SWAMPED! Last week Elementary made TKS history when they held their ďŹ rst staged musical.
Over 72 students from G1-5 gave two delightful performances to audiences in the GSS auditorium. Well done to teachers and students who put in such a lot of work over several months, planning, rehearsing and designing the sets and costumes. Photos by Catherine Owen
March 29, 2018 1
From the Director It is hard to believe we are already three quarters way through this school year. This is a very busy time for our students as their learning becomes visible and in some cases the years work comes to fruition. In this edition we see many fine examples across the divisions, to mention a few: • In KG, 150 children performed in Baby Beluga after many weeks of practice and preparation (p5) • GES students put their learning into action as they PLOGGED at the monument. (p10) • Our DP art students curated their final art exhibition project in the University Library (p14) No March edition of The Wave would be complete without acknowledging the great success of another Parade of Nations. With over 70 Country tables and over 1000 people marching in the parade, this wonderful event celebrates so much of what we appreciate about KAUST: our People Place Pride!
Contents From The Board
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PAC Summaries
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Counselors Corner
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From Kindergarten
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Sports News
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From Elementary
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From Secondary
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From the TKS Board of Education Welcome to the TKS Board of Education (BoE) WAVE page. The BoE meets four times a year to provide TKS with strategic advice and ensure the school is resourced to achieve its mission. As a Board, we are very conscious that we make decisions that impact on the school community and that it is important that we share information with you in a timely manner. Our goal is to communicate quarterly, in line with our meeting schedule. However, as exceptional items arise, we will also use this forum to provide feedback to the community. We hope you find this material informative. The latest meeting of the BoE was on March 4, and I wanted to share the following updates: •
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TKS Mission The KAUST School mission is to provide an exceptional International Baccalaureate education that empowers students to be resourceful and responsible global citizens.
TKS preparations for our next accreditation review in 2020, with the IB, Council of International Schools and North American accreditors, are well under way. Over the next six months TKS will further investigate whether the IB Career Program (CP) would be a good fit for our school. The BoE will make a final decision in December 2018. TKS 2017/18 capital projects, including the modifications to Kindergarten Campus East, Swimming Pool shade and upgrade of Administration Office have been completed. The proposed TKS 2018/19 capital budget recommended that the Windows in Teaching Space project be prioritized. On completion this project will see the installation of almost 80 windows in our teaching spaces for enhanced child protection and increasing natural lighting.
We will achieve our mission by providing opportunities for all learners to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile.
INQUIRERS KNOWLEDGEABLE THINKERS COMMUNICATORS PRINCIPLED OPEN-MINDED RISK-TAKERS
On a separate note, the BoE would like to congratulate the school and all the many volunteers on this Spring’s Parade of Nations. It was a wonderful event that has truly taken its place as one of KAUST’s iconic events. Thank you to all who made it so wonderful.
CARING BALANCED REFLECTIVE
James Calvin TKS BoE Chair 3
In a nutshell: Summaries of March’s PAC meetings Kindergarten PAC: • Positive feedback on the recent Partners for Learning session was received including better advertising and communication. • Positive feedback was received for the recent International Week activities. Alignment with GES was considered valuable. Children being exposed to different cultures and food was well received. • Some concerns raised around the process of signing up for student-led conferences. Having said this, It was agreed that directing parents to Powerschool was a positive step forward.
Secondary PAC: • Forecast around staffing for DP teachers: it was noted that, staffing will remain the same for this academic year. If there are changes to staffing during the academic year, the school generally redeploys from within current staff first to cover while new staffing is arranged through the recruitment process.
Caring
Elementary PAC:
• Late Arrival Day (LAD): Overall, it appears that the concern raised by parents about LAD are primarily practical issues rather than issues concerning the impact that LAD may have on student learning.
• Feedback and recommendations from PAC regarding Partners for Learning events this year • Feedback from PAC regarding new process of sign-up for Student-Led Conferences • Planning of annual Teacher Appreciation Day, scheduled for April 17th • Feedback and recommendations from PAC regarding additional programming from 2-3pm during Ramadan
• Technology and Devices: Parents have concerns about their child(ren)’s use of school and personal devices (ie: laptop, mobile phones, etc) and are interested to hear from the school about ways to deal with this scenario. It was agreed that devices should always serve a purpose. There will be a few sessions relating to devices and technology in the upcoming months (e.g.: InfoTech and Digital Citizenship) which may be of interest to parents.
