22 minute read
stuco executives
Interview by Pat Watcharapong Photos by Mina Wangpattanamongkol
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SO PANN, WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR JOINING THE STUDENT COUNCIL? Pann: Back in 9th grade when I was a class representative who sat in the corner of StuCo meetings not saying anything, I looked up to all the upperclassmen in Student Council who were doing incredible things for the school. So I was like, “You know what, why not? I want to do that for the school as well.”
HOW ABOUT YOU, PAT? Pat: Well… I joined the Student Council this year because I had a lot of fun when I was serving as class rep in my junior year. I look forward to having an even better experience again this year!
WHO’S YOUR INSPIRATION TO GO FOR YOU ROLE? Pann: “The past greats,” so to speak, hahaha. No, but really though, talking with past Student Council’s presidents and ExCom members encouraged me to run for President, so I would say that they are my main source of inspiration.
Pat: That’s gotta be our previous Vice President Gunn. He’s a very good friend of mine and he’s helped me with a lot of stuff. We joke around a lot of the time but when it’s time for serious business, we work together really well. I want to be to other people the way Gunn was to me. HOW IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH THE OTHER EXCOM MEMBERS? Pann: It’s been great! Daniel, Ruby, and Pat are all really amazing and hardworking people. I would say we have great chemistry because we’re all really close friends and we’ve gotten even closer since we all joined StuCo.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO ACHIEVE THIS YEAR AS THE WHOLE STUCO? Pann: Of course, we hope to build towards creating a year packed with events so everyone can have fun! From Lock-in to ICS Got Talent, our main goal is to foster an environment and community that the student body can enjoy.
Pat: Our current next big thing right now is the ICS Got Talent. I hope that we will be able to recreate a fun event like we did last year. It’s a shame that I myself won’t be able to be MC for Got Talent again, but I still expect it to be fun for the crowd regardless. As for future projects, we hope to host our 2nd consecutive Lock-In within the early part of next semester, as we were able to last year, which was the first Lock-In in 4 years. I really hope that we can make something like that happen again. We also look forward to the end-of-the-year Banquet that we didn’t get to have last year due to COVID.
ANY FINAL WORDS? Pann: I’m not getting executed, am I? On a serious note though, I’m genuinely enjoying working in the Student Council thanks to all the amazing class reps, PRs, ExCom members, and Mr Luc, who have all been so much fun to work with!
“Optimistic” “Humorous” “Outgoing” “Encouraging” are words that the senior class representatives, Jordan and Ploy, used to describe one another. This dynamic duo has already made many contributions towards their class, which they are excited to continue serving. They also help out the Student Council.
SENIOR CLASS REPRESENTATIVES Jordan & PLoY __________________________________________ Interviewed by Ben Quick Photos by Aum Kuansongtham THE QUILL
What was the best part of senior year so far, and what are you looking forward to? Ploy: Definitely Carnival. Jordan: So far… particular birthday parties, soccer, and spirit night Ploy: I know it’s a very typical senior answer, but I’m looking forward to senior trip, banquet, and graduation. Jordan: Same.
What is a goal that you have set for yourself or the class of 2021? Ploy: For myself, this year I want to end my senior year well because ICS has been like a home to me for the past 9 years. I want to make meaningful relationships with people here and actually enjoy myself in senior year before going off to college. Jordan: I think a goal for our class would be to just keep striving together as one body, like with how we did with the carnival and other events. For myself, continue to get to know people I don’t know well and for the people I already know well, become even closer. Ploy: Oh, also, for the class it would be to mend past relationships that might have gone astray, and get back together as a unified class of 2021 before we graduate.
Junior Class Representatives Memo & Nat
Interview by Emily Rubio
Photos by Russia Chawala
Hi Class Reps, would you mind introducing yourselves? Nat: So, I am Nat and I’m the 11 grade male class rep. Memo: Yes, I’m Memo and I’m also the class rep too!
What is one thing most people would be surprised to learn about you? Nat: I actually don’t enjoy swimming
What motivated you to run for the position of class representative? Memo: I might wanna be one of the officers in Student Council, so I would like to run class rep first. Nat: I wanna see how well I do in a leadership role.
What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before running for class representative? Memo: That we also have to do physical work, like setting up stuff. Nat: That I don’t have that much time.
How would you describe the class of 2022? Memo: We’re really dependent on Brighty and he’s gone now so... ahahahah Nat: We’re smart and we’re kind.
