Taipei American School THE WINDOW | Spring 2021

THE WINDOW

AMERICAN SCHOOL | 800 ZHONGSHAN N. RD, SECTION 6, TAIPEI, TW | WWW.TAS.EDU.TW

A Community of Role Models

In the spring edition of “The Window,” we find out that teachers aren’t the only role models on and off our campus.

TAIPEI

PHOTO: DUSTIN RHOADES

PHOTO: GUSTAVO V. (‘21)

#graduation

#tastigers

#thegreatoutdoors

ALL PHOTOS: LINDSEY KUNDEL

Who We Are

OUR MISSION OUR VALUES

Taipei American School’s mission is to cultivate an enduring commitment to learning, personal wellbeing, and service. We provide a broad American-based education with a global perspective that develops students of character who are committed to making the world a better place.

Table of Contents

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

TAS Begins Schoolwide “Welcoming Schools” Professional Development

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

TAS Welcomes Back Expert in Cross-Cultural Identity, Dr. Josephine Kim

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Cover Features: A Community of Role Models Surprise! You, too, are a Role Model!

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Editor-in-Chief & Artistic Director

Lindsey Kundel, Director of Communications & Marketing

Contributing Editors

Dr. Kathryn Limmer, Assistant Head of School for Advancement

Jayson Limmer, Communications Officer

Fish Tung (she/her), Advancement Secretary II

Connie Ma, (she/her) Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Shan Lee, Assistant Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Black Lives Matter: Two Role Models Discuss How to Build Common Ground Runners Turned Role Models for Resilience Teachers, Parents, Athletes, Role Models Role Models in the Lower, Middle, and Upper School: Green Club, Food Drive, and Robotics!

BY CONNIE MA (SHE/HER), ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICER

Katherine Wang, Development Officer

Photography Mike Corsini

Dustin Rhoades

Unsplash TAS Human Resources

Gustavo V. (‘21) Tobie Openshaw Michelle Kao

Translator

Sophie Tsai (she/her 她), Communications Officer

Do you have an idea for a story to be featured in the next issue of “The Window”?

We are always looking for submissions! Feel free to email us at communication@tas. edu.tw with your story idea or finished product. Help us create a true WINDOW into the Taipei American School experience!

Head of School

MODELING A SAFE AND INCLUSIVE SCHOOL

This year has been a year of both reflection and forward planning, looking at where this school has been, and where we need to go. Finding ourselves in an incredibly lucky position to be open, we have had to confront how different our students’ experiences have been from their global peers who have experienced great upheaval. But the pandemic has affected us all, in ways such as how we communicate and connect with each other, how we may be missing seeing loved ones, and how we may be experiencing higher levels of anxiety, uncertainty, and grief based on changes to the routines we once knew.

Being in school has also meant that we have had to confront some important issues that high-achieving schools like ours continue to face. We will continue striving to be an inclusive and supportive community focused on the whole child, confronting what we can change in the school climate, in the parent-school relationship, and in watching out for everyone’s health and wellbeing.

One of the most rewarding, yet challenging responsibilities of both educators and parents is to be role models for the next generation. It means taking responsibility for the words spoken and actions demonstrated by adults, which matter even more when they are observed by our students.

We have seen that if students do not feel safe at school, it affects their mental health which in turn affects their ability

to learn. This is why we have brought significant opportunities for professional development for our faculty and staff, and have shared presentations with parents, so not only do we confront our own privilege and implicit biases, we continue to learn and teach through a justice and equity lens, as mentioned by Dr. Josephine Kim.

One of the most rewarding, yet challenging responsibilities of both educators and parents is to be role models for the next generation.

Having found myself in an unexpected Interim Head role earlier this year, I immediately joined a worldwide group of school heads, of whom less than 3% are women of color. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead TAS, but I am also disheartened that even in 2021, I have so few peers or minority women role models in the profession. This fact of life is not simply a matter of an individual school’s hiring choice but is a manifestation of history and systemic exclusion preventing more candidates from being in the pipeline.

We need to keep confronting all instances of discrimination and bias. We addressed with your children earlier this year the fact that hate speech is hurtful language used to single someone out for parts of their identity: their race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, or body shape, to name a few examples. We promise students that they will feel safe at school; any threat of being physically or verbally hurt by someone else’s words or actions will immediately be appropriately addressed by divisional administrators. Our values matter to who we are as an institution. When someone is willfully harming others, individual accountability, institutional accountability, and community accountability are all needed in order for this community to thrive together.We recognize we need to do better to allow space for members of our community to share their pain and for others to listen, and students should know that as soon as they encounter any incident of hate speech, they should

Dr. Grace Cheng Dodge BA; MS; MBA; CPA; ED.D.

• Dr. Grace Cheng Dodge is the former Director of Admission at Wellesley College.

• Prior to joining Wellesley in 2015, she was an Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard, having first joined the Harvard Admissions Office in 2002.

• From 2009-2012, she took a professional leave from Harvard and spent three years here at Taipei American School as a college counselor and Director of College Counseling.

• Grace returned to the TAS College Counseling office in 2018 before assuming the position of Deputy Head of School in 2019-20.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DR. DODGE

PHOTO: LINDSEY KUNDEL

immediately report it to a teacher, counselor, or administrator.

While we handle issues concerning and between students inside school, we cannot help but be saddened by watching our parent community split itself apart. While we have said that if you do not hear official news from the school, do not make up your own assumptions and spread them, this continues to happen. The spread of mistruths, which may then spiral into hurtful, sensational, and severely incorrect rumors with no source that anyone can name, is hurting this community and affects us all. Students have imitated this adult behavior at school, causing further harm within the student community. Demonstrating the school value of courage means allowing yourselves to be vulnerable. Those of us who need to listen also need to drop our defenses if we are to work together to model learning and working together.

Students who demonstrate poor judgment must take responsibility, one of our values. This also applies to the parent community. Most egregious is recent usage of derogatory language used in reference to, or directed at others. Occurrences of racist language or any language designed to belittle one’s sense of self-worth and self-perception is trauma that does not foster anyone’s sense of safety or belonging. Any form of bigotry gives the speaker a false sense of superiority and power, and especially to a child, any bigoted remark tells them they don’t belong because they are different. Language can be careless or flippant, but it may nonetheless be incredibly hurtful and perceived as threatening. It might be uttered without intention to harm, but that never diminishes the harm it does do. Diversity work is constantly evolving but what we model as behavior individually and then condoned by the community can constantly perpetuate itself, which helps no one in the end. Please be cognizant in knowing that your children will observe and imitate your language and public behaviors towards other adults. We all must take responsibility for how we affect one another, including and especially when we intend otherwise. We also recognize people are not perfect all the time. Let’s learn alongside our children with humility, respect, kindness, and courage. Let’s try better to understand each other, and let’s figure out the most effective way school can work together with all parents, as each and every one of you is part of the TAS community, and your voices deserve to be heard. We will find a solution.

Talking about race is not racist and we are not protecting our students if we do not talk about important issues such as racism, gender identity, mental health issues, and suicidal ideation. Building the identity of our children and their selfesteem is what helps them feel safe. And we need our children to feel safe talking about what they are thinking. Allowing them the space to feel safe, and being allowed to say the wrong thing should start at home. It is ok to acknowledge we don’t all know the answers, but we can find solutions together.

The article “Reflection Points” in the Winter 2021 issue of the Independent School magazine published by NAIS implores schools to think about what belonging means. Can we ever get to a feeling of “If I hurt you, I hurt everyone, including myself” kind of belonging? I hope so.

Let’s work hard to be inclusive and look within, look at how we will thrive, and be proud we are preparing to send students into the world beyond TAS. You have made the conscious choice to send your children here for a Americanbased education. You have expressed that you want your students to be critical thinkers, to question everything, to take risks and to learn resilience in a safe space. This means a space where people take responsibility for words and actions, and are taught to do the difficult work of working through problems and resolving conflicts, with the aim of positive solutions and reconciliation. We want students to make mistakes, all kinds of mistakes--but to recognize them as mistakes, to understand the impact of those mistakes, and through that guided process, to learn better judgment in the future. Please help us model what TAS stands for.

Having selected TAS as the school for your children, we expect that you share our values and will live our mission. Your demonstration of these tenets at home reinforces their importance to your children and what we stand for at Taipei American School.

The world can do better. TAS can do better for our students. We must do better for our students, and I am optimistic we will.We commit to building trust, and I ask for your partnership in this journey – and like many journeys, it may be uncomfortable and challenging. The destination will be worth it as we continue to intentionally support our safe, accountable, and respectful school community.

SUGGESTED RESOURCES FOR RAISING INCLUSIVE CHILDREN

Here are a number of resources that you might find useful as you learn more about what it means to be anti-racist and how to raise children to navigate today’s racialized narrative.

Resources to Help you Talk About Race:

• TAS JEDI Resource List

• Embrace Race organization

• "Talking about Racism" from PBS

• "Talking about Race" from National Geographic

• "Teaching Children Cultural and Racial Pride" from Healthy Children and the American Academy of Pediatrics

• "A Parent's Guide to Preventing and Responding to Racial Injustice" from Learning for Justice

• "Talking About Race with Kids" from Parents.com

Additional Suggestions from Dr. Josephine Kim:

• A Kids Book About Racism

• A Kids Book About White Privilege

• A Kids Book About Systemic Racism

For Parents of Asian students:

• “Guide for Parents of Asian/ Asian-American Adolescents” from The MGH Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness

I invite you to please join us in educating yourself along with our children as we partner in investing time and thought to our community’s growth.

Dr. Dodge introduces two speakers at a recent professional development seminar for all employees on the importance of conversation about racism. PHOTO: LINDSEY KUNDEL

One of the most rewarding, yet challenging responsibilities of both educators and parents is to be role models for the next generation.

個安全的學習環境，師長會立即處理 任何因他人言行而受到身體或言語傷 害的威脅。校方對於捍衛我們的價 值觀所採取的是極為堅定的立場。當

有人刻意傷害他人時，不管是個人、 學校及社群都要負起相關責任，唯有 如此，我們才能推動這個社群的共同 發展。我們也明白校方必須要拿出更 有效的具體辦法，讓社群成員有安全 的空間去分享他們所面對的傷痛，並 讓他人有傾聽的機會，學生也應該知 道，如果遇到任何仇恨言論的事件， 他們必須立即通報師長或指導老師。

當我們在處理校內學生之間的問 題時，令人難過地，我們也看到在家

長之間所出現的裂痕。我們曾說過， 即使您沒有接收到學校所發布的官方 消息，請您也不要自行臆測還有傳播 消息，不過，這種情況卻依舊存在。 不實消息的傳播可能會變成具有傷害 性、危言聳聽、嚴重錯誤的謠言，而 在無人能提供謠言來源的情況下，這 種問題正破壞著這個社群，影響著我 們所有人。當學生們在校內模仿起大 人的此種行為，也就會對他們造成進 一步的傷害。如果我們要攜手並肩為 孩子們樹立起相互學習合作的表率， 我們就必須放下戒心，敞開心胸傾聽 他人的看法。讓自己處於一個去除我 執，放棄成見的立場，需要的是氣 度，也就是TAS價值觀裡所強調的勇 氣。

錯時，他們必須為自身的言行負責，

去傷害他人的時候。我們也知道人 非聖賢，孰能無過。請您以謙虛、尊 重、仁慈和勇敢的態度與孩子們一同 學習。讓我們試著更努力地去理解對 方，找出校方與全體家長攜手合作最 有效的方式，各位都是台北美國學校 的一員，您的意見和看法都是重要 的。我們會找出解決之道。 談論種族的議題與種族主義是截 然不同的兩回事，倘若我們不談論 種族歧視、性別認同、心理健康問題 和自殺傾向等這些重要問題，便無法 保護我們的學生。協助孩子建立起身 分認同感與自尊，才能幫助他們獲得 安全感。我們要讓孩子們能夠放心地 去談論自己的想法。給他們一個安全 空間，允許他們說錯話，從錯誤中學 習，這些都應該從家庭做起。 這些議 題可能沒有標準答案，但我們可以共 同找到解決和應對的方法。

在NAIS所出版的《Independent School》雜誌2021年冬季號中，

《Reflection Points》一文呼籲學校思考 歸屬感的含義。我們是否能營造出「 要是我傷害了你，我便傷害了包括我 自己在內的所有人」那種感同身受的 歸屬感？我希望這個答案是肯定的。

讓我們努力做到多元包容及內在審 視，想像一個讓我們都能引以為榮的 未來，並且對於為了培育出未來世界 公民我們所做的準備而感到驕傲。各 位已經做出明智的選擇，將孩子送到 這裡接受美式的教育。各位也表達出 希望學生在一個安全的環境中能夠成 為一個有批判性思考，去質疑一切、 承擔風險，和具有韌性的人。這是 指在這環境裡，人們要對自己的言行 負責，在正向解決和促進和解的目的 下，從解決問題和化解衝突這些艱難 的經歷中學到應有的素養。我們希望 學生有機會犯錯，而且是各種錯誤， 但是要承認所犯下的錯誤、明白這些 錯誤所帶來的影響，藉由引導的過程 來提高他們日後做出正確判斷的能 力。 各位選擇了讓孩子就讀台北美國學 校，我們也希望您能夠分享我們的價 值觀與實踐我們的使命。如果各位在 家中能夠適時地體現出這些精神，便 能幫助孩子意識到這些價值觀的重要

Board of Directors

MEET THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors has three main responsibilities at Taipei American School: to establish a clear mission and vision for the School, as well as strategic goals consistent with them; to ensure the financial health, stability, and future of the School; and to select, support, and evaluate the Head of School.

The TAS Board is composed of nine elected parent board members and four appointed board members. Elected Board members serve staggered three-year terms, so there are three seats open each year. The three candidates with the most votes in this election will therefore each serve a three-year term on the Board.

This year’s Election Committee Chairperson was Debbie Hsu, and the Election Committee members were Jimmy Chen, Iris Hsu, Marc Lau, and Susan Lin.

The 2021 Meet-the-Candidates program took place on April 14 at 8:15 AM. All parents were invited to attend this program either online or in the Harmony Theater. This session is always an important part of the School Board Election process where candidates make brief remarks and answer questions from parents. A recording of the Meet-the-Candidates Meeting was made available on the Parent Portal during the campaigning time period.

In line with TAS Board Policy 114, this year’s election limited candidate’s campaigning to Election Committee

sponsored events as provided below.

• Candidates’ materials and videos will be available online to all parents.

• The annual Meet-the-Candidates session, to be held online on April 14.

To keep the nature of campaigning fair for all, candidates will not give any public speeches nor publicly campaign at parent events including PTA lunches, grade level lunches, or parent group gatherings. Digital candidate profiles, including personal email addresses and campaign flyers, were made available on the School’s Board Election website, in the TigerNet parent portal.

We hope the above restrictions helped facilitate a smooth and fair process for all involved.

The 2021 Candidates for Board Election were:

• Bruce Aitken

• Alicia Garcia Herrero

• Grace Lee

• Lydia Lim

• Vera Wu

• Steven Yao

• Michael Cheng-Yuan Fei

Voting took place entirely online this year. Voting opened at noon on April 14 and was completed by noon on April 26. Election results were announced the following morning at the Spring Association Meeting on April 27 at 8:15 AM.

This year’s newest members of the Board of Directors are Bruce Aitken, Grace Lee, and Lydia Lim.

BRUCE AITKEN

GRACE LEE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BOARD MEMBERS

The 2021 Meet-the-Candidates session was held online on April 14. RECORDING COURTESY OF TOBIE OPENSHAW.

Priorities

There are four principles I am passionate about and that I would champion as a Board member:

•Broadening perspectives among our students to equip them to deal with a changing world – diversity, inclusion, tolerance, empathy, and understanding are critical elements of high-quality education.

•Providing all students with the opportunity to become the best version of themselves – TAS should develop the whole child and develop all children. Each student learns in unique ways and has a unique route to educational and life success.

•Measuring success by whether/how well we meet student needs rather than being competitor-focused or driven by artificial indicators of success.

•Providing parents with broader and deeper opportunities for engagement and two-way communication. 優先事項

GRACE LEE

Priorities

•Communication and Collaboration – Engaging in open communication and appropriate collaboration between stakeholders, including students, faculty, administration, board, and parents is essential to strengthening our community. By continuously building trust and respect, we can further create a more positive environment to address student growth and celebrate student achievements.

•Global and Diverse Perspective - We should consider and understand different views as it enables well-thought-out decisions on the board. Bringing in diverse backgrounds provides a broader vision and scope.

•Well-being – Finding the equilibrium between strong academics and socialemotional health is always critical. Some things we can continuously reflect on are – What are the academic needs of our students and how can we better provide and support children? Can the methods used/developed elsewhere be adapted to help us monitor and ensure student wellbeing? Does the vision of the school prepare the students to be confident individuals?

Priorities

•Student Wellness as Priority in School Planning – Gauging school success by the percentage of acceptance into top schools sacrifices the balance between academic excellence and mental wellness. Wellness and emotional resilience affect our children’s lives now, their future success in college, and their career.

•Improved Communication between Parents & Board – Call for the Board to proactively share decisions and address concerns with parents in order to curtail rumors harmful to school morale and reputation.

Statement

I love my school. I started at TAS in Grade 6 and I credit my teachers for preparing me well academically for Cornell and beyond, instilling in me a lifelong passion for learning and service. We are a school dedicated to student academic excellence, but a work-inprogress in educating the whole child. 優先事項

以進一步創造出一個更加積極正面的環 境，來專注於學生的成長和表揚他們的 成就。 •全球性和多元化的觀點 — 為了能 夠做出全面宏觀的決策，董事會應該引 入更多元的族群角度，來協助我們考慮 和理解不同的觀點，並提供更寬廣的視 角和遠見。

•身心健康 — 在卓越的學術成就與 健全的社會情感之間找到平衡點一直都 是至關重要的。我們應該持續反思的是 我們學生的學習需求到底是什麼？我們 如何才能夠為孩子們提供更好、更有效 的支持？是否有他山之石可以作為修正 的借鏡，來幫助我們更有效地監控和確 保學生的身心健康？學校的願景是否能 夠讓我們培育出富有自信的人？

INTRODUCING THE TAS 2021-2026 STRATEGIC PLAN

BY TINA KOO, BOARD CHAIR, AND VERA WU, CO-CHAIR OF GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE/STRATEGIC PLANNING COORDINATOR

We are thrilled to share with you the 2021-2026 TAS Strategic Plan. We are honored to present a plan that will ensure that Taipei American School continues to remain a worldclass educational institution that upholds its mission and core values and always places our students first.The 5-year strategic plan reflects our confidence that TAS will be even better in 2026 than it is today.

One of our most important roles as a Board of Directors is establishing the strategic direction of the School. We cannot do this work alone. The final strategic plan reflects months of collaboration between your Board of Directors and the administration team, as well as over 25 focus groups attended by hundreds of parents, teachers, students, and alumni that generated over 5,000 comments. The process was intentionally structured to include the collective voices and visions of our community. We thank all of you for the time and effort you have put into this vitally important task.

The new Strategic Plan incorporates the following widely shared views among the different constituents:

-Maintain strong academics through a curriculum that has both depth and breadth.

-Continue to have a world class program with a highly-qualified and dedicated faculty.

-Continue to move toward a balanced focus on student wellbeing and academic rigor.

-Increase opportunities for project-based learning and service so that students strive to lead a life of purpose.

-Increase transparency, align communications, and clearly articulate who we are as a school.

2021 to 2026 Strategic Plan encompasses five strategic areas. Objectives, action steps and the associated resources required for each action step were carefully evaluated to establish a total budget for the plan. The Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt this plan at the May 25, 2021 board meeting.

New Mission and Value Statements

In conjunction with establishing the Strategic Plan, we have also taken the opportunity to update the TAS mission and values to reflect the state of TAS today. The previous Mission and Value Statements were adopted in 2005 when TAS was at risk of losing its WASC accreditation. The latest WASC Mid-Cycle Report, dated April 26, 2021, commended the School: “Students communicate that they feel cared for by the adults at the school and that they have trusting professional relationships with faculty. Students indicate that they have access to many

pathways for study and exploration, and that they have opportunities to grow as balanced individuals.”

While the fundamental mission and values of our school remain the same, we believe the updated Mission and Value Statements more clearly define TAS’s purpose to instill an enduring lifelong love of learning, dedication to personal wellness, and service to others; and TAS’s aspiration to develop students of character, resilience, and integrity so that they may make the world a better place. We hope you will see your own voices and values reflected in our powerful new statements.

TAS’s five core values, HONESTY, KINDNESS, RESPECT, COURAGE, and RESPONSIBILITY, have not changed. We have taken students’ description of these values and expressed them in terms that are relatable to their everyday life.

We hope you will take the time to read the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan and our updated Mission and Value Statements. Additional information on the strategic planning process can be found here. We continue to welcome your questions and feedback.

As always, we are humbled by the trust you have placed in us as your Board of Directors. We are tireless in our commitment to doing what is best for the TAS students of today and tomorrow. We look forward to partnering with you in the years ahead. 在此，我們倍感榮幸能夠與您分享台 北美國學校2021到2026年的五年策略計畫 （strategic plan）。為了保持世界一流教

平衡。

藉由更多的學習導向（project-based learning）和服務他人的機會，讓學生體現 出生命的意義。

倡揚族群的多樣性，並以多元共融為 榮。

促進公開透明化，達成溝通一致性，清 楚闡明學校的自我定位。

2021至2026年的策略計劃涵蓋了五大範 疇。 該計畫的各項目標（objectives）、程 序步驟（action steps）以及每個步驟所需的 相關資源在經過詳盡的評估後，校方也對 此核定了所需的總預算。 在2021年5月25日 的董事會議上，董事會投票表決一致通過 了這項計劃。

新版的辦學使命（Mission）以及價值觀 （Values）

在制定策略計劃的同時，我們也利 用了這個機會來更新我們的辦學使命 （Mission）以及價值觀（Value），讓這兩 項聲明都能更確切地反映出TAS現今的辦 學理念和立場。現行的辦學使命和價值觀 是在2005年時通過的，在當時校方面臨著 可能失去WASC認證的危機。 在2021年4月 26號的WASC期中評估報告中有一項聲明 指出：「學生們表示校內的師長們都給予 了他們所需的關愛與呵護，在師生之間也 建立起互信關係與專業互動。學校的課程 和活動也提供了大量的機會，讓每位學生 去學習和探索自我的特質，從而成為身心 均衡發展的個人。」

神。這項計畫也反映了我們堅信2026年的 TAS一定將更加卓越的信念。 董事會最重要的職責之一，就是制定學 校未來的發展方向。不過，這項重責大任 絕對無法單靠我們獨立完成。 除了和行政 管理團隊的密切合作以外，我們也檢視了 由數百位家長、教師、學生以及校友們所 組成的25個焦點小組（focus group）所提供 超過5000多則的意見和建議。這項計劃的 定案所匯集的是社群成員們在這段時間裡 集思廣益的共同意見和願景。在此，我們 誠心地感謝大家為這項任務所付出的時間 和心力。

新的策略計畫匯聚了來自不同成員之間 廣泛的共同觀點，其重點如下： 透過具有深度和廣度的課程來維持學術 的卓越。

持續擁有高素質和敬業的師資來保持世 界一流的課程品質。

持續在學術嚴謹和學生身心健康中取得

儘管辦學使命和價值觀的基本精神維持 不變，但我們相信更新後的版本更加確切 地闡明了TAS的宗旨—也就是培育熱愛學 習、重視身心健康、和服務他人的堅持。 我們希望培養出品德端正、堅韌不拔、正 直無私的學生為增進世界福祉做出貢獻。 在這些影響深遠的更新聲明中，我們希望 您也看見您所深信的信念和價值觀。 TAS的五個核心價值觀—誠實、仁慈、 尊重、勇敢和負責維持不變。 其增加的部 分是納入了貼近與連結學生日常生活中的 內容，來做出更具體、更詳盡的描述。 我們希望您能抽出時間來了解2021-

值觀還有策略計劃的後續內容 。透過這個 連結，我們歡迎您和以往一樣，隨時提出 您的問題或看法。 作為台北美國學校的董事會，如同以 往，對於您所寄予的期許我們感到無比地 謙卑；對於您所給予的信任我們也由衷地 感謝。不管是為了現今或者未來TAS學生 的福祉，我們都會持續努力，也期待在接 下來的時間裡，與各位持續攜手並進。

STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-2026

The Taipei American School Strategic Plan will provide a framework in which to define and pursue our shared community goals until 2026. It builds on our community’s many strengths and focuses our energies and resources on the most pressing issues that we are distinctively positioned to address. The five-part structure of the plan encourages a multidimensional approach to achieving significant time-bound goals across the five areas that are critical to the School’s future. These areas have been refined and articulated within this document, guiding our ambitions, continuous improvement efforts, and institutional investments.

STRATEGIC AREA 1: FOCUSING ON LEARNING

Rationale: Taipei American School will develop the capacity of its students to be resilient, adaptable, and curious about the world and their place in it.

Objective: Focus on learning results that consider the whole child (including social-emotional, intellectual, and physical wellbeing), defining success beyond what is reported on the academic transcript and college acceptance.

1. Embrace the use of data analytics to support robust understanding of student achievement and wellbeing.

2. Strengthen the connection between TAS curricular standards and classroom assessment, in order to facilitate the monitoring, analysis, and support of student progress.

3. Provide professional development to assist in the improvement of assessment standards and practices.

Objective: Balance academics with preparation for life beyond TAS by preparing students to be good, purposeful, global citizens.

1. Define the skills progression for each of the Essential Capacities and devise strategies for their assessment.

2. Ensure students are capable of effectively learning outside of the traditional classroom, including through online learning.

Objective: Define and systematically develop students’ information literacy and critical thinking skills, thereby teaching students how to learn, including how to engage in metacognition.

1. Identify and adopt KA-12 information literacy, critical thinking, and argumentation standards.

2. Hire additional librarians to support co-teaching and increase the number of technology and design coaches in the Middle School and Upper School.

3. Provide faculty with ongoing professional development to support the creation and implementation of information literacy standards and practices.

Objective: Ensure cross-divisional curricular alignment and collaboration among students and between faculty.

1. Continue to pursue implementation of the Curriculum Articulation and Alignment Roadmap, as adopted by the divisional principals and office of the deans.

2. Explore the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) across the School.

Objective: Provide students with opportunities for project-based learning and problem solving across the curriculum, finding more opportunities for service where appropriate.

1. Create opportunities for course prototyping, especially in the Middle School and Upper School, ensuring those prototypes are explicitly pilot programs of defined duration, with agreed-upon goals and measures of success, providing teachers with full-time equivalent (FTE) in addition to their current course load for developing and teaching those pilot courses.

2. Find ways to incorporate real-world problem solving into the curriculum with an eye towards working with local partners to implement solutions that are identified as part of those projects.

Objective: Appropriately break down subject area boundaries to allow students to make interdisciplinary connections and learn how disciplines work together to allow people to identify and solve complex problems.

1. Create pilot programs of defined duration, with agreed-upon goals and measures of success.

2. Provide teachers and administrators with professional development to support those efforts.

Objective: Embrace the appropriate amount of differentiation and personalized learning across the curriculum while continuing to ensure the use of student-centered pedagogy.

1. Support the use of data analytics to provide better understanding of student needs and increased personalization.

2. Support professional development regarding how to both effectively analyze data and appropriately personalize student learning.

3. Hire additional personnel for both cross-divisional coordination of academic support and student support services in the Upper School.

4. Facilitate the integration of language support for all students throughout the School.

Objective: Include anti-bias education that represents a broader range of diverse voices across the curriculum.

1. Evaluate the need for and, if necessary, hire an administrator focused on KA-12 Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI).

2. Promote professional development and parent education in this area, with a particular focus on promoting the readiness and ability of adults to have meaningful JEDI conversations that support the School’s JEDI community commitment.

3. Review the curriculum to identify areas for increased inclusion, increasing the diversity of representation as necessary.

Objective: Incorporate elements of digital citizenship in the curriculum.

1. Support the professional development and acquisition of curricular resources necessary to incorporate those elements into the curriculum.

