oral Interpretation.

14 SAS MAKES ITS MARK IN THE

SINGAPORE GYMNASTICS SCENE

Sarasa N. won three gold medals (clubs, ribbon, and individual all around), one silver (hoop), and one trophy (individual all around) at Singapore National Championship 2017 rhythmic Gymnastics level 5B. Sophomore Sara A. emerged first overall with four gold medals (floor, vault, bars, and beam) in the Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Little sister Emily A. won second place overall in the Level 1 Trampoline Gymnastics Championships.

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15 SAS STUDENTS REPRESENT AT

PRESTIGIOUS MUSIC FESTIVAL

Congratulations eighth graders Sean WC., Daniel C., and Daniel JS. for representing SAS at the Association for Music in International Schools Asian Middle School Honor Band in Manila. Each year the festival becomes more competitive and this year only 80 students among 400 who auditioned were selected to participate.

17 SAS ICE QUEEN WINS GOLD!

SAS second grader Reika L. represented the United States and won gold at Singapore Ice Skating Association’s 2017 Singapore National Figure Skating Championships.

16 SAS CLAIMS TOP HONOR IN

SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY CONTEST

SAS student Avanya R. wins inaugural Social Space Youth Empowerment Contest with her poetry submission. Her entry touched on current themes including poverty and forced migration. Social Space is the bi-annual flagship publication of the Lien Centre for Social Innovation at Singapore Management University

18 IPAU CELEBRATES 15TH

ANNIVERSARY WITH HARD ROCK CAFE CONCERT

The Independent Performing Artists Union (IPAU) has been at SAS in one incarnation or another for 15 years. This year IPAU was invited back to perform at Hard Rock Cafe. Teacher band The Cans closed the evening.

19 SAS ROBOTICS ENJOY A WINNING SEASON Two Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) teams from SAS participated in the ASEAN Regional Ranger event. SAS One Degree North Red and SAS One Degree North White brought home second and third place trophies in a very competitive field of Ranger teams from Southeast Asia.

In Taipei at the VEX Robotics regional, all four SAS teams made the playoffs in a field of 36 teams. One SAS team won first place in the regional event last December. In March this year, at the First Robotics Competition, team SAS finished in the fifth spot in a field of 28 robots, qualifying for the playoffs. Thanks to the SAS Foundation for supporting robotics at SAS. 87 JOURNEYS

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20 THE WINNING PITCH AT 2017

SEAYBST

A fantastic season for SAS Eagles at Southeast Asia Youth Baseball and Softball Tournaments this year!

Spencer T. won the Golden Glove in the Minors 12U age group while Toby G., a member of the CSA Eagle Club baseball program, won the Best Pitcher in the Minors 12U age group. In the SEABYST senior team (U18) – SAS students Jack Bourdon, Patrick Baca, and Shungo Najima won gold medals. Shungo also received the Best Pitcher Award.

22 SAS EAGLE SCOUT GETS ON

BOARD TO SERVE HOSPICE CARE PATIENTS

Middle schooler and Boy Scout Andrew G., 14, was spurred on to create dexterity boards for patients of HCA Hospice Care which would improve their fine motor skills and cognitive functioning, so they would be able to live as independently as possible. Making the boards is also part of his efforts to become an Eagle Scout—the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts program of Boy Scouts of America. Hats off to this kindred spirit! Andrew’s work was recently featured in the Straits Times.

21 SAS STUDENT WINS ON FOOT,

BIKE, AND IN THE WATER

Fifth grader Lodovico DF. won the title of MetaSprint Series Champion 2017 for the category Kids 10-11 years old. The series champion goes to the athlete with the best combined results of three races: the Aquathlon in February, the Duathlon in March, and the Triathlon in April. Lodovico trained two hours a day, six days a week, with a fantastic finish.

MATHLETE RYAN L. TO 23 ACE REPRESENT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Middle schooler Ryan L. was selected to represent the US Department of State as a member of the Department’s team at the 2017 MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Orlando, Florida in May. Along with Ryan, there are mathletes from the American School in Japan, American School of Warsaw, and Hong Kong International School.

Each year only the top four mathletes from all participating international schools worldwide are chosen.

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25 SAS STUDENTS’ HUNT FOR

HARMONY CLAIMS SECOND PLACE

Suleyman A., Aoife H., and Mai J. beat 2,900 students to place second and win US $1,500 in the C-SPAN StudentCam competition for their documentary Hunting for Harmony.

27 SAS FACULTY EARNS

OUTSTANDING LEARNING SPACE DESIGNER AWARD

SAS faculty Kelli Buxton bagged the 2017 Outstanding Learning Space Designer Award.

The ISTE Learning Space Network Outstanding Learning Space Designer Award recognizes an educator who has created an innovative physical learning environment for his/her class, school, or district. Buxton is responsible for creation stations—a dedicated space in the elementary school, used as 21st century learning centers that revolve around students building skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, communication, cognitive flexibility, decision making, and creativity.

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26 A SPLASHING FINISH

Ella Y. won second place at the Singapore Swimming Association’s National Schools Synchronized Swimming Championships in the open junior category.

28 SAS FACULTY PUBLISHES

NEW BOOK

Benjamin Edwards and SAS faculty José Luis Mejía authored a book posed as a conversation between two old friends, the book is a walk through several topics of what some people call “the great celestial questions” around life, poetry, love, identity, humanity, language, play, and death. Nadie en menos de cuarenta: Conversaciones entre Sebastián Lohengrin y Niet Nom is narrated in two voices corresponding to the authors, the prose penned by Benjamin Edwards and poems (Persian quartets or rubaiyat) by Jose.

29 DANCING WITH BROADWAY STAR

NIKKI SNELSON

Earlier in March, Broadway star Nikki Snelson worked with middle schoolers, helping them prep for their show! Gifts to the SAS Foundation helped fund these sessions.

31 SPOKEN WORD POETS BRING 30

THE HOUSE DOWN

Award-winning poets Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye of Project Voice, known for their witty, fast-paced spoken word poetry, performed for the SAS community and worked with high schoolers conducting workshops on the craft of writing and performance. These workshops were sponsored by the PTA.

31 AUTHOR KATHRYN ERSKINE

WOWS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

Thanks to the generous support of the PTA, National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine was welcomed into middle school classrooms. In addition to her work with students, Kathy offered an after-school session for parents, teachers, and students, sharing her creative process with the community.

SAS ARTISTS COLLABORATE

32 WITH RENOWNED ARTIST

ARTURO CORREA

Miami-based American-Venezuelan artist par excellence Arturo Correa visited SAS this April!

Having achieved remarkable success in 22 years of an artistic career, Correa shared his knowledge and insights while working in-residence with SAS high schoolers. Correa presented his work and his journey to the visual arts class as part of the SAS PTA-funded academic visitors-in-residence program.

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33 APPLE DISTINGUISHED SCHOOL

AWARD – A TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY

SAS has again been designated an Apple Distinguished School. This is an invitation only honor and is currently bestowed on just 400 schools across 29 countries worldwide. The reviewing Apple team remarked that our iBook demonstrated that SAS was “...one of the most transformative learning communities in the world. The story shared was absolutely phenomenal and knocked the teams off their feet…” They also acknowledged “...how much time and effort has gone into the research and development driving some of the major initiatives at SAS – personalized and professional learning, and innovation and learning space design. The design of the iBook encapsulates the innovation and inspiration for which SAS are widely known.”

34 SAS SHOWCASES AN AWARD-WINNING

REEL AT SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Now in its seventh year, the Singapore International Student Film Festival annually brings students together from international schools in Singapore, offering an opportunity to showcase their creative ideas, talent and skills through film. This year, SAS students won awards in multiple categories: Kavin Kapoor for Sweet Dreams Best Overall Foreign Film Best High School Documentary Niko Welsh for Hoi An II City of Light Best Overall Visual Effects Topaz Winters for Supernova Best Actress (Overall) Brian Kwon for A Dance Through Time Best Narrative (Comedy/Drama)

YOU FOR THE SCRUMPTIOUS SPREAD 35 ATHANK big thank you to the PTA for all the hard work on the beautiful set ups and mouth-watering world cuisine for staff appreciation lunch.

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36 SAS ROCKS ODYSSEY OF THE MIND!

Coaches Kate Brundage and Adam Burden led SAS Division 1 Odyssey of the Mind team (three fourth graders and four fifth graders) to a first place finish. As the Division 1 Balsa Wood Problem Champion, our SAS students are eligible to attend the world finals at Michigan State University in May where they will represent SAS and the country of Singapore.

Odyssey of the Minds is a competitive program that goes from kindergarten through college. The activities are grounded in creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and applied science activities. Teams compete in areas of Spontaneous Critical Thinking, Robotics, Engineering, as well as Fine Arts.

As one part of the competition, this team created a balsa wood structure that held 450 pounds. The structure that our students created supported heavier weights than some of the high school teams that competed in the higher Division 3 category. The practice structure they built here at school supported 765 lbs. We wish the teams good luck as they compete at the next level!

CONGRATULATIONS EAGLES!

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40 woodlands street 41 Singapore 738547 Phone: (65) 6363 3403 WEB: WWW.SAS.EDU.SG QUESTIONS? EMAIL US AT COMMUNICATIONS@SAS.EDU.SG CPE Registration No.: 196400340R Registration Period: 22 June 2011 to 21 June 2017 Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) © 2017 Singapore American School All rights reserved.