paper dragon March 2011 March 2011 Issue #7
INSIDE: Why Are those birds so angry?
An Interview with Mr. Bissell Basketball Season Recap
Spring Break Exchange Programs
In this issue Dear Paper Dragon Readers, Welcome to our Spring issue, and first issue, of the Paper Dragon for 2011! We are all happy that Mr. Morris has stopped coaching spor ts on Fridays and now he has time to advise this year’s awesome Journalism Club. Thanks to all the new members, we had a great time writing and editing the articles, and can’t wait for you to read them. This issue includes up-close looks at the Taiwan and Beijing exchange trips, an interview with the new Head of School, a recap of the CAIS basketball season, and, of course, our editors top tens. We hope you enjoy the magazine! Keep your eyes open for a brand-new issue soon! Sincerely,
Avery Chung-Melino Editor
Paper Dragon Staff Box The Paper Dragon Magazine is the Chinese American International School Journalism Club publication for the 2010-2011 school year. All opinions expressed in this publication are the opinions of the writer and do not reflect the opinions of the school or its staff. This is a student run publication (under the supervision of the Journalism Club advisor) and therefore the writing, layout, and editing are done by the students who make up the staff. Questions and comments may be sent to The Paper Dragon Magazine, 150 Oak St., Room 399, San Francisco, CA 94102 or emailed to Ron Morris (r_morris@cais.org). Editors: Avery Chung-Melino, Kelsey Rasmussen, Lena denBroeder, Nicole Newlin, Laurence Fong, jIya Ridgeway Staff: Lena denBroeder, Nikki Kimzey, Nicole Newlin, Adri denBroeder, Jiya Ridgeway, Jonah Tang, Peter Carroll, Avery ChungMelino, Caroline Sheng, Kelsey Rasmussen, Sheridan Lim, Clay Froehlich, Samantha Chessen, Bakari Smith, Mirei Golding Powers, Larry Fong, Tyler Kwok, Zachary Ngin, Octavia Geraghty, Tzara Graghty, Tatum Talbot, Crissy Sak, Graham Sak, Mari Fong, Andrew Chan, Sarah Huang, Robert Huang, Dewi Beer, Caitlin Farmer, Michelle Morgan, Rene Fong, Maxwell Wang, Christti Wong, Benjamin Gilbert, Thea Yang, Grace Carroll, Jaqueline Fong, Evan Lim and Etan Ko. Advisor: Ron Morris
K K e e ll s s e e y’ y’ s s T T e e n n 1. I adore being in the Student Gov.! Planning Middle School Tapioca was a big responsibility, but really fun! The turnout was great and it made all the middle school students love the Student Gov.! Planning for dances, spirit days, pork bun sales, Raffle Bingo Nights, movie nights, coin drives and more are a lot of fun! 2. My Family consists of my parents and Star. Star is a very intelligent poodle terrier mix! She can run for miles and still want to run more. It is incredible! She loves to play fetch with tennis balls. The other part of the family, my parents, are great, too! They support me and are always ready to help me. I feel really lucky! 3. Shopping. I know this is a really common teenage/tweenage girl thing (I am 13) but I still love it anyway. I enjoy shopping for anything: clothes, accessories, souvenirs, sweets, books, even school supplies! 4. Reffing and Babysitting. I am a soccer referee with a Grade 9 badge, which I got after a 7 hour class with FIFA. I will be reffing mostly U-9 games. I am also certified by the Red Cross as a babysitter for kids aged 2-11. Let me know if you want to hire me. 5. My Friends are great. I have so much fun with them! We go shopping, make codes, read and talk about books, share secrets and ideas, play sports, text, video chat…the list is endless! 6. My Electronics. I really enjoy my computer and camera cell phone. I check my Gmail, check my soccer reffing schedule, text, call, take pictures, take videos, and watch TV shows on Netflix and You Tube! 7. Randomly organizing and rearranging things! For some odd reason I find joy in randomly organizing and rearranging things. Sometimes I will go to my bookshelf or closet and start reorganizing it. There is a good side to my odd skills; I don’t mind folding laundry! 8. Reading and Writing. Since 2 nd grade, I have loved to read and write. I used to spend every spare second of my time reading. I have less free time now, but I still love reading. When I find a book I really like, I find time to read it. I also like writing (like I am right now), but it is very time consuming. Luckily, I get to spend most my summer writing. I go to writing camps at ATDP, on the UC Berkeley Campus. 9. I love sports! It’s a great way to get exercise and have fun! After a swim or soccer practice, I feel refreshed and happy. I enjoy going to the park with Star, my parents, and friends. 10. Helping the World. I find things like the Free the Children Youth in Action Summit inspiring and interesting. I love to donate my time (and even money) to help different organization. I also help out at animal shelters and fund-raisers.