2. Consider increasing the number of technology and design coaches in the Middle and Upper Schools.

Objective: Provide students and faculty with opportunities for creativity and innovation, nurturing appropriate risk-taking.

1. Promote the use of standards-based assessment to promote student focus on academic growth rather than achievement.

2. Provide professional development and parent education in these areas.

STRATEGIC AREA 1: SUPPORTING STUDENT LIFE

Rationale: Taipei American School must establish a comprehensive approach to teaching, modeling, and reinforcing social, emotional, and physical wellbeing across the School to support the development of every student as a well-rounded and healthy individual.

Objective: Create an environment that supports students living a life of wellbeing and balance (including social, emotional, and physical wellbeing).

1. Promote wellness in a way that allows the School to investigate and implement programs that enhance wellness for all TAS students.

2. Further infuse social-emotional learning into homeroom and advisory lessons and reflect these values in all other areas of instruction.

3. Identify specific areas of consideration for implementation of social-emotional learning throughout the student experience, including by supporting and promoting the work of the School’s student support services.

4. Review schedules, homework expectations, grading, and technology usage for students, providing appropriate levels of support and challenge to the full range of students at TAS.

5. Ensure healthy student transitions between divisions.

6. Assess the need for additional personnel in counseling schoolwide.

7. Support professional development to promote the appropriate provision of social-emotional support by teachers.

Objective: Teach students in ways that build resilience and confidence, allowing them to come to see failure and struggle as an essential part of learning.

1. Integrate this instruction throughout each student’s experience at school.

2. Provide parent education regarding the importance of this instruction and how it can be further supported at home.

Objective: Help students commit to a life of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

1. Host JEDI events, inviting and including local and regional schools, empowering students to take on leadership roles in this process.

2. Increase outreach to, and partnership with, local schools, including those with large indigenous populations.

3. Further infuse JEDI programming into homeroom and advisory, seeing the links to social-emotional learning.

4. Create further opportunities for students to lead on these issues.

Objective: Ensure students live the TAS values.

1. Provide parent education to ensure both their understanding of the importance of these efforts and their support of them at home.

2. Promote student ownership of our community values.

Objective: Promote living a life of service as a global citizen among the student body.

1. Ensure the teaching and practice of empathy throughout each student’s experience at TAS.

2. Explore the addition of personnel to implement, coordinate, and supervise service programs across the School.

STRATEGIC AREA 4: INVESTING IN THE HIGHEST-QUALITY PERSONNEL

Rationale: Taipei American School will assure an optimal workplace culture, and continue to invest in ongoing professional development and support in order to recruit and retain the highest quality faculty and staff for our school.

Objective: Recruit diverse, exemplary faculty who share our commitment to the TAS mission.

1. Identify and evaluate new recruiting tools and platforms, including but not limited to year-round recruiting, large scale virtual recruiting, regional/focus group virtual fairs, social media recruiting and other digital platforms that ensure we have access to a highly-qualified and diverse candidate pool.

2. Proactively recruit highly qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds.

Objective: Retain diverse, exemplary faculty and staff who share our commitment to the TAS mission.

1. Strengthen employee assistance programs for faculty and staff through the wellness program. Employee wellness initiatives will focus on professional, social, mental, and physical aspects of the employee’s experience at TAS.

2. Strengthen trust with employees through effective and timely communication, divisional and schoolwide team collaborations, and facilitate a culture that supports faculty and staff to achieve their professional goals that align with the School’s mission.

Objective: Provide professional development according to the needs of the institution and to attract and retain excellent faculty and staff.

1. Identify and support mission- and program-critical professional development topics that are schoolwide as well as specific to each grade level, division, and department.

2. Encourage faculty to share their talents and skills at conferences and other venues.

3. Enhance TAS-specific essential training to prepare new hires before on-boarding.

4. Identify and support critical training that are TAS specific for after-school coaches and program volunteers.

5. Identify and support JEDI professional development for KA-12 faculty and staff.

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

PHOTO: LINDSEY KUNDEL

STRATEGIC AREA 4: PROVIDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

Rationale:Taipei American School must have strong financial resources, supportive governance, effective communication and worthy facilities to provide students a world-class education that uphold the mission and values.

Objective: Provide responsible financial oversight and stewardship ensuring stability for the future.

1. Monitor and adjust long-range plans, which include those pertaining to land and facilities, finances, program, and endowment.

2. Increase awareness and knowledge among the Board, Administration, parents, and alumni of fundraising philosophy, programs and goals.

Objective: Develop and optimize facilities to ensure that the School provides safe, healthy, high-quality, sustainable, and instructionally appropriate learning environments.

1. Conduct a feasibility study to provide support for future facility decision-making processes.

2. Determine the optimal enrollment size on the current campus or increase the enrollment size, which would require investment in additional facilities.

3. Continue with current campus security projects.

Objective: Learn about, evaluate, and adjust as necessary the Board governance and processes to meet the continuing needs of the School.

1. Continue to monitor the effectiveness of the current board governance and take appropriate action as necessary.

2. Put structures in place to institutionalize the cultivation and orientation of new board members.

3. Continue to provide board governance related professional development.

Objective: Create a more robust communication process to foster relations between the community and the Board.

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of the current communication process between the Board and the community.

2. Identify appropriate channels and methods of communication to ensure community understanding and awareness of the Board’s roles, responsibilities, and decisions.

STRATEGIC AREA 5: STRENGTHENING THE TAS COMMUNITY

Rationale: Taipei American School will promote a school community that understands, and positively engages with the School’s mission and values to foster a sense of belonging for all TAS community members.

Objective: Deepen the community’s understanding of and support for the school’s commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

1. Effectively and consistently communicate the School’s commitment.

2. Integrate programming and resources, featuring experts in relevant fields, for parents and alumni.

Objective: Preserve bonds with TAS’s extended community through outreach to alumni, past parents, and other stakeholders.

1. Provide programs, services, and networking opportunities that meet the needs and interests of a diverse group of alumni, past parents, and other stakeholders.

2. Communicate with current students the benefits of the TAS network and what it means to be an engaged alumnus or alumna.

Objective: Meaningfully engage prospective members of the TAS community, to foster a shared sense of mission and to deepen understanding of the School’s values.

1. Interview prospective families during the admissions process.

2. Establish each family’s support for the School’s mission.

3. Communicate with clarity and transparency regarding the School’s admissions process and overarching School’s mission.

Objective: Evaluate the School’s communications to ensure they build community.

1. Streamline the School’s communication channels.

2. Increase staffing for content creation, editing, and communications alignment.

3. Reevaluate the School’s branding and, to the extent necessary, create new design concepts, website content, and materials to better communicate student and faculty accomplishments and reflect the School’s mission, values, and community.

4. Promote attendance at, and engagement with, parent events, both in person and online, in order to further build a culture that supports, and parenting practices that align with, the School’s mission and values.

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A STUDENT-CENTERED SCHOOL MUST TURN

ITS ATTENTION TO STUDENT SLEEP

BY RICHARD ARNOLD (HE/HIM), UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER & TAS MASTER TEACHER

After over five decades at this school, I write to you today to entreat our community to turn its attention to the importance of sleep. Our school has a rich history of addressing the wellness needs of its students, and it is time, once again, for us to join together to help our students. If we love these students, and I know we do, we must find creative ways as an institution and as a community to force them to prioritize sleep more. I firmly believe that if one is not part of the solution, he or she is part of the problem. And so we as the educators must set an example because it has become clear that they will not do it without our help.

Innovation, excellence, and studentcentered focus have always been the foundation on which Taipei American School has operated and been recognized. In the March 8, 1979 minutes of the House of Representatives, Congressman Charles G. Rose of North Carolina stated, “This school, which has been operating in Taiwan for over 25 years, has served as a leader in Asian American schools. The staff and students have enjoyed an innovative curriculum….”

TAS has always included renowned experts and scholars in its program initiatives. They have been influential in guiding our school to know the best practices and how to adapt and implement them to maximize the benefits for our students. As a result of their consultations and interactions with our administration, faculty, and parents, TAS is recognized as a leader in many areas of student development and success.

Architectural and education personnel from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provided their expertise on how to create the Solomon Wong Tech Center which serves as a model for schools throughout the world.

Harvard educator Dr. Josephine Kim

shared her professional and personal thoughts with our entire community last month. She is the most recent expert to discuss wellness in the Taipei American School community. Numerous international professionals have previously shared their research and recommendations on wellness with us. We hosted a highly acclaimed Wellness Convention in November 2017. TAS teachers have enhanced their knowledge about student wellness by attending workshops presented by professional experts focused on students’ health at numerous EARCOS conferences.

One paramount concern many of those specialists shared was their statistics on the sleep deprivation many of our students routinely experience.

They stressed the impact on the students’ mental and physical well-being caused by insufficient sleep. Not only did the lack of sleep cause immediate problems such as lack of focus and depression, as examples, but also residual effects which are linked to future illnesses.

Taipei American School has always focused on students’ wellness and taken steps to counter bad practices.

In the early 1970’s TAS did not have a psychologist for its nearly 3,000 students. Hope Phillips led a volunteer group of students and teachers to fundraise, especially during the annual American Chamber of Commerce Fourth of July celebration on the Wen Lin campus. The result of her committee’s determination and endeavors was the employment

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNI OFFICE AND TAS HUMAN RESOURCES

of the first psychologist brought from Chicago, Mr. Michael Berthold.

TAS had a smoking lounge where high school students with parent permission were allowed to enter. It was quite a popular gathering spot until the early 1980’s when the faculty and administration decided to close it, for the school could not allow students’ health be harmed on our campus. Since then, TAS has become a smoke-free campus.

A controversial action TAS instituted for students’ health was mandatory drug testing which began in the 1980s and continues. It was an innovative program that interested local Taiwanese educators, as well as other international schools.

A tragic murder in 1985 of a TAS sophomore spurred the creation of the Community Center. The TAS administration and parents/faculty were instrumental in that valuable institution’s founding. The Center’s presence was essential in 1988 when about ten high school students unsuccessfully tried to end their lives together. Those students and their parents were required to have counseling at the Center to be readmitted to TAS.The Community Center continues to play an essential role in the entire TAS community’s well-being today. That has been especially pivotal during recent events involving our students.

The TAS student government used to raise money for various activities through the profits of its Coke machines made on campus. Students felt the more soda they consumed, the more funding they would have for dances and other popular activities. Since this century began, there are no soda machines available to students on our campus.

During the last decade fried foods, even though they were best-sellers and popular with both students and adults,

have been removed from our menus.

The seriousness of concussions that students suffer in athletic endeavors, as well as elsewhere, has become a recent issue which all teachers and students recognize. TAS follows the best practices of independent schools in the United States by using IMPACT, developed by the University of Pittsburg. It is considered the gold standard for establishing baseline cognitive functioning in athletes.

This year new policies and education to be more inclusive to prevent marginalizing any of our students are focused on gender identity. New vocabulary, bathroom facilities, health, and academic curricula, as well as discussions across divisions including students, faculty, staff, as well as parents, are being led and promoted by international experts.

Taipei American School has also created a much healthier environment for our students because of changes international experts have recommended to be best practices. In March, representatives from the internationally respected organization, Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD), conducted Zoom lessons for all upper school students. That group has been actually visiting the TAS campus and interacting with students in groups and individuals for years. One of the representatives from LA had visited TAS and was thrilled to recognize some students and faculty members virtually.

Now is the time to follow the advice of Professor Josephine Kim. She, like so many experts before her, stresses the necessity for teenagers to have at least eight hours of sleep each night. As teachers, we know that is essential for a child’s mental and physical wellbeing. We observe students who are stressed, unable to focus, unhappy,

•

BY WU LIANG-YI AND JONATHAN CHIN, TAIPEI TIMES STAFF REPORTERS

84.6 percent of highschool students in Taipei are not getting enough sleep.

not performing at their best because they are sleep deprived. We all recognize the cause for this unhealthy existence.

Is it not time to be innovative and limit the number of classes each student can register in his/her schedule for next year? We know many students have various cram classes after school and on the weekends; many families employ tutors. We must also recognize many students are involved in time-consuming school-sponsored activities such as IASAS athletics, debate, drama, music, iGEM, and robotics, as examples. Many of those activities require overseas trips and other schedules which impact their sleep patterns. As adults could we function if we had to “shadow” any of those student’s schedules? Could parents function properly in their daily lives on the limited sleep their children schedule routinely for themselves?

Many TAS graduates, especially from recent years, have shared their concerns about their sleep deprivation. They share their mental health issues from college days and today.

We have had experts advise us about the importance of having enough sleep for years; alumni candidly inform us of their concern about mental and physical wellbeing. Is it time for us, the professionals who care dearly for each of our students, to do what is so obviously right and necessary? What are the reasons we cannot modify our system to allow a healthy eight hours of sleep each day for those in our classes?

We need to recognize that if we are still promoting innovation, excellence, and a student-centered focus, we simply cannot continue to neglect to address the issue of students’ sleep at Taipei American School.

• While 80.5 percent of preschool children have enough sleep, the figure dropped to 61.5 percent for elementary-school students and 15.4 percent for junior and seniorhigh school students, while 45.7 percent of high-school children are sleep-deprived, the survey showed.

and

We need to recognize that if we are still promoting innovation, excellence, and a student-centered focus, we simply cannot continue to neglect to address the issue of students’ sleep at Taipei American School.

EXCERPTS FROM “LACK OF SLEEP CAN CAUSE JUVENILE DEPRESSION”

The Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine warned that insufficient sleep might result in depression, anxiety and other mood disorders in children after a medical survey showed that

眠

BY RICHARD ARNOLD (HE/HIM), UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER & TAS MASTER TEACHER

我在這所學校已經任教五十多

年，今天要透過這封信，懇請校方及 家長要注意睡眠的重要性。校方過 去不乏屢屢解決學生在健康方面的需 求，現在該是要再次攜手幫助我們的 學生。如果我們愛這些學生，我也知 道我們是愛他們的，作為一個教育機 構，也是一個師生共同體，必須找出 更有創意的辦法，讓學生們更重視睡 眠這件事。我堅信若當中有任何一個 環節不參與解決這個問題，它便是問 題的一部分。我們身為教育工作者必 須樹立榜樣，顯而易見的是，少了我 們伸出援手，學生們就不會重視睡眠 的重要性。 創新、卓越與重視學生，始終是 台北美國學校經營與獲得認可的基 礎。在1979年3月8日的眾議院會議紀 錄中，北卡羅來納州眾議員 Charles G. Rose 表示：「這所學校在台灣經 營了二十五年以上，在亞洲區的美國 學校裡，一直居於領導地位。教職員 工與學生皆享受著創新課程…...」

台北美國學校向來都會在課程計 畫中邀請著名的專家與學者。這些專 家學者指導本校汲取各項最佳實務做 法，以及如何調整和實施這些做法， 讓我們的學生蒙受其利。這些建言， 加上與我們的行政單位、教職員工及 家長的互動，台北美國學校在學生發 展與成就的許多方面，皆被外界視為 領導者。 來自麻省理工學院的建築和教育 人員便介紹了興建本校內 Solomon Wong Tech 中心的專業知識，這處中 心成為全球學校的典範。 哈佛大學教育家Josephine Kim 博 士上個月與我們全體師生分享了她在 專業及個人方面的想法。 她是最近台 北美國學校邀請進行健康座談會活動 的專家。 多位國際專業人士曾與我們 分享他們在健康方面的研究心得和建 議。我們在2017年11月召開了備受讚 譽的健康大會。 台北美國學校的老師 們在多次 EARCOS 會議上，參加由專 家舉辦針對學生健康的研討會，提高 對學生健康的認識。 許多專家的統計數據提出一個重 點，也就是我們有許多學生經常出現 睡眠不足的情況。他們強調睡眠不足 對學生身心健康造成的影響。睡眠不 足不僅造成注意力不集中和精神委靡 等直接問題，還有與日後疾病有關的

後遺症。 台北美國學校極為注重學生的健 康，並且採取各項措施打擊不良行 為。 • 1970年代初期，台北美國學校 並未替校內近三千名學生聘僱 心理醫生。前校長費和蒲女士 （Hope Phillips）帶領一群師 生組成的志工進行募款，尤其 是在每年美國商會於文林校區 舉行的國慶日慶祝活動期間。 委員會的決心與努力的結果， 後來聘請了首位來自芝加哥的 心理學家 Michael Berthold 先 生。 • 台北美國學校設有一處吸煙 室，經父母同意的高中生可以 使用。 學生們經常聚集在這 裡，教師與管理部門在1980年 代初期決定關閉這處吸煙室， 學校不允許校園裡的學生健康 受到傷害。從那時起，台北美 國學校便成為一個無煙校園。 • 台北美國學校為學生健康而採 取的一項爭議性行動，便是對 學生強制進行毒品檢測，這 項行動始於1980年代且延續至 今。這項創新計畫引起了台灣 本地教育工作者及其他國際學 校的興趣。 • 1985年，台北美國學校的一名 高二學生慘遭謀殺，這件慘劇 促使我們成立社區中心。 台 北美國學校的行政單位與家 長／教師在成立這處寶貴機 構的過程中，發揮著關鍵作 用。1988年，約有十名高中生 意圖一同輕生但未果，顯示該

校的校園裡便撤除了可樂販 賣機。

• 在過去的十年中，深受學生 與成人歡迎的油炸食品非常暢 銷，但是本校餐廳的菜單上已 經看不到任何油炸食品。

• 近期全體師生已注意到學生在 運動及它處遭受腦震盪的嚴重 性。台北美國學校採用匹茲堡 大學發展出的 IMPACT 方法， 遵循美國獨立學校的最佳實務 做法。 IMPACT 方法被視為是 建立運動員基準認知功能的黃 金標準。

• 今年新的政策與教育內容更具 有包容性，以避免有任何學生 遭到邊緣化，我們將重點放在 性別認同上。 新的詞彙、浴 室設施、健康和學術課程，以 及包括師生、工作人員與家長 在內的各部門討論，都由國際 專家率領和推動。

• 台北美國學校改為採用國際 專家建議的最佳實務做法， 也為學生打造出一個更健康 的環境。三月時國際知名組 織「Freedom from Chemical Dependency」（FCD）的代表 為全體高中生上了一堂聚焦課 程。 其實該組織早就拜訪過 台北美國學校校園，多年來 與學生進行小組和個人互動。 其中一名來自洛杉磯的代表曾 來過台北美國學校，很高興認

時的睡眠時間。 身為教師，我們知

來說十分重要。 我們觀察到部分學

自從本世紀開始，本

法集中注意力、不開心及表現不佳。 我們都明白會造成這種不健康情況的 原因。 現在難道不是發揮創新作為的時 候，限制每名學生在明年度行事曆上 可以報名的課程數量嗎？ 我們知道許 多學生在放學後和週末還要上各種補 習班，許多家庭有雇用家教。還有就 是許多學生花費大量時間參加學校主 辦的活動，像是 IASAS 體育活動、 辯論、戲劇、音樂、I-Gem 及機器人

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNI OFFICE AND TAS HUMAN RESOURCES

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOL MUN BLENDS ONLINE & IN-PERSON CONFERENCES

BY KAI YUAN M. (‘21), SENIOR ADVISORY MUN MEMBER

as IASAS MUN, entire presentations and procedures were drawn out to better suit zoom debate styles. Likewise, the internationalism of the program continues with students participating in online conferences with Germany, New York, the Hague, India, and students from the Arab Region. The growth of online MUN has allowed many TAS students to take leadership positions in MUN Impact, an online MUN NGO that supports the Sustainable Development Goals.

In fact, not only is the MUN program adapting to the challenges of COVID-19, but it is further growing and developing as a breeding ground for intellectual debate. Model United Nations, now, more than ever is imperative to the process of problem-solving. With global issues related to both the pandemic, the world’s economy, social consequences of the virus, and drastic societal shifts, MUN provides a platform for the future generation to have their voices heard.

On April 13, 2020, the TASMUN 2020 Student Leadership team received news that the upcoming TASMUN 2020 conference, which would have been held in less than a week, would be moving from a physical to an online setting. Despite such short notice, the Secretariat team moved with both haste and efficiency to fully transition a conference, which would have hosted hundreds of delegates simultaneously, to an online setting. On conference day, despite some minor technical difficulties, TASMUN 2020 went off without a significant hitch. Over the next few days, in spite of the new environment, delegates overcame all the challenges in their ways and managed to pass dozens of resolutions, make hundreds of speeches, and ask thousands of questions.

That’s not to say that COVID-19 has caused no difficulties for the program. Throughout TAS’s MUN programs, delegates, officers, and secretariat

members alike all had to accustom themselves to the challenges imposed by online debate. Lobbying was changed from person to person interaction to Zoom breakout sessions. The debate was achieved in everyone’s own room instead of within a larger committee environment and voting was done through zoom gestures and reactions instead of physical actions. Although these changes were tough, all members of the MUN program came out of it as more knowledgeable debaters and as MUNers who had proven themselves successful in tackling debate across vastly different environments.

In the 2020-2021 school year, out of the twelve conferences attended by TAS delegates, only four conferences will be attended in real life. With international travel being heavily restricted, delegates are forced to their screens. Despite these circumstances, the program continues to show resilience and adaptation in the face of any changes. In conferences such

Delegates are now realizing to properly appreciate the experiences of a physical conference. During the online debate, normal luxuries such as face to face debate, and in real life lobbying are no longer present. As such, many delegates might feel frustrated with current procedures, but develop a keen sense of appreciation for the physical conferences and the program in general. Without the prohibitive costs for travel, we have noticed that we have an opportunity to debate with students from regions of the world, such as Africa, that have long been left out of international MUN conferences. This rise in the diversity of schools directly correlates to the rise in the diversity of cultures, backgrounds, and intellectual thoughts across committees, further allowing MUN to be a program of excellence, inclusivity, and a more nuanced debating environment. Ultimately, although COVID-19 has posed numerous issues to the normalcy of debate, TAS’s Model United Program has not only adapted to these changes but further grew a more successful program in general.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TAS MUN PROGRAM

BY KAI YUAN M. (‘21), SENIOR ADVISORY MUN MEMBER

2020年4月13日，台北美國學校模 擬聯合國 (TASMUN) 2020年的學生領 導團隊接到消息指出，在不到一周內 即將舉行的TASMUN 2020會議必須改 以線上的方式進行。 儘管我們只有非 常短的時間來應變，秘書處團隊還是 迅速地採取行動，將原本可以同時容 納數百名代表的現場大會改為線上進 行。在大會開始的當天，儘管遇到了 一些技術上的小問題，TASMUN 2020 仍然順利進行。在後來的幾天中，儘 管我們都必須適應線上運作的模式， 與會的代表們還是以自己的方式克服 了所有挑戰，並通過了數十項決議， 發表了數百個演說，並提出了數千個 問題。 然而，這並不代表新冠病毒對大 會的程序進行沒有造成任何困難。在 TASMUN的課程中，無論是代表、官 員和秘書處成員都必須習慣於在線辯

的環境中成功地進行辯論，也讓自己 成為了更優秀的辯士。 在2020-2021學年，TAS代表團所 參加的十二個大會中，僅有四個大會 是透過現場舉行。由於國際旅行受 到嚴格限制，代表們在沒有任何選擇 的情況下，只能坐在螢幕前來參與線 上的大會。儘管面臨這些突發情況和 變化，MUN的成員們一如以往地展 現出他們的韌性和適應性。比如在 IASAS MUN的大會上，為了配合Zoom 的線上辯論方式，所有議題的報告時 間和大會的程序都拖得相當長。然 而，TASMUN的國際化並沒有因為疫 情的關係而受到影響，我們的學生也 參加了由德國、紐約、海牙、印度和 阿拉伯地區的學生舉行的線上大會。 隨著MUN線上大會比例的增加，這個 轉變的契機也讓我們的學生有更多的 機會在MUN Impact（支持可持續發展 目標的在線MUN NGO）中擔綱領導階 層的角色。

實際上，MUN不僅適應了COVID-19所帶來的挑戰，而且還在不斷發 展壯大，成為知識分子的辯論殿堂。 現在，模擬聯合國比以往的任何時候 都更需要解決問題的進程。隨著疫情 的蔓延和經濟的萎縮，新冠狀病毒所

引發的社會後果和劇烈轉變的這些全 球性問題是前所未見的，而MUN則為 這些未來世代的學子們提供了一個心 聲表達的平台。

以往我們視為理所當然的面對面 遊說和辯論現在都必須用線上的方式 來舉行，而且大會的程序也比以往冗 長了許多。不過這也讓所有的代表們 都意識到，也格外珍惜，現場大會 所帶來的便利性以及截然不同的體 驗。然而，在不需要支付昂貴旅費的 情況下，這也讓我們有機會與世界各 地（例如非洲）的學生們進行辯論， 而這些非洲地區的學生以往並沒有被 邀請到國際MUN大會。更多學校的 參與代表著的是，在所有的委員會中 我們都匯入了更豐富多元的文化、人 文背景、知識思想和觀點。這也進一

Wellness in Action

EMPOWERING

TAS STUDENTS THROUGH

IMPROVED HEALTH EDUCATION

BY DR. NATHAN SMITH (HE/HIM), DEAN OF FACULTY: DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING

Last week, I had coffee with a former student, one I had the pleasure of teaching 11 years ago when I first arrived at Taipei American School. We were talking about how things at TAS have changed for the better in the past decade, and I admit I was taking some pride in having had even the smallest part in improving a school I care so much about. And then my former student said something to me that I think typifies

what many students and parents might be thinking to themselves.

“Well, I see lots of different announcements and messages, and I’ve seen some of the guest speakers the school has brought in—but what’s really changed?”

It was the ‘really’ that struck a chord. Questions like that can take the wind out of my sails sometimes, but it does reflect a reasonable skepticism. Once can issue press releases all year round, bring in big name speakers, and write articles for “The Window”—but what is substantively, palpably different for the students? It would be hard for parents or alumni to know, given that they are not currently living a student’s life. It would be difficult even for faculty in one division of the school to know how

things have changed in another division, given the size of our community and the need to focus on one’s own students.

TAS is a large, dynamic, and complex institution. Structural and programmatic changes and adjustments are a constant as our brilliant faculty work to stay abreast of developments in their respective fields. Large, orchestrated change can be gradual and subtle. How does one capture all that and communicate it meaningfully to the broader community? Would doing so convince the skeptical or dubious, or would it be doomed to appear as strictly politics?

Having spent years working on programmatic improvements, I can say with full conviction that there have been substantive and positive changes. Today

Large, orchestrated change can be gradual and subtle.

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

I am just going to focus on one tiny corner of that work: health education.

In a class discussion six years ago, my students brought up the topic of sexual health education, and I must admit their stories shocked me. They told me that the school program was centered on abstinence-only education. They reported that there was no real discussion of relationships and decision making. They seemed quite distressed at how little time was devoted to issues like consent, sexual orientation, gender identity, contraception, pornography, and a myriad of other urgent issues confronting young people today. On top of it all, health classes ended abruptly in the Grade 9.

I was so taken aback I was incredulous—but after some investigation, it turned out that their characterizations were largely accurate. Not that there was absolutely no treatment of these concerns, but our program was, in my opinion, both outdated and insufficient for the present day.

I myself went to an underfunded public school in South Carolina in the late 1980’s, and yet I had received a far more detailed sex education program than my students at TAS had been getting. Perhaps that was part of my surprise—I spend so much of my time amazed by the education at TAS, and it startled me to find any arena in which my own high school was superior.

But I had also done my share of research on the matter. Abstinenceonly education is associated with higher rates of teen pregnancy and STI infection—it is defensible strictly on religious and ideological grounds. If our real goal is delaying the age of first

sex in young people, thereby preventing unwanted pregnancy, reducing STI transmission, and perhaps most importantly, preparing our students for lifelong control of their personal choices as adults—all signs indicate that a detailed, earnest, unflinching sexual education curriculum is the logical best practice. This is the result of countless academic studies, which have in turn informed the key recommendations of UNESCO on this issue, an organization which describes sexual health education as a fundamental human right. Research and the UNESCO recommendations also inform the Ontario health education curriculum, which we as a school officially adopted a little over three years ago.

