Gifts in Action

36 GIFTS IN ACTION

PROGRAM

EXCELLENCE

Gifts to Program Excellence are reflected in the achievements of our students, the development of programs and the expansion of unique learning opportunities. Last year’s gifts to the Program Excellence fund supported many programs such as:

JOANNA NICHOLS VISITING SCHOLAR AND JOANNA NICHOLS ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

The Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar and Joanna Nichols Artist in Residence programs bring relevant, distinguished, and stimulating figures to TAS each year to share singular insights and experiences with students. The 2019 Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar, Dr. Aaron Kyle, auspiciously spent the month of January at TAS during the unveiling and opening of the new Solomon Wong Tech Cube facility. Dr. Kyle serves as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University which has grown to incorporate bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, and tissue engineering. Dr. Kyle was named a recipient of Columbia University’s Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels for his lasting influence on the intellectual development of Columbia students. Dr. Kyle’s stay at TAS represents the eighth installment of the Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar program, which is the result of the continuing, extraordinary generosity and vision of former TAS parent Mr. Kenny Cheng. The 2019 Joanna Nichols Artist in Residence, Dr. Elaine Kwon, is a prize-winning concert pianist, martial artist, and a Lecturer in Music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She made her orchestral debut with the Washington Idaho Symphony at age 15 and has performed solo, concerto, and chamber music concerts throughout the United States and internationally. During her month-long residence at TAS, Dr. Elaine Kwon gave numerous private piano lessons, special talks, performed with the orchestra and with students in an ensemble concert, and even taught two weeks of martial arts classes. She also presented a special “Savor your Senses” performance. “Savor Your Senses” is an immersive performance series where selected music and food and other sensory elements are paired and enjoyed together.

• TAS relies on gifts to the Annual Giving

Program to enhance the educational opportunities for all our students that would otherwise not be possible. In this section, you will learn about how giving has benefited our community in the 2018-19 school year. Your gift can be designated toward one or a combination of five different initiatives: • Program Excellence • Professional Excellence • Building Excellence • Quasi Endowment • Hope N.F. Phillips Scholarship Fund

THE STANLEY ’88 AND ANNABELLE KO CLASSICS SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE

Mary Zimmerman is an American theatre and opera director and playwright from Nebraska. She is an ensemble member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company, the Manilow Resident Director at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, and also serves as the Jaharis Family Foundation Professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. The Tony Award-winning director opened students’ minds to the creative process of making theater in a new way. Over three days, 75 theater students benefited from her unique ideas and conventions in the craft of telling stories for the stage that were inspired by Greek Myths.

ROBOTICS PROGRAM

The robotics program continued to grow this year with the support of annual giving. Middle School and Upper School Public Speaking, Debate, and Forensics Program Many purchases were made this year to support the expanding student interest in public speaking, debate, and forensics. In particular, the school sponsored trips to the NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament and the Stanford/Berkeley Debate tournament.

M.C. ESCHER ENDOWED CHAIR FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Funds supported the upper school iGEM team as it again traveled to the iGEM annual Giant Jamboree. TAS was one of only seven high school teams that earned a gold medal for the high school division. In addition to a gold medal, TAS won the Best Entrepreneurship Award and placed second among all high school teams.

PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM

Gifts supported visiting artists to teach students including Viktorija Semekaite, elite ballet dancer, and Zachery Groenewold, who taught Hip Hop and choreographed the upper school year-end show in April. The school also sponsored the Eric Marienthal Jazz Workshop for the K-12 music program.

VISITING AUTHOR LOUNG UNG

Bestselling author Loung Ung again visited TAS with the generosity of our annual giving program. Loung Ung spoke to students and worked in English classes.

WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

Funds supported two writing based curriculum experts, Leif Gustavson and Kira Joell Baker-Doyle, who met with both teachers and parents.

JOANNA NICHOLS MEMORIAL LIBRARIES

The Middle School Library benefitted from renovations to furniture which improved the storage capabilities of the space.

ATHLETICS PROGRAM

Funds supported the TAS athletics program for upper school boys and girls basketball, contributing to practice jerseys, shoes, and game video analysis. Additionally, gifts helped to purchase new pool starting blocks and platforms and a new tennis ball machine.

