Eagle May 25 2012

A PUBLICATION OF SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOLMay 25 2012

JACARANDA

BATTLE OF THE BOOKS

BOARD ELECTION

APAC

May 25 Cover.indd 1 5/21/12 1:31 PM

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The Eagle | May 25, 2012 1

May 25, 2012 / Volume 3 / Number 15

CONTENT

Great summer days Kerry Jacobson 2

Inside SAS Steven Lane 3

Re-enrollment process TK Ostrom 4

Visitation day Erin McCall 8

Board election Kim Lange 10

Battle of the Books Barbara Boyer, Edwin Zen, 12and Claire Chen

Jacaranda lights up Robert Burke 14

ELEW – Jazz pianist MayLynn Chen 17

A day of robotics adventure Shri Chander 18

You sure you want to eat that? Shri Chander 19

Roots & Shoots Coke Smith and Luke Wang 20

A Chinese pen pal activity Stephanie Zuo 26

Space camp Amanda Li 27

Visting authors Bridget Lu and Alice Chen 28

APAC track and field championships 30 Sandy Elder

Menu 31

Upcoming events 32

Content

p 14

p 28

On the cover: One-of-a-kind jazz pianist ELEW with Puxi high school faculty.

p 20

Upcoming board meetings

Meeting #9: May 28, 2012, 6:30 p.m., Pudong campus

Meeting #10: June 9, 2012, 8:00 a.m., Kerry Center

Pudong venue: High School Library Garden Room, Pudong campus

Kerry Center: Jun He Law Offices, 32 F No. 1515 Nanjing West Road, Shanghai 200040

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2 The Eagle | May 25, 2012

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

Great summer daysBy Dr. Kerry Jacobson, Superintendent

When we were kids, summer seemed long — good and long. Smart friends called it “languor-ous.” As adults, summer somehow became shorter — shorter than the life of a fruit fly!

Everyone seems to be talking about summer these days. Where are you going? What are you going to do in June, in July? When are you coming back in August? The language of summer pervades the halls of SAS: travel, camps, relatives, picnic, paint, Grandma, Grandpa, golf, beach, frisbee, SWIMMING, friends, bike, vacation, tennis … ice cream!

Many of you will be traveling to destinations overseas or around China. For those who will be here in Shanghai for all or part of the summer,

take a look at the rich learning opportunities available here for your children at the SAS Summer Program. This year, the theme is Moving Forward with Technology and we offer it as a service to our community.

Summer learning is great fun. Listen to the titles of these one- and two-week sessions:

y Science – The Great Dino Mystery y Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Musical Theater Camp y Slime Time y The Mystery of the Sphinx y Gizmo’s Robot Factory y Chemistry Capers y Magician’s Workshop

There are all sorts of literacy programs, as well, both for beginners and more advanced students. Chinese language camps are also popular. Multimedia presen-tation skills will be emphasized as this is one of the distinguishing features of an American education.

One of my brothers used to say, “A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing … and the lawn mower is broken!”

Enjoy your summer. Please keep reading and learning. Summer is fun!

The Eagle is produced by the SAS Communications Office, based on both the Puxi and Pudong campuses. It is typically published twice a month, although publications schedules may vary due to school holidays. Informa-tion in the magazine is primarily about SAS people and organizations. We encourage parents, students, teachers, and administrators to submit stories and photography. It is often helpful to contact the editors in advance to discuss content, length, and timing. Articles from non-SAS sources are published on a space available basis. All submissions will be edited for style, length, and tone. Articles and stories from the Eagle also appear on our EagleOnline website, at www.eagleonline.org.

The Eagle Production TeamManaging Editor: Sandra Lee Graphic Designers: Fredrik Jönsson and Cindy WangAdvertising Manager: Ji LiuExecutive Editor: Steven Lane

Pudong campus: Shanghai Executive Community, 1600 Ling Bai Road, San Jia Gang, Pudong, Shanghai 201201. Tel: 6221-1445.

Puxi campus: 258 Jinfeng Road, Huacao Town, Minghang District, Shanghai 201107. Tel: 6221-1445.

Email: [email protected]

A

Century

of

Tradition

SHANGHAI

AMERICAN

SCHOOL

Established

1912

Check out the offerings and find the time schedules at www.saschina.org/summerprogram. Better yet, shoot Summer School Director Jeff Thompson an email at [email protected] and find out what activities suit you and your child best.

Join us on the SAS Puxi campus Session 1: June 18–June 22Session 2: June 25–July 6Session 3: July 9–July 20

The SAS Summer Program is open to all families residing in Shanghai this summer. For more information visit www.saschina.org/SummerProgram.

Register no later than May 31, 2012.