Adopting a curriculum sounds a lot simpler than it is—one must redesign lessons and retrain teachers, for a start. For two years and counting, we have worked with two consultants, Ted and Carolyn Temertzoglou, on a complete overhaul of the health and physical education curriculum and instruction the school. In addition to professional development for our teachers, we began meeting in regular curriculum review groups in the middle school and upper school departments, teaching, and modeling lesson by lesson. That process continues now, and we will be devoting

full days in the summer reviewing new lessons that have been taught for the first time this spring because, after all, the first implementation is never perfect.

We were perhaps in the best shape in our Lower School implementation, where counselors work with every classroom, teaching students the rudimentary principles of consent. As is appropriate with younger children, this is all in terms of setting basic physical boundaries and learning to say no when, for example, others play roughly, push or shove. In later years, students are prepared for the beginnings of puberty and the physical changes that brings, and of course age-appropriate discussions of personal, cultural, and gender identity are had. This lays a solid foundation for what is to come.

In the Middle School, discussions of identity continue, in greater depth as the physical, emotional, and psychological changes of adolescence intensify. In our review, we found discussions of consent were already a central part of the middle school program, but there were some structural problems interfering in implementation. As health was only taught in a quarterly class, it was delivered at different times for different students, often with teachers that students might barely know. With the change of the middle school schedule, we were able to move health into their yearlong physical education courses, allowing for sustained discussion across the year between a single teacher and class. This allows much more time for developing a safe space for discussion of sensitive issues. Discussions of consent become more specific to romantic relationships, and as students

Adopting a curriculum sounds a lot simpler than it is—one must redesign lessons and retrain teachers, for a start.

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

move through middle school they will learn about sexually transmitted infections and contraception. Statistics regarding first relationships and sexual activity suggest these matters should receive detailed treatment by Grade 7 if we hope to minimize early sexual activity and the infections and other consequences highly correlated with early first sex (Houlehan et. Al 2008; Sandford et al. 2008).

This concern is no less relevant in Taiwan, where the Taiwan Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare reported in 2015 that 12% of boys and 11% of girls ages 15 to 17 had already engaged in sexual intercourse, with very inconsistent use of barrier method contraceptives. For this reason,Taiwan has also been holding teacher trainings for comprehensive sex education, with their stated goals to “reduce adolescent fertility” and “raise the use of contraception” by teenagers (Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Welfare 2015).

Of course, the lower and middle school strands support a direct and open discussion in the Upper School. We have reworked the Grade 9 curriculum at length. We have also added an entirely new quarter of health education for Grade 10, and we are committed to increasing health education for all students in Grades 11 and 12. The new course for Grade 10 will be taught for the first time this spring (2021) and will cover exactly the issues that our students have asked for in surveys and focus groups. They will continue to learn the facts about consent and sexual assault, as well as skills for refusal and self-protection.

They will also learn about the harmful effects of consuming pornography, which could not be more urgent and overdue in the modern era. According to the American Psychological Association, as far back as 2007, about 40 percent of teens and preteens visited sexually explicit sites either deliberately or accidentally, and of course accessibility has drastically increased since then (DeAngelis, 2007). As a parent myself, I must pause and ponder all the time my own children are on laptops and cellphones—as vigilant as I try to be, do I honestly believe I can shield them from it? And where is the line drawn between pornography and sexual imagery? In 2004, the American Institute for Pediatrics estimated teenagers were exposed to 14,000 sexualized images per year—most of which were absorbed

without any critical examination or even awareness (Strasburger 2005). How high might that number be in 2021, with the proliferation of cell phones, social media platforms, and freely available internet pornography?

Rather than blindly wish it not to be so, the best I can do for my own children is to educate them about the exploitation and destruction wreaked by that massive industry. I expect them to participate in society, and thanks to the accessibility the internet affords, they will be seeing all kinds of images I would deem offensive and exploitative. I want them equipped with the tools to evaluate and reject harmful content and, more importantly, harmful decisions. And that is what this aspect of our health education curriculum is designed to do—encourage critical thinking and thoughtful decision making, based primarily on reason, respect, and kindness.

Some of my sense of urgency on this matter is also derived from my experience at the university level. For six years, I served as the dean of a college house at the University of Pennsylvania, a huge first-year dormitory. I have seen the harm done to students who enter the university unprepared for adult decision making around drugs and

relationships—the memories of which are nightmare inducing. The student who understands these matters well and has practiced critical thinking skills is better equipped to make their transition to independence both healthily and safely.

If our children can evaluate and choose for themselves, they will not need to be shielded from the world around them. Since the latter is not even an option, we really have no choice but to modernize this part of our curriculum. My students were correct in their assessment of our old approach—we were out of step with the present day, studiously avoiding sensitive topics and offering a brief, abstinence-only education, an approach which, though comforting to adults, proves entirely ineffective in preventing sexual assault, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, or delaying first sex. We can and will do better.

By the time I had finished telling all this to my former student, they seemed satisfied at least that there was more to this than rhetoric. I hope sharing the story of these efforts, and the work of our dedicated health education teams, demonstrates earnest we are in our commitment to all our students.

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

自我保護能力

BY DR. NATHAN SMITH (HE/HIM), DEAN OF FACULTY: DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING

上週我和一位教過的學生敘舊喝

咖啡，他是我在11年前剛來台北美國 學校所教過的學生，言談之間我們聊 到了學校近年來的改變。對於我所摯 愛的這個學校，當我在談及這些改革 時，對於我微薄的參與，老實說我著

實感到了些許的驕傲。 然而他拋出了 一個問題，而這可能也是許多學生和 家長想知道的問題。 「嗯，我看到許多不同的公告和消 息，而且我也看到了學校所邀請來的 學者專家和舉辦的講座，但是真正改 變的是什麼呢？」 「真正的」這個字眼引起了我的 共鳴。 諸如此類的問題有時會使我望 而卻步，但也反映出一種合理的懷疑 態度。 我們可以全年不斷地發行新聞 稿、邀請知名人士來校發言、或在校 刊The Window發表文章。但是，對學 生來說，這些改變實質上的意義或影 響是什麼呢？

不管是對父母或校友來說，他們目 前過得不是學生的生活，因此他們很 難看到全貌。 考慮到我們學校的規模 以及老師們忙碌的程度，一位在小學 部任教的老師也很難知道中學部和高 中部到底進行了哪些改變。

不論是教師們在各自領域上對最新 知識的追求，或者是一個機構對日益 求精的執著，這些動力都驅使著我們 不管在制度上或是課程上不斷地做出 修正和改良。而那些影響層面廣大安 排周密的轉變在很多時候可能是細微 漸進的。我們用什麼樣的方式才能貼 切地把這些鉅細靡遺的轉變傳達給社 群成員呢？ 這樣的溝通是否能夠說服 那些持懷疑態度半信半疑的人？ 還是 有人已經認定了這個所謂的轉變只是 一個噱頭？ 在進行課程改革的這些年下來，我

當地沮喪，因為他們只用了很短的時 間去討論雙方同意(consent)、性取向 (sexual orientation)、性別認同(gender identity)、避孕(contraception)、色情 (pornography)和其他諸如此類年輕人所 面臨的迫切性問題。 不但如此，到了 九年級時的就完全沒有健康課程了。 對於這樣的說法我覺得難以置信， 但經過調查以後，證明了學生的說法 在很大的程度上是正確的。但這並不 表示性健康教育的相關問題不受到重 視，但是我認為在現今的大環境中我 們的課程不但過時了而且也不完善。 在80年代後期的南卡羅來納州， 我上的是一所資源非常拮据的公立學 校，但我所接受的性健康教育卻遠比 TAS的學生所學到的還要詳盡得多。 不管是課程的多樣性，或者是學生 在各個領域的成就，TAS對我來說一 直都是一所辦學優異的學校。當我 發現到我上的高中在性健康教育上卻 比TAS更完善時，我確實是大吃了一 驚。

Large, orchestrated change can be gradual and subtle.

發展培訓外，我們也開始在中學和高 中部門的定期課程審查小組會議中 (curriculum review groups)，進行每節課 的教學示範和演練， 該程序仍在持續 進行中。今年的暑假我們會撥出充分 的時間來檢討在春季剛教過的課程， 然後進行相關的修正與調整。畢竟一 個新課程在剛開始實施時總會有不盡 完備的地方。

他們告訴我，學校的課程著重 是「禁慾教育」（Abstinence-only sex education）也就是一種以保守取向為 核心的性教育。 根據他們的說法，他 們沒有真正討論過在性行為中雙方角 色的關係還有如何做出正確的決定。 對於這樣的課程設計他們似乎感到相

對於性教育的這個議題，我也做 了更深入的了解和研究。在青少年懷 孕和性傳播感染發生率較高的那些地 區，往往他們所所教的都禁慾教育。 從宗教的角度和意識形態上來說，我 們可以了解傳授這些觀點的出發點。 然而，如果我們的目標是推宕初次性 行為發生的時間點，而也藉此來避免 意外懷孕的發生和減少性傳播疾病的 傳播，那麼一個完善的性健康教育就 是必然的選擇。所有的跡像都顯示 出，我們必須有一個全面完備的健康 教育課程，讓我們的學生有充分和健 全的常識，幫助他們在未來的人生道 路上能夠做出正確的抉擇。 給予學生全面的性教育常識，而非 保守的禁慾教育，是基於大量學術研 究的結果。這些研究結果也幫助了聯 合國教科文組織(UNESCO)在這個議題 上制定出相關具體的建議，該組織將 性健康教育定位為一項生來就擁有的 基本人權。 加拿大安大略省的健康教 育課程也採用了這些研究結果和教科 文組織的建議，而我們的學校則是在 三多年前正式採用了該課程。

採用一個新課程聽起來似乎簡單， 其實不然。首先，我們必須重新設計 課程內容還有培訓師資。 這兩年來， 對於健康和體育課程的全面改革，我 們一直和Ted和Carolyn Temertzoglou 這兩名顧問合作。 除了教師的專業

小學部的課程施行成果或許是目 前我們做得最好的一部分，在每個班 級裡，輔導員(counselors) 都會教導學 生雙方同意(consent)的基本原則。 對 於年幼的孩子來說，這就是學會身 體界限的基本原則以及在什麼樣的情 況下—例如在玩耍時如果有人使用暴 力或推擠—應該大聲地說出不行、不 可以、不要。隨著他們的成長，接下 來，學生會開始對青春期和隨之而來 的身體變化做好準備，這些內容當然 也涵蓋了在個人、文化和性別認同方 面的討論。 這樣的課程銜接設計能 夠為日後的討論內容奠定下穩固的基 石。 到了中學，隨著學童們在青春期階 段生理、情感和心理變化的加劇，對 身份認同的討論更是重點之一。在審 查的過程中，我們發現到關於「雙方 同意」(consent)的討論已經是中學課 程的核心部分，但是在實施的程序上 存在著一些結構性的問題。由於健康 課在每個學年中只上一季， 所以在不 同的時間會有不同的學生上課，而且 通常是由學生可能幾乎不認識的老師 授課。從今年起因為中學上課時間表 的改變，讓我們得以將健康納入為期 一年的體育課程中，也就是在全年中 由同一個老師和整個班級進行持續性 的討論。這樣的安排提供了更多的時 間，讓他們在一個安全的空間裡，針 對敏感性的問題進行持續的討論和對

情感，對於「雙方同意」這個話題的

具體討論還有性傳播感染疾病和避孕 的常識也就格外重要。 根據初戀和性 行為的統計數據顯示，如果我們希望

有效地減緩早發性行為以及降低初次 性行為相關的感染疾病和其他後果，

我們必須在七年級前就對這些問題進 行詳盡的討論還有解說。

我們的地主國，台灣，也有類似 的隱憂。台灣衛生福利部國民健康署

(Taiwan Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare)在2015年 的報告中指出—在年齡層介於15至17 歲之間的青少年當中，有12％的男孩 和11％的女孩已經過性行為的經驗， 但是他們對於安全性行為的觀念是非 常不一致的。因此，近年來台灣也一 直在進行教師培訓以推廣完整和全面 的性教育(comprehensive sex education) ，其目標是 「減少未成年懷孕的問 題」和「提高青少年對安全性行為的 常識」。 惟有在小學和中學階段都奠定了穩 固性教育知識的前提下， 當他們上了 高中時才能夠直接進行透明和開放的 討論。對9年級的課程我們已進行詳盡 的的修正。 對10年級我們會增開一門 全新的季度健康教育課程，對11年級 和12年級我們也會致力於加強他們的 健康教育。針對10年級所開設的新課 程已於今年春季（2021年）首次進行 授課，並也確實地涵蓋我們學生在問 卷和焦點小組中所提出的問題。 他們 也將繼續學習有關雙方同意和性侵犯 的常識，以及如何保護自我和拒絕他 人的技巧。

他們也會了解到接觸色情對他們所 造成的傷害，而在現今的環境裡，這 種危害更是迫在眉睫。根據美國心理 學會(American Psychological Association) 的統計，早在2007年，大約40％的青 少年和兒童常常會在有意或無意的情 況下接觸到色情網站。我們可以肯定 的是，從2007年到現在，這個數字一 定大幅攀升了很多（DeAngelis，2007 ）。當我的孩子們一直都在使用著筆 電和手機時，為人父的我，不禁要問 問我自己—儘管在各方面我都非常地 小心謹慎，但是我真的能夠防止我的

我可以睜一隻眼閉一隻眼，希望 這些色情內容不會對我的孩子造成 傷害。但是為了他們，我應該做的是 好好地教育他們。我希望他們都有良 好的社交能力，也能夠融入他們所在 的社會，而網路往往就是最便利的工 具，然而，無可避免地，他們也會透 過網路接觸到那些我認為含有攻擊性 和剝削性的各種圖像。我要他們具備 有評估和辨識的能力來拒絕有害的內 容，更重要的是，我要他們絕對不會 做出危害自我或傷害他人的決定。這 就是我們健康教育課程在這方面的主 要目的—鼓勵我們的學生在理性、互 重和仁善的基礎上，做出批判性的思 考和周詳的決策。

我對此事的急迫感也源於我親眼 目睹的體驗。 我曾在賓夕法尼亞大學 (University of Pennsylvania)任教六年， 在那同時我也是大一新生學生宿舍的 舍監老師。我親眼看到了那些在人際 關係的處理上毫無概念，在毒品的誘 惑下毫無招架能力的年輕人所做出的 錯誤決定。那些歷歷在目的回憶就宛 如是惡夢一般，督促我必須確保我們 的學生不會步入他們的後塵。 從離開 父母的呵護到獨立自主的這段過渡期 間裡，在面對類似的議題時，那些具 有批判性思維的學生就相對地有能力

TAS BEGINS SCHOOLWIDE “WELCOMING SCHOOLS” PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

In February 2021, Taipei American School faculty and staff began the first part of the esteemed “Welcoming Schools” program, created by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. This program is the most comprehensive bias-based bullying prevention program in the United States, and it aims to provide LGBTQ and gender-inclusive professional development training. According to its founders, it uses an intersectional anti-racist lens designed to “uplift” school communities and support inclusive diversity initiatives.

Before the training, all educational employees were asked to consult some of the “Welcoming Schools” resources and submit a series of quizzes, to ensure that the community had a shared understanding of important vocabulary and terms. Additionally, faculty were asked to read the current TAS Policy on Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students. On the day of the training, faculty and staff were broken up into divisional groups for targeted professional development lessons and exercises facilitated live on Zoom with trained Human Rights Campaign educators and legal experts.

All three sessions were titled “Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Students,” although the content varied slightly by developmental differences in the three divisions. The session is meant to provide the foundational training to help faculty and staff understand the critical need to create safe and supportive schools for transgender and non-binary students as well as to be familiar with policies and best practices to support transgender and non-binary students.

Dr. Nathan Smith (he/him), Dean of Faculty and Director of Instruction, says there are a number of reasons why introducing the “Welcoming Schools” program is important to the school. First, to align with the school policy we adopted a few years ago, second to align with best practices in teaching and student support; and third, to be certain that all our faculty and staff understand how to enact our commitment to our school values of kindness, respect, responsibility, courage, and honesty. However, according to Dr. Smith, the most urgent reason is “the school’s absolute commitment to value, include, and support every single one of our students for exactly who they are.”

Dr. Smith says that this training was important for opening up a conversation among the TAS faculty. “It went beyond just one-way communication of the basics,” said Smith. “And it was followed up with divisional faculty meetings for discussion of best practices.”

Lower school educators met their facilitators in classrooms within their grade-level teams and were led in the discussion by Tracy Hobbs (she/her) and Cynthia Bohrer (she/her). Hobbs is a retired school psychologist from Traverse City Michigan who spent over four decades in schools. More recently, she has

worked as a consultant for the Michigan Department of Education in addition to her work with Welcoming Schools. Co-facilitator Bohrer is also a veteran educator with 25 years of experience in Boston and Houston.

The middle school sessions were held within department meetings. Esme Rodriguez (they/them) and Tracy Flynn (she/her) led the middle school session. Flynn has three decades of management and leadership experience across several different work sectors and is passionate about anti-bias and inclusion training in the Seattle area. Rodriguez is the Safe and Healthy Schools Coordinator for an organization called Equality Florida, which is committed to ensuring the creation of safe and healthy school environments for LGBTQ+ students.

The upper school faculty met within their departments for the training to allow for small break-out discussions periodically. This session was led by Danielle Murray (she/her) and Steven Chen (he/him). Murray is an educational specialist with the Boston Public Schools in addition to her work with HRC’s “Welcoming Schools” program. Chen, who was born in Taiwan, is currently working with the Boston Public Schools and HRC as a lawyer, but he also previously worked as an educator in Arkansas.

According to research conducted by the HRC Foundation, 83% of transgender students and 65% of non-binary feel unsafe at school. These numbers are correlated with a lack of school support, the majority of which includes not supporting the student’s desired names and pronouns, denying access to restrooms and locker rooms, and preventing the student’s preference for clothes and other forms of gender expression.

This training was only the first step in a series of programs related to the goal of supporting transgender and non-binary students that the school will undertake. However, some faculty members could see its immediate impact on their work.

“It took away some of my internal apprehension because sometimes I don’t know what to do or how to address these students. But the truth is that it’s not

about us,” said Connie Ma (she/her), who works as the TAS alumni and community outreach officer. “The training helped me realize that there are best practices out there for supporting these students. The important thing is that we try to honor or respect the students’ wishes, and it’s not about me.”

The lower school Grade 4 teaching team agreed, describing this professional development as “thought-provoking.” One Grade 4 teacher voiced appreciation for the sessions saying, “It’s good to see that the school is promoting policies that are progressive. It has helped me to realize the need to raise awareness in order to have a positive impact in our teaching and student communities.”

The school will continue to train faculty and staff in this area throughout the rest of this year and beyond, acknowledging that this work cannot be accomplished in one training session.

This professional development is part of the larger TAS goal to work to improve the school experience in the areas of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, as seen through the work of the JEDI committee. It also has been incorporated into the pedagogical work for the health and wellness curriculum of the middle and upper school, which has recently been renovated and restructured.

TAS is not the only school in our region embracing the language and philosophy underpinning this training. The IASAS organization that TAS belongs to has also recently adopted a policy on transgender and gender non-conforming students.

If parents have questions about this training, the TAS Policy on Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students, or about professional development at the school more generally, please feel free to reach out to TAS Dean of Faculty: Director of Instruction and Learning, Dr. Nathan Smith.

Want more information about what it means for a school to support transgender and gender non-conforming students? Welcoming Schools has put together this helpful FAQ page for parents, teachers, administrators, and community members here.

IMPORTANT VOCABULARY

Ally | A term used to describe someone who is actively supportive of LGBTQ people. It encompasses straight and cisgender allies, as well as those within the LGBTQ community who support each other (e.g., a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community).

Asexual | The lack of a sexual attraction or desire for other people.

Bisexual | A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with pansexual.

Cisgender | A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.

Coming Out | The process in which a person first acknowledges, accepts and appreciates their sexual orientation or gender identity and begins to share that with others.

Gay | A person who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.

Gender dysphoria | Clinically significant distress caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.

Gender-expansive | A person with a wider, more flexible range of gender identity and/or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system. Often used as an umbrella term when referring to young people still exploring the possibilities of their gender expression and/or gender identity.

Gender expression | External appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, body characteristics or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.

Gender-fluid | A person who does not identify with a single fixed gender or has a fluid or unfixed gender identity.

Gender identity | One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.

Gender non-conforming | A broad term referring to people who do not behave in a way that conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender, or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category. While many also identify as transgender, not all gender non-conforming people do.

Genderqueer | Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as “genderqueer” may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.

Gender transition | A process some transgender people undergo to match their gender identity more closely with their outward appearance. This can include changing clothes, names or pronouns to fit their gender identity. It may also include healthcare needs such as hormones or surgeries.

Intersex | Intersex people are born with a variety of differences in their sex traits and reproductive anatomy. There is a wide variety of difference among intersex variations, including differences in genitalia, chromosomes, gonads, internal sex organs, hormone production, hormone response, and/or secondary sex traits.

Lesbian | A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.

LGBTQ | An acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.”

Non-binary | An adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between, or as falling completely outside these categories. While many also identify as transgender, not all non-binary people do. Non-binary can also be used as an umbrella term encompassing identities such as agender, bigender, genderqueer or gender-fluid.

Pansexual | Describes someone who has the potential for emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with bisexual.

Queer | A term people often use to express a spectrum of identities and orientations that are counter to the mainstream. Queer is often used as a catch-all to include many people, including those who do not identify as exclusively straight and/ or folks who have non-binary or genderexpansive identities. This term was previously used as a slur, but has been reclaimed by many parts of the LGBTQ movement.

Sexual orientation | An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Note: an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity.

Transgender | An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.

COURTESY OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN’S GLOSSARY OF TERMS

TAS展開全校性的「Welcoming Schools」專業發展訓練

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

在2021年的2月間，台北美國學校 的教職員工開始進行由人權運動基金 會(Human Rights Campaign Foundation) 所創設「Welcoming Schools」的初步 計劃。 該計劃不僅備受推崇，同時 也是美國境內一個最全面的防治計 畫，其目的是提供對LGBTQ的理解和 性別包容的專業培訓以減少由偏見而 導致的霸凌行為(LGBTQ是Lesbian女 同性戀者、Gay男同性戀者或同性戀 者、Bisexual雙性戀者、Transgender跨 性別者、和Queer拒絕接受傳統性別二 分法的「酷兒性別」的英文合稱縮寫) 。 根據其創始人的說法，這個機構的 創立採用的是一個反偏見和反歧視的 廣泛視角，旨在「提升」學校社群對

We learned from Dr. Poland that talking about suicide can actually help to prevent it, not the opposite myth. 持跨性別和非二元性別學生」(Support-

ing Transgender and Non-Binary Students)

符；其次，讓我們在教學和支援學生 方面都能夠採用最佳實踐； 第三， 讓我們確保所有教職員工都有全然的 承諾來體現TAS的價值觀—也就是善 良、尊重、責任、勇氣和誠實。 然 而，施博士認為，最迫切的關鍵原因 在於「學校絕對重視、包容和支持我 們學生中的每個人，無論他們的特質 或差異為何。」

小學部的老師們依照個別的年

教務長(Dean of Faculty and Director of Instruction) 施南森博士（Dr. Nathan Smith）指出，引入「Welcoming Schools」這個計劃對TAS有許多的關 鍵性。 首先，這個計畫的精神與我 們在幾年前所通過的學校政策方針相

Rodriguez老師是Equality Florida這個機 構的學區安全健康協調員，該組織致 力於確保為LGBTQ人士和學生們營建 出一個安全健康的學校環境。 為了能夠有即時、機動的討論 機會，高中部老師也以部門為單位 進行培訓。 帶領他們的是Danielle Murray（she/her）和Steven Chen（he/ him）。除了在人權運動基金會的Welcoming Schools服務外，Murray女士也 是波士頓公立學校的教育專家。Steven Chen出生於台灣，目前在波士頓公立 學校和人權運動基金會擔任律師，他 之前也曾在阿肯色州從事過教育工 作。 根據人權運動基金會所進行的研究 結果顯示—83％的跨性別學生和65％ 的非二元性別學生在學校都感到不安 全。 這些數字與缺乏學校支持有很大 的關連，其中大部分包括校方不支持 學生使用想要的名字和性別代詞、拒 絕他們進入符合其性別需求的洗手間 和更衣室、以及禁止學生在服裝穿著 和其他形式上表達出他們的性別。 這項培訓只是TAS一系列支持跨性 別和非二元性別學生的目標計劃的第 一步。 但是，一些教職員工可能很快 就會看到這些信息對他們的工作所帶 來的立即影響。 TAS校友事務推廣專員(alumni and community outreach officer)馬郁聰(Connie Ma) 指出：「這項培訓消彌了我的 一些焦慮，因為有時我不知道該怎麼 做或如何稱呼這些學生。但事實上， 重點並不在於我或者我周遭人們的感 受。」 「這個培訓讓我意識到，目前 已經有支持這些學生的最佳實踐讓我 們可以參考。更重要的是，我們應該 要嘗試去重視或尊重這些學生們的意 願，他們的感受才是我們應該關注的 重點，而不是我的。」 小學部四年級的教學團隊也有同 感，他們認為這是一個非常「發人深 省」的培訓。 四年級的一位老師對這 次會議大表讚賞，他說：「很高興看

到學校正在推行這項漸進的政策。這 個培訓讓我意識到提高自我認知的必 要性，以便對我們的教學和學生產生 積極正面的影響 。」 在今年結束之前和往後的時間裡， 學校將會繼續在這個領域給教職員工 提供專業發展，並也指出這不是一 個在單次培訓中就能完成的任務。

從JEDI 團隊 (JEDI Committee: Justice 正義、 Equity 平 等、Diversity 多元、 Inclusion 包 容 )的工作內容中就可以看出，這 種專業發展是TAS遠大目標的一部 分，旨在提升我們的社群成員在正 義， 平等， 多元和包容這些價值 觀的經驗。 中學部和高中部的身 心健康課程最近也都進行了檢視和 修正，以確保這些精神也都被納入 常態的課程中。

這項培訓讓我們的學校透過專 業詞彙的理解和準則的採納來建立 出穩固的基礎。在亞太地區，TAS 目前是第一所接受過這樣專業訓 練的學校。TAS所屬的IASAS聯 盟最近也通過了一項針對跨性別 (transgender)和性別表現不一致(gender non-conforming)學生的政策。

如果家長們對於這項培訓的內 容以及TAS在跨性別和性別表現不 一致的學生政策，或者對學校的 專業發展有任何的疑問，請隨時與 TAS教務長(Dean of Faculty and Director of Instruction) 施南森博士（Dr. Nathan Smith）聯繫。

如果您想進一步了解關於學校如何

non-binary-students-in-k-12-schools/

EXPERT IN CROSS-CULTURAL IDENTITY, DR. KIM

家Kim博士

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Dr. Josephine Kim visited TAS virtually this year and delivered two presentations live on March 15-17 to the TAS parent community and faculty. Dr. Kim previously visited and lectured at Taipei American School in 2018, when she presented information about supporting our children’s cross-cultural identities.

During this recent visit she spoke on two subjects she is passionate about, based on both her research and lived experiences: “Predictable parenting for unpredictable times,” and “How prepared is your child for the world outside of TAS?”

Dr. Kim is an internationally recognized counselor, educator, author, and speaker with expertise in diversity, cross-cultural identity, family engagement and parenting, mental health, and child/ adolescent development. She is on the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as the Center for CrossCultural Student Emotional Wellness at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Kim has provided consultation on multicultural, mental health, career development, and educational issues to various media sources in Asia and the U.S.

Her first talk, “Predictable parenting for unpredictable times: Building resilience and self-esteem for success in school and life,” focused on meaningful strategies that all parents can begin to employ in today’s fastpaced world. While parents cannot control how and when life’s challenges will present themselves to their children, they can build protective factors that will buffer the falls and promote their wellbeing. At the core of these protective factors are enhancing students’ resilience and self-esteem, both of which can be fostered through trusting relationships with caring adults. Dr. Kim discussed predictable parenting skills that foster resilience and increase self-esteem during unpredictable times.