IMPORTANT TKS DATES:
• GSS are discussing an additional 40 minute, one day a week class for Grades 11 to 12 students only. The school may consider feedback about this at a later stage.
Spring Break: Sun, March 25 - Sat, April 7, 2018 TKS Graduation: Wed, May 23, 2018 (evening) Last day of School for Students: Thur, June 7, 2018 Faculty Closure Day: Thur, June 14, 2018
• The PAC discussed and are planning the Teacher Appreciation lunch for GSS teachers and staff. 4
from Justin Somerville, KG Principal The KG children were so excited to share their learning with you earlier this week during student-led conferences. The purpose of student-led conferences is to promote children’s sense of agency. Children learn a great deal about themselves through reflecting on their learning and their ability to communicate this with others. It provides an opportunity for you as parents to interact with your child as a leader of their learning, and for children to celebrate their progress and growth. We view all KG children as being capable and confident and this is what I observed as I wandered around the classrooms. Children were taking a leadership role and engaging their parents in the learning journey they have been on this year.
Baby Beluga
During February the K3 students performed the musical revue “Baby Beluga”. Nearly 150 students were on stage, singing, speaking and dancing to five different songs that they had practiced over the previous 4 weeks. They created the backgrounds, props and decorations during art class as well. Everyone enjoyed their performance thoroughly! by Katie Hoffman, K3 Performing and Visual Arts Teacher 5
Using Forces in the Kitchen! K2 has been investigating how forces create motion in our work and play. Our class loves to cook and to eat, so we decided to use forces to make one of our favourite foods, pasta. The class was able to borrow a pasta machine, and after a trip to Tamimi for our, eggs and salt, they were ready to go. We used forces to mix, knead, roll and cut fresh pasta. Our teacher cooked it for us and we ate it all. The students agreed that fresh pasta was delicious and that we should make it again soon. by Stephanie Fairall, K2 Teacher
DO YOU HAVE A SUGGESTED TOPIC OR FEEDBACK FOR PARTNERS FOR LEARNING? Email it to: Kathleen.Homan@kaust.edu.sa 6
Move it, Move it!
So you think you’ve got moves? K1 & K2 students on the KG campus certainly do! During Performing Arts class, children are given multiple playful opportunities to share their moves and learn new ones. Singing with motions, moving to music, fingerplays, marching, and simple choreography are all beneficial for developing brains. Research proves that movement can aid memory and cognitive processing speed by creating new neurons in the brain. According to neurophysiologist and educator, Dr. Carla Hannaford, author of Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, “Our entire brain structure is intimately connected to and grown by the movement mechanisms within our body.” Supplementing the learning environment with movement can increase the learning potential of all children and it’s so much fun! by Lisa Barrington, K1 & K2 Performing Arts Teacher Photos: Sujin Park, Teaching Assistant
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Talk, Talk, Talk The first 1000 days of life, according to Nathan Wallis (leading international trainer of Neuroscience and the Developing Brain), is the most important for a child’s brain development. The main requirement in these first 1000 days is the existence of the one-on-one relationship with the person who is most responsive to the baby’s needs. This is usually the mother or the person most available to them. It is one of the most important factors in a baby’s well-being. Technology in the 1990s revealed, through MRI brain scans, that we are not set by our genes alone. The human brain is genetically and biologically designed to data-gather in the first 1000 days of a child’s existence, from conception until approximately two and a half years. This data shapes or molds the brain for the environment it encounters. Language is the most complex of all brain processes, and what is said to matter the most is the number of words spoken to a child (by the person who is in the key relationship) between the ages of zero and one. The more a baby is spoken to in the first year, the more the brain wires up to be talking and interacting. So from an early childhood perspective, keep talking! View this link below to follow Nathan Wallis’s insight into child development. https://blog.storypark.com/2017/05/babys-first-1000-days-life/ By Cherry Jarvis, KG Student Support
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from Je Woodcock, GES Principal Teachers Teaching Teachers - T3
Great teachers are sometimes viewed as having a vast repertoire of innate skills to draw from when supporting students in their learning journeys. At GES we know all teachers are learners and are dedicated to providing regular opportunities for our teachers to become more skillful with their craft. One such opportunity is our bi-annual T3 which stands for Teachers Teaching Teachers. As the title suggests, teachers develop workshops where we engage with one another about current research and our experience with effective teaching strategies and approaches. Teachers who present often learn twice as much because they gain clarity about their practice by inquiring into underlying assumptions about quality pedagogy. Following the workshops, teachers are energized to implement ideas shared between colleagues; we are excited to see how the momentum generated in the conversations contributes to our on-going development. Research suggests that practitioners who collaborate and identify issues related to teaching and learning have a profound impact on sustainable change. By engaging in this exercise, teachers model for our students how we are all learners.