Shanghai American School n Puxi Campus n 258 Jin Feng Rd., Huacao Town, Minhang District n Tel: 6221-1445, ext. 2254

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INSIDE SAS

Multiple hats, multiple perspectivesBy Steven Lane, Director of Communications

Approaching the end of my first year on the job, and sec-ond year connected to SAS, I have now had the opportunity of observing this remarkable institution from a number of perspectives — trailing spouse, parent, substitute teacher, staff member, Chinese student, and even, for a few glorious afternoons last spring, baseball scorer. In this space I'd like to share a few thoughts on wear-ing multiple hats, and some updates on communications and our strategic plan. Whichever way you look at

it, SAS is quite a place. As an institution where children to learn and grow, it is both challenging and nurturing. As an organiza-tion, it is a phenomenon — rising from the ashes in the 1980s with a handful of students in a building on the US Consulate grounds, and more recently growing from fewer than 1,000 stu-dents to more than 3,000 in a little over a decade. As a historical entity, SAS is adding depth to its self-definition as it reengages with its past in this Centennial year. And as a place to work, it is stimulating and rewarding (and yes, occasionally exhausting).

Family AffairWorking in the same school as your children attend, and where your spouse also works, is a new experience for me, and can create some interesting dynamics. It still feels a bit strange for the four of us to pile into the car some days and head off to the same place. And of course you have all of the multiple intercon-nections of expatriate communities everywhere. Relationships and communications can get complicated when, say, your child’s teacher is married to your boss (who also lives in your building and is your daughter’s basketball coach), takes yoga with your wife, and is the parent of your son’s best friend — to take a purely hypothetical example.

I can also report that middle schoolers can be a bit squea-mish when parents try to give them hugs in front of their friends in the cafeteria. On the other hand it is comforting to all be so embedded in the same community, for the kids to be able to stop by your office after swim practice, to go to fairs and sports tournaments and plays together at a place where we all have a daily connection.

Strategic Plan Switching hats. A role I have greatly enjoyed this year is as inter-nal facilitator for the strategic planning process. I have been part of similar processes in the past but, as I am finding with many things at SAS, the process here was on a whole different scale and level of intensity. Nearly a hundred people from the com-munity were involved in the planning and action teams, which met many times over the course of the year, with an elaborate

system of iterative reporting back to the central core planning team at various stages in the process. As a new staff member, it was a great education to witness SAS wrestle with fundamental questions of its identity, ultimately adopting a bold new direc-tion for the new school mission, as well as a great way to meet key players in the community. Now for the hard part: the implementation stage. Five results have been selected [go to http://www.saschina.org/?page =SasStrategicPlan for details] to be implemented in the first year. Leaders have been selected by the superintendent and they are starting to put together teams, brainstorm ideas, and develop plans for next year, building on the action plans developed by the action teams.

Strategic plans can have a tendency to be produced with much fanfare and then sit quietly on a shelf gathering dust until the next planning cycle begins. I can assure you that there is no danger of that happening with this one! By this time next year you will have heard as much as you could ever want to know — possibly more — about the implementation of the plan. We plan to have a regular column in the Eagle that will highlight activities around the school that demonstrate kids living the mission, which has already taken deep root in the community. There are also plans for a special project involving parents — stay tuned.

CommunicationsIn other communications news, a number of changes are planned for next year. Most significantly, the Eagle will be mov-ing from biweekly to monthly. This will give us more time to plan and shape each issue, to make each issue more of a keepsake record of the life of the school each month, as well as saving a few trees. Look for more photos, more polished articles, and bet-ter coordinated coverage of activities that involve both campuses.

To fill the gap between issues, we plan to launch a weekly electronic newsletter. This will be more of a forward-looking publication, designed to gather up many of the schoolwide emails we now send out into one regular weekly package that will tell you everything that is coming up over the following week or two. It will also provide links to articles added to the Eagle Online in between print issues. And the Eagle Online it-self will be enhanced, with a new design, more frequent updates, and additional photos and other enhanced content.

Details will be finalized by the beginning of the next school year. To help us better understand the parent perspective, we have arranged parent focus groups on each campus. Parents with a wide variety of experiences with SAS — different divisions, different language backgrounds — have volunteered to spend a couple of hours telling us what they like and don't like about the Eagle, the website, mass emails, and other SAS communications. The results should be illuminating. Wearing multiple hats can be occasionally schizogenic — and contribute to baldness — but I believe it also gives me a richer perspective on the SAS community and provides insights on how to manage its communications. Look for some changes next year, and as always, please feel free to provide feedback. My email ([email protected]) and door are always open.

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All parents of both new and returning students enrolled for the 2012-2013 school year are required to complete the mandatory enrollment/re-enrollment process in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Beginning on Friday, May 25, 2012, this process will be open for re-turning parents to complete all components by the start of school on Wednesday, August 15, 2012.

Important Note: Before beginning this process, you must have created a new parent account on the PowerSchool Parent Portal. This information was sent individually to all current parents (both mother and father) between March 13 and 15, 2012. If you did not receive this information, please email [email protected] with your name and child(ren)’s names and a PowerSchool administrator will contact you. In addition, it is extremely important to make sure that you and your child(ren) are linked together in this account. Please note, parents are considered as students in PowerSchool. If you need assistance, video tutorials about this process are available in the Parent Portal and on each division’s blog.

The enrollment/re-enrollment process consists of five steps: 1. Reviewing the new school mission and core values, reading

the Enrollment/Re-Enrollment agreement form carefully and agreeing to all the terms and conditions, and updating student passport, visa, or travel documentation

2. Reviewing and updating medical information3. Requesting transportation for new or transferred students4. Updating parents’ passports and visas5. Uploading final high school transcripts (only for new stu-

dents entering grades 10-12).