In her second talk, “How prepared is your child for the world outside of TAS?”, she explicitly wanted to help parents think through what their children will experience

once they leave their homes, especially those who will study abroad in the United States. While TAS may be seen as a safe cultural bubble, many parents and students do not give intentional consideration to how their cultural identities intersect with privilege and oppression in the global context. While English language skills and STEAM knowledge are important, Dr. Kim believes that diversity and equity literacy are amongst the most sought-after skills in any given field, school, and position when the global platform is the stage where students will perform.

These opportunities were presented in conjunction with the school’s JEDI and wellness initiatives. Thank you to the PTA for inviting Dr. Kim and partnering with the school as TAS builds on our work to appreciate and cultivate diversity and inclusion. Josephine Kim博士於3月15日至17

解如何在這個瞬息萬變的世界裡幫助孩 子健全的成長。 挑戰會以何種面貌、 或者在何時出現都是我們所無法預期 的。身為父母者所能做到的，就是幫助 孩子們培養出健全的身心，讓他們在面 對逆境時能夠有自我保護的能力和態 度。而這些能力和態度的培養則取決於 他們所具備的韌性和自尊 (resilience and self-esteem)。周圍的成人們所給予之關 愛，以及良好互信關係的建立則是影響 孩子們韌性和自尊養成的要素。在座談 會中，Kim博士談到在這個變幻無常的 時代裡，為人父母者可以採取哪些教養 原則來培養孩子的韌性和自尊。

需的支持和協助。 基於她的研究和個人生活經歷， 此次所探討的是她極為熱衷的兩個主 題：「面對變幻無常的時代，採取有

Kim博士是知名國際的輔導顧問、 教育家、作家和演說家。她的專業領 域跨足了文化多樣性、跨文化認同、 家庭參與和教養、兒童與青少年身心 發展以及心理健康等方面。 她是哈佛 大學教育研究所(Harvard Graduate School of Education) 的教授，同時也是麻省總 醫院(Massachusetts General Hospital)跨文 化學生心理健康中心的成員。Kim博 士也經常為許多亞洲和美國的媒體提 供有關多元文化、心理健康、生涯發 展和教育議題等方面的專業諮詢和知 識。

第二個專題是「您的孩子已經準備 好離開TAS展翅高飛了嗎?」關於孩子 離家之後可能會經歷的體驗，特別是那 些即將準備到美國求學的學生們，她希 望幫助這些父母建立起更全面的前瞻性 思考。與世界上其他多元族群並存的環 境相比，TAS算是一個相當安全的文化 泡泡(cultural bubble)。然而在全球化的 大環境裡，這個相對的單純性卻也讓我 們的學生沒有機會了解到在這個TAS泡 泡裡，和文化認同交互並存的差別待遇 還有壓迫 (privilege and oppression)。 不 可否認地，在當今的世界舞台上，良好 的英語溝通能力以及在STEAM (科學、 科技、工程、藝術和數學)方面的專業

ROLE MODELS a community of

SURPRISE! YOU, TOO, ARE A ROLE MODEL.

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

With over 2400 students, hundreds of employees, and thousands of parents (not to mention alumni), the campus of Taipei American School can be a busy and, at times, an overwhelming place for those expecting a smaller independent school atmosphere. But don’t let TAS’s size fool you. This community is tight-knit and full of love for one another, something I wanted to delve into this spring. It is common sense that teachers should be role models for students. It is literally in the job description and part of the faculty employment manual, including that all TAS employees must embody and model the school’s values.

But as you have seen in the pages of this magazine, time and time again, teachers learn from one another and from their students. We are not just a top-down school. The cycle of collaboration and inspiration ebbs and flows, from teachers to students, yes, but also from students to their teachers, from parents to administrators, from alumni to students, from staff to students, and many other combinations.

I’ll freely admit that my goal was to try to track the river of inspiration evident daily in our school, but I was unprepared for how moved I would be by the river itself. Every time I contacted someone to ask them who their role models are, I found myself staring at a screen alternating between smiling and crying as I read their words. (And never before have I received email responses quicker than during this project). Our community is incredibly diverse and rife with people who not only love what they do but love one another.

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

I thought perhaps we were overdue for a reminder of this after a year full of both anticipated and unanticipated challenges.

Over a two week period in April, after sending out a few tentative emails, I ended up with over 100 different role models on our campus. I know that, had I devoted even one more week to this project, I would have ended up with umpteen more. Several of these role models were mentioned more than once, which should come as no surprise. And yet surprise is just what they felt!

• “WHAT?!”

• “Are you sure you have the right person?”

• “I’m baffled.”

• “What a nice surprise to receive your email with this message!”

• “A teacher said that about me?”

• “Reading this email made me really happy because it gives me more reason to be myself.”

• “Reading what someone wrote about me was very heartwarming, and I felt proud. Recognition is important, and receiving this feedback was unexpected and filled me with joy.”

• “I’m so flattered! I must admit that at first I felt some discomfort, but in the past couple of years I’ve been working on deprogramming my imposter syndrome. So, I’m going to say THANK YOU to my anonymous friend and accept the lovely compliment.”

• “The email and compliment have been on my mind since receiving it, and I just didn’t know what to say. I wanted to make sure I gave it justice as the impact of receiving an unexpected, out-of-the-blue, anonymous compliment was so powerful. I felt so energized, so seen, understood, appreciated - and I am pretty sure I had a ridiculous smile on my face all day.”

I was most impressed by the responses of the students who were mentioned. Each time, they alternated between confusion and honor. Each time, they expressed a desire to thank their teachers for specific and general ways they have been moved by them. Often they mentioned their parents. And each time, they voiced a desire to pay a kindness forward to other people as they grow up.

Cliched moral of the story? Many of you are an inspiration to others through your daily interactions. You don’t need to do anything differently. Keep being yourself because, according to my research, there’s someone on this campus who is noticing and wanting to be more like you.

My challenge to each of you is to try to remember this and to tell one another more often. Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to the words of one eloquent respondent:

“People don’t say such things to one another very often, and let’s face it: life can be very hard. Real problems don’t have tidy solutions, and progress can be slow and faltering. Personal challenges can overshadow any sense of success in professional life, and blind us to our own positive impact. Hearing something like this is certainly very flattering, but I think the real power of it is just in the affirmation that the herculean effort of staying determined and focused, that this effort matters and makes a positive difference to others around you. As obvious as that might seem in the abstract, I think it can be hard for any of us to really know it until someone else tells us so.”

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

家都知道教師應該成為學生的榜樣。這就是對教師這項工作的描述以及教師就業手冊的一部分，其中包括全體台 北美國學校員工必須體現，還有以身作則表現出學校的價值觀。 不過正如各位在這本雜誌中所看到的，教師們不斷相互學習，也從學生身上學習。我們並非只是一所從上而下 的學校。合作與靈感的循環起伏流轉，不單發生在從教師到學生的身上，同樣也發生在從學生到老師、從家長到 行政人員、從校友到學生、從工作人員到學生，以及許多其他組合的身上。

我坦白說好了，我的目標是想要追蹤我們學校裡每天顯而易見流淌著的靈感之河，但是我沒有準備好會被這 條河流本身所感動。每當我聯絡某個人，詢問他們的榜樣是誰時，我發現自己盯著螢幕，對著他們的字裡行間喜 泣交加（還有在進行這個案子時，是我有史以來最快收到回信的紀錄）。這個校園裡到處都是有著多元背景的人 們，他們不僅熱愛自己的工作，還愛屋及烏到其他人身上。

我想在經歷了充滿可以預想及意料之外各種挑戰的一年之後，也許我們該幫大家回想一下了。 我在四月裡花了兩週的時間，在寄出幾封試探性的電子郵件後，最終在校園裡找到一百多個不同的榜樣。我知 道要是我再多花一個星期，會得到更多資訊。其中有幾個榜樣被提到不止一次，這並不奇怪。然而，驚喜恰恰是 他們的感受！

• 「妳說什麼？！」

• 「妳沒有找錯人吧？」

• 「我想不通欸。」

• 「收到妳的電子郵件和這段話，真的是一個驚喜！」

• 「有老師真的這樣說我？」

• 「我看完這封信後，完全被嚇到，我從來沒有想過自己會是什麼榜樣。」

• 「看完這封信之後，我真的很高興，它給了我更多做自己的理由。」

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

Role Models in the Upper School

Abigail Chen Sara L. (‘23) Jodi Thompson

I admire Abigail Chen (she/her) for her enthusiasm, passion, creativity, and commitment in designing courses and lessons that connect powerfully with our students! She is a reflective educator who teaches from a place of self-awareness and purpose.

Sara is a dedicated pianist. I saw her running home one day after school. The next day, I asked her why she was running. She said to go play her piano. Even though her goal is to eventually be a professional pianist, Sara still remains open and curious to pretty much all of her classes. Furthermore, she is kind and patient with her peers in small groups.

My role model in school is definitely Ms.Thompson. She’s funny, warm, and isn’t afraid to get to know her students well, however, she is also no-nonsense. These are qualities that I wish to embody myself. ...Her sense of style is killer, so naturally, she is one of my fashion inspirations.

Daniel L. (‘21)

His open nature and helpful attitude really make him approachable and makes others comfortable around him. I also saw his leadership in the robotics lab where, as he got older, he became a true mentor and role model to younger students. At tournaments, he is the one helping other teams when they have trouble and encouraging his teammates when they are struggling. He has also gone out of his way to help other schools in Taiwan with their robotics programs.

Brett Barrus Evelyn Chen

I consider Brett Barrus (he/him) a role model in education. He took his professional experience as a director of photography/ cameraman and combined it with teaching excellence to build a signature program almost from scratch. To see him on set with students could be a lesson for any educator. Although time is alway tight on a film set, he lets the students work through issues that arise and solve the problems themselves while giving guidance.

A Tiger I look up to is my biology teacher Ms. Evelyn Chen (she/her). Not only has she profoundly inspired me to pursue biology in college through her vivacious, captivating style of teaching but has also demonstrated to me how studying biology does not necessarily translate to becoming a doctor or a researcher: I can also become an educator and share my everlasting passion with students to foster a new generation of young biologists, just like what Ms. Chen has been doing.

...and in the Middle School.

Anisha Vinod Kristin Rowe Becca Budde

Anisha Vinod (she/her) is someone that comes to mind. I find her inspiring in her integrity and courage. She speaks up for what she believes is right even when it is difficult. She always has the students’ best interest at heart and advocates for them as best she can.

She so deeply cares about doing right by kids and she wants to make sure that kids are seen as individuals and that we as teachers value their experiences.

Kristin Rowe (she/her) because she is a constant source of optimism and curiosity. Kristin is one of the most thoughtful and organized educators I have ever encountered. I have been teaching for a very long time and Kristin inspires me every day to realize that I still have a lot to learn! She takes considerable time to make sure her lessons are well-balanced with fun and rigorous content-- she also is endlessly keen to try something new.

Ms. Budde has supported and guided me through many tough times this year. Her positive attitude has left a permanent mark on me. She is a light of hope that has a positive influence on every single individual. Ms. Budde is one of the kindest people I have ever met, someone who is deeply emphatic and caring. I hope that I am able to learn from her and grow into a better person.

Beth Clarke Shelby T. (‘25) Diane Prophet

Ms. Clake (she/her) is more than just a teacher to me, she is a friend, a person that tends to my worries. Although I am only in middle school, the positive impact that she has on me has been hugely influential in my everyday life. My main goal in life is to be as intelligent, humorous, and caring as Ms. Clake.

A role model for me is a student: Shelby Tang (she/her). Her spark has left a permanent mark on me. She bravely speaks her mind and stands up for what she believes in. These are qualities I longed for when I was a middle school student. She brought such a positive and palpable energy into the classroom then, and I can still sense it in her in our passing interactions.

Diane Prophet (she/her) is my role model because she exudes positive energy, care, and concern for her students and colleagues. She does what she says she will do, and she does it with a smile. I’ve learned so much from her about how to be reflective, set boundaries, and see the best in people.

Role Models in the Lower School

Dr. Tara Simeonidis Leanne Rainbow Irene Fang

Tara (she/her) listens. She’s kind and seeks to understand. Her questions are thoughtful and her comments reflective. She has an uncanny ability to see past a lot of murk, narrow in on the heart of an issue, and makes decisions with careful thought and incredible clarity. We are lucky to have her here.

Leanne Rainbow (she/her) works with so many different classes, keeps up on all the technology, and presents it in such engaging yet kid-friendly ways with a level of patience that I admire! She is one of the most humble people I know but has achieved so much.

Irene (she/her) is one of the most calm, warm, and serene people I know. Just being in her presence is reassuring, and I’m always left feeling happy, more relaxed, positive, capable, and ready. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. When you walk into her classroom year after year, you can feel that same magic with her students as well.

Amanda Jacob Chris Chan Kerali Reynolds

Amanda Jacob (she/her) is selfmotivated by her passion in literacy and truly practices what she preaches with every level of teacher and student that she works with. Amanda has incredible professionalism. She is the epitome of intelligence and hard work. But what I really want to highlight is what she does for others. Amanda takes time to see the people around her. She gets to know them, and she learns what they need and what helps them thrive.

Chris (he/him) has such a calm demeanor and his first thought with any reflection whether it be regarding curriculum, routines, etc, is, “What is best for the children?” He never forgets the need to educate the whole child and build beyond academics, their character and empathy.

Kerali (she/her) is a dedicated mom and teacher. She approaches everything she does with thoughtfulness, careful attention to detail, and grace. She is kind and gentle with children and her colleagues. She is intelligent and dedicated to learning and growing. Her love of teaching is evident in all she does. She also knows how to laugh and celebrate.

Ming-Der Huang

There are so many role models for me here. I’m going to choose MingDer Huang, our security manager. I don’t know when he sleeps because he is everywhere on campus from what feels like dawn to dusk, while always appearing unflappable and so happy all the time. We would all benefit from learning from him how he keeps his cool all the time even when he faces difficult conversations and situations. Ming-Der demonstrates incredible expertise and integrity daily and he is a true role model of caring not only for his huge staff but for the entire TAS community that enters our gates every day.

As head of security, Ming-Der must work with every constituency/type of member in the TAS community in various ways and with a multitude of priorities, concerns, guidelines in mind including the safety of the campus and community. Ming Der does this all this with grace, kindness, thoughtfulness and most often with a smile on his face. He instills a sense of trust, safety, and security to all that work with him and depend on him and I have never seen him waver under pressure. He is a role model for us all.

Dr. Grace Dodge

Grace Cheng Dodge is a role model for me. When faced with a new position and the responsibility to move a school forward while building trust and healing a community, she opened her door and listened, and showed she cared about our school and all its members. Taking time to be in classrooms and on field trips shows her authentic interest in our students, teachers, and our program. Grace’s ability to lead with compassion and care and listen to understand all help move our school in the right direction.

I don’t think she realizes what an inspiring figure she is. The closer you get to her, the more this is so. I watch her conduct herself through all kinds of meetings and situations, and I feel I am seeing a kind of genius at work. I admire so much her ability and capacity, and often think to myself, “Wow, I wish I could do all that Grace can do.”

Susie Tsao

Susie Tsao is my role model. She is one of the cashiers at the snack bar and is one of the loveliest women ever. She was one of the people who made me feel truly welcome when I first started here at TAS (made the effort to always say hello, learned my name, asked how I was settling in, asked about my family, etc.), and is still just as warm and kind as she was at the beginning of the year. I should probably also add that she is this lovely to everyone!

Thank you to all TAS community members who participated in this experiment! Although we couldn’t feature every role model sent to us, we hope that each of you shares a kind word with someone you admire on campus. In the words of one participant, “It just feels nice to be appreciated.” Try to make it a point to spread that recognition and positive feedback with others before school ends for the year!

...and all around our community.

PAYING IT FORWARD: HOW ROLE MODELS INFLUENCE US

BY AMANDA D. (‘21), THE BLUE & GOLD STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Everyone has a person in their life that they look up to. Whether it’s a family member, friend, or teacher, our inspirations can motivate us to reach our goals and pursue impossible dreams. Though role models mean different things to everyone, there is no doubt that they not only change our lifestyle and behavior but also what qualities we pass onto others.

In this article, I sought to explore the significance of role models or inspirations to those at TAS, how they have been influenced, and they hope others learn from themselves.

As new members of the Upper School community, underclassmen tend to have many people they look up to as they navigate an unfamiliar environment. Chloe L. (‘24) was enthusiastic and outspoken, encapsulating the freshman qualities of refreshing energy and willingness to learn. When I asked her about a role model at TAS, her reply was immediate.

“I have this friend, and her name is also called Chloe. I really admire her because sometimes, I can be really down, and I really wouldn’t want to talk to anybody,” Chloe said. “On those kinds of days, sometimes it clashes with the times where Chloe and I would want to hang out. And when I say ‘Hey Chloe, I don’t think I can do it, she accepts it, and she’s like ‘Okay, fine. She really understands me.”

Chloe also mentioned U.S Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a role model, citing her ability to speak out on sensitive topics of race, and opening a window for politics to be more accessible for people of all ages.

Another student, Allison Kwan (‘21), has a love of connecting and meeting new people. With a substantially large student population, finding friends is an important part of the high school experience and Allison found her passion in interviewing through her time in The Blue & Gold.

“I’m particularly inspired by Mr. Lowman because his work ethic and the way he leads people and also how he handles stressful situations are very inspiring,” she said.

As a long-standing and well-known member of the Upper School faculty, history teacher Mr. Richard Arnold is not only beloved by his students for his kindness and patience, but is also lauded for his

incredible memory of events and people at TAS. From our conversation, I learned that role models could be anyone — guards, secretaries, teachers, administration — no one was an exception from this rule.

“I remember when I came to TAS, I was just this young kid basically, and TAS had some amazing people,” Mr. Arnold said. “Hope Phillips was a lady who, today the Hope Phillips Scholarship is named after, and when I came she was the middle school principal and she was my boss. She stood at the front door, and knew every single middle school student as they came in the morning, so she could say ‘Hello, how are you, and how’s your sister or how’s your brother’ and so that caring selfless attitude was that role model.”

He also mentioned TAS transportation manager Mr. William Wang, an individual who may be unknown to students but plays a critical role in major events such as the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools (IASAS) and the organization of school buses.

“William Wang has taught me something,” Mr. Arnold said. “He’s a busy, busy man because when IASAS is in session, he has to come at 4 o’clock in the morning to take students to the airport by 7. And I watched him one day coming in through the gate, and there was some paper on the ground and he picked it up. He must be so tired yet he leaned over and did that. And now I try to always remember to pick up paper too.”

One interesting point that Mr. Arnold brought up is that although students learn from their teachers, teachers also learn so much from their students.

“In Orphanage Club, I know lots of those people, and those officers are working non-stop almost all the time. I think they are my role models,” Mr. Arnold said. “And lots of TAS students are my role models in the sense that their time management is overwhelming. I know many don’t get enough sleep. I don’t either. I just feel lucky to know so many amazing people here.”

Ms. Abigail Chen, an Upper School English teacher, also shared similar sentiments.

“I find that students can be very inspiring. I think when I talk about books

that I teach now, I feel very confident, and I feel pretty good about the strength of my analysis. And I think the illusion could be like oh, I went to school and I studied it, or I’m naturally a good literary analyst, but the truth is the reason why my analysis of a text is so strong is that I’ve had many iterations of discussions with students,” Ms. Chen said. “I’ve taught some of these texts for 10 years now, and every time I have a discussion with the students about it, I learn something from them. I have come out of these discussions a much more knowledgeable reader of these texts.”

As I approached the end of my journey, I wanted to know how these figures had influenced the advice my interviewees wanted to pass on to others. In other words, how would they pass this inspiration on?

Both Allison and Chloe emphasized the importance of focusing on gratitude and the importance of reducing stress.

“This is kind of hard to teach, but it’s kind of something that I’m good at. It’s not overthinking things,” Allison said. “I have a lot of classmates that are underclassmen and they stress a lot about college. And I just want to tell them to try as many things as they want and to not worry so much about the future and just focus on the present.”

Ms. Chen explained an intriguing metaphor that described the ways we can shape the people we become in the future.

“I think that we are actually really porous beings. The membranes that separate you and me are really much more porous than we imagine, and we are always undergoing some kind of exchange of identity,” she said. “I think who you choose to share a porous membrane with is also really important. If you surround yourself with people who you find inspiring, there’s a higher chance that you might be inspired by yourself.”

And finally, I asked my interviewees how they would react if someone called them a role model or a source of inspiration. The overwhelming majority expressed that they would be surprised and pleased, or even incredulous. Chloe worded it best.

“If someone says that ‘You’re my role model’, that would not only encourage them but also encourage me to be a better person,” she said.

人的一生都在找一個值得仰望的 人。無論這個人是家庭成員、朋友或 老師，這個想法可以激勵我們達到目 標，追求不可能實現的夢想。榜樣對 每個人都有著不同的意義，毫無疑問 的是，這個人不僅改變了我們的生活 方式和行為，也改變了我們傳遞給他 人的特質。

我試圖在本文中探討榜樣或這個啟 發，對台北美國學校的師生們所帶來 的重要性、對他們造成哪些影響，以 及他們希望別人從自己身上學習。 剛加入高中部的低年級學生，在 摸索一個陌生環境時，往往很多人是 他們景仰的對象。熱情坦率的 Chloe L.（24歲）渾身充滿著新生的特質，即 精力充沛、樂於學習。當我問誰是她

個重要部分，而在台北美國學校就讀 的 Allison 找到了她對採訪的熱情。

她說：「我特別受到 Lowman 先 生的啟發，他的工作態度和他領導人 們的方式，還有他如何處理壓力的情 況，都非常鼓舞人心。」

長期在高中部任教且頗有名氣的 歷史老師 Richard Arnold 先生，不僅 因為他的仁慈和耐心而受到學生們的 愛戴，他對台北美國學校的人事物可 以過目不忘，也是讓人津津樂道。從 我們的談話中，我瞭解到任何人都能 夠成為他人的榜樣，不管是警衛、祕 書、教師、行政人員，無一例外。

「我記得自己剛來到台北美國學校 時，其實還只是個年輕人，而台北美 國學校有一些了不起的人。」 Arnold 先生說。「我到這所學校的時候，前 校長費和蒲（Hope

腰去撿，現在我也試著盡量記得撿起 紙屑。」 Arnold 先生有提出一個有趣的觀 點，學生從老師身上學習沒錯，老師 也從學生身上學到不少東西。 「我在 Orphanage Club 認識很多這 樣的人，那些人幾乎一直在不停地工 作，我認為他們是我的榜樣。」Arnold 先生說。「還有很多台北美國學校的 學生都是我的榜樣，他們的時間管理 讓人喘不過氣來。我知道許多人都睡 眠不足，我也睡眠不足。我只是覺得 很幸運，能在這裡認識這麼多了不起 的人。」

高中部英語老師 Abigail Chen 女士也 有類似的看法。 「我發現學生們都很能啟發他人。 我甚至有一種錯覺，覺得自己的文學 專長來自於大學的訓練或是天賦，但 其實我的分析能夠這麼深入，是和學 生多次反復討論的結果。」陳女士表 示。「我教某些課文已經十年了，每 當跟學生討論時，都能帶給我一些 更多關於課文的新內容。傾聽學生的 意見，讓我對這些文字有更深入的認 識。」

隨著我的旅程接近尾聲，我想知道 這些人對於我的受訪者想要傳遞給其 他人的建議，帶來哪些影響。換句話 說，他們如何將這種啟發傳遞下去？

Allison 與 Chloe 都強調了感恩及減輕 壓力的重要性。

「不容易把這個教給別人，但這也 是我擅長的東西。凡事不要想太多。

」Allison 說。「我有很多同學都是低年 級的學生，對於進大學這件事有著很 大的壓力。我只想告訴他們，盡量去 做自己想做的事，不要太擔心未來， 只要專注於現在。」 「不要得失心太重。對你的朋友心

BY AMANDA D. (‘21), THE BLUE & GOLD STUDENT NEWSPAPER

BLACK LIVES MATTER AT TAIPEI AMERICAN SCHOOL: TWO ROLE MODELS DISCUSS HOW WE CAN ALL BUILD COMMON GROUND

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Taipei American School stands with the Black Lives Matter movement.

On Wednesday, March 24, all faculty and teaching assistants gathered for an important professional development meeting titled “Black Lives Matter: Why Should We Care? What Can We Do?: A Conversation on Empathy, Solidarity, and Action By Building Common Ground.”

Led by middle school history teacher and TAS alumnus Weston Cooper (he/him) and our guest diversity trainer, Anthony Kelley, this seminar helped our faculty connect the history of Taiwan to that of the US, in particular, connecting the movements of Taiwanese identity to that of Black Lives Matter.

Weston Wang Cooper was born in Taiwan to an American father and a Taiwanese mother. He grew up speaking Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English. He attended local public school until 9th grade, graduating from TAS in 2008. After graduation, Cooper attended the University of Washington for his undergraduate degree, where he majored in International Studies and Cultural Anthropology, with a focus on race, ethnicity, and identity formation. He worked at Morgan Stanley before returning to school to receive his Masters in Teaching. Weston began his education career in the Seattle Public Schools before returning to TAS as a Middle School history teacher in 2018.

Anthony Kelley left a chaotic and violent childhood to become a successful college athlete, winning the Rose Bowl while playing football at the University of Washington. Turning toward academia and away from the NFL, he went on to earn a master’s degree in Education Leadership and Policy studies. He worked at the University of Washington and later at Washington State University as Director of Student Diversity

PHOTO: LINDSEY KUNDEL

and Outreach. He now helps individuals and organizations realize their true potential through deep self-awareness and negotiating difficult conversations.

According to Interim Head of School, Dr. Grace Cheng Dodge, this seminar’s primary goal was to introduce points of “solidarity” between Taiwanese and American history in a conversation that demonstrates how two people with very different lives find common ground through empathy. “If you do not know the extensive history of Taiwan and that of the black experience in the US, you also might not know how there are great similarities and parallels between the two,” said Cheng Dodge.

She said that the administration had hoped to feature this event in February, coinciding with Lunar New Year and Black History Month, but she feels fortunate that the school could find a time this month to feature this important presentation, “in light of recent Anti-Asian violence, Taiwan’s international isolation, and seeing how our community can be better informed about race relations and cultural competence.”

Kelley and Cooper made it clear to the community that their agenda for the meeting did not include attempting to persuade faculty that Black lives matter: “We’re not really here to try to convince you,” said Kelley. “Even if the title suggests that we are. We’re here to talk about how do we take accountability for our community because it’s got to start somewhere because we’re not going to solve these great big problems ourselves.”

Cooper agreed. “We’re not convincing you that racial discrimination is happening. It’s about how we’re going to be responsible.”

The presenters introduced a fourstep model for the TAS community to consider when questioning events, both historical and modern:

1. Modeled behavior: What behavior was modeled for the person as they grew up?

2. Individual action: What action did the individual take?

3. Community support: What role did the community play in supporting or rejecting that individual?

4. Institutional support: What role did different institutions play in supporting or rejecting that individual?

Kelley stressed the importance of this model because no one discriminatory action occurs in isolation. “When we

think about historical trauma and its impact emotionally, we don’t always remember to take account of that action systematically, collectively, and individually,” said Kelley. “And we’re experiencing the effects of that right now.”

The foundation of this model rests upon an individual deeply understanding his/her/their own identity and its position within existing structures of power.

“The issue of identification always resonated with me,” said Cooper. “Who did I identify with when I read about American history? In 2014, I read about the case of Eric Garner and I saw the video of a man who was standing outside of a store selling loose cigarettes, which was illegal. The police came to him. They used illegal maneuvers of excessive violence, and they killed him while he was begging for his life.”

For Cooper, Eric Garner’s death reminded him of parallel events in Taiwan that occurred 67 years earlier. “During the reoccupation of Taiwan…. there was a collective sentiment of discrimination in Taiwan at the time that led to a case where a woman was selling loose cigarettes on the street down in Wanhua. Police officers came there. They confiscated her cigarettes, took her money, and as she begged the officers to give her her money back, the officers pistol-whipped her, and an angry mob formed. The officers eventually opened fire, which led to the killing of a college student and a riot that led to the 2/28 event,” said Cooper. “When I saw that, I thought that this is what Taiwanese people told ourselves would never happen again, and yet it’s happening now, in America.”