Photo by: Marie Kececioglu, G1 Student Support
Swamped
Congratulations to our students and teachers for their engagement in TKS’s ďŹ rst elementary musical, Swamped! Cast members and set designers showed great commitment and responsibility throughout the process which spanned several months. Thank you to our students, teachers and parents for making this experience possible. Our children will remember their role in the musical for many years to come.
Photo by: Andy Vasily, Pedagogical Coordinator
Photo by: Roger Gribbins, Edtech Coach 9
Just Plogging
Have you ever heard of Plogging? It’s a new trend that originated in Sweden, and now that new craze has crossed the 7 seas to the Red Sea. So what is plogging? It’s basically picking up plastic trash while you’re jogging. It is a great way to help the environment and to stay healthy at the same time! You must try plogging. Our environments are becoming more and more polluted every day. That’s why plogging can help our plants and animals. Think about all the animals eating plastic and becoming sick. Plogging can be a help to our health and fitness. It is a great way to save the world while staying fit. On March 15, some G5 students tried out plogging at the King Abdullah Monument (KAM). We picked up a total of 6kg of rubbish. That rubbish mainly consisted of plastic and glass bottles. This was student action, and was a part of our PYP Exhibition. Plogging, is a solution to help our polluted environment. If all of us start to plog, then we can really make a difference. So stop being a blob, and start to plog! by Ella and Arash G5PS 10
Serving up some books
There was a “grand opening” of the library restaurant during March 11-23, for G4 students “dining” in. Students were invited to make table reservations for a particular genre of books, and upon arrival seated and asked to pick from the selection of books. Students had an opportunity to try 5 different genres (courses) and take away (checkout) any book that appealed to their appetite. In addition, according to Haroon in 4MN each student received a menu card in which they got to write their opinions of the types of books they were tasting.” Students in Grade 4SW said “It was surprising to find the library had tables laid out like a restaurant with tablecloths, placemats and candles. The librarian, Mrs Sewell, was wearing an apron, like she was the waitress!” Hassan in 4MN said he liked the creativity that was used to make the table numbers and students pretended the pencils were the forks!” Haroon liked the fact that there were already a selection of books on the table. Further surprises awaited diners at the Mystery table when they selected the Calendar Mystery books as cartoon sketches made by visiting illustrator John Steven Gurney were handed out. Like all restaurants serving platefuls of delicious “food”, the student-diners had lots of leftovers, and could “take away” any of the courses they tried. According to Tong “I don’t read any other genre apart from Mystery so this was a good opportunity to “taste” and read other genres like historical fiction and fantasy. “I took away a book from the historical fiction table to read this weekend.” As Hassan and Haroon walked away with smiles on their faces, they agreed that sometimes it is hard to choose books, and some genres can seem boring if you just look at the cover, but when you give yourself a chance to read a few pages you get hooked in. by G4MN/4SW students - Haroon, Hassan, and Tong
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Mystery Skype: Where in the World is your School? During the last G4 Unit of Inquiry, Motivation to Explore and Discover was extended into the library time. Several classes took part in a Mystery Skype with another class/school whose location was unknown to our students. They were allowed to ask ten questions that could only be answered with a yes or no by the incoming participating school. The challenge was to pose questions and use the responses to narrow down the possible locations. Asking questions such as “Are you in the Southern Hemisphere?” “Are you in Europe?” “Does your country have lots of plants, and shrubs?” Our students successfully pinpointed the City/Country to Amman, Jordan. The school we skyped with was the American Community School, Amman. There was an exchange of general question answers, with each group of students learning something about the similarities and differences of the school and school culture. by Vivien Sewell
Learning Islamic Morals through Movement and Song G2 students have been learning Islamic morals and one way they have been learning and practicing these morals is through movement and song. Students are engaged and able to remember the morals of respect and being a good person through the song. They are eager to recite the song and show what they have learned through the song in their actions and words outside of the class. I am eager to provide the students with engaging and new ways to remember important Islamic teachings and take these lessons with them throughout their day and life. Rawdhah O. Radwan, Islamic Studies Teacher