This important process needs to be completed every year for returning families.

Below are step-by-step instructions that will guide you through the process. It is important to familiarize yourself with these steps before you begin.

Before you begin, please have available your passport and visa information for parents and students, and the medi-cal information for students.

To get started, log into your PowerSchool parent account and click on the name of your child on the blue bar at the top of the screen. Click on the Enrollment/Re-Enrollment Process icon on the left side of the page.

RE-ENROLLMENT

Re-enrollment process required for all returning studentsBy TK Ostrom, Director of Admission

Step 1Mission Statement and Core ValuesClick on the Mission and Core Values link to go to this informa-tion in English, Chinese, and Korean. Please read this informa-tion carefully and indicate that you understand and support the new mission and core values of the school by selecting yes on the dropdown. Then click the Submit button to move to the next page.

Enrollment/Re-Enrollment AgreementPlease make sure you read this agreement form carefully and agree to all the terms and conditions. The parent that submits the agreement must enter under Signatory: Mother or Father, Passport Number, Expiration Date, and the Date of Agreement to complete the process. This agreement is required for each child to be enrolled/re-enrolled into the school. You can keep a copy of the agreement for your reference by clicking on the printer icon. However, you do not need to return the hard copy to the school.

Passport and Visa Information (Student)Make the necessary changes to the student’s passport and visa information if there have been any changes since last year or if either one has expired.

To view your available documents on file, click the ap-plicable link (Passport, Visa, Hong Kong/Macao, Taiwan). If the document is not found or is not current, click on the link to upload the new documents, which must have been scanned and saved as JPEG files. Please make sure to upload the photo identification page of the passport and the current valid visa and/or residency permit page. Follow the instructions on the Upload Scanned Passport page carefully before uploading the file. Click Choose File, then choose the file that you want to upload and click the Upload button. When you have finished uploading your files, close the window.

You can check if your files were uploaded properly by click-ing on the applicable links (Passport, Visa, etc.) again.

Important Note: If you do not have scanning capabili-ties on your printer or computer, please come to the Of-fice of Admission with your required official documents. The admission assistant will scan them into your Parent Portal. It is important to call ahead of time to make sure that someone is available to assist you in this important process.

Step 2Medical Form GuidelinesClick on the link and read this information carefully. These de-tailed instructions clearly outline what is required by the school in order for your child(ren) to attend SAS in the 2012-2013 school year. Additionally, we have included all of the divisional nurses’ names and contact information for your reference.

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ACTIVITIESRE-ENROLLMENT

Emergency Contacts/Medical History (Two emergency contacts are required)Review the emergency contacts the school has on file and update or add as required. You then need to update your child’s medical history if anything has changed this school year before you sub-mit. Once submitted, your child’s divisional nurse will receive your information. The nurse will contact you if she has any ques-tions, if you do not submit any emergency contacts, or have not updated any medical information by the start of school.

Immunization RecordsCheck the appropriate box for your child. If your child has received a new immunization(s) since last school year or is a new student, please submit a copy of the immunization record directly to your child’s divisional nurse.

Medication PermissionAll new students must check individual boxes or the Check All box to give the nurse permission to administer some or all of these medications. All new and returning students review the current permission to administer some or all of these medica-tions and make any necessary changes.

Emergency Care PermissionChoose from the dropdown (yes or no) to give permission for the school to provide emergency care for your child(ren) if necessary.

Medical ExaminationFor all new students and returning students entering grades 3, 6, 9, 11: Click on this link to print the form for you to take to the doctor’s office. Make certain the form is completed in its entirety and signed by a doctor. You are required to return the completed and signed form to the office of the divisional nurse for your child’s next school year, no later than the start of the new school year on Wednesday, August 15, 2012.

Important Note: All medical requirements must be completed before the first day of school. Loss of attendance privileges will result from noncompliance with school policy, which requires proof of medical examinations and vaccinations to be forwarded to SAS nurses.

Step 3 (Optional Registration) Transportation Registration All new and returning students who have transferred campuses or who have moved to a different housing compound: If your child is new or has transferred campuses and/or moved to another housing compound, you need to complete the form and choose from a list of approved major compounds and re-agree to the terms and conditions. Once you complete and submit the new transportation form, the transportation office will contact

you within three business days before the new transportation route is approved.

Step 4Parents’ Passport and Visa Upload After completing your student’s enrollment/re-enrollment process, parents need to upload their passport and visa information.

To begin, you will need to click on a parent name on the blue bar and click the Parent Passport & Visa Upload icon. Then follow the directions on the previous page under Passport and Visa information (student). Be certain to complete informa-tion for both parents. These documents are required annually to verify that proper residency permits and visas are maintained for each student and parent. The Shanghai Education Commis-sion reviews these documents annually and requires them to be accurate.

Step 5For NEW students entering grades 10-12: High School Transcript UploadNew students entering grades 10-12 must upload their final transcripts before the first day of school.

During the upcoming school year, if any of the information that you have entered changes, you can return to the PowerSchool database and update the information at any time.

