Tiger Times Volume 34 Issue 7

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Tiger Times seoul international school

volume xxxiv

fe b r u a r y 2011

issue vii

w w w

Faculty FriendSongs of Love: Valentine’s Concert held by choirs Feb. 16. Page 5

.itigertimes.com

Photo by Jessica Song

GIN to tackle global issue on local scale By Angela Cho

Photo by Jessica Song

Evaluating club renewal proposals, Bryan Keith and HSSC executives Rachel Nam (12) and Diane Rhim (12) listen to Scientia members talk about the publication’s accomplishments on Feb. 8 during activity period in the auditorium.

Clubs present proposals to HSSC and admin By Jessica Song

Every club needs to be renewed by Peter Corcoran, high school principal, and Bryan Keith, activities and athletics director, to be active the next school year. The administration and the High School Student Council (HSSC) held club renewal meetings on Feb. 7, 8 and 14; proposals for new clubs took place Feb. 9-10 in the auditorium during activity period. Last fall, Mr. Corcoran and Mr. Keith allowed a maximum of 17 clubs in order to prevent students from overcommitting by joining too many clubs. This limit affected

smaller clubs such as the Baking Club, the Chess Club and the Guitar Club, which were not renewed. “One reason the administration put a limit to the number of clubs was because when a new club forms, many people start to join but later their interests die out,” said Mr. Corcoran. “Therefore, Mr. Keith and I approved clubs that provide services for SIS and the community.” The club renewal presentations required club leaders to reflect on their progress throughout this school year, highlighting their accomplishments and areas for improvement. “The process was time con-

suming,” said Eunice Kim (11), North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) president. “But I think it was good to have those evaluations because they prevent us from being lazy with our clubs and also help us plan for next year.” Executive members of the HSSC oversaw the presentations as well, as representatives of the student body. Members filled out charts with notes and suggestions for each club as they presented. “I wanted student voice in the process and I don’t think adults should dictate without the feedback of students. HSSC is a perfect stu-

dent body representation,” said Mr. Keith. “I hope this process continues. It is a valuable learning experience and [I] hope to get good feedback from HSSC students and make [the evaluation process] better.” HSSC members also felt honored to be part of the new club renewal process. “This is the first year for HSSC to evaluate clubs,” said Jeffrey Chun (10), sophomore class president. “This is a privileged position to be in so honor follows responsibility. If I misevaluate, then that might have a huge impact in certain clubs so that puts pressure on me.”

cial aspect that gives light to journalists,” said Jaimi Kim (12), vice president of Q&S. “There is English Week, Math Week, World Languages Week and Spirit Week, so why not put aside a week for journalism?” Since each publication has its own focus, events varied from one publication to another. For instance, members of Kaleidoscope, the literary magazine, and Seoulite, Seoul Model United Nations Press, gave presentations on how the magazine and newspaper are published. The Scientia staff displayed science experiments and past issues of the science magazine. “We are also planning to have interactive activities such as mythbuster demonstrations,” said Stacy Yun (12), editor-in-chief of Scientia. “We want to show that we have been trying to apply our knowledge inside the classroom to real situations.” The Tiger Times organized an informational session showcasing

its print and online newspaper, including individual presentations for different aspects of the publication: article writing, photography and layout design. Tiger’s Eye held a bake sale in which the goods had short messages or quotes relating to journalism or hints to the yearbook’s theme for this year. Journalism Week’s goal was to shed light on the major publications at SIS and bring greater awareness about journalism to the student body. Students not only learned about various aspects of school publications, but they also had plenty of opportunities to ask questions and quench their curiosity about the process of publishing the final products. “I think [Journalism Week] will give us a better idea and view of important publications in our school, which some students still do not know much about,” said Bona Koo (9).

Minji Suh (9) listens to the Tiger Times presentation.

SIS publications localize Journalism Week By Kristine Oak

To celebrate the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, high schools in America dedicate one week to journalism every year. In the same spirit, SIS publications organized their own Journalism Week for the first time in the school’s history from Feb. 21-25. Journalism Week was held on the same week it is traditionally held in high schools in the US. During the five days, members of SIS publications and the SIS chapter of Quill & Scroll (Q&S), the international honor society for student journalists, put together sessions and presentations during lunch and after school to showcase the main publications in SIS: Tiger Times, Tiger’s Eye, Kaleidoscope, Scientia, Harbinger and Seoulite. “Freedom of [the] press is a cru-

Photo by Linda Heeyoung Park

Despite Korea’s expanding economy, water deficit—lack of clean water—remains a serious problem. In fact, the country ranks ninth in the severity of freshwater pollution, according to the World Development Indicators. Thus, the Global Issues Network (GIN) club localizes and raises awareness on 20 global issues, including water deficit. In the beginning of the year, four core members—Yeeun Chun (11), Gene Park (10), Ryan Oh (9) and Christine Lee (9)—began a project on the issue of water deficit. They gave a presentation in Japan to GIN members from other international schools. As a follow-up, GIN decided to continue to work on the same issue in the SIS community. “Some issues aren’t applicable to our local community,” said Yeeun. “For issues that are applicable such as access to water, we try to raise awareness and show that we can do something about them. We also chose the water issue because Korea has one of the most polluted water supplies in the world.” To update students on the water crisis, the 17 GIN members divided into groups to organize various relevant projects including selling tumblers at the school store, inviting a keynote speaker and teaching underclassmen about water deficit. “Our group is trying to integrate programs into the middle school enrichment curriculum,” said Sohyun Kang (11). “The programs aren’t entirely educational; they should also be interesting. Incorporating lesson plans found on the internet is one idea.” The club is also working in a collaborative effort with the Habitat for Humanity (HFH) club in assisting the Hwahyeh Maeul have access to clean water. The only water source to the 360 people living in the slum village, located a five-minute walking distance from SIS, is that of a polluted stream with the highest toxic level. “We have issues right here in our backyard,” said Donna Spisso, GIN and HFH advisor. “There has to be goals, a plan and a budget. We have to take action and GIN and Habitat are taking steps.” Before taking any steps, however, GIN believes that it first needs to raise awareness of the issue in order to attempt to find appropriate solutions. “When I didn’t know anything about water deficits, I used water bottles all the time,” said Gene. “But after the presentation in Japan, I try to get water from water tanks. I hope that the water projects we initiate at SIS bring about the same effects.”


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