Although there are differences between the experiences of these two communities, Kelley and Cooper stressed that the process of healing for both countries, both peoples can be based on the same idea: reconciliation of trauma. “In any relationship, when someone is hurt and it’s not acknowledged, something is wrong,” said Kelley. “These traumatic events keep happening that people do not take responsibility for. What we have been seeing around the world, that’s the result.”

Kelley and Cooper said that their partnership in this presentation is a microcosm of their larger goal; that reconciliation will only be able to occur when people of different races, nationalities, cultures, genders, religions, and languages join together in support of one another to make up for historical trauma.

“You can see the difference inside how we look here. But we are joining from a different path along the same principle. That’s why we say Black-Asian solidarity. We can say that because we’ve joined and we’ve decided to sit in that funk together. That’s where the magic happens, but we’ve got to have the courage to do those actions.”

Cooper and Kelley ended the presentation with a brief discussion of why actively seeking to find common ground with others by learning about them is essential to our survival.

The presenter pairs later invited all faculty to complete an anonymous survey to reflect on where individuals see opportunities for incorporating these ideas of inclusion into their daily lives.

If faculty could not attend this presentation, a recording has been made available to them online through the TAS portals for later reference.

This presentation is part of an ongoing effort on behalf of the Taipei American School administration and its JEDI committee to increase awareness of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the school.

“When I saw that, I thought that this is what Taiwanese people told ourselves would never happen again, and yet it’s happening now, in America.”

PHOTO: LINDSEY KUNDEL

RUNNERS TURNED ROLE MODELS FOR RESILIENCE

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

This semester, after running 42 kilometers near the canals in northern Taipei, Grade 5 teacher Tulsi Griffiths (she/her) did not receive a medal. She was instead greeted by her partner, Luis, her french bulldog, Rocky, and a slew of cheering TAS teachers, with smiles, hugs, and coconut water.

This was Griffiths’ first attempt at running a marathon, but it wasn’t the finish line she anticipated.

“I was planning on running the Sun Moon Lake marathon on January 24, but earlier that week it was postponed due to an announcement from the Ministry of Health that all large-scale events should be canceled,” said Griffiths. “So instead, a few friends and I decided to map out our own little Taipei marathon for the end of January.”

Griffiths had planned to run the Sun Moon Lake marathon with a friend, Joe Kamibeppu (he/him), the fiance of a TAS upper school college counselor, Shanice Kok (she/her).

“I wanted something to look forward to this year,” said Griffiths. “I felt like so many things were taken away by COVID and other things going on, so I wanted to work towards a goal that I could actually accomplish given everything going on in the world.”

Griffiths trained for four months prior to the race. Although she had previously run several smaller races including 5, 10, and 21-kilometer races, the race in Sun Moon Lake would be her first marathon, which is a daunting 42-kilometer race that many runners have on their bucket lists.

“The race got canceled only three days

before the actual race,” said Griffiths.“I was not expecting it at all and was devastated that I had worked so hard and put so much time and effort - physical and mental effort - into preparing for this. I was not ready to just give up or to continue training for a new event date.”

When the race was canceled, Griffiths, Kamibeppu, and Kok immediately reached out to Amber Hardy (she/her), the upper school head athletic trainer, for advice and support.

Griffiths said that she thought the idea was “crazy,” but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she wanted some sort of “closure” to end all of her months of training.“I wanted it to be an event. I wanted it to be exciting.”

The four planners started an email and WhatsApp group chain to ask for advice and ideas, and to invite people to run or bike along the route. Four additional TAS teachers and one middle school student decided to run alongside Griffiths and Kamibeppu, while a larger group decided to cheer on the runners, take YouBikes along the path, and provide water, electrolyte beverages, and bananas to the runners at intervals.

The eventual route was broken up into three segments. The meeting point for the runners would also serve as the start and finish line for the runners to make it easy for others to find them and participate. From the starting point, the runners first tackle a loop around the Shuangxi riverside area for a total of 6 kilometers. Next up was an out-and-back route from the starting point to the Guandu Temple area near Tamsui, which at 6 kilometers each

way, brought the runners’ total mileage up to 18km.

The last section of the route was the longest and involved another out-andback, from the starting point to Rainbow Bridge in Songshan District and back to the starting/finish line for a total of 42km.

The surprise hero of the day turned out to be the long middle school student - Sawyer S. (‘26, he/him)) - the child of a current upper school faculty member, Darby Sinclair (she/her). Sawyer knew Griffiths through the cross country team, which she coaches.

He had intended to run only the first 6 kilometers of the race with his mom. However, when he made it to the 18-kilometer mark, he realized that he still felt “pretty good.”

Sawyer - armed only with only four Starburst candies and the support of his immediate family and extended TAS family - decided to keep running and see how far he could go.

His mother said, “It wasn’t the Sunday morning we thought we would have, but it was incredible to see what he could do when he put his mind to it.”

According to Sawyer, this was the farthest he had ever run. His longest run before this event was only a 12-kilometer run, a mere 29% of the full marathon that he eventually ran with Griffiths and Kamibeppu.

Sawyer was a bit more nonchalant about his accomplishment than his mother and fellow runners. “I wasn’t planning on running a marathon, but I just thought I shouldn’t waste this opportunity. I should just run it all and then I get to tell my friends

about it,” said Sawyer.”

Unfortunately for Sawyer, most of his friends had already heard the news when he got to tell them - because his mother had already posted about it on Facebook and those parents then told their children.

The TAS community showed up to this last-minute event in force. Griffiths said one of her fellow TAS teacher-runners made her do little speed-ups toward the end of the race, which helped her stay motivated. Whenever she needed something, whether hydration, a snack, or a smile, there was always someone along the way, and right at the “perfect time.”

One TAS teacher, Kiley Little (she/ her), joined in for the first 6 kilometers of the race. “It was a great start to a Sunday morning,” she said. “It was very inspiring to me to start training for another race, too.”

The word “inspiring” was echoed by another teacher, Sara Oliveira (she/her), who came to support the runners at the finish line.

Middle school choral instructor, Betty Chang (she/her), was there at the finish line with her husband and two children. “I love how this event brought our community together,” she said. “Our family loved spending the morning hanging with people and being out in the sun.”

Although it wasn’t the race either of them planned on, both Kamibeppu and Griffiths say they are glad that things turned out the way they did.

One of Kamibeppu’s favorite moments came at the end of the race as he was

crossing the finish line, held up by a few TAS teachers. “I was completely gassed and in pain, and I wasn’t in a particularly great mood,” said Kamibeppu. “I saw a man holding up a sign with my face on it from when I was a baby. I recognized my face on the sign, but I didn’t recognize the man at all, and he didn’t recognize me either because I had sunglasses on as I ran past him (and I had obviously grown-up). As I went past him I told him, ‘Hey, that’s my face!’ and he started laughing and cheering for me. The fact that a TAS community member I didn’t even know would show up to an event on

PHOTOS: LINDSEY KUNDEL

this ad hoc race into an event where TAS community members could join in the fun as a runner, supporter, runner parent, or post-event brunch attendee. “It ended up feeling like an opportunity for TAS community members to casually get together on a Sunday morning,” said Kamibeppu. “I couldn’t believe so many folks would willingly come out on a Sunday morning just to support fellow members of their community. If I had any liquid left in my body perhaps I would have shed a tear.”

Griffiths agrees. “I feel so fortunate to have had the most supportive squad,” she said. “It’s a beautiful testament to our community that so many people showed up to support us.”

a Sunday morning and cheer on someone he doesn’t know was very touching. That realization gave me an extra push of energy to keep running as I slowly made my way to the finish line.”

“I think I can speak for the both of us when I say Tulsi and I felt very supported throughout the whole race, and we couldn’t have done it without our team (at least, I couldn’t have),” said Kamibeppu. “This race will end up as a more special memory for me than if we had run the Sun Moon Lake marathon.

Kamibeppu credits Griffiths for making

Taipei American School played a role in helping all of these runners reach their finish line.According to Griffiths,TAS helped her on the day of the race but also more generally. For example, Steve Anderson (upper school faculty member and coach) was her sounding board to bounce ideas off of before she started training. She also noted that she was able to add strength training to her regimen because the gym was open to faculty members before school.

“I also think the school’s wellness initiative during our professional development days played a role,” said Griffiths. “All of these things together made a huge difference.”

After the race, the “squad” of more than thirty TAS faculty members and significant others celebrated with a buffet brunch at Lutetia Cafe and Bakery.

“I love how this event brought our community together.”

跑者成為 韌性的好 榜樣

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

1月31日，在台北北部溪畔跑完42 公里的5年級老師Tulsi Griffiths並未獲 得獎牌，而是獲得夥伴Luis、她的法 國鬥牛犬Rocky，以及一大群TAS教師 啦啦隊給予的笑容、擁抱和椰子水。 這是Griffiths第一次嘗試跑馬拉松， 但這裡並非她原本預期的終點線。

「我原本計畫要跑1月24日的日月 潭馬拉松，但在那週稍早衛福部宣布 所有大型活動應該取消，因此這項賽 事延期了。」Griffiths表示：「所以， 幾個朋友和我決定為1月底規劃一場我 們自己的小型台北馬拉松活動。」

Griffiths原本計畫和朋友Joe

Kamibeppu（TAS高中部升學諮商員 Shanice Kok的未婚夫）去跑日月潭馬 拉松。

Griffiths表示：「我想在今年有個可 以期待的東西。我覺得新冠肺炎疫情 奪去了太多東西，加上發生許多其他 事情，所以我想努力追求一個無論世 界上發生什麼事，我都能確實達成的 目標。」 Griffiths為那場比賽訓練了4個月。 雖然她之前跑過幾場規模較小的賽

「我很開心見到這場比賽凝聚了我們 的社群。我的家人喜歡和大家一起共 度這個早上，並且沐浴在陽光下。」 儘管這不是Kamibeppu與Griffiths計 畫中的比賽，但他們說自己對這場比 賽的狀況感到開心。 Kamibeppu最喜歡的時刻之一出現 在比賽的最後，當他通過TAS教師拉 著的終點線時。「我感到非常暈與痛 苦，而且我有點消沉。」Kamibeppu 表示：「我見到一名男人拿著一張有 著我嬰兒時期臉部照片的招牌。我認 出那是我的臉，但我完全不認識那個 人，而他也沒認出我來，因為我跑過 他身邊時戴著太陽眼鏡（以及我顯然 長大成人了）。隨著我跑過他身邊， 我向他說『那個人是我！』，然後他 露出笑容並為我加油。一名我根本不 認識的TAS社群成員現身一場週日上 午比賽並為他不認識的人加油，這件 事讓我非常感動。意識到這點賦予我 繼續跑下去的額外能量，讓我慢慢朝 終點線前進。」

Kamibeppu說：「我想我可以代表 我們兩人說，Tulsi和我在整場比賽感 受到大家的熱烈支持，而如果沒有我 們的團隊，我們就無法完成這場比賽 （至少我沒辦法完成）。比起跑日月 潭馬拉松，我認為這場比賽帶給我更 特別的回憶。」

Kamibeppu讚揚Griffiths將這場臨時 比賽變成TAS社群成員能夠同樂的活 動，無論是當跑者、支持者、跑者保 姆或賽後早午餐與會者。Kamibeppu表 示：「這場比賽最後變得像是TAS社 群成員能隨意參加的週日早上聚會。 我真的沒想到會有這麼多人願意在週 日早上到這裡支持社群的其他成員。 如果我體內還有任何水分的話，我或 許就流下眼淚了。」

我們的一群人，我感到非常幸運。如

TEACHERS, PARENTS, ATHLETES, ROLE MODELS 是老師、父親、運動員，更是好榜樣

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Teachers by day, athletes by...well, also by day. Just earlier and later in the day. And parenthood somewhere in there, too.

Two TAS teachers - Lee Trumpore and Todd Ferguson (he/him) - have recently trained, competed, and placed in several athletic competitions around Taiwan.

On January 10, Trumpore placed 4th at the annual 3 Peaks cycling race around Taipei and Yangmingshan Mountain, which entailed 46 miles of distance and over 7500ft of climbing. Three other TAS teachers - Robert Espinal, Justin Prophet, and Jude Clapper - also completed the race alongside him. Prophet finished in tenth place, Clapper finished in 53rd place, and Espinal finished in 76th place, all out of more than 750 finishers.

The achievement is made even more incredible because it had snowed in Yangmingshan the week previously. “It was not warm,” said Trumpore with a laugh.

His result came right after he placed third in the elite division section of the Kudos Race, a points-race format event of similar distance and elevation which also took place in Yangmingshan. Both of these events came on the heels of competing in the infamous Taiwan KOM Challenge that climbs over 11,000 feet from Hualien, through Taroko Gorge, and up to Wuling Pass.

Trumpore had only recently returned to the sport of road cycling after years of considering himself a mountain biker. Before participating in the Taiwan King of the Mountain Challenge in October of this year, Trumpore says that he had “never ridden that far or climbed that much.

“Before August I didn’t even ride road bikes much, just for fun. But my wife convinced me to give it a go. She said I would regret it if I didn’t,” said Trumpore. “I think she knows me well enough to see that I needed a goal. I can be quite singleminded with tunnel vision for things, and I tend to do better when I have something like that to focus on, otherwise I can get kind of lazy. For a first effort it went well, all things considered, especially since I’ve never ridden that far, didn’t know the road, and wasn’t quite sure how to pace the effort.”

Ferguson has been similarly successful, albeit in a different sport: long distance

running. On January 9, Ferguson received second place at the 2021 Taipei Yangmingshan Ultra-Marathon, with a time of 1:35:33 for a mountainous 20k race.

“The starting shot went off, I was right with the front as we were running up the mountain, there were just two people in front of me. I was actually in first [for a time],” said Ferguson. “On the uphill, one guy passed me, so I knew that that guy was now in first place...So I ran it hard on the way down, but there were a lot of switchbacks, back and forth. When it was all said and one, he did beat me by a minute. But it was close!”

And Ferguson isn’t finished yet. He ran his first 50 mile race on January 30, and although he didn’t quite reach his initial goal of 63 miles (100 kilometers), he is already planning to run this race again next year. He has several others planned for later this year, including one race that goes from Taipei to Yilan.

As a runner, teacher, and writer, but not necessarily in that order - I wanted to figure out how they did it.

因為陽明山在賽 前一週才下過雪，所 以他們的成就更加難能可貴。Trumpore 笑著說：「那天的天氣真的一點都不溫 暖。」

在這場賽事之前，他在Kudos自行車 賽的菁英組奪下第3名。這項採積分形 式的賽事跟 3 Peaks賽事的距離及爬升高 度差不多，並且也是在陽明山舉行。 在 Kudos賽事之前，他也參加了以高難度著 名的台灣自行車登山王挑戰賽事(Taiwan King of the Mountain Challenge)；該賽事路 線從花蓮一路到太魯閣峽谷，然後攀上 武嶺，總爬升高度超過11,000英尺(3350 公尺)。

Trumpore多年來都認為自己是登山車 選手，他是最近才返回公路車運動。在 2020年10月參加台灣自行車登山王挑戰 前，Trumpore說他「從未騎過這麼遠這 麼高。」

「在8月之前我甚至很少騎公路自行 車，我平常只是騎好玩的而已。但我太 太說服我去嘗試。她說如果不去嘗試的 話，我會後悔。」Trumpore表示。「我 覺得她太瞭解我了，所以知道我需要一 個目標。我是個會一心一意只專注在一 件事上的人，而且當我有這種可以全心 投入的事情時我會變得更積極，否則 我可能會變得有點懶散。整體來說，第 一次嘗試的結果還不錯，尤其是考量 到我從未騎過這麼遠，對路徑一點都不 熟悉，甚至也不太確定應該如何分配體 力。」 Ferguson也有同樣出色的表現，不 過是在不同的運動領域：長跑。1月9 日，Ferguson在2021年台北陽明山超級馬 拉松這個20公里山地賽事以1:35:33的成 績奪下第2名。

邊所舉辦的年度3 Peaks自行車賽拿下第 四名；這個比賽的總距離達46英里(74 公里)，爬升高度超過7500英尺(2286公 尺)。Robert Espinal、Justin Prophet與Jude Clapper等其他三位TAS老師也跟著他參 賽。在750位完成賽事的選手中Prophet 排名第10、Clapper排名第53、 Espinal則 排名第76。

“Before August I didn’t even ride road bikes much, just for fun. But my wife convinced me to give it a go. She said I would regret it if I didn’t.”

I consider myself a fairly competitive person. But when I first started running, it was never about that. I first started running in my last year of college - which was also my first year of teaching. I started running that year to get some exercise, the same way that I use it now because it’s really efficient in terms of time.You can get really good exercise in one hour. But at that point, I didn’t really sign up for any events. Eventually, I signed up for one half marathon in my hometown and a full marathon in Lake Tahoe. And then shortly after that, I moved abroad.When I moved to China, I ran one event in Hangzhou, China, and then I ran the marathon in Shanghai. Since I started, I’ve probably ran ten half marathons and six full marathons.

been riding and racing bikes in some form for 28 years. I first got into mountain biking in middle school because that’s what a few of my neighborhood friends were doing. Within a year or two they had moved on to other interests but my brother and I kept at it and directed our sibling rivalry toward real competition. We both enjoyed success pretty early in endurance events, but eventually the thrill of racing down the hills eclipsed the satisfaction of grinding up them. From an alpine skiing background I was a bit of a thrill seeker with a well developed affinity for going fast. Racing bikes down mountains offered the unique thrill of hovering right on the edge of calculated risk balanced with high speeds. I was hooked.

When I was a kid,I was mostly interested in

and snowboarding. Traditional sports, to me, when I was younger, were not appealing. But skateboarding in particular is really hard on your body, and I can’t really do it anymore. I think I was still thirsting for that outlet, and running kind of provided that for me.

LOWER SCHOOL ROLE MODELS: LOWER SCHOOL STUDENTS GROW THEIR OWN VEGETABLES IN GREEN CLUB

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

At TAS, it can be easy to focus on the glamorous upper school programs. The musical has a brightly lit stage, and the robotics competitions have the Tech Cube. But we often overlook the smaller moments (and people) on our campus in the Lower School. Recently, the lower school Green Club, a group focused on helping the environment, launched its first project of the year: gardening for the cafeteria.

The club is led by lower school teachers who volunteer their time and efforts into making the Green Club a safe and educational place. The Green Club strives to “raise awareness about being green,” Lower School Mandarin Teacher and club sponsor Ms. Clarabelle Lin said.

The club consists of 30 students each with individual objectives. “Some of the students just love to be outside of the classroom, while other students want to be indoors,” Ms. Lin said. As a result, sponsors

focus on initiating two types of projects: planting in the lower school garden and indoor art activities.

Ms. Brianna Pannell (she/her), a lower school librarian, is one of this year’s sponsors for the Green Club. She is in charge of the gardening section, which is comprised of 12 students.This year, the club aims to provide the cafeteria’s salad bar with hand-grown vegetables such as tomatoes, greens and herbs by January.

“When [students of the Green club] go to the cafeteria, we are hoping that they will be able to see the food being served to people and they will know that they had a hand in growing that food,” Ms. Pannell said.

The lower school students are currently learning the basics of gardening. For the time being, the students are preparing the garden by weeding and learning about insects that are harmful for the plants, along with knowing the process of transplanting

plants. “They [are starting to understand] the connection between how food is grown and how it is made,” Ms. Pannell said.

Meanwhile, the students who choose to stay indoors are working on art projects to spread greater environmental awareness. One of the projects invites students to speak about the environment through short recorded messages.The interactive website “Earth Speakr” allows other students and teachers alike to access the videos and listen to the students’ messages. “Creating art is something that allows you to feel a sense of achievement,” Ms. Lin said.

Ultimately, the Green Club educates students about the environment through fun activities and projects. “We always have fun,” Lower School Art Teacher and Green Club sponsor Mr. Ramses Youssif said. “It makes me happy that there are a lot of kids who do care about our world.”

小學部綠色社團的學生們 親手

種植蔬菜

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

在TAS，從舞台上燈光耀眼的音樂 劇，到科技大樓內菁英聚集的機器人 比賽，我們經常會不由自主地就將焦 點聚集在繽紛多樣的高中課程上。但 是，我們常常忽略了在小學部裡那些 年幼的兒童還有一些較不為人知的成 果。最近，致力於環境保護的小學部 綠色社團 (Green Club) 發起了本年度的 第一個活動項目：為我們學校的餐廳 種菜。

該社團由數位小學部老師領導， 他們自願投入時間和精力來確保Green Club成為一個既安全又具有教育意義 的團體。小學部的中文老師林玉婷 (Clarabelle Lin)是指導老師之一,她說， 綠色社團的目標是致力於「提高人們

餐廳的沙拉吧使用，例如番茄，綠色 蔬菜和一些香草植物。

Pannell女士說道:「當團員們到餐廳 時，我們希望他們能夠看到人們所享 用的食物裡有的是他們親手幫忙種植 出來的成果。」

我們的小學生們目前正在學習園藝 的基本知識。到目前為止，他們學到 了如何除草, 認識哪些是對植物有害的 昆蟲，以及如何移植作物來為他們的 菜園做準備。Pannell女士說「對於食 物是如何種植和如何製作之間的連結 他們已經開始有了理解。」

同時，那些選擇參加室內活動的學 生們則透過藝術的創作來提高人們對 於環保的意識。其中的一個活動是邀 請學生們在網站上通過留言的方式來 談論我們所居住的環境。Earth Speaker 是一個互動式的網站, 其他學生和教師

PHOTOS: JAYSON LIMMER

MIDDLE SCHOOL ROLE MODELS: SERVICE LEARNING TAKES CENTER STAGE IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOD DRIVE

because “I teach students in small groups, so I get to know them well. I love being able to work with the students individually to help them meet their academic goals.”

Over the last 16 years, many things at TAS have changed, but Pottorf is most struck by what hasn’t changed in middle school. “The middle school has stayed the same in the way that we’re a very tight-knit group,” said Pottorf. “We’re all very close and we look out for each other.”

She does note that the school has increased its attention to character education and homeroom over her tenure, which she believes is equally important to academics because it teaches students to be conscious of how they approach situations in life and how their actions can have a positive effect on society.

Pottorf was initially hired for both academic support and student council from the very beginning. She says that at times her work with the student council feels like a second full-time job, but she knows that every activity - like this food drive or the middle school dances it sponsors - has a lasting impact on the students and their memories of the TAS middle school experience, and that is what makes it all worth it.

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Taipei American School’s middle school organizes a food drive every year to help less fortunate families in Taiwan. This year, the student council received names of 30 families to assist from the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.

Students from each homeroom volunteer to lead and share information with their classmates. Students in grades 6, 7, and 8 coordinate the service activity and ask that all middle school students sign up to bring in particular goods.

This year’s food drive took place from January 25 to February 2. In that time, middle school teachers and students contributed food and drink items such as rice, soup, juice, powdered milk, as well as cooking and school supplies. All 95 family members were also given a personal gift. In addition, the middle school student council

provided each person with a new fleece blanket, bath towel, and a pair of socks. On February 3, TAS shipped the boxes directly to the families.

Middle school student council coadvisor Rhonda Pottorf (she/her) said, “I’m very impressed with the generosity of our middle school students. Through this service project, our students had an opportunity to make a connection with other families in the community and demonstrated the TAS values of kindness and responsibility.”

Pottorf has been leading the middle school student council for every year of her 16-year career. She currently teaches Grade 7 academic support, which is what she has taught for most of her tenure here except for two years that she spent with Grade 6. She says she loves teaching middle school

“I enjoy working with middle schoolers and helping them develop their leadership skills,” she said. “It’s rewarding to provide social events for students where they can just relax and enjoy being themselves without the pressure of academics. It’s a very important part of middle school to include social events.”

This year’s food drive was larger than in previous years, involving more families and more TAS students than in years prior.“This year we had 134 food drive representatives, which is about two per homeroom who came to the preparation meetings.”

Pottorf believes in the power of service-learning and is proud to help students experience this at TAS. “I feel that community service is vital as it gives students the opportunity to think outside of themselves. They also realize the impact of giving back,” she said.“When you support your community by helping others, you create a stronger place for everyone.”

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

台北美國學校的中學部每年都會組 織一次食品捐募活動(food drive)，以幫 助一些台灣的弱勢家庭。 今年，賽珍 珠基金會(Pearl S. Buck Foundation) 提供 給中學部的學生會30個需要協助的家 庭名單。 每個導師的級任班級都有自願的領 導人，他們負責把信息分享給班級內 的其他同學。 六、七、八年級的學生 分配協調每個年級所負責的服務活動 項目，同時也要求所有中學生報名填 寫他們會帶來的特定食品。 今年的食品募捐活動時間是從1月

兩年的時間教6年級以外，一直以來她 都是7年級的老師。她表示她非常喜歡 教中學生，因為「我很喜歡跟他們聊 天交談。 因為學術支持課程的學生人 數不多， 讓我能夠對他們有深刻的了 解。」

在過去的16年中，TAS在很多方 面都有了改變。讓她深受感動的是 中學部一些恆之不變的特色。Rhonda Pottorf老師指出：「一直以來，中學 部都有很強的向心力，」「我們的感 情非常好，而且也會彼此關懷，相互 扶持。」

她注意到，在過去的這些年裡，學 校對於品格教育(character education)和 級任導師制(homeroom)有越來越高的 重視，她認為這些改變對中學生的心 智發展是非常重要的。

從一開始Pottorf就被聘為學術支援 和學生會的指導老師。 她說，有時她 在學生會所投入的心力和時間就像是 另一份全職的工作，但是她知道他們 所舉辦的每一項活動 (例如這次的食 品募捐活動或者中學的舞會)都會給這 些學生留下深遠的影響以及難忘的記 憶。所以他們所做的一切努力都是值

PHOTO: JAYSON LIMMER

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

The Upper School's computer science and robotics department is no stranger to winning awards. A Taipei American School VEX team has qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championships for the last nine years in a row. Similarly, TAS has qualified for the FRC World Championships for the last 6 consecutive years and has won 8 FRC Blue Banners, including the 2020 Chairman's award.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF

But this is the first year that a TAS VEX robotics team has taken home an award, not for robotics per se, but for an essay contest on a related subject.

The winning team? Five upper school robotics students - five students who just happen to share the same gender identity.

TAS VEX Robotics Team 4253A won 3rd place in the worldwide VEX Girl Powered pictorial essay contest.

Students Alicia W. (‘23), Charlene C. (‘23), Chia-Shuan Y. (‘23), Kerrianne C. (‘23), and Madeline L. (‘23) submitted the awardwinning pictorial essay titled “Beyond the 18 Inches.”

The essay’s title playfully refers to the size of a standard VEX robot, but the girls credit their own teamwork and collaboration for their ability to succeed both in this essay competition and in the more traditional robotics contests.

“We wanted to use this opportunity to spread awareness about girls having power in the STEM field and being able to succeed,” said Chia-Shuan.

VEX coaches Mr. Nick Steckler and Dr. Carlos Delgado gave the all-girls team the idea to submit to this competition in November 2020, which they finished writing and designing in December 2020. The team says that they found out the results when they were all at home over the Chinese New Year break.

“When I saw the results, I was very excited,” said Alicia. “I thought that all the hard work we put in was finally worthwhile”

Kerrianne tells the story a bit differently though. “I think our parents knew first and they were trying to surprise us with the good news, but it didn’t work because we went online to find out for ourselves.”

In the award-winning essay, the students describe Dame Zaha Hadid, a renowned architect, as their role model and source of daily inspiration. Hadid’s well-known buildings include the “Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Azerbaijan and the Vitra Fire Station in Germany, but they say that the reason they really look up to her is for her entrepreneurial spirit, her ambition, and her resilience in the face of gender discrimination.

“When she was working in the field, she basically broke all the barriers of gender inequality,” said Kerrianne. “She’s probably the most famous architect, even among male architects. I think that’s really important for us because she was top in her field, regardless of her gender.”

The girls say that they also have a number of other role models a little closer to home.

“There are a few juniors and seniors that we look up to, but there aren’t any female robotics teachers in the upper school currently,” said Kerrianne.