As always, we appreciate your support and assistance through this important process. If you have any questions, please email the Office of Admission at [email protected].

Re-Enrollment Made Easy1. Before you begin, you must have created a new

parent account on the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

2. Have ready:a. Passport and visa information for all students

and parents.b. Current medical forms and immunization

records.

3. Make sure your emergency contact information is current.

4. You will need your student's high school transcripts for grades 10-12 (only for new students).

5. Problems scanning these documents? You may bring all official documents to the Office of Admission and they will assist you.

Any questions, email the Office of Admission at [email protected].

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One week to go!Edge for Excellence Annual Fund100 for 100: A campaign for 21st century learning

LEAVE yOUR IMPRINT. BE PART OF THE 100 PERCENT.

Contribute to the 2012 Edge for Excellence Annual Fund

Go to www.saschina.org and click on the handprint icon today!

May25.indd 6 5/21/12 1:34 PM


Thank you to the SAS Centennial Gala sponsors

Founders' Day Centennial FinaleSeptember 17, 2012

JoIN uS!Get your costumes ready for the 2012 Founders’ Day celebration.

We will end our centennial year with a Founders’ Day finale on September 17, 2012. This will mark the beginning of the next 100 years of Shanghai American School.

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SCHOOLWIDE

Visitation day sets up students for success By Erin McCall, Pre-K teacher, Puxi campus

More than 50 children visited SAS Elementary School, Puxi campus, in mid-May for the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Visitation Day that is hosted annually by the early childhood faculty. The day is designed to welcome our youngest learners into the SAS community. Children who participate in visitation are first prequalified by the Office of Admission, with final ac-ceptance coming after the visitation day by the Early Childhood Visitation Committee. This visitation day was one of several days that are held at SAS over the course of the year, on both campuses. (See box for more information.)

The Visitation Committee is comprised of classroom teach-ers, counselors, academic support faculty, and elementary school principals. The visitation committees on both campuses have worked together to create a warm, inviting, and informative experience for all Pre-K and Kindergarten students and their parents.

There are many advantages to this visitation process. First, it offers students and parents an opportunity to get to know each other in a small group setting prior to the first day of school. Secondly, it allows teachers to better understand the new stu-dents as learners and individuals before making class placement decisions. In addition, it gives teachers the chance to get a sense of the class as a whole, which allows them to make better plan-ning decisions. Finally, the Visitation Day is designed to lower student anxiety levels on the first day of school because they have familiarity with their new school.

During the Visitation Day, all new pre-K and Kinder-garten students experience fun and exciting activities, as well as having the opportunity to make a friend or two before the start of school. Students separate from parents to indepen-dently interact at a variety of fun-filled learning centers. While students are with the early childhood staff, parents meet and tour with the elementary school principals. After the visitation session is completed, the students meet up with their parents at a designated location.

Similar visitation days will take place on both campuses in the fall. Also scheduled for the fall are New Parent and Student Orientation Days for all parents and students going into grades 1–12. Parents are welcome to bring pre-K and Kindergarten students with them that day. However, they will need to stay with you during the parent orientation.

Upcoming visitation dates and other important dates:

� Puxi campus Fall Visitation Day: August 9, 2012

� Pudong campus Fall Visitation Day: August 9, 2012

� Pudong campus New Parent and Student Orientation Day: August 10, 2012

� Puxi campus New Parent and Student Orientation Day: August 13, 2012

PHOTOS BY SANDRA LEE

Top: Janet Claassen, kindergarten teacher, Puxi, playing with a prospective student.

Left: Lindel Limpisvasti, kindergarten teacher, Puxi, reading with two prospective students.

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Join us on the SAS Puxi campus Session 1: June 18–June 22Session 2: June 25–July 6Session 3: July 9–July 20

The SAS Summer Program is open to all families residing in Shanghai this summer. For more information visit www.saschina.org/SummerProgram.

Register no later than May 31, 2012.

Shanghai American School n Puxi Campus n 258 Jin Feng Rd., Huacao Town, Minhang District n Tel: 6221-1445, ext. 2254

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SCHOOLWIDE

The 2012 SAS Board of Directors Election has concluded and three new members will join the SAS Board for the 2012-13 school year: Raymond Chang, Candace Cooper, and Jay Dong. Current Board member Adam Juszynski was re-elected to anoth-er term. The SAS Election Committee, Board of Directors, and administration would like to thank all 10 of the candidates for stepping up to participate in the election, and we congratulate them for an excellent campaign. Participation in the election was high, with more than 2,000 ballots submitted, for a participation rate of 45%.

The SAS Board of Directors is the school’s governing body, with responsibility for setting the policies that guide the admin-istration. As Superintendent Kerry Jacobson noted in his email to the community, “The strength of Shanghai American School lies in the diligent participation of our parents in many aspects of school life. The selection of School Board members through our democratic voting process is the paramount example of this engagement.”