What is your main goal to accomplish as a class rep? Memo: I want everyone to be able to participate in all the activities that ICS provides for our class. Nat: I want to listen to everyone’s voice and come up with the best idea that everyone can agree on.
Are there any ICS events in particular that are you looking forward to? Memo: The Senior Trip! Nat: The Senior Trip as well.
Interviewed by Daniel Yim Photos by Dino Nishioka
Why did you guys decide to run for class representatives? Stephen: Experience. I felt like joining Stuco would really bring about a valuable experience. Proud: High school is undoubtedly a time where academics play a much larger role in the lives of many students, so I felt like I wanted to be a part of making high school actually fun through different events and activities that the Student Council is in charge of.
How is it working with the rest of Stuco? Stephen: Working with the rest of the student council has been great. You get to know more people and collaborate with them on various Stuco projects. Proud: I’m really enjoying it! It’s been an honor to work with this spirited, hardworking, cool group of people. Not to mention the free food we get sometimes, of course.
How do you think you’ve grown so far since being in Student Council? Stephen: Being a part of the student council has made me become more insightful when it comes to the organization and execution of events. Proud: I learned quite a bit about time management and collaboration as a result of being in student council because the various responsibilities we have, have to be done outside of our school time.
Any advice for other students looking to run as class representatives later? Stephen: Just know that you can’t please everyone in your class. Also keep in mind that the ‘loudest party’ isn’t always the ‘correct party’. Proud: Make sure you actually want to be a representative because you’ll have to sacrifice your time and effort into it.
BRave & Lala | BRave & Lala | Interview by Pann Sripitak Photos by Beam Yongphiphatwong
Hi Lala and Brave, how are you doing? Brave: I’ve been doing very well. Lala: I’m doing pretty good, and I think that I’m starting to get used to high school more.
What encouraged you to run for class representative this year? Brave: I wanted to interact with other people outside my grade, and I wanted to work and learn from everyone in STUCO. Lala: To be honest, I didn’t plan to run for class representative this year since we’re just starting high school and I wanted things to fit in more before having another responsibility in my life. However, I felt like that was more of an excuse that I made because I didn’t want to be disappointed if I ended up not getting to be the class representative. But I learned that, if you don’t even try, then you’ll never know if you’ll succeed or not, and as long as you’ve tried your best already, there’s nothing to be sad about.
What are you looking forward to doing as the class representative? Brave: I look forward to making this year great for my classmates and listening to their amazing suggestions. I would also like to build a long lasting friendship inside the Class of 2024. Besides that, I’m also very excited to be working with other STUCO members this year planning many school events. Lala: I’m looking forward to helping the Class of 2024 bond together more and also making everyone shine as a team. I’m also looking forward to working with new people and learning from the other STUCO members.
inspark club
Interview by Charlotte Muehleck Photos by Lala Lertkiatdamrong
inspark club
Charlotte Muehleck Lala Lertkiatdamrong
Can you tell me a bit about InSpark? Proud: InSpark is an innovation club that focuses on technology, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking. We encourage peo ple to become innovators in this world because we believe that innovation is such an important part of everyone’s life. There fore, we want to educate people about innovation and pursue the field of innovation. Fah: It’s also important to note that innovation isn’t restricted to stereotypical ideas of business or technology, but it can also be in fields such as art, sports, and any else. What inspired you guys to start this club? Proud: I started this club because innovation and technology have always been fascinating to me, but there weren’t any op portunities and clubs at school that directly focused on innovation. Lala: Also, we wanted more people to know about innovations and how it can be applied to all aspects of life. Whether you are aware of it or not, we are using innovations in our daily lives. So, we just wanted to teach more people about the impor tance of innovation. How did you become interested in innovation? Lala: It’s pretty obvious that innovation is in all aspects of our lives. I just wanted to learn more about how these innovations came to be. Fah: I’ve always wondered about how new ideas came to be, and how people constantly find ways to improve products. I’ve always found myself wanting to know more about the process of how inno vation impacts people and how people can become more innovative. Proud: I’ve also always been interested in innovation. With the Cov id-19 pandemic, I’ve seen how different people and countries have reacted, as well as new, innovative ideas that have been implemented to combat it. What events are you guys looking forward to having? Fah: We are planning on having competitions where students join to compete and try to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to realworld problems. We are also planning on having seminars where we will be inviting speakers who are experts in the field of innovation to share their ideas and their journeys in becoming successful. Proud: All along the way, we are planning on creating content on in novation and creativity to be posted on our Instagram and website. We want to engage all students in our content so that they’ll have a greater understanding of what innovation is. If you’re interested in our club, don’t hesitate to contact us. Lala: For me, I’m definitely looking forward to the SparkTrips (com pany visits) where we observe innovative companies in order to learn more about how they run daily tasks.