But all five immediately said “Mrs. Maguire” after Kerrianne spoke.

Middle school science teacher, Mrs. Becky Maguire (she/her), is also the STEAM

and Tech Cube coordinator for the Middle School.

“When she talks about science, she’s very into it,” said Kerrianne.“You can just tell that she’s very passionate about robotics and science, and that kind of passion spreads.”

While Dame Hadid and Mrs. Maguire might be this team’s role models, it is clear that this all-girls team — one of the first at TAS — will pave the way for other young women to join the TAS STEAM curricular and co-curricular offerings.

“I think that just looking from people who participate in robotics, a lot of girls may feel a little bit scared to join because they don’t really see people with whom they’re more familiar, so they end up taking that out as an option,” said Charlene. “I think that having us in the robotics program helps these students know that there isn’t anything that they should be afraid about.”

Alicia agrees. “Our main goal now is to be role models for other young women in middle school or lower school who want to join robotics,” she said.“ But I don’t think we ever set out to become one if that makes sense. I hope that we have conveyed the idea to everyone that girls can be successful in VEX and the STEM field, too”

Madeline agrees. “We want all TAS women to know that robotics isn’t a singlegendered activity. Even though sometimes we may feel out of place, just know that we’re just as capable as boys are in robotics. Always believe in yourself and don’t ever think about giving up just because you feel like your chances are low.”

結果了。」 在這篇獲獎論文中，學生們提到著 名建築師札哈‧哈蒂女爵是她們的偶 像以及日常靈感來源。哈蒂的著名建 築包括亞塞拜然的阿利耶夫文化中心 （Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center）以及德國 的維特拉消防局（Vitra Fire Station）， 但她們說她們敬仰哈蒂的真正理由是她 的創業精神、她的企圖心，以及她在面 對性別歧視時展現的韌性。

Kerrianne表示：「當她在建築領域工 作時，她基本上打破了所有性別不平等 障礙。即使和男性建築師比較，她或許 也是最出名的建築師。我認為這對我們 來說非常重要，因為身為女性的她是所 屬領域的頂尖人物。」

女孩們說她們在離家比較近的地方 也有幾個榜樣。

「我們還敬仰幾位學弟妹與學長 姐，但高中部目前沒有女性機器人老 師。」Kerrianne表示。

但在Alicia說完話後，五個人全都立 即說：「Maguire女士。」

中學部科學老師Becky Maguire女士也 是中學部的STEAM與Tech Cube的協調 員。

Kerrianne說：「當她談到科學時，她 非常投入。你可以看出她非常喜愛機器 人與科學，而這種熱情會感染別人。」 哈蒂女爵和Maguire女士可能是這支 隊伍的榜樣，而這個TAS的第一支全

ALUMNI ROLE MODELS: ALUMNI AIDING COMMUNITIES DURING COVID-19

BY CONNIE MA (SHE/HER), ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICER

As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to touch almost every aspect of our lives, many TAS alumni have found themselves involved in helping their communities in unexpected ways. Four alumni share their individual experiences of being a public health nurse, a Red Cross caseworker, an EMT, and a contact tracer. These stories are an example of resilience in the face of adversity and remind us to recommit to helping each other through this global crisis.

Berkeley MRC members are administering vaccines in California. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALUMNI OFFICE.

The public health nurse

Sheena Sihota ’99 has been a public health nurse since 2014, working in child and maternal health at the Health and Human Services for the County of San Diego. “We visit first-time moms to help them with whatever they need, help them be self-sufficient and leave abusive situations if they need, and reduce the likelihood for child abuse.” Sheena’s work has a personal story behind it. “Working in child and maternal health has always been my passion. I started nursing school when my oldest was a year old, so I went through the peri-partum phase with no medical background. I’ve been where some of the moms I’ve worked with have been.”

On a typical day before the pandemic, Sheena would visit three to four mothers for one to two hours at a time, weighing and measuring kids and answering any questions that the mother had about starting solid food, what kind of diapers are best, developmental assessments, help with breastfeeding, and much more. Now, Sheena works primarily over the phone. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we were telehealth all the time. Connecting with people over video and phone is difficult. I know people feel trapped because they can’t go out, and there’s not the usual care and support they expect from their parents. I know it’s been hard for a lot of people. For example, childcare in San Diego can be quite expensive, like $2,000 per month for one child. It can be your entire paycheck.”

Another part of Sheena’s job is running a COVID hotel. “We are responsible for taking people from the hospital to a hotel. Some have tested positive or are symptomatic but can

take care of themselves. Others have been exposed to confirmed positives and need a place to isolate for 14 days. Sometimes, they don’t have their own bedroom or a space to quarantine from their family, so they come here. In the fall, we went from having 20 requests a day to more than 100 requests a day.”

Though she is not a front-line doctor or nurse working in a hospital, Sheena has also seen her share of the devastation that the virus can wreak. “I know some people who think it’s a hoax, but I’ve literally seen a thirty-year old person turn blue before my eyes,” Sheena noted soberly. At least for her, the pandemic has had a strong silver lining. “Pre-COVID, I didn’t see my children very often, only when I brought them to school and picked them up. Though we’re now doing learning and work separately at home, I see them all the time.”

The caseworker Andrew Bookbinder ’15 has seen the need for help firsthand. After graduating from college, Andrew moved to Los Angeles in 2019 to work for the Red Cross as a caseworker doing housing advocacy for individuals or families who have been impacted by disasters. “When you experience a home fire, there’s no designated government agency that responds to you,” Andrew explains. “As a well-funded non-profit, we try to serve immediate needs of people who have been impacted by disasters and step into that role. We provide financial assistance and partner with organizations to get them rehoused and back on their feet.”

The pandemic has reshaped Andrew’s work; not only is he restricted to meeting clients over the phone or video, but he also has fewer avenues of aid to offer. “Our partner organizations and agencies

like the Department of Social Services, Legal Aid Foundation, or the Salvation Army, have all scaled back services, cut hours, or temporarily closed, all at a time when the demand for resources is skyrocketing. Even food banks have scaled back because their volunteers tend to be older. We are broadening our outreach to different organizations and figuring out creative solutions, but there’s less help available overall.”

Andrew sees this as an extension of the public interest work he would like to pursue throughout his career. “As caseworkers, we can advocate for our clients and provide financial assistance. Sometimes, we can really make a difference. Last week, I worked with a new landlord to reduce the security deposit and first month’s rent for my clients, and that’s incredibly gratifying. Knowing that I’m helping is phenomenal.”

After the pandemic started, Andrew actually deferred law school for a year to do more client advocacy work with the Red Cross. “When I first moved to LA, I had an inkling of the housing crisis here. But working here in the community has really changed my understanding of the scope of the problem and the failure to address it on a large scale. This has strengthened my resolve to work in public interest law.” In the fall of 2021, Andrew will start law school at the University of Pennsylvania as a Toll Public Interest Scholar.

The EMT

For the past four years, Jeremiah “Jerry” Hsu ’17 has been an emergency medical technician or an EMT for the Berkeley Medical Reserve Corps (Berkeley MRC). In May 2020, Jerry assumed the directorship of the corps as a senior at UC Berkeley. Like many

Sheena Sihota ‘99. Red Cross caseworkers at the scene of a home fire Andrew (far right) and fellow Red Cross caseworkers

university EMT groups, Jerry and his fellow students often staffed campus events and sporting events, but unlike most university groups, Berkeley MRC is chartered as a federal program and can be deployed by the university, local, or state authorities to respond to disasters. They have been active throughout the pandemic, responding to a wide range of needs in California.

“In April, we were activated by the City of Berkeley to staff their COVIDtesting center for essential workers, vulnerable populations, and healthcare workers. Our EMTs did nasal swabs and logistics until September. Starting in May, we deployed people to skilled nursing facilities when RNs [registered nurses] would test positive, and their whole team needed to isolate. In September, COVID-19 deaths in skilled nursing facilities accounted for as much of 37% of our state total, which was made worse by the staffing shortages.” In July, Jerry and fellow Berkeley MRC members were deployed by the California Medical Assistance Team to Tulare County. “For two weeks, we worked in a gigantic gym that acted as an overflow site for hospitals, treating low acuity COVID-19 patients. We worked 12 hours on, 12 hours off, and we slept on cots.” During the fall, Berkeley MRC also responded to wildfires by deploying to shelters and providing medical aid in Santa Cruz County. As of February 2021, they are working with the Berkeley Fire Department to administer vaccines at the City’s first community mass vaccination site. “As EMTs, we’re entry

level medical providers, and in California, our scope is quite limited. This is the first time in the history of the US that we’re being allowed to give vaccines,” notes Jerry.

The lowest point for Jerry and his fellow corps members was in May and June of 2020. “This isn’t what we signed up to do. Most students become EMTs because they’re pre-med, and they do work like stabilizing critical trauma patients, reversing overdoses, or performing CPR on the street. All of a sudden, we’re being deployed to bedsides in skilled nursing facilities with COVID outbreaks and parking lots to swab patients, during a national PPE shortage that forced us to reuse N-95s, isolation gowns, and face shields for days

of experience in emergency medicine and management, and we’re sitting at the same table discussing a plan. Talk about imposter syndrome!” Jerry laughs.

“I was initially hesitant to voice my opinions, because especially with COVID, you don’t want to get it wrong and waste people’s time. But in this unprecedented kind of situation, you realize everyone around you is also figuring things out on the fly, so it’s ok to speak up and share how you can help. For a long time, I thought it would be off the table for EMTs to administer vaccines, but once I proposed it, we got the ball rolling really quickly. When you feel uncertain in these unprecedented situations, that’s when you actually have the most flexibility to propose new ideas.”

The contact tracer

and weeks. We’re also students with our own lives, and that sudden transition to online classes was hard for everyone.”

Jerry has picked up some unexpected lessons as a part of this work experience that he feels will apply to any industry he chooses to work in. “I’ve learned to work with people who have much more experience than me. I’ve been thrust into this situation where I’m working with people who have decades

In fall of 2020, Leon Yim ’16 was not working at the cancer immunology lab he expected to start at after graduating from MIT. Instead, while waiting for a hiring freeze at school to end, he found himself working as a COVID-19 contact tracer for the MIT community. Leon’s work officially began in November, just as the US began to experience a winter surge of COVID-19 cases.“Here, we have a very robust COVID-testing program, where people test once or twice a week depending on how often they access campus. When I started, I took the Johns Hopkins Coursera course on contact tracing 101, which defines terms like quarantine, isolation, close contact, why isolate for 14 versus 10 days, etc. I started by checking in on people who were already in quarantine to see if they

“This isn’t what we signed up to do.”

Andrew Bookbinder ‘15

Jerry Hsu ‘17 (far left) and fellow Berkeley MRC members

had symptoms after a close encounter with a positive case. But very quickly, because of the caseload, I started making the initial call to inform people they tested positive or was a close contact.”

As a contact tracer on the ground, Leon worked 9 AM to 5 PM most days, but the actual workload was off set from that schedule. Because testing began in the morning, they received new positive results in the afternoon. “At 4 PM, that’s when the day really starts. You start seeing new cases, and you get their basic demographics and information. As soon as you’re on the call and get a few names as close contacts, you’ll quickly start new sheets for your co-workers to divide up the work; after a few hours, we come back and cross-reference each other’s sheets to get a better picture. Contact tracing depends on honesty. We don’t know anything about you if you don’t share it.”

While MIT has a very liberal leave policy where people can take up to 10 days of leave with pay, Leon still makes many calls where people are automatically worried about how to make ends meet. “When you’re on a call and you’re hearing the person you’re talking to having to stop to catch their breath between sentences, those calls are always hard to call and make. It’s hard to tell a single father with an autistic daughter to isolate, because he can’t.”

Working as a contact tracer has strengthened Leon’s aspiration to work in medicine. “It is a phenomenal clinical experience to have this direct relationship with patients. I call them

every day. I deliver medical packages to those in quarantine. I can ask them questions and answer questions. People want to know about our policies, the science behind the testing, possible false-positives.” The experience has also helped him learn some new skills. “With my generation, growing up with the Internet, people have this weird anxiety about picking up the phone. But I staff our COVID hotline sometimes and get occasional calls from far-away places like Nebraska. So I have to respond on my feet and improve my communication with people.”

As of spring 2021, Leon has finally started his research job in the cancer immunology lab, but he still helps out with the contact tracing team. As a part of his work, he created a mastersheet, which contains all the positive cases and close contact they are tracing and their important notes, and helps MIT with their mandatory reporting to the state government. “Figuring out what tools work best for us has been mission critical, and I’m continuing to work on it, because when you develop last- minute software solutions during a pandemic, it’s never perfect.”

Moving forward

The pandemic has taught many of us different lessons which we are carrying forward with us, whether it is about our communities or ourselves.

Sheena reflects on the importance of taking care of our community. “I think we need to look out for the people who don’t have the same support and coping skills that we have and do our

best to support them. People need to be reminded to take care of each other.”

Andrew hopes that people will come back to the lessons they were taught at school. “Don’t forget the message of service that we’re given on our way out at TAS. Enduring the draw of money and other opportunities is hard, but there’s always a need in the world for service. People who don’t have a voice will always be treated as lesser, so people who do have a voice should keep advocating for them.”

Jerry has a new perspective on his identity and roots. “As TAS alumni, a lot of us think of ourselves as global citizens, and we don’t really get attached to a certain place. I’ve had to deal with this struggle like many of my classmates, between coming home to Taiwan where it’s safe or staying in Berkeley. What I’ve learned is that you do have to adopt a community to invest in and care about in order to be motivated to do this type of work. I can only do the work I’m doing in relation to COVID if I care deeply about Berkeley, and I didn’t expect myself to care that much until I started doing this.”

As important as his work has been, Leon knows its limitations. “People have a false sense of security from being in their quarantine bubble or being regularly tested, but you’ll continue to test negative until you don’t. Testing doesn’t prevent transmission. We don’t even know if the vaccine does that. This has gone on for a long time, and people aren’t necessarily as vigilant as they were. The sooner we all work together, the sooner we can leave this behind.”

Jerry Hsu ‘17

Leon Yim ‘16

隨著新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情

大流行影響到我們生活幾乎每一個層 面，許多TAS校友發現自己以出乎意 料的方式幫助他們的社區。四位校友

分享他們擔任公共衛生護士、紅十字

會社工、EMT（緊急醫療技術人員） 與接觸追蹤人員的個人經驗。這些故 事是面臨逆境的韌性典範，並提醒我

們要致力互助以渡過這場全球危機。

公共衛生護士 Sheena Sihota（1999年畢業）從

2014年開始擔任公共衛生護士，並在

聖地牙哥郡的衛生及公共服務署負責

兒童與孕產婦健康業務。「我們拜訪 新手媽媽，幫助她們獲得所需，幫助 她們在需要時能自力更生並離開家暴

環境，以及減少發生虐童的機率。」 Sheena的工作背後有個個人故事。「 我對在兒童與孕產婦健康領域工作一 直很感興趣。我是在自己最大的孩子 已經一歲時開始到護士學校唸書，所 以我在經歷分娩前後期時沒有醫學背 景。我和工作上接觸的一些媽媽有著 相同的經歷。」

疫情爆發前，Sheen通常每個工作 日拜訪三到四位媽媽，每次一到兩個 小時。她會測量孩子的身高體重， 回答媽媽關於開始餵孩子固體食物及 什麼尿布比較好的種種問題，進行

疫旅館。秋天時，我們從每天接收20 人攀升到每天超過100人。」 儘管Sheena不是在醫院工作的第一 線醫護人員，但她也見證過病毒的破 壞力。「我知道有些人認為這是一場 騙局，但我真的見過一名三十歲的人 就在我眼前臉色發紫。」Sheena哀傷 的表示。但至少對她來說，這場疫情 有著一線光明。「在疫情前我並不常 見到我的孩子們，我們的相處時間只 有接送他們上下學的時候。 雖然我們 在家裡是分開來進行學習與工作，但 我會一直見到他們。」

社工

Andrew Bookbinder（2015年畢業） 直接面對需要幫助的人。大學畢業 後，Andrew在2019年搬到洛杉磯，並 到紅十字會擔任社工，負責為受災個 人或家庭找房子居住。Andrew表示： 「當你家失火時，沒有專責政府單位 能幫你找房子住。做為一個資金充裕 的非營利組織，我們發揮這項功能， 並試著滿足受災民眾的立即需求。我 們提供財務協助並和其他組織合作， 幫助他們找到新房子並振作起來。」

疫情改變了Andrew的工作狀況。 他只能透過電話或視迅與客戶會面， 而且能提供的援助管道也變少了。「 我們的合作組織與單位，例如社會服 務部、法扶基金會或救世軍都縮減服 務規模、減少工作時數或暫時關閉， 而此時的資源需求卻大幅攀升。就連 食物銀行也縮小規模，因為他們的志 工大多是老年人。我們擴大向外接觸 不同組織並找出創意解決方案，但現 在能獲得的幫助比以前少。」

Andrew想要從事公益事業，並將 現在的工作視為公益事業的一種。「 身為社工，我們代表客戶並提供財 務協助。有時，我們真的帶來重大 影響。上週我和一名新房東合作，為 我的客戶減少了押金與第一個月的房 租，這件事讓我很有成就感。知道自 己幫助到別人的感覺真是太棒了！」 疫情爆發後為了和紅十字會一起 幫助更多客戶，Andrew將就讀法學院 的時間延後一年。「一開始搬到洛杉 磯時，我對這裡的住宅危機只略知一

二。但在這個社區工作後，我瞭解到 這個問題的規模很大，以及為何普遍 性無法解決這個問題。這加強了我想 要從事公共利益法律的決心。」 在 2021年秋季，Andrew將就讀賓州大 學的法學院，並且獲得Toll公共利益 獎學金（Toll Public Interest Scholars Program）。

EMT

在過去四年，Jeremiah “Jerry” Hsu（2017年畢業）一直擔任柏克萊 醫療儲備軍團（Berkeley MRC）的緊 急醫療技術人員（EMT）。2020年5 月，Jerry以加州大學柏克萊分校大四 學生的身分成為該軍團的主管。如同 許多大學EMT團體，Jerry與他的同學 經常擔任校園活動與體育賽事的工作 人員；但不同於大多數大學團體，柏 克萊MRC隸屬聯邦計畫，並能被大 學、當地政府或州政府派出救災。他 們在疫情期間十分活躍，負責回應加 州的各種需求。 「4月時，柏克萊市派我們到他們 為重點工作者、弱勢族群與健康照 護工作者設立的新冠肺炎檢驗中心擔

BY CONNIE MA (SHE/HER), ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICER

對Jerry與其他軍團成員來說，低 潮出現在2020年5及6月。「這不是我 們當初參加軍團時想做的事情。大 多數學生成為EMT的原因是打算念醫 學院，而EMT原本的工作是穩定嚴重 創傷患者、藥物過量處置或在街上 進行CPR。突然之間，我們被派到爆 發疫情的專業護理設施的床邊，以及 到停車場幫患者採檢。在全國PPE短 缺時，我們被迫好幾天到好幾個禮拜 重複使用N-95口罩、隔離服與防護面 罩。我們也是擁有自己生活的學生， 突然轉換到線上上課對所有人來說都 很不自在。」

Jerry從這次工作經驗學到一些意 想不到的東西，他覺得這些東西可應 用在自己選擇從事的任何產業。「我 學會和經驗比我豐富很多的人一起工 作。疫情讓我能和在緊急醫療與管理 領域擁有數十年經驗的人一起工作， 而且我們還坐在同一張桌子討論計 畫。我都覺得自己有冒名頂替症候群 了！」 Jerry笑說： 「我一開始不敢說出自己的意見， 因為你不想說錯話並浪費別人的時 間，尤其是關於新冠肺炎的事情。但 在這種前所未見的情況中，你理解到 身邊的每個人都急著想辦法，所以說 出自己的想法與自己能如何提供幫助 是沒關係的。在很長的一段時間裡我 認為EMT是不能幫人施打疫苗的，但 當我提出後，我們很快就開始著手進 行了。當你在這種前所未見的狀況感 到不確定的時候，就是你在提出新想

程，該課程說明了檢疫、隔離、密切 接觸等詞彙的定義，以及為何要隔離 14天而非10天等。我一開始的工作是 檢查確診病患密切接觸者在檢疫期間 是否出現症狀。但很快的因為確診病 例大增，我開始負責打第一通電話通 知檢驗結果呈陽性反應的人或密切接 觸者。」

做為現場接觸追蹤人員，Leon在大 多數工作日的上班時間是上午9點到 下午5點，但實際工時遠遠超過表定 時間。因為檢驗從早上開始，而他們 到下午才會收到新的確診結果。「工 作日是到下午4點才真正開始。你開 始見到新病例，然後蒐集病患的基本 特徵與資訊。一旦打電話通知並獲得 密切接觸者的名字，你必須迅速為同 事開啟新工作表以進行分工，幾個小 時後我們會回過頭來交叉比對彼此的 工作表，讓我們能更清楚瞭解狀況。 接觸追蹤仰賴誠實。如果你不說，我 們就無法知道狀況。」

儘管MIT有非常大方的休假政策， 員工可獲得長達10天的帶薪休假，但 Leon在休假時依然打了許多電話；而 在電話中，人們自然而然擔心如何 維持生計。「當你在通電話時，會聽 到對方在句子之間需要喘口氣，這類 通話是最難進行與處理的。你會難以 啟齒告知一名有著自閉症女兒的單親 爸爸必須進行隔離，因為他根本辦不 到。」

接觸追蹤工作強化了Leon對醫療事 業的追求。「和患者有這種直接關係 是非常特別的臨床經驗。我每天打電 話給他們。我送醫療包裹給處於檢疫 隔離的人。我可以問他們問題與回答 問題。人們想要知道我們的政策、檢 驗背後的科學原理，以及偽陽性的可 能性。」 這次經驗也幫助他學到一些 新技能。「我這個世代是在網路時代 長大的，所以對接電話有一種奇怪的 焦慮感。但我有時會擔任新冠肺炎熱 線接線人員，並偶爾接到來自內布拉 斯加州等遙遠地方的電話。所以我必 須隨機應變的回應並提升我和人溝通 的技巧。」 在2021年春季，Leon終於開始在癌

症免疫學實驗室的研究工作，但他持 續幫助接觸追蹤小組。做為工作的一 部分，他建立了一個合併工作表，內 容涵蓋他們追蹤的所有確診病例與密 切接觸者，以及他們的重要註記。這 個工作表還幫助MIT進行向州政府的 強制通報。「想出適合我們的工具是 一項重要任務，而我正在持續改良這 項工具，因為在疫情期間緊急開發的 軟體解決方案絕對不會是完美的。」 展望未來 這次疫情讓我們學到不同教訓，而 我們會帶著這些教訓向前邁進，無論 它們是關於我們的社區或我們自己。

Sheena思考到照顧社區的重要性。 「我認為我們必須照顧那些不具備我 們擁有的那些支持與適應技能的人， 並盡力支持他們。人們必須知道要彼 此照顧。」

Andrew希望人們會回歸他們在學 校學到的東西。「別忘了我們在TAS 學到的服務精神。承受失去金錢與其 他機會並不容易，但世上一定有人需 要服務。那些無法為自己發聲的人總 是會被忽視，所以有能力的人應該為 他們發聲。」

Jerry針對自己的認同與根源有了新 的看法。「身為TAS校友，我們大多

IMAGE COURTESY OF UNSPLASH

Professional Excellence

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Upper school English teacher Meagan Frazier (she/her) doesn’t just teach English. Although her main duties at TAS include teaching works like Romeo & Juliet to English 9 students and creating new courses like Literature, Justice, and Law for Grade 11 and 12 students, this experienced teacher, who is in her third year at TAS, is also passionate about the technology that facilitates her teaching.

Frazier recently was selected to lead a series of professional development workshops for the Nearpod and Flocabulary educational technology platforms through the virtual Camp Engage program. These sessions were geared not towards high school students but towards professional educators around the world. She led two sessions in this recent training, which was held over the TAS Lunar New Year holiday break, titled “Nearpod for the International Educator” and “Using Nearpod to Explore Indigenous Texts.”

The first session included examples of how Nearpod is used in the global classroom, including resources for English Language Learners, and provided a forum for asking questions of Frazier and the rest of the Nearpod International team. According to Frazier, Nearpod is used by educators in 163 countries around the world (and growing).

The second session she taught focused on ways to amplify indigenous voices and stories in the classroom. Teachers left the session with a list of indigenous texts, poetry, and artwork to incorporate into their curriculum, a framework for selecting and incorporating indigenous works, as well as ways in which Nearpod can be used to explore further the voices of those who

have historically been silenced.

Frazier is an official Nearpod Pioneer, which she has been for the last six years. “It’s sort of like an ambassador teacher team,” said Frazier. “I was in the program’s second group of pioneers who started promoting and using Nearpod regularly in the classroom. I help to promote it as an all-encompassing ed-tech application.”

Frazier is used to being on the cutting edge of educational technology. “I’ve always loved ed-tech and seeing what is new out there.”

Neapod’s official tagline is “Make every lesson interactive,” and Frazier says that is just what it does. She says she loves to use it in her classes because it’s a “one-click” learning destination for students,“but it also allows us to get important data touchpoints on every student in our classroom.”

According to its website, Nearpod describes itself as an interactive instructional platform that merges real-time formative assessment and dynamic media for live and self-paced learning experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom, giving educators the ability to adjust in real-time, while easily seeing how their students are progressing. Teachers can choose from more than 15,000 interactive lessons, videos, and activities created in partnership with leading organizations like Common Sense Education and Smithsonian to quickly enhance their existing content.

In 2019, Nearpod acquired Flocabulary, a learning platform that engages students in academically rigorous K–12 concepts while promoting literacy through hip-hop videos. Together, Nearpod and Flocabulary reach educators in 100 of the largest school

districts in the US. In 2018, Nearpod was named EdTech Digest’s Company of the Year

The importance of this type of tool, for Frazier, can not be understated, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many schools (including TAS) have had to adjust their schedules to include both short and long-term sessions of online learning.

“When TAS went online last year, Nearpod essentially saved my life because they have tens of thousands of lessons in the Nearpod learning library,” said Frazier. “On top of that, you can search a lesson then go in and revise it to fit what and who you are teaching...I felt like my stress moving online was a bit lighter than some other teachers because I just turned my prepared teaching slides into Nearpods and the kids were used to it because they already knew how to do it.”

Nearpod also has an official collaboration with Zoom, Google Drive, and the TAS upper school learning management system Canvas allowing for seamless integration between the Nearpod application and the TAS digital learning platforms.

Frazier says that the integration partnerships are important, but at the end of the day, the tool is most helpful because of the engagement and pacing data she gets on a macro and micro level of her students and classes. “All of the kids get to see the lesson on their screen, but it’s also a selfpaced tool that allows students to work at their own pace while the teacher can see a better picture of their individual mastery level,” said Frazier.

This is not Frazier’s first time leading professional development for other

PHOTO COURTESY OF TAS HUMAN RESOURCES

teachers. She laughingly says she has been doing this type of work for “years and years and years.” “I used to just give PD introducing schools to Nearpod on how to use it,” she said. “I would drive to different districts in my home state of Texas or different schools in Dallas. When I came here, I was part of the Nearpod International Team, which is very small, but mighty.”

She says that it was nice to get back into the instructional coach role, which she has always loved, through this recent Camp Engage experience. “Teaching teachers is always more difficult than teaching students because you are talking to adults. Adults come into any PD and we know exactly what we want for our specific classroom, and if we don’t see that within the first ten minutes, we are turned off because we want to know what this looks like for our specific students….I really like this challenge.”

Frazier says that leading professional development like this leaves her feeling “reinvigorated” for her own classroom at TAS. “It’s nice to be around like-minded people and to also attend the other sessions of other presenters,” she said. “It’s very empowering.”

She credits TAS for supporting her in her own teaching and leadership development. “My department chair has been really great and always supports my various ideas and ventures,” said Frazier. “At TAS, we have so many technology options, and the school is willing to support them. The ed-tech realm is so oversaturated, but at TAS, we are purchasing the right things for our kids and also training teachers appropriately.”