In addition to the candidates, many others were involved in the operation. The Election Committee oversaw the process and organized three “Meet the Candidate” events, one on each campus and one downtown. Committee members were Stella Chan (chair), John Wilde (vice chair), Aaron Buettner, Derek Hu, Dennis Li, Tracy Menendez, Chris Wurzel, Marina Yao, and Laura Zhu. Additional candidate events were organized by Puxi

Three new members elected to SAS Board of DirectorsBy Kim Lange, Assistant to the Board of Directors

PTSA Chinese Liaison Lina Wang and by the Pudong PTSA, led by co-presidents Diane Greisinger and Cathy Wang.

In addition to myself as Board assistant and project man-ager, a large number of staff members were involved. These included the Office of Communications staff, who edited and designed the voting materials and translated them into Chinese and Korean, PowerSchool administrators who posted materials on the Parent Portal, and the many staff who volunteered to help collate all the voting materials, put together the packets to be sent home, and monitored ballot boxes. All teachers and princi-pals worked hard to ensure that students received the packets to bring home to their parents.

Particular thanks go to the volunteers who handled the all-important task of verifying and counting the ballots: Amy Bu, Monica Chang, Katie Ferguson, Dennis Li, Yaoqin Li, Christie McClintock, Tracy Menendez, Wendy Nellis, Marilyn Sim, Ma-rina Yao, Queenie Zhang, and Laura Zhu. Election Committee members oversaw the process.

And finally, thank you to all of the parents who voted. Your participation in the process is crucial to ensuring the success of our school.

Complete profiles of all the candidates can be found on PowerSchool [login required] at: http://powerschool.saschina.org/guardian/boardminutepolicy.html.

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SCHOOLWIDE

Newly elected SAS Board Members

Jay Dong

Jay has two children at SAS Pudong, in grades 10 and 4. He earned his MA from Tufts University, and a master of medicine degree from Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University. He has worked for Cell Signaling Tech-nology, Inc., USA, as its Asia Pacific general manager, China general man-

ager, and Japan board member, as well as US marketing product manager and Asia business manager for Becton Dickinson and Company. He has been a member of the SAS Finance Commit-tee and the Core Planning Team. He notes: “We are living in a fast changing world. China, especially Shanghai, where SAS is located, is leading the way.”

Adam Juszynski

Adam has two children at SAS Pudong, in grades 10 and 6. He attended DePaul University in Chicago and is a certified public accountant. He has 25 years’ multinational experience in finance, sales, marketing, general management, including the last 20 years working for Coca-Cola in six countries. He is a

sitting member of the SAS Board of Directors and also served on the Core Planning Team. He says, “As my children have the privilege to attend a tremendous school, my wife and I have a responsibility to contribute to the school community.”

Raymond Chang

Raymond has three children at SAS Puxi, a 10th grader and two first graders. He received his MBA from Yale Univer-sity and was also educated at Harvard and New York universities. He is an experienced public company CEO, including leading New Focus Auto, LuckyPai, and GigaMedia, and was

voted by Fortune magazine as one of the 25 Next Generation Global Leaders under 40 in 2000. He says that as the “leading international school in one of the most strategic locations of the world, SAS bears a great responsibility of educating and prepar-ing leaders of the future.”

Candace Cooper

Candace has three children at SAS Puxi, in grades 9, 7, and 3. She is an attorney, and earned her JD from the Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville. She has worked for Kmart Corporation, BCBS of Michigan, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America. She was a member of the Core Planning Team

for the SAS strategic planning process, where she saw “commit-ment and passion of my fellow team members, parents, admin-istrators, and teachers from both campuses, to achieve the best result for those we were there to serve – the students of SAS.” Candace previously served on the board of the International School Bangkok.

Facing page: Kim Lange, assistant to the Board of Directors, and Kay Huh, Korean liaison, were among the many school staff preparing the 2012 election packets for students to bring home.

Left and above: Parent volunteers counting the ballots before the AGM on May 11.

PHOTOS BY STEVEN LANE AND kIM LANGE

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LIVING THE MISSION

Back in the fall, I was approached by Edwin Zen, a Pudong campus high school student, about hosting a Battle of the Books program in the elemen-tary school. Having already many projects on my plate, I began coming up with a list of polite excuses: The library would not have time, promoting competition is not good, too expensive, etc … Edwin then began telling me about his experiences with the Battle of the Books program. He said that he had not really been much of a reader before then, but that this program inspired him to become a reader. He wanted to give elementary students an opportunity that had been afforded to him. He even pulled out a keepsake T-shirt that he had won for answering a trivia question.

So now I’m hearing the SAS mission statement being shouted in my mind, and I’m asking myself do I really believe in lifelong learning, compas-sion, integrity, and the courage to live one’s dreams? If so, I should do what-ever it takes to help this student with his passion and inspiration.

The Battle of the Books program has been a huge success, with more than 100 4th and 5th graders participating (over 50% of the total popula-tion) voluntarily during their lunch recess time. Students and parents have loved it!

What have I learned? I need to be careful not to get so lost in the business of school, and more purposeful in using the SAS mission statement as a filter for why I do what I do.

I am grateful to Edwin Zen for persevering with me and allowing me the opportunity to grow.

Battle of the BooksBattle of the Books is a reading competition in which students sign up in teams of three to five people. There are 12 books to read and during the competition teams encounter questions in

the format, “In what book … ?” On a small whiteboard, teams write down the book title and the name of the author they feel best answers the question. The team with the most points wins.

