Educational Insight:
Students interact with college admissions officers Page 2
Smashing Victory:
Tennis teams defeat opponents with ease Page 11
s e o u l i n t e r nat i o na l s c h o o l
Tiger Times volume X X X XV
issue 2
SEPTEMBER 2013
Family Fun Day undergoes organizational change By Rosie Dahyeon Kim
Parents, teachers and students from elementary, middle and high school gathered on the field on Sept. 28 to enjoy the fourth annual Family Fun Day (FFD). This year, the parents of the High School Student Council (HSSC) students took charge of FFD because the SIS Parent’s Association disbanded. The parents made a series of changes to the event due to school starting a week later this year. According to Ki-Jung Ko, one of the HSSC parents in charge of activities, many parents worried about the cold weather because the event was held later this year compared to those of other years. The parents made last minute changes by removing the pool that was to be located at the end of the rocket slide due to concerns that students would be more vulnerable to colds if they were drenched in water. “We had no choice but to change the pool to the Tiger Bounce,” Mrs. Ko said. “Many of the parents thought that the Tiger Bounce was still an excellent [replacement] because of the participation rate and because tigers represent SIS. Overall, FFD ended well because of the amount of responsibility students took into account.” A total of 30 booths were run by various clubs. Although the prof-
Grading policy to reflect types of knowledges By Jungho Daniel Choi
Photo by Hollis Hwang
Overseeing children in their boats, Erin O’Sullivan (10) guides participants of the Paddle Boat Ride. Family Fun day was held on Sept. 28 with various booths bustling with activity despite the cloudy weather. its from last year’s FFD were used mainly for the benefit of SIS clubs, the parents decided to donate the money raised this year to help children with cancer. “As a member of the HSSC, it makes me proud that the [money] raised from such a big event is not going to be selfishly spent solely on our school,” said Alice Rhim (10), sophomore class secretary. “I think that as a privileged school, [SIS] has an obligation to help the less fortu-
nate, and we are doing exactly that.” According to Yoon-Hee Cho, one of the HSSC parents in charge of activities, there were no major problems in running the booths or making the food this year. The HSSC mothers took measures to ensure students’ maximum recreation at FFD by varying the food made and games available. They further ensured safety by taking out dangerous activities from last year, such as Logging which caused many injuries.
Compared to last year, there were five more booths. “My kids most enjoyed the Tiger Bounce,” said Ivan Atanaskovic, Director of Activities. “I enjoyed all three FFDs that I’ve gone to, and I think the most important aspect is that it [enables] the SIS community come together in any form or shape. I know that everyone is working their best to make the food and games the best quality, and I [appreciate] that.”
Tri-M encourages students to pursue interest in music By Celine Hwang
From budding musicians to aspiring composers, over 40 students applied to join the Tri-M Music Honor Society (Tri-M), an international music honors society sponsored by the National Association for Music Education. Tri-M was formed by unifying two music clubs, the National Music Honors Society and the Music Composition Club (MCC). According to Benny Char (12), co-president, the two music clubs were integrated into Tri-M to encourage student involvement. “We started MCC to motivate students to pursue their interest in music,” Benny said. “However, the club’s name intimidated some students because most students lack experience in composition or music theory. To promote musical interest, we expanded MCC into Tri-M so students can join if they want to compose music or play an instrument.”
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Photo by Kelly Kim
Debora Kim (10) and Dr. Dennis Darling discuss future plans for the club, including the different concerts Tri-M members will perform. Students who met Tri-M’s requirements—those with at least a B grade point average and those involved in at least one high school music class—were able to apply. Throughout the year, Tri-M members will be given opportunities to demonstrate their talents in musical performance and composition. “Although members will be sep-
arated into groups, their roles will be interchangeable,” said Christine Kim (12), co-president. “Members can get involved in [projects related to] composition or performance depending on how they feel. The line between the two branches is [ambiguous] because we want everyone to be able to incorporate musical talents in a variety of ways.”
This semester, Tri-M executives have arranged two trips to an orphanage, one trip to a retirement home and one trip to a hospital where members can perform. Aside from these activities, TriM will participate in collaborative projects with other clubs. For one such project, the Cinema Club will create a music video of Tri-M members performing an arrangement by the composition section of Tri-M. Likewise, Tri-M will create compositions to accompany Cinema’s Club in its original 1-3 minute films. For Tri-M’s joint project with Dance Club, the two groups will co-host a charity concert around October. “With the introduction of TriM, there has been a diversification in membership,” said Dennis Darling, Tri-M adviser. “We have singers, wind players and strings players as well as students who are interested in different types of music. We want our composers to have a place where they can compose and our performers to have a venue where they can perform and serve others.”
When SIS students returned to school on Aug. 19, many were not aware of the changes to the grading system. Starting this year, students will be graded based on percentage values set for different categories of learning, rather than values set for different types of assignments. “All subjects will have grading categories which are intended to connect specific assignments with the standards that we’re trying to measure students against,” said Jarret Lambie, high school principal. “The easiest way for students to think about it is that instead of giving you information on how you did on tests, we want to give you information on how you do with particular types of thinking.” According to Mr. Lambie, each department developed weighted categories, depending on what they considered to be crucial thinking skills. For example, the social studies department implemented three categories: knowledge and understanding, critical analysis and synthesis and performance and application, which are worth 40, 40 and 20 percent respectively. Faculty members, such as Estella Duan, Chinese teacher, have already benefited from the changes. Ms. Duan said the introduction of new grading categories affected the foreign language department. “I think this [system] is good, because it tells students specifically if they are better at speaking, writing, reading or listening,” Ms. Duan said. “When learning languages, you have to know all four skills. If you can only write, but cannot speak or have really poor listening comprehension, your language skills are not developing [in a balanced way]. This [system] is helpful for students, because they know which skills they have to study more.” Students such as Ryan Kim (12) see the merits of this system in gauging students’ strengths, but still remain ambivalent on the effect that it may have. “Before, someone could get a good grade by doing as little as going to Sparknotes, but this [policy] might allow teachers to now get a better understanding of what each student is like,” Ryan said. “But it may seem like there hasn’t been a change, because kids will still obsess over getting good grades.”