Avery’s Top Ten 1.Reading: Reading is my favorite pastime. I’ve always enjoyed it, ever since I was young. My parents say I read too much, but I don’t think there is such thing, as long as you’re reading something you like.
Lena’s Top Ten 1. Student Government—Despite the hard work we all put in and the stress of organizing events, Student Government is a blast. The members are wonderful and our efforts always result in fun and success. 2. Futsal—This game is fast-paced and exciting, and keeps me on my toes. However, our cheering section always has room for expansion! 3. 4shared.com—Who doesn’t love free music? Plus, it downloads rapidly and they have a wide selection of artists. I’m pretty sure it’s legal; they call it “file sharing.” 4. Ski Jumps— There is no better rush than flying through the air at top speed, and looking extremely cool at the same time. 5. Tom Petty— Just a great classic rock sound and so much fun to listen to. Wildflowers is one of my favorite albums. 6. David Sedaris— His stories are full of sarcasm, humor, and craziness. They never fail to make me crack up. 7. Refurbished Products— I just saved a hundred bucks on a new laptop. How can I not include it in my top ten? 8. 66 Bus Route— Not only does it stop across the street from my house, the people who ride it are a unique group. I have a new circle of friends that I see every morning. For five minutes we talk about the news, school, and Muni. I know that they’ve always got my back. 9. Burritos— A perfect mingling of ingredients that is nutritious and a great vegetarian option. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 10. Osenbei— It’s important that we fundraise to support the victims of the Japan Earthquake, but these rice crackers are also incredibly delicious.
2.Skiing: This February I went to Tahoe with my family and friends. I loved everything about it, from that “flying on snow” feeling to the ruthless snowball fights, and hand-dug snow cave. 3.Writing: I write a lot of fantasy and historical fiction. Right now, Maddie and I are working on a story about two teenage girls who discover the secret of Merofaeries. 4.New York: I visit New York every summer, where I meet up with my family, go to museums and see shows on Broadway. Despite the fact that the city is huge, my father and I like to walk to wherever we are going there. Once we walked 30 blocks in the rain! 5.My friends: What would I do without you guys? I’m super sad that we’re graduating soon, but at least I’ll be in high school with some people from my grade. KIT. 6.Sleeping In: After a long day and late night of studying, what’s better than to sleep in late on a Saturday? I’m a Night Owl, not a Morning Lark. 7.Music: I listen to a lot of old songs, which reminds me of my childhood. My parents would put in Petula Clark and The Four Seasons, so I grew up with the same sort of songs they listened to. 8.Four-Year-Olds: About ten years ago, I attended the Little School. Now, I volunteer at their summer camp, where I get to interact with 3-5 year olds for six weeks. I love the program because I get a glimpse into the four-year-old mind, and I get to see my old teachers! 9.Packing/Not Packing: For some reason, I really enjoy organizing, listing, and sorting all of my items before packing. When it actually comes to the time when I need to put it all into the suitcase, I start to wish I never needed to pack. 10.Graphic Design: for those of you who don’t know what it is, the kind of graphic design I do is photo manipulation. I use programs like Photoshop and Gimp to create images that are model-perfect, or blend several images together to create a mysterious piece of artwork. I also enjoy taking photographs, some of which I use in my photo manipulations.
