Tom Boasberg The SAS Identity

SUMMER 2022

On The Cover

In this issue, we celebrate our class of 2022, a group who consistently found ways to use their time, skills, and resources in the service of others. On page 89, you’ll read about Dr. Roopa Dewan, a champion of students and a lifelong example of servant leadership.

sas.edu.sg/journeys

Editorial team

Kyle Aldous Cara D'Avanzo Didi Hari Krishnan Kinjal Shah

Design team

Haziq Hairoman Nur Afiqah Johan Amos Ong

communications@sas.edu.sg

© 2022 Singapore American School All rights reserved. S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 I S S U E

CONTENTS

01 Tom Boasberg: The SAS Identity

05 DEI at SAS: Culturally Responsive Learning Communities 35 Social Justice Unit: Podcasts for Change

41 The Truth of a Lie

09 Reimagining Excellence. Extraordinary Care. Possibilities. 47 Mighty Eagles Back in Action!

17 Here to Help: SAS School Nurses 53 Innovative High School Courses: Recent Grads Reflect

19 World Language Program Turns 10!

23 Celebrating the Class of 2022 in Our Educator Community 95 Alumni: Entertainment Attorney Anita Surendran

97 Alumni: Life is a Gift, So Was Our Assignment to Kyiv, Ukraine in 2020

25 Why Do Educators Love Working at SAS? 99 Spotlight on Alumni: Adventures in Publishing

31 Beyond The Headlines: Teaching Current Events 105 Year-in-Review 2021-22

Featured

59 Graduation Special: Class of 2022 91 The Ultimate Eagle: Dr. Roopa Dewan

The SAS Identity

By TOM BOASBERG Superintendent

Lining the wall in the hallway that connects our elementary and middle school are several dozen life-sized images of students and educators. Each image contains an expressive portrait of a unique individual surrounded by important pieces of their identity. The collection of images captures the diversity and uniqueness of our community members and highlights our shared identity as Eagles. Singapore American School is no different from these portraits. Our school is made up of a collection of unique attributes that differentiate us from our peers. I often get asked to try to make sense of the intersection and at times points of friction of these different aspects of our identity, and how they all come together to make a strong whole. So, how do these elements of who we are—private, non-selective, non-profit, American, international—all come together?

PRIVATE Being a private school means we have the flexibility to look at best practices from around the world and empower our educators to innovate. With no bureaucratic red tape, we can put all our energies into focusing on the needs of our students and finding better ways to meet those needs. It also means that we have access to impressive resources, attract top-quality educators, and offer a range of programs that are not possible in many other schools.

A great example of this is the 40+ collegelevel courses—both Advanced Placement and Advanced Topic—that we offer to high school students in our advanced studies program. These college-level courses allow students to push their learning farther, broader, and deeper. Indeed, many of our Advanced Topic courses were co-created with university professors to ensure high rigor and deep learning.

NON-SELECTIVE We do not screen for academic level in admitting students to our school. One of the great advantages of being non-selective is that we are able to welcome a diverse range of learners to our community and better serve more families. Meeting the individual needs of our diverse learners can be challenging, but it pushes our thinking on individualizing the learning experiences for all students. And, it means that our students grow up with a diverse range of classmates and learn how to work and live with them, which will benefit them in their lives after school.

NON-PROFIT As a non-profit organization, we ensure that 100 percent of the money paid in tuition and fees goes directly into the student experience. We are never put in the position in challenging times of choosing between the interests of our students versus those of any shareholders. Being non-profit also means that philanthropy plays a key role in expanding opportunities for our students. Philanthropy has brought us the extraordinary resources of the Khoo Teck Puat Library and the Riady Performing Arts Center, as well as ongoing programs like visitors-in-residence and support for students who might not be otherwise might not be able to afford to travel for opportunities like IASAS or Interim Semester. AMERICAN From our founding, our mission has been to “provide an exemplary American education with an international perspective.” We aim to provide our students with the best in the American educational tradition (recognizing that many of these attributes are in no way unique to the US): a focus on critical thinking, creativity, problemsolving, character development, and a deep belief in and respect for the potential of every individual regardless of background or identity. It means a focus on the whole child—an emphasis not just on academics but also socialemotional growth and a belief that learning should be just as vibrant in our co-curricular activities as in our classrooms. And, it means a belief that parents are our most important partners in their children’s education.

INTERNATIONAL With students from over 60 different countries, we are able to celebrate a wide breadth of cultures and create richer learning experiences for our students. Approximately half our students are US passport holders and half are from the rest of the world. This diversity of background, culture, and beliefs is one of our greatest strengths, and we are fortunate to be located in such a vibrant, diverse, and culturally rich home city of Singapore. A key focus for us is ensuring that we include international perspectives in the books our students read, the history and cultures we study, and the art and philosophy we dive into. Likewise, our investment in our world language program and bilingualism—our daily world language program, Chinese immersion, and college-level language courses—help students build a broader, more international perspective.

Key to providing this exemplary American education with an international perspective are the extraordinary educators we are fortunate to have at SAS. Our educators come from all over the world, and SAS remains a very soughtafter place to teach. Seventy-five percent of our incoming cohort of educators for next year are coming from other international schools, with the remainder coming from schools in the US and Canada. In terms of school leadership, over the last three years, roughly 40 percent of our leaders have come from internal SAS candidates, 40 percent from other international schools, and 20 percent from the US.

I hope the above helps in putting all our pieces together and reflecting on the vibrant whole of who we are at SAS!