Frazier thinks this is more important now than ever before. “Clearly education is moving to a more virtual world,” she said. “Although it is scary, we need to start being realistic about how we are training our students, our parents, and our teachers to be technologically literate. Technology needs to enhance our instruction and we need to help kids for the way that education is going rather than clinging to the old ways of teaching.” She acknowledges that this is a difficult change to make, but one that all of us can start to work on in small ways now.

最近於TAS農曆新年假期她帶領了兩堂 課：「國際教育者的Nearpod」與「使 用Nearpod探索原住民文本。」

第一堂課涵蓋了Nearpod在全球教室 (global classroom)的使用範例，內容包括 英語學習者的資源，並提供一個可以向 她以及其他Nearpod國際團隊提問的論 壇。Frazier老師表示，全球已有163個國 家的教育者使用Nearpod，並且這個數 字還在持續上升中。

她帶領的第二堂課聚焦於在課堂上 可以應用的方法來強化原住民的觀點和 故事。老師們在上完課後，都獲得一 份可整合至教學課程的原住民文本、 詩歌與藝術作品的清單、如何挑選與整 合原住民作品的框架，以及如何使用 Nearpod來進一步探索那些在過去被迫 保持沉默的族群聲音。

Frazier老師是正式的Nearpod開拓者 （Nearpod Pioneer），並且已擔任這個 角色六年了。她表示：「這有點像是 教師大使團隊。我隸屬該計畫的第二團 隊，而開拓者的任務是在課堂裡定期推 廣並使用Nearpod。我的角色是將它推 廣成為一個包羅萬象的教育科技應用程 式。」

長久以來，Frazier老師都習慣於使用 最新的教育科技工具。「我一直都很喜 歡教育科技，並會注意有沒有什麼新東 西。」

Neapod的官方口號是「讓每一堂課 都充滿互動」，而她表示這句口號絕對 是真的。她說自己喜歡在課堂使用它， 因為它對學生來說真的是一個最佳的「 一鍵式」學習工具，「而它也讓教師得 以充分掌握教室裡的每位學生的學習情 況和進度」。

根據Nearpod官網的說法，他們將自 己定位為一種互動教育平台，該平台能 夠融合教室內外豐富多樣的多媒體資源 以及即時合宜的形成性評量 (formative assessment) 以配合學生經驗和需求的差 異來設定自我學習步調，它也讓教師能 進行即時必要的調整，並且很容易地 就可以見到學生的學習進度。教師們 也可以從和Common Sense Education 與 Smithsonian 等頂尖組織所合作創造出的 15,000個互動課、影片與活動中進行選 擇，迅速地提升現有的教學內容。

Nearpod在2019年收購了 Flocabulary。Flocabulary這個學習平台 讓學生接受完整的K–12教育概念， 並同時透過嘻哈影片來推廣讀寫能 力。Nearpod與Flocabulary已獲得美 國百大學區教育者的採用。在2018 年，Nearpod更榮獲了教育科技媒體 EdTech Digest的年度最佳公司獎。

她認為這類工具的重要性絕對 不可被低估，尤其是在新冠肺炎 （COVID-19）疫情期間，因為許多學 校（包括TAS）必須調整行事曆以納入 短期及長期線上學習課程。

Frazier老師表示：「當TAS在去年 採用線上教學時，Nearpod對我有莫大 的幫助, 也節省了許多的時間，因為

Nearpod學習資料庫有數萬堂課。此 外，你也可以找出一堂課，然後進入並

根據教學對象進行修改…我覺得比起其 他一些老師，轉換成線上教學所帶給我 的壓力比較小一點，因為我只需將準 備好的教學投影片轉到Nearpod就可以 了，而且孩子們已經習慣這種工具，因 為他們早就已經知道如何使用。」

Nearpod還和Zoom、Google Drive與 TAS高中部學習管理系統都有官方合 作，讓Nearpod應用程式與TAS數位學習 平台能夠無縫整合。

Frazier老師表示雖然和其他平台的 整合十分重要，但是對教育工作者來 說，Nearpod最實用的功能是它讓老師 能夠在各個層面和任何時間點上看出並 且蒐集整個班級還有個別學生的參與程 度和學習步調的資料。 「所有孩子都 可在自己的螢幕見到課堂內容，但它也 讓學生能用自己的步調進行學習，這讓 老師能夠更有效地掌握個別學生的學習 狀況。」

這並不是Frazier老師第一次為其他 老師上專業發展課程（PD）。她笑著 說自己從事這種工作已經「很多、很 多年了」。她表示：「我的PD工作就 是向學校介紹如何使用Nearpod。我會 開車到故鄉德州的不同學區，或到達 拉斯的不同學校。來到這裡時，我是 Nearpod國際團隊的一員，這個團隊很 小，但非常厲害。」

近期的Camp Engage課程讓她回歸到 教學教練的角色，她說這種感覺非常 棒，而且她向來都很喜歡這個角色。 「教老師一定比教學生還難，因為你的 對象是成年人。成年人會上各種各樣的 PD課程，他們明確地知道自己在這個 特定課堂理想要的是什麼，而如果他們 在前十分鐘沒見到他們要的東西他們就 會沒興趣了，因為他們只想知道這個方 案適不適用於他們的特定學生…我真的 很喜歡這種挑戰。」

她指出，帶領這種專業發展課程讓 她在TAS「重拾活力」。她表示：「能

FORMER US PRINCIPAL RETURNS TO TAS FOR YEAR TWO OF HUMANITIES FELLOWSHIP

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

The school welcomed back former Upper School principal, Dr. Richard Hartzell (he/him) for the Richard K.F. Soong Lecturer in Humanities - although, debatably, he never really left, as this is the second year of the endowed fellowship, which began immediately following his retirement.

In January 2021, Dr. Hartzell worked with students in AP English Literature classes as well as AP French and AP History of Art classes. “When I’m in class, I feel as if I never left,” said Hartzell.

Dr. Hartzell returned to his old stomping grounds - classroom 4H07 to be exact, the classroom which has since been named for him by a parent donor - to teach this year’s group of literaryminded juniors and seniors Mikhail Bulgakov’s satirical work, The Master and Margarita.

Dr. Hartzell had previously taught many other classes at TAS and other independent schools around the world including English composition, art history, AP and IB French language and literature, comparative literature - and, perhaps his favorite of all - floor hockey. “I was dead all last year,” said Hartzell. “I played one or two hours of floor hockey a day last year in January.”

Although he expressed some consternation that this year’s PE teachers were unable to have him guest teach

his favorite sport as it would be quite difficult to play field hockey due to the COVID-19 mask restrictions on campus, he assured me that he was spending enough time in the Tiger Health and Wellness Center with faculty and students to make up for it.

Dr. Hartzell hasn’t yet had much time to miss Taipei American School, as our community has welcomed him back twice now since his formal departure; however, Dr. Hartzell says that he has found himself missing many of the people on our campus.

“The way I look at it, there is this river of students. They are always different, and they go by rather quickly, but I know that they are all wonderful students, and so I still miss them,” said Hartzell. “Then, of course, there are so many adults here that I’ve known for 12 years now. It’s always good to see them, too.”

Dr. Hartzell thinks that when he stops coming back to campus so often he will begin to miss TAS more, but he isn’t sure that it will change much of his relationship with the school. “When you get old, time passes very quickly, so the fact that I’ve been away for 10 months doesn’t really seem that long anymore.”

One thing is clear to Hartzell, though: he does not miss being a principal “at all,” he jokes. “I feel very comfortable going back and just teaching,” he said.

Hartzell decided to become a teacher when he had an “epiphany” in college. “I went to college as an engineering major, and my first year, I had to take three engineering classes in the first semester,” he said. “I had to take a class that would fit in my mornings around my engineering classes, so I took a class called Marxist criticism in French literature, which was supposed to be conducted in English.” According to Hartzell, this was technically true; the readings were in French and the discussions were held mostly in English - or, as he put it “Fr-English. He ended up focusing all of his time and energy on the course, at the expense of his engineering studies. “I immediately fell in love with the first book. I thought I hated English in high school, but this was amazing,” he said. “I asked myself, ‘Why are they teaching books like this here in this way?’ I decided, almost immediately, that I wasn’t going to be an engineer. I was going to be a teacher.”

“So that’s how I got started,” he said. Dr. Hartzell has taught across the United States in several states, and moved from there to Switzerland and Colombia, before returning to the United Statesand, eventually, to Taiwan. “The only place I spent almost as long as TAS was Saint Mark’s School in Texas. TAS beat it out by one year.”

ALL PHOTOS: LINDSEY KUNDEL

LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

級的學生一起研讀蘇聯小說家Mikhail Bulgakov的諷刺作品，《大師和瑪格麗

塔》(The Master and Margarita)。 除了這兩年的人文系列講 座，Hartzell博士在此之前也曾在TAS 和其他地區的獨立學校教授過許多課 程—包括英語寫作、藝術史、比較文 學還有AP和IB法語和法語文學， 然 而， 地板曲棍球可能是他最喜歡教的 課了。他說：「去年一月的時候我每 天打一到兩個小時的曲棍球，我累斃 了。」

FORMER DEPARTMENT CHAIR SUSANA HARTZELL RETURNS TO TEACH BY EXAMPLE

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Susana Hartzell (she/her), former World Languages department chair and wife of former Upper School Principal Dr. Richard Hartzell returned to teach at Taipei American School for the month of January, teaching two different classes of Spanish. Both Susana and her husband worked at TAS for 12 years before retiring at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

“This year has been amazing to be back because I have been so involved in the school,” said Hartzell. Both Susana and Richard had previously returned to Taipei last January, she was accompanying him while he was serving as a humanities

lecturer in the Upper School; this year, however, she returned alongside him in a visiting teaching role.

She worked with upper school Spanish teacher, Juliana Martinez, to plan interdisciplinary projects for the students in Spanish III and IV. “Juliana and I worked together for so many years, so she knew what I could best offer the kids in these classes,” said Hartzell. Hartzell loves to bring interdisciplinary work into her Spanish classes. “Students write so much, and they speak,” said Hartzell. “And they produce beautiful products that weave art and literature together.”

She says that it’s important for students to experience this type of interdisciplinary work because it means that the language learning that they do in the class becomes a natural byproduct of larger life lessons instead of rote memorization. “Students start using their own voice to describe what they see, things that they would normally do in English but now they can voice opinions about their own likes and dislikes,” said Hartzell. “There is less pressure on them in this way because they don’t have to pretend that they know what it is like to be an artist, they just have to voice their own opinion….They become

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE KAO

fluent in a natural way.”

Martinez says that Hartzell’s approach to teaching a research project was nothing short of “fantastic” and led to a room full of color and creativity. “The paintings that the students completed are on the back wall of my classroom and look very impressive,” she said. “They are either intentional replicas of famous Spanish-speaking artists or personal renditions of images painted in the style of those famous Spanish-speaking artists...In the past, Susana’s Unit 10 painting project was always a huge success with students and this time was no exception. I’m so happy that my Spanish IV students were able to experience her passion for painting!”

Hartzell describes herself as a born teacher in that she “couldn’t not teach” other people, starting from a young age. She believes that being a teacher isn’t just a job like other careers because it involves every aspect of her day. To her, teachers don’t just teach the subject they are hired to teach. They must be good “role models” for their students - including waking up and coming to the gym to exercise, “even when they don’t want to.”

Although she has officially retired from teaching at TAS, Susana continues to try to be a good role model for her students and colleagues, past and present. During her visit to Taiwan in January, Susana hosted her first professional artwork exhibition at Sprout Cafe in Tianmu. “I loved it,” she said. “So many teachers and students went to support me. It was good. The magic of TAS is that everyone makes you feel listened to. It’s a beautiful thing to be part of this community.”

Upper school art department chair and teacher, Michelle Kao, explains that Hartzell is quite modest about her achievements in the classroom and on canvas. “She might not have told you this,” she said, “But she is so prolific. Susana actually painted all eight paintings on display while in quarantine because she didn’t have the chance to bring the original paintings that she had planned to bring to Taipei.” Kao says that Hartzell was “thrilled” to put on her first solo show, which led her to the burst of creative energy during her required COVID-19 quarantine isolation.

“Who paints eight paintings in three weeks?” said Kao. “Susana was glowing [and] I was honored to be part of her first solo show.”

Hartzell says that the hardest part of retirement, for her, has been being away from both Taipei American School’s campus and its students. “The thing that I missed the most is so frustrating because it doesn’t matter how hard I want, I can’t recreate it,” said Hartzell. “I can’t get it

because the best thing about TAS is that I always learned from my students here. The students here kept me so well informed, interested, and motivated. If I can reach just a little bit of what they have done for me, that would be [the goal].”

今年一月間，前世界語言部主任

Susana Hartzell回到台北美國學校教授了 兩門西班牙語課，她的丈夫是前高中 部校長Richard Hartzell博士。他們於2019 年六月份退休，在此之前，他們在TAS 服務了12年。

去年的同一個時期，Richard Hartzell 博士以高中部人文客座講師的角色回 到TAS授課，當時Susana 也陪同他前 來。不同的是，今年她也回到了課堂 教室裡。Susana 表示「在TAS任教時我 參與了許多的活動，這個學校曾是我 生活中的一大部份，這次能夠再度回 到課堂裡跟學生互動實在是太棒了。」 她和高中部西班牙語老師Juliana Martinez攜手合作策劃了西班牙語三和 四的跨學科協作單元。「Juliana和我過 去一起共事了許多年，她知道跨領域 教學是我的熱愛也是我的長項。」「 學生們寫了很多，口語的表達也非常 踴躍。」「他們把西班牙語、文學以 及藝術做了很棒的結合，也創造出了 很多出色的作品。」 她表示讓學生體 驗這種跨領域的任務很重要，因為這 意味著他們在課堂上的語言習得將成 為日常生活的一部分，而不是靠著課 本死記硬背。「這些學生通常是用英 語來表達他們的好惡還有對事物的看 法，透過藝術和語言習得跨領域的結 合，讓他們能夠把西班牙語用在日常 的生活裡。」「由於這不是一門美術 課他們也就沒有壓力必須嘗試著以一 個藝術家的角度來分析作品，而僅是 單純地表達出他們的個人看法。在不 知不覺中他們的西班牙語也變得更流 利了。」

Martinez老師表示，Hartzell老師讓學 生從做研究的過程中來學習西班牙語 的這個教學法真是棒極了，而且她也 營造了一個色彩豐富和充滿創造力的 學習空間。 她說：「學生們所完成的 繪畫作品就掛在我教室的牆上，看起 來真的非常令人印象深刻。」「這些 繪畫有些是模仿著名西班牙裔藝術家 的畫作，或者採用他們的畫風所詮釋 出的個人作品。在過去，Susana 第十個 單元的繪畫教案總是大放異彩，廣受 學生的喜愛和好評，這次也當然不例 外。我很高興我西班牙語四的學生能 夠有機會體驗到她對繪畫的熱情！」

Susana 把自己形容為天生就是做老 師的材料，有些內在深層的特質是她 「無法用言語教導給其他人的」。不 同於其他的領域，她認為教職不僅是 一份上下班的工作，而是每天的生活 實踐。老師的影響力不應該只限於課 堂上，而是無時不在的。他們必須隨 時隨地以身作則「為學生樹立起良好 的表率。」例如「即使在不想做的情

況下」都還是一早醒來就去健身房鍛 煉。

儘管她已從TAS正式退休，但Susana 還是繼續努力成為過去和現在學生與 同事的榜樣。一月份在台灣的這段期 間，她在天母的Sprout Cafe舉辦了她 生平首次的專業藝術展。 她說：「 這個經驗真的太棒了。」「這麼多的 老師和學生來給我加油打氣。真的很 棒。TAS的美妙之處就在於每個人都讓 你感到備受重視，成為這個社群的一 份子真的是一件很美好的事。」 高中美術部老師兼主任Michelle Kao 說，Hartzell老師對於她自己在課堂和藝 術上的成就都是非常謙虛的。 她說： 「Susana可能從來都沒有告訴過你， 但在創作上她是非常多產的。」「她 原本預定帶來台灣的畫作因故無法成 行，所以展出的這八幅畫都是她在台 北居家檢疫隔離的期間裡所創作的。 」Kao老師也說Hartzell老師對於她第一 次的個展「興奮無比」，這些情感的 動力讓她在隔離的過程中爆發出創造 力。

Kao老師說「有誰能在三週內畫出 八幅畫？」 「Susana是一個才華洋溢的 藝術家，我很榮幸能參加她的首次個 展。」

Hartzell老師指出，對她來說，退休 生活最難的部分就是遠離了台北美國 學校的校園和學生。 「這裡的學生讓 我的生活裡充滿了源源不斷的新知、 樂趣和動力。在這裡最棒的就是教學 相長的正面能量。當我離開了他們之 後，讓我最沮喪、也最懷念的，就是 無論我多麼努力，也都無法複製出學 生們所給予我的能量和喜悅。」「對 我來說，如果我能營造出一點點他們 所帶給我的動力和喜樂，這就是我的 目標。」

對於Hartzell這一家人來說，他們和 台北美國學校將永遠保持深厚不可分 割的關係 ，除了他們倆人在TAS服務12 年所扮演的角色， Susana的女兒Laura也 還在高中部任教。

然而，根據Susana的說法，「讓這 所學校與其他獨立學校不同的是我們 包容的入學標準，所以在這裡我們的 學生能夠充分地展現自我特色，追求 他們的熱愛。 「你可以是一個藝術 家、你可以跳舞、你可以專研科學、 數學或建築。在這裡你可以隨心所欲 追求你的志向。」 對於那些考慮想要加入TAS 的老師 們，她有一些建議：「如果你對這個 學校還有疑問的話，那麼你就會錯失 良機，因為有許多老師極力希望能夠 成為TAS的一份子。」「你可以問自己 的是你的教學願景有多遠？有多高？ 你想要參與的程度有多深？不同於其 他的學校，這是一個充滿無限可能 的學府。任何能夠提升教學品質的事 物，學校一定會竭盡所能給予協助。 作為一位老師，任何你想幫助學生達 成的目標和夢想在這裡都是可能的。」

TAS LOWER SCHOOL EARNS RECOGNITION FROM COMMON SENSE EDUCATION

TAS小學部獲得來自Common Sense Education組 織的認證

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

The Taipei American School Lower School recently earned recognition as a Common Sense School, a badge that signifies our school’s commitment to helping our students learn how to be both responsible and effective in their technology use.

According to the program, Common Sense Schools are committed to the deep implementation of a digital citizenship curriculum. Earning the Common Sense School badge is a symbol of a school’s dedication to helping students think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.

Lower School Technology Coaches, Leanne Stanley-Rainbow, Pana Asavavatana (she/her), and Alfredo Papaseit (he/ him), applied for this distinction in late 2020 before winter break and received notification of the distinction in January.

The Tech Coaches intend for this partnership with Common Sense Media to signify our school’s commitment to embrace digital citizenship as an important part of the lower school curriculum. Lower School Tech Coach Alfredo Papaseit said, “At TAS, we are very intentional in the way we provide students with the foundational skills they need to participate ethically in society.”

Chief Information Officer Dan Hudkins (he/him) says he thinks this mark helps to “reinforce the importance of the home-school collaboration and our school’s effective use of a family media agreement.”

The Tech Coaches agree. “We approach media balance and digital wellbeing as a whole community dedicated to helping students think critically and use technology responsibly, respectfully, and safely. Students engage in a curriculum packed with thought-provoking discussions, compelling and authentic opportunities, and intentional integration. Classroom teachers build their understanding through conversations and professional development, and strong home-school collaboration is fostered through regular parent coffees and newsletters,” said Lower School Tech Coach Leanne Stanley-Rainbow.

Ultimately, the coaches were spurred to apply for this distinction because they felt that during the COVID-19 pandemic there was no better time to push our community to formalize its approach to digital citizenship. According to the Lower School Tech Coach Pana Asavavatana, “The challenge of fostering effective digital citizenship is particularly critical as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millions of students to interact virtually. The stakes are high, and it’s more essential than ever that we empower students with strong digital citizenship skills.”

幫助學生在學習、創作與參與時發揮批 判性思考並負責任的運用科技。

小學部科技教練Leanne StanleyRainbow、Pana Asavavatana與Alfredo Papaseit在寒假開始前的2020年底申請

這項認證，並於1月收到通過認證的通 知。

科技教練們選擇與Common Sense Media合作的用意，是展現我們學校致 力將數位公民教育做為小學課程的重要 一環。小學部科技教練Alfredo Papaseit表 示：「在TAS，我們非常注重提供學生 有道德的參與社會所需的基本技能。」

資訊長Dan Hudkins表示他認為這項 標章幫助「強化家庭與學校協作的重要 性，並彰顯我們學校有效運用家庭媒體 協議。」 科技教練們贊同上述說法。「為了 媒體平衡與數位健康，我們整個社群致 力幫助學生發揮批判性思維，並且負責

School 承諾深入實施數位公民課程。獲得

Common Sense School標章代表該校致力

TAS HOSTS VIRTUAL CHINESE LITERACY SYMPOSIUM

小學部主辦線上華語讀寫研討會

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

In late January, the Lower School hosted its third annual Chinese Literacy Symposium, a virtual conference that brought together coaches and teachers from across Asia to learn balanced literacy components to increase student engagement and learning in Chinese language classes.

Ninety educators from 17 different schools across Asia and the United States participated in this year’s Chinese Literacy Symposium, which was the maximum number that the conference organizers could support. Participants came from Singapore American School, Western Academy of Beijing, Concordia International School Shanghai, UWCSEA, the International School of Beijing, Hong Kong International School, and many other schools.

Led by Lower School Literacy Coordinator, Amanda Jacob (she/her), and Lower School Literacy Coach, Stacey Johnson (she/her), the one and a halfday 2021 Chinese Literacy Symposium included digital demonstrations, sessions to address some of the big questions that come from taking English language pedagogy when applying it to Chinese language instruction, time to talk with colleagues working in similar settings, resource sharing, and goal setting support.

Jacob admits that her team was “nervous” about shifting to a digital platform after hosting the symposium in person for two years prior. “I was a little unsure how the technology would work on our end and on our participants’ ends,” said Jacob. “But our assistant IT director gave us great support, and, as a result, the conference exceeded our expectations.”

The participants agree. The Director of Mandarin at Concordia International School Shanghai, Jenny Tang, expressed gratitude for the symposium to the organizers.“It is the best virtual workshop I have attended since COVID-19 and the TAS team rocks,” said Tang.

Alison Chen of The American School of Bangkok concurs. “What a wonderful experience. I learned so much, and my

appreciation is beyond words,” said Chen.

Jacob says that due to overwhelmingly positive feedback, the CLS team is planning to offer follow-up sessions on a few Saturdays this spring that will allow participants to “dig a little deeper” into some of the balanced literacy components that they studied during the symposium.

“Our lower school Mandarin team really shone throughout the symposium,” said Jacob. “They helped to lead sessions, answered questions, and shared resources with the wider community”

Beijing )、香港國際學校 (Hong Kong International School )及多所其他學校。

在為期一天半的研討會裡，小學 部的識讀協調員(Literacy Coordinator) Amanda Jacob和識讀教練(Literacy Coach)Stacey Johnson帶領大家一起探討 把英語教學法套用在華語教學法中所 經常面對的重大問題、數位化教學的 展示、目標設定的支持、資源的分享 並讓那些有相似班級的老師們聚集在 一起分享他們的經驗。

前兩年的研討會都是以現場實體的 方式舉辦，對於今年轉變為線上的方 式，Jacob老師和她的小組成員們都相 當的緊張。「對於與會人員還有我們 這些東道主，大家都不確定在操作的 程序上會出現什麼樣的問題。不過， 我們的電腦部副主任給了我們很大的 協助，因此，這次會議的成果遠超出 了我們的期望。」

“Our lower school Mandarin team really shone throughout the symposium.”

According to Jacob, the symposium is a testament to the immense courage of the lower school teaching faculty, especially in how teachers tackle literacy, language learning, and professional development.” It takes courage to try new things, to teach in new ways,” said Jacob. “As a strong community, we used this symposium as a way to give one another courage.” 小學部於一月下旬舉辦了第三屆 年度華語讀寫研討會(Chinese Literacy Symposium)。與會者是來自亞洲各地

與會者也都同意Jacob老師的看法。 來自上海協和國際學校的中文部主任 Jenny Tang對主辦單位台北美國學校表 示感謝。 她指出：「自從新冠狀病毒 的疫情以來，這是我所參加過最好的 線上研討會，TAS的團隊真的很了不 起。」

曼谷美國學校的Alison Chen 也深表 贊同。 她說：「這個研討會真的是一 個很棒的經驗，我學到了非常多的東 西，我有太多無以言表的感謝。」

生在華語文課堂裡的參與度和學習成 果。 來自亞洲和美國17個不同學校的 90名教育工作者參加了這次的研討 會，這是該會議所能容納的最高人 數。 參加的學校包括新加坡美國學校 (Singapore American School)、北京京西 國際學校 (Western Academy of Beijing )、上海協和國際學校 (Concordia International School Shanghai )、新加 坡世界聯合書院 (UWCSEA ) 、北京 順義國際學校 (International School of

“BETTER ATHLETES, BETTER PEOPLE.”

Athletics

BY MIKE CORSINI, ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR

Student-athletes on Season 3 sports teams were able to persevere through their second straight season of canceled IASAS championships and continued to make the community proud with a variety of impressive accomplishments.

It was a season to remember for the boys and girls track & field teams, who emerged victorious in both the Tiger Classic and Tiger Classic 2.0 virtual meets and combined to break six school records, three of which were broken twice. Maud Z. (‘22) set new marks on two occasions in both the 400m hurdles and 100m hurdles, and Maya R. (‘21) broke her own discus record twice and also captured her third throwing record (she has held the javelin record since 2019) with a 10.11-meter shot put toss. Max L. (‘21) broke a 100m dash record that had stood for 15 years, and William C. (‘21) set a new 110m hurdle mark.

The varsity boys and girls golf teams competed in intrasquad matches over eight rounds, including a twoday match play event to determine the final two IASAS roster spots for on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 at National Garden Country Club in Miaoli County.

The varsity boys and girls badminton teams each competed in IASAS-style tournaments to cap successful seasons, with a boys split squad taking on Neihu Senior High and Jianguo Senior High on March 27 and the girls facing a group of alumni on April 2.

The varsity softball and baseball teams both were able to play in road games toward the end of their seasons with the softball team playing a March 27 doubleheader in Hsinchu and the baseball team heading to Hualien to play a series of games—which started with US principal Mr. Lowman throwing out the first pitch—on April 3 and 4. Sarah J. (‘21) hit the first over-the-fence home run in the four years of TAS fastpitch softball program history on March 12 and then proceeded to hit two more in the Tigers’ remaining games.

Participation in our all-inclusive yet competitive middle school sports programs remained strong with 1084 participants on 84 teams in Seasons 1 through 4 of our Grade 6 and Grade 7 & 8 programs.

The athletic department will bid farewell to an extremely valuable member of its team as head athletic trainer Amber Hardy departs at the close of this school year. Amber oversaw the expansion of our sports medicine team to three faculty members and also spearheaded the creation of a schoolwide concussion management policy and will be greatly missed by studentathletes and colleagues alike.

Once again, all of our student-athletes demonstrated grit and sportsmanship in taking advantage of the opportunity to continue to compete amid the lessthan-ideal pandemic conditions. We salute our Tigers for staying the course and becoming “Better Athletes, Better People” through their hard work both behind the scenes and out in front of the crowd. GO TIGERS!

MIDDLE

MIDDLE SCHOOL & JUNIOR VARSITY

VARSITY

Alumni

“STRAYS” DARRYL LOKE (‘17)

BY SABRINA C. (‘21, SHE/HER) AND LANA L. (‘22, SHE/HER), THE BLUE & GOLD STUDENT NEWSWPAPER

During his time at TAS, Darryl Loke (‘17) led his grade to multiple victories in the Spirit Week class video competitions. They were just a starting point of his ongoing Emmy-winning career in filmmaking. He is currently at Temple University, studying psychology to delve into the human condition of films and ultimately reach a wider audience.