Experiences with the Beijing E x c h a n g e S t u d e n t s By Caroline Sheng and Avery Chung-Melino When we first saw the Beijing exchange students, the first thought that crossed our minds was: gigantic. Adam Theriault-Shay’s buddy, Edward, was at the very least foot taller than Adam, and even the shortest buddy could see above our heads. They were shy and seemed to hide behind one another whenever one of us approached them; but they were exceedingly polite nonetheless. In the mornings, it was common to see a huddle of buddies enthusiastically jabbering away in Mandarin, where as we would be chatting energetically in English. One eighth grader observed that, “They were nice and fun to be around, except their English wasn’t so good.” When the Chinese students came back from a fieldtrip, they would crowd into our miniscule classrooms, sharing orange seats that were brought in from the Space. In English classes, teachers called on CAIS students to translate the discussion topic for the buddies. It made class quite slow for those of us that had English as a first language, but it was funny to see some of our students struggling to translate the three branches of government into Chinese. Whereas in Chinese class, the buddies would actively participate in whatever we were doing. In Ms. Meredith’s video class, the buddies got to have a cameo role in the film we were producing, “The Tale of Three Sisters.” They were featured in crowd scenes and Nicole Newlin’s buddy, Tai, even got to kill Nicole’s character, a pivotal scene in the film. As for those who had buddies staying at our houses, we found that it was easy to bond. Avery and her buddy, Jessica, looked through Avery’s yearbooks, listened to each other’s music on their iPods, and stayed up late browsing the Internet. They went to Chinatown, church, Fisherman’s wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and general site-seeing. For Jessica, the trip was an exciting and unique experience because out of all the many places she had gone, including Belgium and Africa, she had never been in the United States. She says that it was fun to meet new friends, both from her school in China and with CAIS, in a different continent. One particularly memorable event was Saturday. We walked about a mile or two to Fisherman’s Wharf, where we stopped to take a bounty of pictures. We explored the Laughing Nelly arcade, snapping silly shots in the photobooths, cranked souvenir pennies, and attempting to beat my mother’s high Skee Ball score. After 45 minutes of the arcade, we walked to Boudin Bakery, the infamous bread shop the Wharf boasts. There, we met a selection of friends and their buddies for lunch, before taking Muni to the Golden Gate Bridge. At the bridge, Jessica was delighted to see one of her best friends on the trip, Susan. Susan had two buddies, Lena denBroeder and Irene Wang, and our three happy families plus the two Beijing students walked the length of the bridge and back, frequently stopping to capture the moment with our cameras. “The exchange experience has allowed me to help my buddy learn about the American culture and improve her English,” said Irene Wang. I was also able to show Susan all my favorite places in San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge. I liked seeing my friends Avery and Lena and the buddies on a Saturday!”We proceeded to introduce the buddies to Cantonese cuisine in America. When the meal was over, all six of us (7th grader Kelsey Rasmussen accompanied us to the restaurant) huddled around Jessica’s iPad, playing Stick Golf and other games. 8th grader Celine Gauchey, 8th grade said to the Dragon that, “They were very sweet, genuinely nice people.” A whole week passed like this, and some of us really hit it off with the buddies. Brian Fong, 8th grade, was overly enthusiastic and ended up befriending many of the Beijing buddies. When the buddies left, it felt….weird, like something was missing from our normal school day. We had become accustomed to their presence, and looked forward to seeing them every morning while they were here.
Mr. Jones Leaves for Taiwan
By Grace Carroll and Thea So The 4th grade teacher, Mr. Jones, will be leaving for Taipei next year. He will be teaching at Taipei American School. Taipei American School has six fourth grade English classes and Mr. Jones will be teaching one of them. Mr. Jones has been at CAIS for six years. All those years he has taught fourth grade. He is from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and has been in San Francisco for 12 years. A few days ago we interviewed him about how he felt about leaving to Taiwan. Paper Dragon: When you leave to go to Taiwan, will you miss Cais? Mr. Jones: Yes, I will miss CAIS. I ‘ll miss the students and all the teachers. I have been here for a while and so I’ve met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. PD: What’s your favorite memory about fourth grade? Mr. J: That would be the time we went to Sanchez Adobe in the rain. Everyone was trying to make bricks in the mud; it was messy, wet and fun. PD: What are you looking forward to in Taiwan? Mr. J: I’m looking forward to their food. Everyone says the food there is great. I’ve also always wanted to live in a different part of the world. PD: Are you going to try and meet up with the next fifth grade exchange trip? Mr. J: I hope to, and I’d like to. PD: Will you ever come back to CAIS? Mr. J: I don’t know. I’ll be in Taiwan for two years, so yeah, maybe. We talked to some 4th graders to hear their thoughts about Mr Jones’ departure. “I’ll miss him. I’ll miss playing knockout with him at recess,” said Tianji Lukins, 4th gold. “I’ll miss him, said another 4th grader. “I think he’ll remember that in 2011 a lot of kids liked his TA, Ms.Chienchi, almost as much as him!”