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from David Tigchelaar, GSS Principal During the month of March students, teachers and parents participated in these events: • The SAIKAC Basketball U16 at TKS on March 8 & 9 (Gold for our boys’ team - Congratulations!) • The SAIKAC Basketball U19 on March 15 & 16 (Gold for our girls’ team - Congratulations!) • The Variety show on March 13 • The Night School on March 15 • The Grade 12 Art exhibition on March 19 at 5:30pm • Parent Information sessions • IT Security on March 15 at the University • legalisation of IB documents, for G12 parents on March 21 • Student Led Conferences for G6 - G10 students and parents on March 21 We are looking forward to the following events in April: • Parent Information Sessions • Introduction to the DP for G10 parents on April 10 at 5:30 pm in GSS • Responsible Digital use at home (Social Media, Screen Time, Addiction) on April 17 @12:00 - 1:00, Building 3, R5209 • Candy-grams on April 15 , organised by the Student Advisory Council • Earth Week from April 15 - 19 • Last day of School for Grade April 12 on 19 • Gr 12 Gala on April 20 • PAC Teacher Appreciation Lunch on April 22 • DP exams start on April 30 • Arts week from April 29 - May 3
Lead up to Final Exams Time is quickly passing and final exams are around the corner. Students are busy finishing their Diploma course work and reviewing their notes and past assessments in preparation for final exams that begin in May. This is an important time for seniors as they prepare themselves for their final high school assessments. Taking the steps to organize your time is critical in developing a plan that you can follow in preparing for these final exams.
Counselors Corner
Scheduling your day and time after school is one way to organize yourself for success. Looking at your assessment dates and backwards planning your time to prepare for the coming tasks is critical. The skill and habit of scheduling yourself with a planner or calendar is an exercise that one can do throughout life. Once a schedule is developed then the hard work begins – following that schedule and putting in the focused time towards each goal/task. The benefits of developing and following a schedule are enormous! Not only will you be prepared for the upcoming goals and assessments, you will also feel less anxiety and stress because you will feel confident that you took the right steps in preparing yourself. Develop a plan for success. Schedule study and revision time each day for each subject assessment. You will feel better about yourself and have less stress when writing these assessments. Just don’t forget to schedule time to relax and some exercise. Good luck everyone! by Andrew Zienchuk, Guidance and College Counselor
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Art is a journey, enjoy it... The G12 Visual arts exhibition is the culmination of the students’ IB Visual arts experience. Our young artists present a selection of their best work in the form of a curated final show. Visitors are invited to discuss the art work with the artists personally as the students explain the purpose and intention behind each piece. This is part of the internally assessed component of the Diploma Visual Art course, and provides an opportunity for the students to show their work to the community in an interesting and engaging way. Here is what each student said about their art experience at TKS:
“Art to me is a way to express thoughts and feelings about anything that is held inside. I used to sit a lot in art class alone to work, isolation didn't sound so bad after all, its peaceful” - Sima Hammad
“Art is that one class that does not count as a proper class, you enter the art room to let go of all your stress. And I’ll never forget all those philosophical discussions that shaped my mentality and who I am as a person” - Amjad Sarhan
When it comes to art, I think of a happy place where imagination takes you to a journey. What I like about art is that there's no right or wrong, because there's always a deeper meaning to each painting, its a way to represent yourself through images rather than using words - Lama AbuMwais 14
“I’ve been living in KAUST for 4 years. Through art, I can express my personal emotions. Since it’s my last year here, I want people to be inspired by my artwork and be confident about who they are.” Aliah Caillan