A lesson in living the SAS mission statementBy Barbara Boyer, ES Librarian, Pudong campus

Edwin Zen facilitating the Battle of the Books.PHOTOS BY TAYLOR HAYDEN

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LIVING THE MISSION

13

The Battle of the Books has finally ended and the winners have gotten their prizes. The winning team received a stuffed panda, two books, and an ice cream pass as a reward. In the beginning of the Battle of the Books there were four practice sessions, then two elimination rounds and the final round. The first practice round was horrible. I was in Team Awesomest and we only got four points! My team quit and I could only join another team. I joined the Jellybean Muffins and we got better and better. When the elimination rounds came around, I was so nervous, but we got first place! In the second elimination round our team dropped back to second, but we made it to the last round of Battle of the Books. Only 4th graders were left (except for a 5th grade girl who had joined a 4th grade team.) and also, only girls were left.

The Battle of the Books final round started and I was so nervous I started drilling my fingernails in to my skin. The first question went by, then the second, then the thirrd. Finally, after all the questions were done, I turned to see the scoreboard. The Jellybean Muffins had won! My team! I couldn’t believe we had won! I was so happy! My teammates, Jessica, Wen Hsin, Christy, and Tiffany were also super happy. Thanks to Edwin Zen, the sponsor of the Battle of the Books. We are looking forward to next year!

Back in the fall of 2011, I approached Mrs. Boyer about doing a competition that has to do with reading as my IB CAS project. After a couple of meetings, the idea still seemed a bit shaky and neither of us expected more than 20 or 30 students to apply.

On November 17, all the 4th and 5th graders gathered in the library to witness an introduction to the Battle of the Books. By lunchtime, approximately 110 students across 26 teams had signed up!

From then on, teams began checking out the books from the library and reading them. The first elimination round was held on April 10, when the top 10 teams moved on to the next round. By then, teams had been exposed to Battle of the Books type questions through the course of four practice rounds from November to March.

On May 4 (“May the Fourth be with you”), teams took part in a second elimination round in which the top four moved on to the Final Battle. The Final Battle took place in the Library Lecture Hall and more than 100 students, teachers, and parents were present to witness team Jellybean Muffins rise to victory as Eagle Girls soared not far behind in second place. Team Toucan followed in third place, and Great Pink Sharks in fourth.

I like to think that Battle of the Books isn’t just about fos-tering a love for reading. Reading is a huge part, but Mrs. Boyer

Battle of the Books A winning perspectiveBy Claire Chen, Grade 4, Pudong campus

Battle of the BooksIt’s not just a reading competition – it’s a growing experienceBy Edwin Zen, Grade 11, Pudong campus

and I agreed that it should encompass collaboration through teamwork, responsibility through self-initiative, and character development.

From beginning to end, students signed up on their own and came to practice rounds on their own — all of it taking place during their lunch recess time. Hopefully, from this experience students will get a sense of what middle school activities will look like. The teachers won’t be there all the time to remind students of dates to remember, deadlines to meet, and places to be.

Teamwork is so important. After every question, five minds get to work searching for the best answer. Every single time, without fail, disagreements arise within teams. “It’s Candymak-ers!” “No way, it has to be the Museum of Thieves!” But I was amazed at how teams were able to resolve their discrepancies swiftly and smoothly. When an answer turned out to be wrong, I haven’t heard a student say, “I told you so!”… Well, maybe once or twice.

When I was in 5th grade, the Elementary School librar-ian organized Battle of the Books for 4th and 5th graders. The memory has stayed with me through all these years. I am hon-ored to be part of a school that lets its students “have the courage to live their dreams” — both big and small, long-term and short. Through Battle of the Books, I was able to follow mine.

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SAS students help light up JacarandaBy Robert Burke, HS teacher, Puxi campus

Let there be light! The SAS Puxi spring break trip to Malawi and Kenya was a huge success. Our main goal was to spread the word and the technology of the “Light Up Jacaranda” program. SAS students worked with the award-winning Evans Wadango, who designed a solar lamp which he calls MwangaBora (Swahili for “good light”) in 2004, as a way to address poor education, climate change, health, and poverty in rural areas in Kenya. Evans named the entire project: “Use Solar, Save Lives” as he aimed to use solar technology as a way to save lives in poor communities. On March 30, 2011, Wadongo was named one of three recipients of the inaugural Mikhail Gorbachev Awards for “people who changed the world.” His fellow inaugural recipients of this award were Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and Ted Turner, media mogul and founder of CNN. SAS students and the Jacaranda school helped hand-build over 300 of these solar lamps. The lamps will be donated to Jacaranda students for night study in both their homes and school.

After Malawi, the 10 SAS students traveled to Samburu-land in northern Kenya to visit the local shepherd school there in order to see the lamp program in action. After spend-ing a “homestay” day living the life of a Samburu shepherd, SAS students visited their classrooms and donated 12 lamps to the evening study program. On May 18th at 5:00 p.m. Malawi time, the solar lamps were turned on at Jacaranda and the “Light Up Jacaranda” ceremony began. CNN was there to witness the event and will do a follow up documen-tary to be aired at a later date. Imagine your own classrooms and homes becoming too dark to study or read after six in the evening. Imagine how that would affect your grades, your goals, and your life. It’s just this simple — these solar lamps will not only brighten up their classrooms but their futures as well.