Report Cards: Blessing or Curse? By Peter Carroll, Tyler Kwok, Clay Froelich The trimester is over and it’s time for the fear-stricken students at Chinese American International School to brace themselves for congratulations by their parents, or CERTAIN DEATH. One thing kids fear the most in school is report cards; CAIS is no exception. Whether you’re in middle school or elementary, getting your report cards is one of the most nerve racking times of the year. Parents love report cards, they love to see if their child is doing well in school and how good a job they’ve done as a parent. You can now imagine why they’re so mad at you when you don’t get a good grade; it’s a punch in the face for their parenting ego. Students, on the other hand, get very nervous when report card time comes around. We interviewed a number of kids and concluded that almost everyone we interviewed felt a little antsy at the end of the semester or trimester. One reason Sheridan Lim in 6th grade is nervous is because she “doesn’t want to get a bad grade and let her parents down.” Bakari Smith, in 8th grade however, looks forward to report cards. He thinks teachers “spend a lot of their time making the comments and suggestions on the report cards.” And, if he gets good grades, his parents will reward him by taking him to see a movie. They aren’t as focused on punishment. In our opinion, we need report cards in order to understand what we need to improve on in school. We understand it can be scary, especially in the lower grades, but it seems like as students get older they start to understand how to use their report cards to help improve and get better grades. So remember, report cards might not always be fun, but they are necessary. Instead of being scared of them, learn from the mistakes you made last semester/trimester and improve your grades next time.
Friday Night Fly By Michelle Morgan, Mirei Golding-Powers, and Sheridan Lim Friday Night Fly is a place where sixth graders from other schools go to mingle, play games, and dance. It is at the JCC in San Francisco. When you first get there, you can just hang out and talk with your friends from different schools. CAIS students Sheridan Lim and Mirei GoldingPowers relax in the car before Friday Night Fly.
“Friday Night Fly is a great way to meet new people. I’m always really excited for the next one.” Tyler Rike 6th Grade Hamlin School
Then you get to dance with other people. There are fast songs and slow songs. It’s also a great way to meet new people. "Friday Night Fly is a great way to meet new people,” says Tylor Rike, a sixth grader from Hamlin. “I'm always REALLY excited for the next one.” They play new songs and old songs. You can also request songs. Sometimes they’ll play a slow song, so you can slow dance. They have one every month. Admission is 20$ for a non-member, and 15$ dollars for a member. For more information, please visit the JCCSF website (www.jccsf.org/programs/teen/ friday-night-fly).
Sixth and Seventh Graders Go To Beijing By Kelsey Rasmussen Many Sixth and Seventh graders are going on a trip to China! This is a new addition to the CAIS curriculum. In the past trips the trip to China and Taiwan were only for the 8th and 5th graders. The 5th and 8th grade trips are exchange trips with Middle and Elementary schoolers in China and Taiwan. The new trip I am going on this year is not an exchange trip. It is a trip similar to a tour, but the difference is all the students on the trip are going to be interacting with locals. The goal of the trip is the same as the exchange trip to China and Taiwan; to enrich the Mandarin speaking experience for CAIS students. Going to China gives us a chance to open our eyes to a different place, bargain with villagers, and learn about the other side of the world! I want to give everyone an idea what we will be doing in China. This trip is from March 31 – April 10, but we will be on planes at least 24 hours of this time… First we will have over three days in Beijing which will include: Market Challenge Hutong walk exploration Storytelling in Forbidden City Tiananmen Square Peking Duck Dinner Hexi Village Jinshangling Great Wall Temple of Heaven Huiling Community Center Overnight Train trip to Xi An Then three days in Xi An which will include: Big Wild Goose Pagoda Cheng’en Temple Muslim Quarter Great Mosque Shaanxi shadow puppet show Dumpling banquet Dinner Terracota Warriors Taiyangcun Flight from Xi An to Cheng Du Followed by three days in Cheng Du which will include: Cooking Demonstration and Lesson Jinli Street Wanjianglou Park ( kung fu lesson ) Anlong Village Giant Panda Breeding Center Flight from Chengdu to Bejing Finally, we are back in Bejing: Farewell Dinner Flight from Bejing back to San Francisco!