GSS Variety Show Our second variety show of the year showed an amazing amount of progress and commitment from our performers. We enjoyed performances of singing and dancing in a range of styles as well as an exciting introductory dance from some of our G8 boys that really got the evening started with a bang. Our first performer, Amy Tulley (G9), sang Piece by Piece by Kelly Clarkson. She showed us what a versatile performer she is becoming, giving a very expressive performance. This was followed by Pearl Wright and Reena Lauguico, who despite being only in G7 created an original fusion of two pieces by Khalid, Location and Saved. As well as creating a new structure they added their own original harmonies and performed brilliantly. Next we saw our first group of dancers and our youngest performers, Hayat Bukhari, Elise Paterson and Sarah Faden (G6). They gave a very polished performance of a lively dance to Paris by the Chainsmokers. Next, our Variety Show regular, Xarlasht Khan(G10), never misses a chance to showcase her wonderful voice and this was no disappointment. She gave a very moving performance of When We Were Young by Adele. Our performers Hiran Chedella (G10) and Vyoma Shah (G8) danced a beautiful Indian dance to Pinga from “Bajirao Mastani.” This was followed by another experienced performer, and Xpat Factor winner, Louis Davidson (G8), who performed Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel with style and grace. Zaira Aquino (G9) was our next performer, dancing an elegant solo to Rise Up by Andra Day. The concert closed with Esra’a Othman and Sajedah Kharbatia (G10) with Nightingale by Demi Lovato, which they performed beautifully. We had the privilege of hearing many of these pieces develop over the weeks leading up to the concert and saw how much hard work went into preparing for this event. Well done to all the students involved, your hard work really paid off, the concert was fantastic. We will be holding another Variety Show again next year, listen out for the announcements if you would like to come and see it or be involved. By Isabel Norwood 15
DP Trip to the University Library
In this digital day and age, students are often overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information available to them. Out of convenience or perhaps laziness, we, as students, frequently tell each other to "just google it". Last week, however, the Class of 2019 beneďŹ tted from a trip to the University Library to attend a workshop about information literacy and academic databases. Our presenter Stephen J. Buck shared his insight on effective research for a successful paper. We hope to transfer these acquired skills to our DP Extended Essays, which are independent research papers on a topic of personal interest. Abril Rivera, G11 Student 16
TKS Students Perform in Riyadh
https://www.facebook.com/gss.sca/
On February 28th there was a lot going on in the auditorium of the American International School of Riyadh as students from 7 schools in Saudi Arabia came together to rehearse and perform as the SAIKAC High School Band. Ari Seorwaso-Rivera (G10) and Chelsea Lai (G9) participated in the festival, requiring practice and preparation before departure. As percussionists, they were assigned specific parts that only they were responsible for - they couldn’t let the group down! The honor band was made up of the most musical students from each SAIKAC school, performing 5 separate pieces. During the hours of rehearsal and sectional work, students found inspiration and different techniques from each music teacher. Friendships were formed between students from different schools and nations, making their harmonious sounds even more remarkable. Chelsea Lai said about the festival, that “SAIKAC Band was an amazing experience. Not only did I pick up new skills in playing with a large group, but I had also made amazing friends. ” Each year there is a SAIKAC High School band festival and Middle School band and choir festival. Ask your music teacher about them now if you’d like to represent TKS at festival next year! By: Emmalee Johnson
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Cross Country
The TKS cross country season is one that occurs during the winter season where runners from G6 -12 train for many weeks in various locations around KAUST to improve their strength, speed, and endurance. It’s a fantastic opportunity to stay in shape and integrate between the ages. On February 3, four runners traveled to Ras Tanura to compete in an event where we ended up winning two gold medals from Youssef Abed (G6) and Mohammed Abed (G9) and a silver medal from Ben Powell (G9) and a brilliant run from Zaira Aquino (G9). A few weeks later the final invitational meet was hosted here at KAUST where over 100 runners competed in the 3km race at the golf course, 20 of the runners being our own. All our hard work paid off as we won multiple personal bests and 7 medals. Three gold medals were claimed by brothers Youssef Abed (G6) and Mohammed Abed (G9) and Aliya Al Uariachi (G11), two silver by Ben Powell (G9) and Zaira Aquino (G9), and two bronze medals by Abril Rivera (G11) and Chelsea Lai (G9). It was yet another fantastic season and it wouldn’t have been so successful without the help of the four brilliant coaches Abed, Lindsay, Banks, and O’Callaghan. by: Aliya Aluariachi, G11 Student