FILM PROGRAM

TAS continues to invest in its award-winning film program. This year, funds supported the purchase of new cameras, batteries, cables, memory cards, storage equipment, and covered expenses for the All American High School Film festival.

LOWER SCHOOL MANDARIN PROGRAM

As the Lower School Mandarin program grows, many books were purchased this year thanks to the generosity of donors. Books were purchased for both the Mandarin learner track and the Mandarin heritage track. Gifts also supported the visit of a Lower School Chinese visiting author, Shu-Fen Wang, in April.

PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE

TAS is dedicated to recruiting, developing, and retaining engaged and innovative subject matter experts who have a direct impact on exceptional student learning. Contributions support teachers by offering meaningful professional development to keep faculty inspired and at the forefront of their field.

GENERAL FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

TAS invited Dr. Kenneth Podell, a Houston neurologist, to come to TAS and speak with teachers, parents, and students on concussion protocol. The School was also able to invite two expert educators, Michelle Benson and Christine Diaz, to TAS in November to consult on the new Middle School Responsive Classroom initiatives. Annual giving helped to fund awards for professional excellence to three associate principals: Gary Pettigrew, Rick Rabon, and John VandenBoom.

JOANNA NICHOLS PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Principals and the Head of School select two teachers from each division annually. As recipients of the Joanna Nichols Professional Development Award, these teachers demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their classroom and have exceptional student performance data and feedback surveys from parents and students. The 2019 recipients are Liwen Chao, Jenessa Van Schooneveld, Peter Stanley, Drew Williams, Stephen Abernethy, Michelle Bruce, and Brandon Maguire.

Recipients of previous Joanna Nichols Professional Development Awards continued to use their funds during the 2018-2019 school year by purchasing school supplies and magazine subscriptions, and attending school conferences or other learning programs in the United States, the United Kingdom, Colombia, and Ecuador.

BUILDING EXCELLENCE

Gifts to Building Excellence support the development of campus facilities, which enhances programs across the school.

SOLOMON WONG TECH CUBE

Gifts allowed TAS to complete building the Solomon Wong Tech Cube, a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to KA-12 STEAM education, which will cement Taipei American School’s reputation as the premier center for K-12 STEAM excellence in all of Asia.

LOWER SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

Annual Giving allowed the school to renovate the lower school playground. This new state-of-the-art lower school playground is an investment in the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of our children and will help our students play, learn, and grow into creative and confident adults who make a difference in their communities.

QUASI ENDOWMENT

Your gift to Quasi Endowment helps assure long-term financial stability for the school. It ensures that future generations of TAS students enjoy excellence in education. It also serves as an emergency reserve. Twenty percent of all Annual Giving Program gifts made toward Building Excellence, Program Excellence, or Professional Excellence will be designated to Quasi Endowment, unless otherwise specified by the donor.

HOPE N. F. PHILLIPS SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Taipei American School established the Hope N.F. Phillips Scholarship Fund to provide partial scholarships—temporary tuition support—to families experiencing financial difficulties. This scholarship fund allows students who would otherwise have to leave the school because of financial hardship to continue their education at TAS. The scholarship deservingly bears the name of Hope N.F. Phillips, former teacher, principal, board member, and alumni ambassador at large. This scholarship had been her dream for many years. It bears the name of one who greatly enriched the history of the school, and it ensures that capable and valued students are able to continue their education at our school. For previous years the following number of students were assisted. • 2018-2019 - seven students • 2017-2018 - one student

• 2016-2017 - six students

• 2015-2016 - five students

• 2014-2015 - one student • 2013-2014 - three students

Parents, faculty, staff, alumni, friends, and corporations are invited to contribute and assist us in growing this fund. Please support the Hope N. F. Phillips Scholarship Fund online at https://www.tas.edu.tw/give.