Pi R Squared? No Pi Are Round, Cake Are Squared By Maxwell Wang There are two meanings of pie; one is 3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273 7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436 7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859 5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881 7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303 5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778 1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989 3809525720 1065485863 2788659361 5338182796 8230301952 0353018529 6899577362 2599413891 2497217752 8347913151 5574857242 4541506959 the other is the scrumptious little pastry that we eat today as a dessert. The first meaning is a very important part of the
math that involves finding the circumference of a circle and is the main focus on this article. Mr. Churchill, math and science teacher for the 6th graders, had kindly organized a special “Pi Day” celebration on Monday (3/14) that includes a ð memorization contest, tasty, fresh baked pies and more fun activities. First, all middle school kids went to MPR3 for an assembly and told pi jokes and sung pi songs. The jokes were witty, the songs were enjoyable and a lot of people were entertained. Next came the Pi Memorization Contest with Michael Kim, Michelle Morgan, Alvan Cai, and Emma Ng. The winner was Michael who recited 149 digits of pi, 5 more than last year’s winner, Ivan and the grand prize was a special pi T-shirt that read “pi-lingual”. Finally everybody winded down with pies supplied by some kind students. There were yummy apple pies, delicious cream pies, savory cherry pies and more types of scrumptious pies. Most people
loved the pies and I myself enjoyed then very much. Unfortunately, that was the end of Pi Day this year for 2011. It is an enjoyable moment and will be continued next year. As one satisfied person said, “Pi day was okay, and the pies were delicious!”
Why Are These Birds So Angry? By Larry Fong Have you ever been walking down a road and see a wingless bird fly past you? Ever see a pig burst into feathers after a black bird blows it up? Because I have; in fact, I see it everyday. Welcome to the world of “Angry Birds.” In this multiplatform game, you help several species of birds save their eggs from the villianous Green Pigs. Ever since its release in 2009, Angry Birds has rocketed up the game charts, selling more copies than even Plants vs. Zombies, which was released in the same year. The concept of Angry Birds is to kill all the green pigs using various birds with special abilities. With many
ways to decimate your enemies and comical humor, it’s all the rage in the world of video game apps. In my eyes, this game is simply the epitome of fun. There have been times where I played this game so long that I never noticed that how many hours have passed when I finally look up. With top of the notch humor and hysterical art and animation this game is the best of the best. After I first noticed my cousin playing the game, I decided to download it for my own. To put it simply, I didn’t put it down for 5 hours after downloading Angry Birds.
Getting Ready For High School By Bakari Smith Other than difficult classes and subjects, there’s a much bigger challenge that 8th graders face. It’s a daunting shadow that follows all Middle Schoolers, but it’s not blown into perspective until 8th grade. It’s not just the prospect of leaving CAIS that makes high schools daunting, but it’s also the application process. Some people applied for over a dozen high schools; I myself applied to 7 high schools, and it was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced. A crazy combination of essays, teacher recommendations, standardized test scores, report cards, and parent essays make up your average high school application. Some schools (like School of the Arts) also require complicated portfolios of art or music auditions. Sound like fun? Good answer. After wrestling my way through stacks of applications, the most nerve-racking stage sets in: Waiting for my acceptance or rejection letters. I can also be waitlisted to a high school, which means I’ll only be accepted if there’s a space left for me in the class. Well, I guess it’s waiting time….
A Little Time With Mr. Bissell By Dewi Beer and Caitlin Farmer On a beautiful Wednesday morning we went down to the first floor to interview Mr.Bissel, the head of our school and one of our new staff members at CAIS. When we got there he gave us a tour of his lovely office, There were very nice antiques and furniture! After the tour, we had an interview with him. We then sat down with him and began asking questions, here is how it went: Paper Dragon: How do you feel about CAIS? Mr. Bissell: I love CAIS and here are the things that I love about it: the people, the people, and the people. This is the most interesting group of kids I’ve ever worked with. Talking to CAIS students always puts me in a good mood. PD: How much do you like CAIS?
Mr. Bissell, Dewi, and Caitlin take a break from their reading.