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U16 Girls Basketball
As captains of TKS U16 Girls basketball team, we are proud to say that we have become young women who have learnt skills that are applied on and off the court. We as captains have pushed our girls to their limits, encouraging their strengths and improving their weakness’. With our coaches motivating drills and our players determination, every game we played was never a loss. Over the 8 weeks of training, our team has become a family, turning to each other in times of hardship. Trusting and believing in one another has brought us closer together, even through injury and conflict. We take pride in our sport. After diligently training for 8 weeks, our U16 Girls team were prepared to take on the annual TKS Basketball SAIKAC Tournament in which 6 schools across Saudi Arabia attended to play. I’m honored to mention how much I have watched every single girl work their absolute hardest and place consistent effort into each preliminary practice - they never stopped contributing to our proud U16 team! With some of us on the team for over 2 years, it’s important to mention how much everyone has grown and developed as individual athletes; we have become strong women who even after the tournament, continue to represent our passion for the sport and our school. To describe the members of the team, we often use words such as committed, dedicated, motivated, and resilient (especially when it comes to Coach Marwah’s tactics), because we showcased those attributes within every second of the season. Although we came in 4th place, our victories as a collective team remain strong; because even after certain defeats, we remain a proud family. We’d like to conclude with honorable mentions to every player, as well as our hardworking coaches: Amy Tulley, Esraa Othman, Hafsa Akhtar, Hibah Nawal, Lina Ghaffour, Mariam Hoteit, Mariyah Abualnaja, Reena Laugico, Ruba Gari, Sajedah Kharbatia, Xarlasht Khan, Zaira Aquino, Coach Marwah, and Coach Michelle. by: Sajedah Kharbatia and Mariyah Abulnaja 19
U16 Boys are Basketball Champs
This year, The KAUST School hosted the 2018 U16 SAIKAC Basketball Tournament from March 8-9. Over the two days, the boys battled hard and won every game against the best teams in Saudi Arabia while showing great sportsmanship. The boys were pressured in the ďŹ nals, but with a fantastic home crowd were able to push through to place 1st overall. Many thanks to Coaches Harris and Birgenheier for taking their own time to help us improve our overall basketball skills. by Raamiz Hashmim, G10 Student
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U19 SAIKAC Girl’s Basketball Champions
Countless hours of practice, workouts, conditioning and games led to the final two-day SAIKAC (Saudi Arabia InterKingdom Activities Conference) U19 Girls Basketball tournament hosted at the American International School of Jeddah. Nine teams from around the kingdom, including the runner-up Sharks from last year, came to fight for gold and show a high level of play, grit and determination. Nine players from TKS left everything on the floor to earn gold and the top spot at the tournament with an undefeated record. Led by Tayla Martin and Aliya AlUariachi, the Sharks dominated the first day and went into the second day with confidence. An intense opening game on Friday, March 16 against the American International School of Riyadh went into overtime, but with clutch free throws by Lana Fairaq and skillful perimeter play by Franchesca Cadiz and Zoe Somerville, the Sharks were able to pull out a win to put them in the semi-finals. The semi-finals saw tough play by Lama Fairaq, Matilde Gomes and Neeka Ghodsi against Dammam High School, but again the Sharks prevailed, leading to a finals showdown with perennial rival Dhahran High School. In the finals, Dhahran was no match for the tight team defense and communication of the Sharks, who came out on top 36-24. The Sharks showed that class and style, in combination with tough and assertive play, leads to victory. 21
U19 Boys Basketball take Silver
The TKS Sharks U19 Boys Basketball team participated in the season ending SAIKAC Tournament at Dahran High School. The boys put together an outstanding effort throughout the weekend. After being placed 4th in the Double Elimination Tournament the boys played 6 games (the last 4 all back-to-back) on their road to the ďŹ nal versus Dahran High School. The Sharks played and beat all teams in the 8 team tournament except for the home Dhahran team, that the Sharks lost to in the ďŹ nal. The boys had given everything they had and played with their hearts throughout the tournament. Their outstanding play resulted in a silver medal. The boys truly showed grit and resilience throughout the 2 day tournament, playing 10 games over that period. Congratulations on a successful season! by Andrew Zienchuk, Coach
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