Can you tell me a bit about InSpark? InSpark is an innovation club that focuses on technology, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking. We encourage people to become innovators in this world because we believe that innovation is such an important part of everyone’s life. Therefore, we want to educate people about innovation and pursue the field of innovation.
It’s also important to note that innovation isn’t restricted to stereotypical ideas of business or technology, but it can also be in fields such as art, sports, and any else. What inspired you guys to start this club? I started this club because innovation and technology have always been fascinating to me, but there weren’t any opportunities and clubs at school that directly focused on innovation.
Also, we wanted more people to know about innovations and how it can be applied to all aspects of life. Whether you are aware of it or not, we are using innovations in our daily lives. So, we just wanted to teach more people about the imporProud: If you’re interested in InSpark and want to
How did you become interested in innovation? It’s pretty obvious that innovation is in all aspects of our lives. I just wanted to learn more about how these innovations came to be. I’ve always wondered about how new ideas came to be, and how people constantly find ways to improve products. I’ve always found myself wanting to know more about the process of how innovation impacts people and how people can become more innovative. Proud: I’ve also always been interested in innovation. With the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve seen how different people and countries have reacted, as well as new, innovative ideas that have been implemented
What events are you guys looking forward to
: We are planning on having competitions where students join to compete and try to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to realworld problems. We are also planning on having seminars where we will be inviting speakers who are experts in the field of innovation to share their ideas and their journeys in becoming successful. All along the way, we are planning on creating content on innovation and creativity to be posted on our Instagram and website. We want to engage all students in our content so that they’ll have a greater understanding of what innovation is. If you’re interested in our club, don’t hesitate to contact us. For me, I’m definitely looking forward to the SparkTrips (company visits) where we observe innovative companies in order to Also, the competition will allow us to see how creative ICS students can be.
What impact do you want this club to make to the students/school? Proud: A big part of innovation is implementation (as seen by InSpark’s motto: InSpark your ideas to life), so we want our club to be fun and interesting to everyone. More importantly, we want people to have good takeaways from our events, so people can apply this in their futures, no matter what career path they choose. Anything else to add? learn more about how they run daily tasks.
InSpark your ideas to life, come join our club and our events!
Interview by Krisha Gandhi Photos by Nupook Suthisamphat
RIGHT TRACk CLUB
New Club: RIGHT TRACk CLUB
The Right Track Club is concentrated on generating more opportunities for quality education for the underprivileged. Having the opportunity to go to school, buying luxury items, and being able to live in a peaceful community is marvelous, but we tend to forget about those who can’t even afford their basic needs.
The Right Track Club advisors discovered that there is a tremendous scarcity of educational resources and funding not just in Thailand, but also in Africa, the United States, and India. The advisors of the club were inspired by a primary school teacher, Dora Moono Nyambe from Zambia. While scrolling through a social media platform, the advisors came across a video educating on Dora’s purpose in life. Dora felt the need to help the children living in the remote village in terms of education.
The club is mostly based around fundraising money for organizations or centers that are trying to improve the lifestyles for the upcoming generation’s underprivileged children. The club chooses an organization each semester that they would like to direct their time on and then raises money respectively. The Right Track Club believes that in order to go above and beyond their goals, they will need to go on the right track with the right mindset. They are very excited to see what they can accomplish in the future.
a recap on carnival
Written by Austin Cipriano
Photos by Yearbook Team
Everyone definitely had their doubts. Carnival? During this crazy season of COVID-19? Only two weeks after the first day of school? However, in the end, the seniors conquered this seemingly impossible task and came out on top. Benjamin Quick, our Carnival Organizer, spoke to this. “The fact that we actually pulled this event off, and pulled it off well, says a lot about our grade. I couldn’t be more proud of my class and what we were able to create.”