Darryl’s passion for filmmaking began during his freshman year at TAS, when his interest in cameras led him to Mr. Tobie Openshaw, TAS video production specialist. “Mr. Openshaw gave me a lot of opportunities and gave me access to the film equipment at TAS, which was very helpful,” Darryl said. He took advantage of them to produce class videos and short films that Mr. Openshaw allowed him to showcase in student assemblies.

His first film that garnered a lot of attention was the freshman spirit week video, which he directed and filmed with one of his friends in 2014. The video won first place, much to the shock of the upperclassmen, but more importantly helped Darryl create a stronger connection with his peers. “After that I think people just understood who I was and how I saw the class, and I just wanted to showcase that and share it with everyone,” Darryl said. “It was sort of my calling.”

The class video did more than just kickstart Darryl’s filmmaking journey though; his passion helped to inspire Mr. Jaami Franklin, Mr. Brett Barrus (he/him) and Mr. Openshaw to start the high school film program the following school year. “At first, they would teach us the common concepts of films like using cameras and setting up a shot and how to tell stories,” Darryl said. “Later, they started bringing out things like field trips.”

The film trips to various places ranging from the outskirts of Taipei to Berlin

served as a huge part of Darryl’s high school experience, and the team was able to win numerous competitions with their creations. “All those trips gave me a very worldly view, and it is amazing to see how rapidly the film program innovated,” Darryl said.

Filmmaking became Darryl’s priority and greatest interest, and he lost track of time while working on his projects more times than he could count. “In 2017 I actually held the record at school for the most tardies,” Darryl said. “I had detention almost every lunchtime because I’d always show up late to class from the film studio, but I think it was worth it.”

After TAS, Darryl enrolled at Temple University, where he felt he adapted to the American culture more readily compared to the “Tiger Babies” around him, because he had spent his childhood in a different

country every four years.When he realized that he had limited his scope of interests and knowledge to film since eighth grade, he chose to major in psychology. “I feel like [psychology] benefits me and my films,” Darryl said. “Almost every film consists of humans...psychology allows me to delve into people’s roots because I understand how to approach them better.”

Since his freshman year at college, Darryl has prioritized getting to know diverse people after filmmaking helped him realize the value of relationships and networks. His film producer roommate, who invited him to the Emmy-winning film team as a cinematographer, is one of the people he met as a result of this endeavor.

From this invitation, Darryl’s casual offer to help write the script quickly turned into a six-hour task everyday, and he was eventually offered the role of director and

PHOTO COURTESY OF DARRYL LOKE

writer. He attributes this to his ability to creatively connect with people. “When I came into the project, I was able to instantly connect with the original writer of the film,” he said. “Making a film is all about finding the right people who vibe with you emotionally and creatively.”

“Strays” is a short film about Shane Shephard, a young adult who inherits a family owned thrift shop after the death of his mother. The film explores his “failed attempts to help people as he turns to unconventional methods in order to prevent others from feeling his pain” through encountering unusual customers that stop by the shop one day.

Darryl’s team submitted this film to the festival circuit and received a Mid-Atlantic Emmy award in the college division. “I definitely had a very ambitious goal in mind, I wanted [the film] to be seen by a big name,” Darryl said. “So hearing that we had won this award was great.”

Time and money were the biggest challenges his team faced. The film had an extraordinarily low budget of USD$2650, and it was funded independently by many people. Darryl’s extensive exposure to books and films played a key role in recruiting actors, as he used them as conversation starters to connect with others. “Seventy percent of making a good scene has to do with just getting to know people, which is why I think it’s very important to be very inspired,” he said.“It’s an easy way to work with people in any career.”

Now in his senior year at Temple, Darryl ultimately hopes to make a career in filmmaking and expand his audience. “I feel like [winning the Emmy] solidified that I will always be in film because I saw that my work does impact a lot of people,” he said. “I’m not striving to win more awards. My main goal is to reach more people [and get them to] understand who I am, and hopefully [my films] will make them happy.”

會認識了TAS的影片製作專家Tobie Openshaw老師。「Openshaw老師給了 我很多學習和成長的機會，並讓我使 用了TAS影片拍攝和製作的設備，這些 對我都有莫大的幫助。」 Darryl說。他 利用這些設備製作了他的年級影片以 及一些其他的短片，而且Openshaw老 師也讓他有機會在學生集會的場合裡 播放這些影片。

Darryl引起廣泛關注的首部影片是 在2014年當他剛上高中時，由他執 導，與另一個同學共同拍攝九年級學 生的《精神週》影片。該影片拿下 了冠軍，而他所展現出的才華也給高 年級的學長和學姊們帶來了很大的震 撼，但更重要的是這部影片的製作讓 與他的同儕之間建立了一個更加緊密 的聯繫。 Darryl指出：「在那之後，我 認為人們終於有了機會來了解我是一 個什麼樣的人，還有我是如何看待我 的同學們的，我只是想和大家分享一 下這些同儕們所帶給我的感受。」「 在某方面來說，在當時那是一個我很 想完成的使命。」 這支影片不僅是Darryl邁向電影製 作之旅的啟蒙作品，他的熱情也激發 了Jaami Franklin、Brett Barrus和Tobie Openshaw這三位老師在隔年成立了全 新的高中電影課程。Darryl說：「起 初，他們會教我們電影製作的基本概 念，例如攝影機的使用、鏡頭的掌握 以及如何表達一個故事。」 「後來， 他們也開始做校外移地教學之類的活 動。」

對他來說，從台北的郊區到德國的 柏林，這些校外的歷程都是他高中生 活裡寓意深遠的一部分，而且他和團 隊們所創作的影片也贏得了許多的獎 項。「這些大大小小的經歷不僅賦予 了我更加寬廣的視野還有世界觀，也 讓我看到了電影製作歷程令人嘆為觀 止的進步與突破。」

電影的製作自然而然地就成為了 Darryl生活的重心和最主要的愛好。他 已經數不清有多少次因為專注於影片 而廢寢忘食。Darryl說「2017年學校遲 到紀錄最高的學生就是我。」「幾乎 每天午飯的時間我都必須到校長室去 報到，因為我總是投入在電影工作室 內而忘了上課的時間，但是現在回頭 來看我覺得這一切都是值得的。」

人的故事架構而組成的…… 這門學科

能幫助我更深入地理解人性的根源， 因為這就是心理學所探討分析的。」 電影的製作也讓他洞悉到人際關係 的重要性。於是從大一開始他便把重 點放在結交各種不同背景的朋友—他 的室友就是在他有意識地經營下所結 交到的一位摯友。在他們攜手合作， 而得到艾美獎的影片裡，他的室友是 製片人而Darryl則被他邀請擔綱攝影師 的角色。

當Darryl接到這個邀請之後，他也 表示自己可以幫忙編寫劇本。這個隨 興的提議很快地就變成了每天需要投 入六個小時的任務，最終他也成為該 片的導演和編劇。「當我接下這項任 務時，我和影片故事的原著作者很快 地就建立起非常良好的互動關係，這 對劇本的編寫有很大的幫助。」Darryl 把這歸因於自己與他人進行創造性交 流的表達溝通能力。「拍電影就是要 找到一拍即合的人，這些人在情感和 創造力上都能與你產生共鳴。」

《Strays》是一部關於Shane Shephard 這位年輕人的短片—Shane在他的母親 去世後繼承了一個由家族傳承下來， 買賣舊貨的商店。在影片裡，有一天 他的店裡來了一些很不尋常的客人， 「他嘗試著用一些打破傳統的方式來 幫助人們，嘗試著忘卻他自己的痛苦 和哀傷，但是他的方法卻不管用。」 這部電影參加了當時新片宣傳的巡 迴展和多項影展的宣傳活動，並也在 大學電影製作的項目裡獲得了中大西 洋的艾美獎(Mid-Atlantic Emmy award)

。Darryl指出在執導這部電影的時候 他有一個雄心勃勃的目標—「我非常 希望這部電影能夠得到知名影展的青 睞」，「所以當聽到我們贏得了這個 獎項時，對我來說真是一個莫大的鼓 勵。」

眾群。

Darryl對影片製作的熱情始於他在 TAS上九年級的那一年，當時的他對 使用相機和攝影機的興趣讓他有機

從TAS畢業後，Darryl進入了美國 費城的天普大學（Temple University） 。與他周圍的「美國學校老虎寶寶」 (Tiger Babies）相比，他覺得自己更能 融入適應美國的文化和生活，因為在 他小的時候每四年就得搬到一個新國 家。從八年級開始Darryl就意識到他對 影片製作的熱愛和投入讓他在其他知 識範圍的涉獵和愛好的發展相對地顯 得不足，於是在大學裡他選擇了心理 學來作為他的主修。Darryl指出「我覺 得心理學對於我和我的電影都會有莫 大的助益，」「幾乎每部電影都是由

他的團隊所面臨最大的挑戰是時間 和資金。這部電影是由許多人獨立資 助的，而且預算非常的低，只有2650 美元。由於Darryl對電影和相關書籍的 廣泛涉獵，讓他能夠很容易地與人交 流還有分享對電影製作的看法。他的 專業在招募演員時起了非常關鍵的作 用。他說：「一個好的場景呈現的背 後有百分之七十是和『人』息息相關 的，這也就是為什麼我認為能夠彼此 相互啟發和共鳴是非常重要的。」「 這個人際關係的準則在任何職場上都 是適用的。」 Darryl現在是天普大學大四的學 生，他的志向是從事電影的製作並擴 展他的觀眾群。他說：「這座艾美獎 的贏得讓我更堅定地相信電影製作將 會是未來我要走的路，因為我看到自 己的作品確實對很多人產生了影響。 」「我努力的志向並不是為了要贏得 更多的獎項，而是要讓更多的人來認 識我這個人，並希望我的電影能夠為 他們的生活帶來喜悅和歡樂。」

Parent Teacher Association SUPPORTING THE PARENT-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP: THE EVOLUTION OF THE TAS PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION

BY MAE O’MALLEY (SHE/HER), PTA COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

If you’ve ever passed by the PTA office at TAS and wondered what all those parents with their heads down frantically working are doing, read on! The Parent Teacher Association (“PTA”) handles a lot more than many people might know.

Founded in 1982, the TAS PTA has grown and evolved along with the school. Some things have never changed—the International Food Fair and Spring Fair were established in 1982 as a way to celebrate and bring together TAS’s diverse community, and these two events remain the PTA’s most anticipated and beloved events. But many things have changed, and the PTA now oversees a myriad of events and programs managed by a Board of nine committees in addition to the Executive

Committee. For the 2020-2021 school year, the PTA has 25 parent volunteers serving on the Board.

Events like the International Food Fair and Spring Fair are not only invaluable community-building activities but also help the PTA to raise funds to support its many programs.

One of the most rewarding activities of the PTA is providing scholarships to three graduating TAS seniors. Through the Jan McDowell Scholarship Award, Mark Ulfers Scholarship Award, and Roger Castiglioni Memorial Scholarship, the PTA awards USD $6000 in scholarships every year.

PTA fundraising activities also enable the PTA to offer generous grants to TAS parents and faculty who wish to undertake projects to enhance the

student and community experience at TAS. We review grant proposals every April and award grants for the following school year for projects that we think will have maximum impact on TAS students. We also support the school in sponsoring a wide range of visiting artists to come to the TAS campus and share their work and stories with students. Recent grants have supported:

• Hip hop and breakdancing workshops for 206 Middle School dancers by award-winning local artists Chia-Cheng “Kenny” Chien and Jia-Li Yang

• The commissioning of an original piece by sought-after jazz composer Jonathan Katz, and the professional recording of the piece by the TAS Jazz Ensemble

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAS PTA

• Visits by guest Maker JC Chang of Fablab Taipei/The Red Button Inc. to help TAS students learn how to use the ShopBot CNC router in meaningful ways

• A presentation and book signing by Hsu Kung Liu, an award-winning children’s book author from Taiwan

• Virtual parenting presentations by Harvard Professor Dr. Josephine Kim, an internationally recognized author and speaker with expertise in multicultural diversity, crosscultural identity, family engagement and parenting, mental health, and child/adolescent development

• Headsets to enable parents to enjoy the simultaneous translation of live speaker events

The PTA’s New Family Connections committee is charged with organizing events like picnics and coffees for new TAS families, and matching new families with current TAS family ambassadors. Our Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School Connections committees serve as a conduit between these respective divisions and the PTA, so that the PTA can understand and support the different needs of these divisions.

At the same time, our Connections committees communicate concerns and requests from the parent community to the administration of these divisions.

Happy faculty and staff mean happy students and parents! The PTA hosts Support Staff Appreciation and Teacher Appreciation events every year, both to show staff and faculty how much we appreciate their hard work, but also to allow students an opportunity to understand and appreciate the immense effort that goes into teaching them and keeping them safe and healthy.

If you’ve ever seen the TAS lobby during Upper School commencement time, you might be amazed by the elaborate floral arrangements and decorations. These are all prepared by PTA Board members and volunteers and paid for using PTA funds.

But wait, there’s more! All those TAS blue and gold cardboard fans and big banners that magically make their way all across Asia to IASAS events are prepared by the PTA Boosters, who also help with team t-shirts and assist TAS students in operating the popular Tiger Grill, which serves up delicious burgers (meat and veggie!) during afterschool athletic events.

This is only a fraction of the activities that keep the PTA busy every day. Unfortunately, COVID-19 and the

campus restrictions necessitated by the pandemic have certainly impacted the PTA’s ability to host many of its most popular events. While we have endeavored to make everything virtual that we can, we have heard from many TAS parents that they miss being on campus and getting to know other families. We have missed seeing you all, and yearn for the day when we can all feel connected again. The PTA has already begun calendar planning for the 2021-2022 school year in hopes that we can once again serve as a hub for

community building at TAS.

With over 2400 students to support, the PTA relies on a cohesive and hardworking board of parent volunteers to keep operations running smoothly. Elections for the PTA Executive Board are held every May. Any parent of a current TAS student is eligible to serve on the PTA Board. We hope that you’ll be inspired by some of the activities we’ve described to volunteer for the PTA and make a lasting impact on your child’s experience at TAS.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAS PTA AND TAS COMMUNICATIONS

教師聯誼會的演變

BY MAE O’MALLEY (SHE/HER), PTA COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

如果各位曾行經台北美國學校的家 長教師聯誼會（PTA）辦公室，或許 會猜想那些低著頭的家長們在忙些什 麼，請繼續閱讀！ 家長教師聯誼會做 的事情，或許比很多人知道的還要多 更多。

台北美國學校家長教師聯誼會成立 於1982年，與學校一同成長發展。 有 些事情從未曾改變 – 為了慶祝與聚 集台北美國學校多元背景的師生們， 在1982年舉辦國際美食展與春季園遊 會，這兩項活動仍然是家長教師聯誼 會最令人期待和喜愛的活動。 也有不 少事情出現變化，現在家長教師聯誼 會監督著許多活動和計畫，除了執行

夠向想要開展項目，讓學生與社區擁 有美好體驗的台北美國學校家長及教 師們，提供慷慨的資助。 我們每年四 月都會審查撥款提案，以及撥款給我 們覺得在下一學年度會對學生們帶來 最大影響力的計畫。 我們還支持校方 贊助不同藝術家造訪校園，與學生分 享作品和故事。

理健康和兒童／青少年發展等 方面。

家長透過耳機便能聆聽現場直 播演講活動的同步翻譯 家長教師聯誼會的新進家庭聯繫委 員會負責為新加入台北美國學校的家 庭，舉辦野餐和喝咖啡等活動，讓新 加入的家庭和現有的台北美國學校家 庭大使進行配對。 我們的低年級、中 年級和高年級的聯繫委員會是這些單 位與家長教師聯誼會之間的橋樑，家 長教師聯誼會可以理解和支持這些單 位的不同需求。 我們的聯繫委員會還 會將家長的關切和要求，傳達給這些 單位的管理部門。

UPPER SCHOOL SENIOR NAMED

TOP 300 SCHOLARS IN THE 2021 REGENERON SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH

BY LINDSEY KUNDEL (SHE/HER), DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

for the same research paper that was published earlier this year in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Omega journal and presented virtually at the ACS National Meeting. His research paper is called “Conjugation of Carboxylated Graphene Quantum Dots with Cecropin P1 for Bacterial Biosensing Applications,” and the abstract and full text can be

ACS Omega is a peer-reviewed professional academic journal produced by the American Chemical Society. His research topic investigated the use of conjugated graphene quantum dots as biosensors for the detection of small amounts of bacteria in water samples.

Jack created both a laboratory-based fluorescence assay and a field-deployable absorbance-based test. Nearly all of Jack’s research was completed in the TAS Sandy R. Puckett Memorial research laboratory as part of his scientific research classes.

and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. Jack earned prize money for both himself and for our school.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars were selected from 1,760 applications received from 611 high schools across 45 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and 10 countries. Scholars were chosen based on their exceptional research skills, commitment

Singapore.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search provides students with a national stage to present original research and celebrates the hard work and discoveries of young scientists who are bringing a fresh perspective to significant global challenges. This year, research projects cover topics from bioinformatics to public health and energy efficiency.

Jack B. earned this coveted award

Mr. Jude Clapper, Director of Scientific Research at TAS, is proud of Jack’s accomplishments and wants to help contextualize this achievement. “I know that when I was in graduate school, I was excited to have my research published,” said Clapper. “I can only imagine how Jack feels now when he sees his high school science research project published in a peer-reviewed journal.”

This is the fourth time that a TAS student has been named a Regeneron (formerly Westinghouse and Intel) Science Talent Search Scholar, which makes TAS the most decorated International School for this award.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUDE CLAPPER

雷傑納隆科學獎」(也稱為「再生元 科學獎」）(Regeneron Science Talent Search)評選為300位傑出學者之一。這 是美國歷史最悠久、最負盛名、針對

高中生所舉辦的科學和數學競賽，同

時也被譽為「少年諾貝爾獎」。Jack

為自己和我們學校都贏得了獎金。

「雷傑納隆科學獎」的1,760申請者 來自45個州、華盛頓特區、波多黎各 和10個國家的611所高中。入圍資格是

依據他們傑出的研究技能、對學術研

究的投入、創新的思維和作為科學家 的承諾。入圍的300名傑出學者則是來 自美國的37個州、波多黎各、台灣和 新加坡的198所高中和國際學校。

「雷傑納隆科學獎」為學生提供了 一個展示原創研究的全國性舞台，並 也向這些年輕科學家不懈的努力和發 現表示祝賀，這些科學家們正為全球 所面對的重大挑戰帶來全新的視野。 今年的研究項目涵蓋了從生物信息學

(bioinformatics)到公共衛生(public health) 和能量效率(energy efficiency)的主題。 ack B.贏得了這項令人夢寐以求的 獎項，原因是他的研究論文於今年 早些時候在美國化學學會 (American Chemical Society ACS）的《Omega》 期刊上發表，並也在ACS的全國年會 上進行了線上的演說。他的研究論文 名稱為《結合羧甲基化石墨烯量子 點與Cecropin P1以作為細菌生物感測 的應用》(Conjugation of Carboxylated Graphene Quantum Dots with Cecropin P1 for Bacterial Biosensing Applications) 。 該論文的摘要和全文都可以在這裡找 到。

《ACS Omega》是由美國化學 學會所出版的同行評審專業學術期 刊。Jack的研究探討了如何使用共 軛石墨烯量子點(conjugated graphene quantum dots)作為生物感測器來檢測水 樣中的微量細菌。 他研發了不僅可以在實驗室裡進行 的熒光測定法，還有可於現場施行 的 吸光度(吸收率)測試法。幾乎Jack所有 的研究工作都是在TAS Sandy R. Puckett 紀念研究實驗室裡完成的，而這也是 他科學研究課的一部分。

Abstract

Biosensors that can accurately and rapidly detect bacterial concentrations in solution are important for potential applications such as assessing drinking water safety. Meanwhile, quantum dots have proven to be strong candidates for biosensing applications in recent years because of their strong light emission properties and their ability to be modified with a variety of functional groups for the detection of different analytes. Here, we investigate the use of conjugated carboxylated graphene quantum dots (CGQDs) for the detection of Escherichia coli using a biosensing assay that focuses on measuring changes in fluorescence intensity. We have further developed this assay into a novel, compact, field-deployable biosensor focused on rapidly measuring changes in absorbance to determine E. coli concentrations. Our CGQDs were conjugated with cecropin P1, a naturally produced antibacterial peptide that facilitates the attachment of CGQDs to E. coli cells; to our knowledge, this is the first instance of cecropin P1 being used as a biorecognition element for quantum dot biosensors. As such, we confirm the structural modification of these conjugated CGQDs in addition to analyzing their optical characteristics. Our findings have the potential to be used in situations where rapid, reliable detection of bacteria in liquids, such as drinking water, is required, especially given the low range of E. coli concentrations (103 to 106 CFU/mL) within which our two biosensing assays have collectively been shown to function.

Did You Know?

WASC MIDCYCLE VISIT

In April, TAS hosted a small team as part of the mid-cycle portion of our WASC accreditation process. One member of that team, Dr. Ben Ploeger, the superintendent at Kaohsiung American School, was able to join us on campus for the visit. Dr. Ploeger was able to tour a wide range of classrooms throughout two afternoons, including visits to the Solomon Wong Tech Cube where our middle school students were hard at work on a robotics challenge to “save” a cardboard cut out of middle school principal Mr. Budde. He also got up close and personal with the insides of a 3D printer, walked on the competition field with the award-winning VEX robot 4253a, and witnessed a self-playing drumset designed by upper school robotics students. Afterward, Dr. Ploeger was able to watch our scientific research students in action, learning more about the exponential growth of the program from the chair of the department, Mr. Clapper. Dr. Ploeger, it was a pleasure showing you around our campus, and we hope to be able to do the same in Kaohsiung soon. Go Tigers, and Go Dragons!

ALL PHOTOS: LINDSEY KUNDEL

MIDDLE SCHOOL CENTER COURT

In honor of National Poetry Month in the United States, middle school teachers Ms. Diane Prophet (she/her) and Ms. Savanna Kuisle teamed up for a unique performance during this morning’s Grade 6 Center Court, a morning grade-level meeting designed to build a sense of community and emphasize character and wellness throughout the student body. Prophet and Kuisle, both English teachers, decided to perform an original poem written by Prophet through a mesmerizing combination of spoken word and dance. The performance, titled “Performers Perform,” retells Prophet’s experiences as a young performer when she was only 11-years-old, a similar age to her sixthgrade audience. Prophet’s mother would always tell her:“Shoulders back. / Chin up. / Eyes bright. / Smile brighter. / If you’re going to do something, do it big. / Performers perform.” Eleven-year-old Prophet fell during the performance, and she had to learn how to make the best of the situation, turning a mistake into an even better character-driven performance, even when her body and pride were bruised. Today’s lesson? If you’re going to do something, do it big - including your mistakes and failures. So Tigers, in the words of Ms. Prophet, whether you’re big or small, make it big.

ALL PHOTOS: LINDSEY KUNDEL

WORLD MATHEMATICS COMPETITION

On the weekend of March 20-21, an amazing group of 18 upper school students competed in the World Mathematics Competition. Over the course of two days, their minds were stretched as they took part in both individual and collaborative rounds that tested both their mathematical acumen and their creative ability.

80 teams participated with TAS being one of only two schools that were able to hold the competition in person.

Congratulations to the following students who each earned at least one of the 19 total medals awarded to TAS.

Richard W. (’21) 2 Gold 2 Silver

Matthew K. (‘22) 2 Silver 2 Bronze

Samuel W. (‘23) 2 Silver 1 Bronze

Ryan L. (’23) 1 Gold 1 Bronze

Charles J. (’21) 1 Gold

Hironori K. (’21) 1 Gold

Darren Z. (‘24) 1 Silver

Richard C. (‘23) 1 Silver

Ethan C. (‘24) 1 Bronze

Laura H. (‘22) 1 Bronze

The students had a great weekend together, collaborating, creating, and extending their thinking!

UPPER SCHOOL JOURNALISM & YEARBOOK

The TAS journalism and yearbook teams recently held an on-campus retreat to take part in the annual JEA & NSPA National High School Journalism Spring Convention, which was held virtually this year. Students in these awardwinning publications participated in workshops led by professional journalists and designers - including Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist Brian Rosenthal and Vice multimedia producer Juanita Ceballos.The young journalists also honed their photographic skills during a lunchtime photo scavenger hunt all over the campus, searching for photos that showed symmetry, motion, rule of thirds, leading lines, and, of course, the TAS values and mission in action. The jam-packed retreat ended with a nostalgic treat as an alumni panel of nine former TAS journalists and “yerds” returned to campus to share their wisdom and advice with the current staff members. Make sure to be on the lookout for the yearbook release and final issue of The Blue & Gold.

LOWER SCHOOL 3D FILM

Have you ever gone to a 3D movie?

Yes? But has a 3D movie ever come to you??

This spring, lower school students get to enjoy 3D films showcasing Taiwan’s beautiful landscapes, marine life, and culture, right here at Taipei American School. The screenings of three spectacular films by award-winning director Chuan-Lee Chu -- 3D Taiwan, Ocean Odyssey, and Formosa 3D were presented via mobile cinema truck by the 3D Association of Taiwan and sponsored by a TAS family.

As many of the images were so vivid, seemingly flying off the screen and toward the audience, our students cheered and exclaimed in excitement and in awe. Many even reached out their arms in hopes of catching a falling tung blossom or one of the many beautiful butterflies or tropical fish that seemed to be flying or swimming into our students’ arms!

Thank you again to 美力台灣 Formosa and all of the people who made this special event possible. What a treat!

On the Bookshelf

“THE WINDOW” EDITOR BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

At Taipei American School, our community regularly hosts outstanding visiting authors who come to teach our students and faculty. We also choose different books each year to read within divisions or small groups. Be sure to check out these recent favorites!

“MINOR

FEELINGS”

by Cathy Park Hong

On the middle school faculty summer reading book list

“REDEFINING

REALNESS”

by Janet Mock

On the middle school faculty summer reading book list

“DEAR MARTIN” by Nic

Stone

On the middle school faculty summer reading book list

“CALYPSO”

by David Sedaris

Autobiographical essays included on the Hachette Book Group’s “Essential Reading on the LGBTQ Journey” list

“LUNA”

by Julie Anne Peters

A 2004 National Book Award Finalist feauturing one of YA literature’s first openly transgender characters

“QUEER: A GRAPHIC HISTORY”

by Dr. Meg-John Barker and Julia Scheele

A graphic novel that examines concepts of gender and sexual expression utilizing a historical and sociological approach

Essential Capacities In Action

WELLNESS

Every issue, we focus on a different Essential Capacity. In this issue, we explore examples of WELLNESS found across all three divisions.

In the Lower School:

Before the spring break holiday, Grade 5 students went camping. They enjoyed day trips to Camp Taiwan, which included rock climbing, zip-lining, ecology, geocaching, archery and, of course, s’mores! Camp Taiwan is an integral part of both the Lower and Middle’s School’s curricular experience because of the life skills students acquire while having fun and focusing on their health and wellness in nature.

In the Middle School:

TAS recently celebrated “PS I Love You Day,” a celebration of one another, a day to come together as a community - to highlight our strengths and unique traits. We choose to wear purple, the color of power, because we have the “power” to care for one another. Each grade level had an activity planned by their Student Wellness Action Team and homerooms spent time talking about building community, showing appreciation, using positive self-talk, and practicing daily gratitude exercises.

In the Upper School:

Tigers in the Upper School learn hard, work hard...and play hard. During most Flex periods, you can find upper school students letting off some steam with friends by playing table tennis in the courtyard. We are proud that our students value friendship and fun alongside their studies.

ALL PHOTOS: JAYSON LIMMER

In addition to a rigorous academic program, and a focus on academic and personal excellence, TAS students will develop:

*Adapted from the National Association of Independent School's Essential Capacities for the 21st Century.

A WINDOW INTO...DANCE DANCE DANCE!

On April 16, the TAS senior dancers alongside 60+ other dancers showcased their own choreography and that of recent guest artist choreographers. The show was 75 minutes of gentle moments, surprises, and, of course, a lot of fun.

ALL PHOTOS: DUSTIN RHOADES