Nalyn Siripanichgon, Grade 12

It wasn’t until I walked through the gates of the Jacaranda School that I realized that this experience is not something that can be described remotely, it really is something that you need to experi-ence for yourself.

We soon started to build the lamps and that was such a fun experience because I love working with my hands. I was having a great time connecting wires and creating this lamp. My pace com-pared to a Jacaranda student was about one lamp to three, but I was consistently moving forward. As I was building the lamps, I thought to myself that I would be making a difference in a student’s life by giving them light. We are all increasing the students’ potential to become successful, and that is something to be proud of. I see the happiness on the kids’ faces and I compare our lives.

It was truly an inspiring experience to meet visionaries like Marie Da Silva and Evans Wadongo. Their vision to bring a change to the community and country they live in is motivational itself, but actually to carry out the change they want to see in the world is more inspiring. I am glad that I had a chance to meet both of them.

Jocelyn Chen, Grade 11

We have followed the laughter throughout our journey as it acted as our compass past the unfamiliar settings of Africa. And although our trip to Jacaranda and Kenya as a whole has been an incredible experience for me, there are still several distinct moments of the trip that I will never forget, and climbing up the pebbly hill of Jacaranda is one of them. As we reached the foot of the hill, the laughter that once surrounded us subsided and turned into a series of groans (from us, not the Jacaranda kids). The path up the hill was difficult and the weather was equally unforgiving, as the torrid sun stared down at us in condescension. I watched in awe as the Jacaranda kids took the lead and maneuvered around the bushes with ease. Then,

1. Solar lamps made by SAS and Jacaranda students drying in the sun.2. Nalyn Siripanichgon with Jacaranda student.3. Ben Schneller working with a student at the Shepherd School night class.4. Dustin Liu with Jacaranda student.5. Nalyn Siripanichgon dancing with the Shepherd Schools parents.6. BC Park entertaining the students.7. YoungShepherdwatchingherflock.8. Rachel Marks getting hugs from the Jacaranda students.9. Esther Yao with the shepherd children.

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PHOTOS BY JERRY KOONTZ

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it was my turn. Unlike the kids, my steps were clumsy, and I found myself completely disconnected from the world around me as I put all my concentration into the narrow path ahead. Absorbed in my own thoughts, I was surprised when I felt a strong grip and looked up to see a boy half my age helping me up the hill. His hand was small compared to mine, but his grin was wider. Looking at him, I chuckled at how ironic the situa-tion was — he was thin and small, and I knew for a fact that if I had slipped, we would have tumbled down the hill together. But through his simple action, I realized that this was exactly what we came to Africa for — not only to build lamps or houses, but also to demonstrate our compassion and humanity through simple actions such as (literally) lending a helping hand.

kathryn Chang, Grade 11

I miss the games so dearly, the playfulness of the kids. It amazed me that we instantly got so close, even though we were from two different worlds. The thing I loved about these children of Africa was that they didn’t judge, they didn’t care about how you looked, and they loved you no matter what. These kids have truly touched my heart. We were surrounded by people who were deeply affected by AIDS and HIV; some lost their parents, others, their home. Yet, they seemed to smile more than us. Their laughter filled the entire school. I was deeply moved by this. They held their heads high and concentrated on moving on, studying to fulfill their dreams. I admire them. These kids are the ones who truly “Light Up Jacaranda.”

Luke kao, Grade 10

The gaps in the mud brick widened as my petrified eyes looked on. I remember, quite clearly, what was going through my mind as I watched the mud brick collapse and crumble through my fingertips: These bricks can’t survive a rainstorm. The warm, moist, Malawian air clung to my skin as I stood in the brick line, receiving bricks, and watching brick after brick collapse and crumble in our hands. I was standing ankle-deep in mud along the edge of a build site, carrying the collapsing mud bricks that will be used to build a house for a elderly woman and her many children. I looked up at the sky as another brittle brick gave up

on me. “I sure hope it doesn’t rain.” I said. “Me too …” a young local boy in a green T-shirt and broken sandals responded. The sky was overcast.

It was almost three hours later, while my friends and I were in our cabins with satisfied bellies, when the sky unleashed its fury and the rain pounded down on us. The rain swooped upon us like angry locusts and muddled the view outside the window. Overhead, the clouds rumbled when the image of the mud bricks collapsing and the little boy’s sandals flashed through my mind. I closed my half-opened mouth and looked out the window, and remained silent.

The last streak of orange was sinking rapidly below the hori-zon, and the sky faded from a purple to a dark blue. As darkness crept over the Kenyan landscape, I was rummaging through the back seat of a Toyota Land Cruiser, rummaging for my flash-light. Damn, its real dark in here I thought. Two minutes later, I squirmed out of the back window with the flashlight in my hand and ran towards the classrooms. Upon entering the classroom, I was greeted with a touching sight. Groups of eager students were huddled around teachers, struggling to look at the equations, diagrams, and paragraphs being taught to them under their solar lamps.