PD: What did you do in China? PD: Did you like living in Taiwan? JB: I like it so much that I spend all of JB: I was the principal of a Chinese High JB: Yes, I lived in Taiwan for 2 years. my working hours doing it. School. PD: Why did you choose this school to PD: What are your hobbies? work at? JB: Here are my hobbies: bicycle trips, JB: The main reason that I’m at this “I have a lot to hiking, playing guitar, I like to read, I like school is to see kids learn Mandarin. I to exercise, and I like to travel. lived in China for 15 years and I learn and my greatest developed my own ability to speak hope is that someday PD: What do you think of the CAIS Mandarin, it opened my eyes to a whole staff? new world. I’ll know enough JB:There are so many experienced PD: What was your life like in China? about this school to people here who are really focused on JB: It was unbelievably wonderful, serve the students in kids so they always know what to do in different situations. interesting, and stimulating. I can’t possibly imagine not having lived there. the best possible way PD: What is your greatest hope? PD: Do you have anything that you and that’s my honest JB: I have a lot to learn and my greatest would like to change about CAIS? answer.” hope is that someday I’ll know enough JB: A bigger building with more about this school to serve the students classrooms, more open spaces for kids in the best possible way and that’s my - Mr. Bissell to hang out in, a theater, a gym, a honest answer. cafeteria with Asian food, and lots of other cool stuff.
CAIS Students Visit Many Ski Resort This Season By Robert Huang This year during ski break, a lot of people went sking. These are some of the places people went to ski: Dodge Ridge in Pinecrest, California was where some students went. There are lessons for children, and there are slopes for all levels. It takes 5 minutes to go up the lift.The rental skis and snowboards are really heavy. The snow over there is really good for skiing and snowboarding. Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe, California is one of the favorite places students like to go ski. To get there you have to ride a gondola which is about 5 minutes. There are 3 levels, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. People of all ages can learn how to ski there. Since Heavenly is very big you can easily get lost. “It’s one of the biggest ski resorts in the world,” said Evan Lim. “And since I learned how to ski there, it’s a big part of my ski life.”
“Since I learned how to ski there, it’s a big part of my ski life.” Evan Lim, 4th Grade
Manor Vail Ski Resort in Vail Colorado is another one of the places people went to. There is a ski school and even a place where can get free hot chocolate and cookies. The lift takes 2-3 minutes to go up. Since new snow falls often, the skis can get stuck. If you get hungry, the Larkspur Resteraunt is nearby. It serves american food and it has a good reputation because Lindsay Vonn, the Olympic skier, often goes there to eat.
How Do You Like The New Tartine? By Graham Sak, Evan Lim, and Benjamin Gilbert “I think Ms. Talbot owning Many of the students at CAIS “I think the food tastes good,” Tartine is interesting and the food and enjoy snacks and drinks just around the said 4th grader, Lila Holman. “It’s like business is good because she is good at everything,” said Henry Peterson. corner from our school at Tartine. a 5 star cafe!” However, there has recently “I feel it’s a big change but it’s “I like Cafe Tartine because it’s been a big change at Tartine, even if it a great coffee shop for CAIS teachers,” good for Marc to do work besides is not immediately apparent. Tartine work.” said 5th grader, Crissy There is a new owner and she said afterschool teacher, Ms. Katherine. Sak. is familiar to anyone who has ever had “ I also like the cheese sandwiches, and a PE class at CAIS. She is Ms. Debbie I like the nice people there.” “I feel that Ms. Talbot owning Talbot. Tartines is not so noticeable,” said 4th “I think Ms. Talbot owning So, how do people like the tartine is really good,” said Sophia grader, Tianji Lukins. “But it’s new Tartine? Graham. “They should open up more awesome.” We decided to find out. Café Tartines so they can expand their “I think it’s pretty good that Ms. “I like to go there sometimes business.” Talbot owns Tartine because Ms. and get anything I’d like!”said Griffon Talbot is good with her job and she’s Shen. also good at kids.” said Nicholas Tong.
Who Are the People in the CAIS Community? By Mari Fong and Isabella Ng Jobs, jobs, jobs. There are so many different jobs at Chinese American International School filled with talented and enthusiastic people. What are these jobs and who are the people who work these jobs? We interviewed two of the great members of the CAIS community to find out: Ms. Barbara, Front Desk To many of the CAIS students Ms. Barbara is the smiling face at the front desk that greets everyone as they walk in . In her job, Ms. Barbara answers the phones at the front desk, The ot her teacher we keeps an eye on the attendance, helps PD: How much do you like your job? MB: I imennsley (Extremely) love my interviewed was Zhou Lao Shi. parents coordinate pick up, and she job. She is the 7th grade Chinese does so many more things. Language Arts Teacher. In that position Paper Dragon: Why did you want to PD: How old is your daughter, Maddie? she teachers 7th grade students MB: Maddie is 7. join CAIS? Chinese. Ms. Barbara: Ive always worked at PD: What parts of your job do you not She has also held many other schools. Once I worked at a college. I really like, or want to improve in? positions at CAIS. love working with kids. I wanted to be MB: When there’s a problem, I part of my daughter’s school. ALWAYS find a solution. I love all parts Paper Dragon: Do you like your job? of my job.I always do the best I can. Zhou Lao Shi: Yes, I love my job. PD: Why do you like your job? ZLS: I like my job because I like to be around kids. PD: What part of your job is most enjoyable? ZLS: I like to see children learn Chinese.