Thank you to the following alumni who chose to participate in our Annual Giving Program during the 2019-2020 school year. Your gifts are greatly appreciated. (As of April 10, 2020)

Alumni

• Anonymous • Harry W. Fritz '55 • Bill Rollins '60 • E.H. and M.E. Bowerman

Advised Fund of The

Oregon

Community Foundation • John Church '65 • Jean Liu • Harry Allyn Cockrell '68 • Terry Shu '68 • Paul Geddes '72 • Linda Groat Sheppard '73 • Phil Peach '74 • Simon Chang '77 • Skip Abbott • Janet Chen Louie '81 • Albert Chu '83 • Walter and Shirley Fan '86 Wang • Class of 1989 • Hiko Kawashima '89

• James Tsao '89 • Deborah Bever '90 • Gary Mi '91 and Janet

Chen '92 • Shing Chi Poon '92 and

E-wen Liao • Eydie Tai and Edward Tai • Chris Peng '93 and Julie

Yang '93 • Deborah Shapiro '93 • Allen Timothy Chang '94 • Irene Fan '94 • Michael Hsu '94 • David Tang '94 • Richard Wang '94 • Eric Wu '94 • John Bishop • Christie Cheung '95 • Paul Lin '95 • David Ta-Wey Liu '95 • Laurie Shapiro '95 • Barbara Tsai • Phil Chen '96 • Shigeru Go • Timothy Weiting Huang '98

• Jeffrey Lin '98 • Helen Wong '98 • Johnson Yeh '98 • Albert Chuang • Albert Hsu '99 • Harry Wang and Dorothy

Hsui '99 • Christina Huang '99 • Eric Sun '99 • Edward Wang '99 • Mark Yin '99 • Likai Gu '00

• Ian Lin • Donald Tang '00 • Terry Chung '01 • Jack Huang '01 • Kevin Chang '02 • Sean Cheng '02 • Allen Fang and Tina

Chou • Jack Hou '02 • Jay Shuang '02 • Pearl Ai Wha Chen '03 • William Hung • Frank Kuo '03 • Cerise Kao and David Lo '03 • Cleo Tsai '03

• Jeffrey D. Wang '03 • Christopher Yeh • Dallas Yew '03 • Paul Newman '04 • Paul Torkehagen • Jonathan D. Wang '04 • Caleb Michael Yang '04 • Jay Choi '05 • Robert Wang • Tiernan Grehl '07 • Scott Chen '09

• Laticia Fan '09

• Eric Tsai '09

• Ervin Tsay '09 • Jerry Yang '09 • Gordon Chen' 10

• Vincent Wang '10 • Jocelyn Bohn '11 • Kevin Liou '12

• Ting Wei '12 • Rexford Chang '14 • Jin-Tai Teng '14 • Antonio Chan '15

• Alex Dunn '15

• Ethan Lin '15 • Riley Chang '16 • Joy Chiu '16 • Michael Chou '16

• Kevin Hsu '16

• Travis Huang '16 • Jonathan Moon '16 • Jeremy Shih '16 • Derek Wang '16 • Seamus Boyle '17 • Tiffany Chen '17 • Collin Chen '18 • Joseph Pogue '18 • Matthew Yang '18 • Class of 2019 • Lucien Chiu '19 • Andrew Chu '19 • Cheyenne Hsieh '19 • Curtis Hu '19 • Henrick '19, Ambrose '19 and Everett '25 Koo

• Marcus Liaw '19 • Stephanie Wang '19

GRATITUDE REPORT

Current Board Members who are Alumni

• Joseph '87 and Katherine

Hwang • Ferdinand P. Tsien and

Family • Vera Wu '87 and Harry

Spiegle • David Ko '92 and

Elizabeth Wang '91 • Joseph Hei and Vivian

Chiang '93 • Benny and Vicky Hsu

Current Faculty who are Alumni

• Anonymous • Betty Sun '72 • Maria Peters '89 • Terry and Cheryl

Lagerquist '98 • Nicky Yeung • Irene Fang • Evelyn Chen '03 • Michelle Kao '03 • Michael Leu • Stephanie Chih-Yang

Hsieh '04 • Stephanie Lee '04 • Karen Szu Chun Wang • Weston Wang Cooper • Stephanie Chiang '09 • Jessica Huang

Current Parents who are Alumni

• Anonymous • FC Tigers and

Heartbreakers parents • Sherry Kuei and Jim

Boyle '76 • Erwin Shyu '76 and Tina

Fan • TK and Gina Chiang • H. Lee and J. Lin • Helen Elena Tsung '84 and Sofia C.H. Liu Tsung '21 • David Wu and Karen

Chyan • Simon Chen '86 and

Daisy Chan • Bobby Sheng and

Charlotte Kuo '86 • Romy Chen and Family • Mark Go • Stephanie Ling '88 • Class of 1989 • Lisa Chiang and Stanley