The months of preparations characterized by Zoom meetings and Line messages led up to the first week of school. Overdrive time. Committees had been assigned but there was little in the way of physical progress. So when it came to the first two weeks of school people had to start working hard and communicating better. “So. Much. Stress. We started naming rubber ducks because we were so stressed.” said our Senior Council Treasurer Ai, “Being sleep-deprived and stressed for weeks turned out to be worth it.”
As people realized what needed to be done, and how important Carnival actually is, things started coming together. The food committee began to have a better sense of who would be selling what, and where. The bouncy castle committee rapidly adapted to the fact that they weren’t actually able to have a bouncy castle. The obstacle course spent sleepless nights developing one of the most advanced courses Carnival had ever seen. Then it became raffle selling time. Another insurmountable task for the entire class to collectively take on. But again Class of 2021 was able to knock it out of the park. Ai was immensely proud of our raffle selling, “With only seven days to sell raffle tickets, I was so impressed by how hardworking everyone was willing to be and how many we were able to sell.”
All of the stress and hard work during guided studies and after school all came down to the night before Carnival. The media center was crowded with excited seniors and our clamoring conversation. We set everything up in record time without sacrificing any quality. Everyone was nervous about the next day. We should’ve realized that our hard work and record-breaking foreshadowed the next day.
Families and children poured into the campus. They joyously went from Lucky Orbeez, to the delicious food, and to activities like the obstacle course and escape room. “The best parts of Carnival were the smiling faces, the happy laughter… and of course seeing teachers being mercilessly dunked by children and peers alike,” said Ben.
The happiness exhibited by Carnival goers transferred over to our senior class. As the day went on we continued to work hard and create an amazing atmosphere. What a success.
Eventually, the day slowed to an end. “After a whole day of entertaining the school, and a ton of preparation, it was time to take it all down. Feeling victorious yet sleep-deprived,” Ben reflected. Before we packed up we grouped together and listened to what Mrs. Becky had to say. “What an amazing job you guys have done, overcoming barriers and limitations which haven’t even existed until this year! Great job!” Mrs. Becky gushed proudly, “You managed to obliterate all of the financial goals and many of your committees broke records.”
We were all elated. What a way to begin the year. Growing closer as a class and completing such a difficult task. Together. It was the catalyst to our senior year. A successful one. And one to be remembered.
A Recap on Oliver
Interview by Shreya Rupani Photos by Verity Tan
ICS has had its fair share of school productions, and recently they performed the musical, Oliver on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of September. This musical was to be performed at the end of last semester but was delayed due to Covid-19. Oliver is a musical based on the Charles Dickens book Oliver Twist. In the recent past, the ICS drama department has performed junior shows, so this is the first full production ICS has had in a while.
It was a truly magnificent performance. The main character role of Oliver was played jointly by Silas Mast & Jedi Ewing. The boys expressed the character’s emotions beautifully. It was truly an emotional rollercoaster. The role of Nancy was played by Emmy Mills. She successfully conveyed Nancy’s spirit throughout the play. Bill Sikes was played by Davi Araujo. Davi took on the role of the villain in this story, and he had everyone in the audience truly on the edge of their seats.
Oliver Twist is an orphan who was sold to an undertaker. As a result of the harsh treatment he receives, he runs away, and heads to London, where he is coerced into a pickpocket group. He steals a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow who is later revealed as Oliver’s long lost grandfather. Nancy, a mother figure to Oliver who is related to the pickpocket gang, returns him to Fagin (the ringleader of the pickpocket gang) because she is forced to by the one she loves, aka Bill Sikes, the man who everyone fears. Later when Nancy realizes her wrongdoings and tries to fix everything. Bill finds out about her ploy to reunite Oliver and his grandfather and kills her, and finally accidentally hangs himself. At the end of the day, Oliver gets his happy ending with his grandfather, Mr. Brownlow. This story sends across a clear message on the effects of industrialism, the lack of concern from society towards poor children, the unfortunate lives of orphans, and the exploitation of children by criminals.
One unfortunate challenge the cast had to face that they were able to gracefully overcome was wearing face shields during their performance. They didn’t let these safety precautions put a damper on the spirit of the show, and were able to forge ahead with
I watched the play on Friday and as a primary source, I would like to say that it was very well done, and I am proud of the whole cast. The production kept me on my toes the whole time. The musical also consisted of some heavy themes that I believe were important to address. Overall this musical was a culmination of utter talent from our student actors, and of course, Mr. G, the techies (backstage is as important as on-stage), and the multiple directors, as well as Mr. Micah.