Both teachers we interviewed love to work with kids! It’s great to have such enthusiastic and dedicated teachers here at our school.
5th Grade Students Go To Taipei For Exchange Program By Zachary Ngin As most people are probably aware of, the 5th and 8th grade exchange trips are coming up soon, and this is an article about the 5th grade exchange trip, and how people feel about it before the trip. This is about the trip in general, why people are going, and why they are not. Many past 5th graders have enjoyed the Taipei trip in the years past. This is the exchange’s 5th year. Current 6th grader Giana said that she recommends that everyone should go, it’s a great experience, and many people are nice in Taipei. If a lot of other people enjoyed this trip in the past, I’m sure everyone will enjoy it this year. More people than usual are going on the exchange trip this year, 23 students. Here are some thoughts and some reasons why this year’s students are going to Taipei. Andrew Chan, 5th grade red class said “I want to be more independent and have a new experience out of the country.” Joey Silberman, 5th grade green, said “I want to go to Taipei for a few reasons. One is I like the buddy idea and showing the buddy America. Another is I want a new experience in a new country. Another is I want to see what life is like there.” Some other people are going because they want an adventure, some people are going because their friends are going so they want to go too, some people are going because their older sibling went, and some are going because their parents are making them.
Some students are not going on the exchange trip for many reasons. Some students aren’t going because they’re parents won’t let them go, some aren’t going because they don’t want to miss their Spring Break, some student’s families can’t accommodate the buddy, and some students aren’t going for health reasons, such as allergies. I am among those people that are going to Taipei this year. I’m going because many past people enjoyed this trip, my friends are going, and I think I would enjoy a new experience with a new family, in a new country. I want to show my buddy America, and I want it to be a meaningful experience for him. Here’s an interview with Ms. Karen Wang, the CAIS exchange trip coordinator. PaperDragon: What is the purpoise of the exchange trips? Ms. Karen Wang: I think the exchange trips is a very meaningful way for the students to share what they’ve learned. They have a good oppurtunity to use and speak Chinese in another country.They can also learn Chinese culture. PD: Have you ever been on an exchange trip? KW: I came from China for college, and it also feels like an exchange trip, I’m always learning new things, but I haven’t been on a official exchange trip. PD: Have you ever been to Taipei? KW: No PD: How do you feel about organizing the exchange trips? KW: It’s a lot of work,but it’s worth it because it’s so meaningful for the students. That concludes an interview with Ms. Wang. After reading reading this article, I hope yo u know and understand the meaning of our exchange t rips here at CAIS.
This page and the previous page: Pictures from last year’s 5th grade Exchange Program trip to Taipei.
Firedragons Looking Hot As Bball Season Ends
By Andrew Chan Our 2010-2011 CAIS basketball teams all had phenomenal seasons and now it has come to an end. The 2010-2011 boys Junior Varsity had a great season that ended with a win in the championship game. In the regular season they went undefeated; they won 10 games and lost 0. In the playoffs, they also were undefeatedand took home the Junior Varsity Championship Trophy. “We should have another season. It sucks that is over,” said 6th grader, Michael Kim. Coach Erik says, “ I am really happy that we are champs,” said Coach Erik. “I’m also happy that the team outperformed our expectations and we achieved greatness!!” “I guess I’m kind of sad and happy at the same time,” said 6th Grader Jordan Chin. “I’m sad because it ended and happy because we won and had a perfect season.” The junior varsity girls also had a good season winning 9 games losing 1. That is the best record in CAIS junior varsity history! They also went to the playoffs but just came up short of winning the junior varsity girls trophy. Although they didn’t win the championship, they still had a lot of fun playing. “I am very depressed that we lost,” said 5th grade center, Bryn Gillelen. “But we played really well.” 6th grade point-guard, Mirei Golding-Powers aggreed, “I am really sad that we lost. But we played well.” “We were
very successful and I really enjoyed the season,” said 6th grade power forward Adri denBroeder. “But I am sad that the season’s over because we had a great squad.” “We played really well but our playoff game was bad luck,” lamented 5th grade point guard, Jamie Lau. Another CAIS basketball team that played really well is the boys varsity team. They also had a really good year and were 5-2 in their regular season. Unfortunately they lost in the first round of the playoffs in a game where they played really well. “We had a good chance but we blew it,” said 8th grade power forward, Ethan Ko. Last but not least, the varsity girls had a huge task ahead of them if they wanted to match last season’s success. They returned all of their starters from the year before when they lost in the championship game. This season they were 6-1 in league play and they looked forward to meeting their arch rivals, SF School, in the playoffs. They coasted through their first rouond playoff game against, which set up a semi-final game against SF School, the team they lost to in the championship game the year before. Unfortunately, they could not beat the talented SF School team that eventually went on to win the league championship for the second year in a row. “We played really well and had fun playing. All of the girls on this team showed a lot of heart and I think that is what is important,” said coach Ron Morris. “Even though we did not win, we walked off the court proud of the game we played and of what we accomplished this season. I am going to miss these girls when they graduate this June.”