Chung '89 • Ben and Becca Kintzley • Irene Chen '90 • Michael Fei '90 and Maria

Ting '89 • Krista Lee '90 and Paul

Hu '90 • Bonnie Su and Johnny

Wang • Judy Young '90 and Tom

Soong • Cynthia Teeters • Danny Chow • Cynthia Hsu '91 and

Alfred Woo '89 • Chung-Jen Kuo • Austin Lee '91 • Cathy Chen and

Christopher Ling • Mark Wang '91 and Yumi

Cho

• Andrew and Alexandra

Chiang • Johnny Liao and Judy

Chen • Stephanie Hong '92 • Cheng Family • Benjamin Liao and

Crystal Lee • Alfred Wang • Cheney Wang and Sherry

Hsia • Michael Chu '93 and

Fantine Wang • Chris Liu and Conny Lin '93 • Richard Moh '93 and

Shao-Yun Yang • Brian Hsieh and Tina Wu '93 • David Chuang • Catherine Hsu

• Peggy Liao • Larry Shao • Gloria Tsai '94 and Family • Audrey Wang • Celia Chan '95 • Robert Lee and Teresa

Hsu '95 • Doris Chou '96

• Imie Liu '96 • The Ting Family • Patricia Wee • Jason Chang '97 • Jimmy Chen and Juling

Wang • Willy Chen '97 • Albert Ku

• Sue Jung Lee • Alan Ng • Fong-Ming Nyeu and

Jeffrey Su • Louis Liu and Amy Su • Christine Chi '98 and

Chia-Ming Yeh • Joanna Wang '98 and

Jerry Chiu • The Chao family • Daisy Lin '99 and George

Jeng '99 • Jerry Lin '00 • Sunny Chen and Jeffrey

Lin

• Lisa Wang '00 • Monica Yen '00 and Louis

Wu

• Grace Wang '01 • Elin Hsu and Ryan Yeh • Jennifer Hsui '03 and

Michael Hsieh '97

Former Faculty

• Charlie Chen • John Dankowski • Karen and Andrew Jao • Sarah Ruggiere '12

Matching Gifts

• BNY Mellon Community Partnership In Honor of Mr. Richard Arnold

• Albert Chu '83 • Shing Chi Poon '92 and E-wen Liao

In Honor of Rick Krieger

• Deborah Bever '90

In Honor of Class of 1999

• Albert Hsu '99 • Edward Wang '99

In Memory of Doug Bishop

• Michelle Kao '03

• Jessica Huang

In Memory of Tom Cook

• Karen and Andrew Jao

In Memory of Jan McDowell

• Stephanie Chih-Yang Hsieh '04 In Memory of Rick McGowen

• John Church '65

In Memory of Steve Lane

• John Dankowski

In Memory of Mike Parmley '65, Lisa Longacre '66, and Zerk White '67

• Anonymous

In Memory of Hope N.F. Phillips

• Anonymous

PLEASE HAVE A SEAT

Members of the TAS community have the opportunity to name a seat in the Guy Lott, Jr. Auditorium. For NT$90,000, an inscribed plaque will be on permanent display on a chair in the Guy Lott, Jr. Auditorium. By participating in “Please Have a Seat,” part of the Building Excellence initiative, your gift will benefit the development and enhancement of TAS campus facilities, which will support student learning from KA through Grade 12. In the past few years, gifts to Building Excellence have made possible the construction of the Solomon Wong Tech Cube, the installation of our new lower school playground—the Tiger Garden, the renovations to the Guy Lott, Jr. Auditorium, the construction of the recently named Dr. Sharon DiBartolomeo Upper School Building, that of the Liu Lim Arts Center, and much more. This year Harry A. Cockrell '68 honored the Cockrell Family with Chair #269. In the 2018-2019 school year, Janel Wire Pratt '71 and Stacey Wire Ward '76 honored their father Dr. Howard Wire with Chair #55. In 2017-2018, the Class of 1992 named Chair #92 in celebration of their 25-year reunion, and the Class of 1996 named Chair #96. Chair numbers matching class years have been reserved for alumni. Contact the Development Office at development@tas.tw to name a chair in honor of your class, family, or a former teacher.

Celebrating 70 Years of

EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE