Bright Eagles Bright Ideas

BRIGHT EAGLES, BRIGHT EAGLES,

BRIGHT IDEAS BRIGHT IDEAS BRIGHT IDEAS

Who are Singapore American School students? How do they define themselves? No matter the age, our Eagles go above and beyond to find ways in which they can contribute to our community. They truly embody the Eagle spirit—in every way.

By

DIDI HARI KRISHNAN

Communications Writer

Our students recognize that our core values of compassion, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect serve as the beacons that guide them through their time at Singapore American School and beyond. Our educators have the rewarding job of challenging our students to maintain their curiosity and creativity while developing self-confidence and self-advocacy.

True to our focus on creating a culture of excellence, possibilities, and extraordinary care, students are given a plethora of opportunities to build the skills to become active and caring learners and leaders in their community. From spreading joy by building a buddy bench to conducting research to improve the water quality of our eco-garden, our Eagles have done tremendous work inside and outside of the classroom this year.

The Kindness Club was established by fifth grade students Mateo A., Guglielmo B., Anna B.Q., Lily E., and Taylor O. in hopes of making SAS a kinder place. They came up with the kindness bucket idea, made a video to promote their initiative, and distributed 24 cards to each fifth grade class. Then they collected these special notes and displayed them at the creativity center—a lovely way to spread joy!

Anna B.Q. shared, “I’m really proud of us, for working hard to make the Kindness Club the amazing club it is. I hope we made SAS a kinder place, and I hope that everybody remembers that in a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Fifth grade student Brianna B. wanted to provide a spot on campus that could bring joy to her peers. She noticed some kids—especially new students—had no one to play with during recess. She and her peers wanted to build something to make their friends happy: a buddy bench.

A group of students worked for hours to build the bench. Their hope is that it will provide students a quiet area if they wish to have their own space or be a spot to chat with a friend or a new acquaintance. “A big lesson I learned was to never give up and try your best. We consider it a masterpiece because we worked together on it with our friends,” shared Brianna B.

These are only two of the many amazing projects the elementary school Leadership Club has taken on this past year. Elementary School Deputy Dean of Student Life Dr. Sarah Farris shared, “We knew our students were eager to be agents of change. Students had to submit their application to be in the Leadership Club by writing a short essay on why they think they are a good leader and what are the traits of a good leader.” Elementary School Dean of Student Life Colleen Steigerwald added, “We wanted students to learn what it means to be a leader and how they could make elementary school a better place.”

Over 90 students signed up for the Leadership Club and all who submitted their applications before the deadline were given the opportunity to join. With the help of volunteer teacher mentors, the Leadership Club completed 16 projects during the 2020–21 school year.

In the middle school, a group of Peer Council students explored ways to honor custodians and housekeeping staff at SAS. Eleven seventh grade students brainstormed during their Peer Council meeting and decided to conduct interviews as a way to learn more about our hardworking staff and to understand them better—the Kindness Counts project.

Lillian S. shared, “I learned that being a leader is a lot more than telling people what to do. You have to understand what is happening, establish good relationships with groupmates and peers, and allow others to take the stage.” These committed students are hoping to continue their Kindness Counts project next year as they believe that kindness toward all in our community is a very important quality our Eagles should strive to embody.

After engaging in semester-long inquiry projects on truth and power in the first semester, as well as equity and interdependence in the second semester, seventh grade students Lucas H., Bhavna K., Anaya L., Chloe L., and Michael L. were inspired to create change in the middle school. Through the inquiry process of establishing research questions, investigating these questions, and engaging in discussions with social studies teacher Mr. Latham Cameron, these students concluded that forming a Student Union would provide a platform for students to create positive change in the middle school.

The students were able to gather insightful information through surveys conducted in the first semester, and they presented their data to Middle School Principal Lauren Mehrbach, Middle School Activities and Athletics Director Jared Bildfell, and Director of Communications Kyle Aldous. The students are currently putting together a proposal to formally register the Student Union as an official after-school club. They hope to invite students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grades to be part of this initiative next school year.

Avid environmentalists and passionate high school educators Mr. Steve Early and Dr. Martha Began drew Quest student Ria Nakahara into the field of environmental science. Nakahara noticed that the eco-garden at SAS required extensive remediation as algal growth had turned the pond murky green. She embarked on a journey to clear the algae and improve the water quality of the pond by incorporating two species of freefloating aquatic plants, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). Nakahara collected data every three days to derive a water quality value. She conducted interviews with middle school and high school life science faculty and environmental service club members to learn about ecosystem preservation and evaluate whether these stakeholders will be willing to sustain the pond's remediation for the next three to four years. She mentioned, “My quantitative and qualitative data were the basis of a comprehensive remediation guide that I hope anyone who is interested in the pond could apply long after I have graduated.”

While these student projects are all unique, the common threads of kindness and compassion shine through. We are proud to see our students combining passion and heart to make a difference in our community. The work they are doing today will inspire and empower future Eagles to make our school community and the world a brighter and kinder place.