New Recess Times Playing to Mixed Reviews By Sarah Huang Our recesses have been the same since the beginning of the year, 2nd-4th grades had the 9:25 and the 1:40 recesses, 5th grade had the 9:25 and the 1:00 recess, and the 6th grade had the 9:00 recess. Suddenly, after Flip Friday, it changed. The 4th grade and 5th recesses got changed to 9:05, and the 4th grade recess got changed to 1:00. The 4th graders seem to like the new recesses, having more room than before to play. In the morning recess at 9:05, the 4th graders play football, tetherball, wallball, or play games pretending to be someone else. In the afternoon recess at 1:00, they play almost the same things, except they also play kickball. Rene Fong, a 4th grader comments about the recesses, “I like the new recesses because it gives 4th graders more space in the recess yard.” Benjamin Gilbert, another 4th grader says, “I like the new recess because the 3rd graders aren’t taking over the wallball court anymore.”
A different thing about the 5th grade is that they don’t like the new recesses as much. The 5th graders old recess was 9:25 and 1:00, but now the 9:25 recess got changed to 9:05. In the morning, the 5th graders play basketball, soccer, Potions, Sand Monster, or play games involving kicking a ball. In the afternoon, they play the same thing, except they also play kickball.
Mari Fong, a 5th grader complains, “I don’t like the new recesses because there are too many people.” Some people also like one recess, but not the other. 5th grader Isabella Ng says, “I like the 9:05 recess, but not the 1:00 recess because we used to have the 1:00 recess to ourselves.” Some other people are very positive about the new recesses like 5th grader Dewi Beer who says, “ I like the new morning recesses because it’s only 4th, 5th and 6th grades.” 6th graders have the 9:05 recess in the yard Monday through Wednesday, and they play a variety of things. Mirei Golding-Powers, a 6th grader say, “I like the new recess because we get to mingle with the 5th grade, and we don’t get in trouble for screaming in open space.” Even though the recess has changed a lot, it’s still the time for relaxing, reading, playing, or anything else people do at recess. It’s still the recess for exercising and enjoying the sunshine.
The Third Storm By Crissy Sak Thud, thud, thud. The man’s footsteps pounded against the barren ground. The muddy marshland once again became a dry wasteland. The storms here were wet with claps of lightning and rumbling thunder. The person stopped at a large mud house. It was barely distinguishable from the dry cracked earth. A man’s head adorned with feathers and beads poked out of the house. Words were exchanged. The man emerged from the mud house, grim faced. He gave a strangled cry and people came out of well-blended mud houses. They stared in bewilderment at the two men. One of them spoke, his voice clear but with a hint of fear. “The Third Storm is coming.” He said grimly. Many people gasped, horror etched across their faces.
The third storm is very deadly. It was a howling, churning storm. Lightning would slam against the earth, the wind howls loud enough for someone to become deaf, the thunder rumbles and screeches like a wounded animal and tornadoes destroy everything in its path. A bent, wrinkled old man stepped forward, “Are you sure about this Alher?” He asked hesitantly. The man who had come to visit the mudhouse said matter-of-factly, “My predictions are never wrong. I have read the sky and this is the answer.” He looked at the man who lived in the mud house. “What shall we do?” Alher asked grimly. The man looked at the horrified people, then back at Alher. His reply came out barely as a whisper, “I don’t know.”
To Be Continued...