A while later, as I sat next to a girl in another classroom majestically lit with Evans’s solar lamps, I realized that all the hard work we have done in Jacaranda and all the money we have raised back in Shanghai was 110% worth it, and as the solar lamps shone on through the night, my smile grew bigger.

Esther Yao, Grade 9

The shepherd school in Kenya was another surprise for me. Spending a day as shepherds gave me a chance to experience what these children live with every day. Because of financial problems, there are only a few teachers and it very obvious that these kids want to learn. Working with them made me feel great. Evans Wadongo’s creation has really helped the children to learn more and have more opportunities in life. When I look at the smiling faces of the children that are lit up by the solar lamps, I hope our school can help the Kenyan shepherd school just like we do with Jacaranda.

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ELEWA special performance from a one-of-a-kind jazz pianistBy MayLynn Chen, Grade 12, Puxi campus

To say that Eric Lewis was the musical highlight of my senior year would be a drastic understatement.

On Monday, April 23, SAS Puxi was graced with the presence of the American jazz pianist known as ELEW, who per-formed for students and teachers in our very own Library Media Center. ELEW performed courtesy of the Roche family and the miraculous last minute organization of Ms. Karolina Pek. The Tri-M Music Honor Society and Ms. Mary Siew assisted on the day, looking after a huge audience in the LMC.

For most of us, it was a musical experience unlike any we had ever had, and I found myself stunned by the brilliance of his unconventionality. ELEW, creator of his own genre, dubbed rockjazz, eschews the piano bench, choosing instead to play standing, crouched over the piano, with his front leg bent. He does not deal solely with the keyboard of the instrument as the vast majority of pianists have been trained to do, but often reaches under the lid to pluck or strike at the strings and beats against the wooden body of the piano to create percussive sounds. At the hands of ELEW, the piano is no longer an inert wooden contraption, but a responsive, animate being that has come alive with the sound of music.

Lewis takes rock music and molds it to fit the improvisatory style of American jazz. His creations are truly unique, and while they may be considered either jazz or rock, they are unmistak-ably ELEW’s own. My personal favorites from the performance included ELEW’s renditions of “Mr. Brightside” (originally performed by The Killers), “Sweet Home Alabama” (Lynyrd Skynyrd), and “Heartbeat” (The Knife). Other rock ’n’ roll acts that he frequently covers include Nirvana, Linkin Park, Radio-head, and Coldplay.

A crowd of students and teachers engulfed ELEW after his performance, armed with questions and pleas for an autograph or even a photo. It seemed like we just could not get enough of him. He amazed us all with his ability to connect with and captivate his audience through virtuoso playing and his innova-tive musical creations.

Music is best when you make it your own, so why not take a chance? If I’ve learned anything at all from this experience, it has got to be this: Dare to be different. Thank you, Eric Lewis, for teaching me that.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY MARY SIEW

ELEW with SAS Puxi high school faculty (L to R): Ed Kidd, David LeCoq, Michael Sheehan, and Brendan Maloney.

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A day of robotics adventureBy Shri Chander, parent / team advisor, Pudong campus

On April 21, eight international schools from Shanghai and neighboring cities participated in the first Hangzhou Interna-tional School “Robotics Invitational.” The event brought Lego enthusiasts in this region together for a day of working, learning, and solving Lego Robotics challenges. Our SAS Pudong team, “RoboEagle,” placed third in the competition and received the Judges’ Choice Award for their innovative ideas and persistence.

The team was comprised of Rishab Chander, Rushil Chander, Daniel Abkenar, and Darran Abkenar. They prepared for this event by working evenings and weekends on writing programs, learning how to use sensors and and make the robot do basic maneuvers. Rushil and Daniel were the robot builders while Rishab and Darran worked on programming the robot.

The day started with teams from the First Lego League (FLL), a robotics program for 9–14 year olds, running their robots to complete this year’s challenge: Food Factor. This provided the other teams a glimpse of the effort that goes into completing an FLL challenge and got them excited about participating in the next year’s FLL challenge. Following Food Factor was the Lego Robotics Decathlon — a set of 10 events designed to help the teams learn the basics of Lego robot programming, getting the robot moving, pushing, sensing, and navigating on its own.

The most popular and challenging event was the Lego Robotics Challenge(s) that was revealed to all the participating teams at the same time. The teams then had three hours to get their individual robots to complete as many challenges as possible within two minutes. Each challenge had point values assigned based on the complexity of the challenge. The students used the Mindstorms robot kit to create the robots. This kit combines

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SHRI CHANDER

the versatility of the Lego building system with an intelligent microcomputer brick and intuitive drag-and-drop programming software.

This event was such a great learning experience for the students. They had to create a strategy to score the maximum number of points and then program and build the robot accord-ingly. In the process they were learning how to work as a team and balance time constraints. It was exhilarating to watch the teams working.

This event was meant to provide opportunities for teams of different experience levels to interact with each other and make friends while learning how to build, program, and tinker in the spirit of cooperation that is the FLL way.

Next year the event planners hope to bring more participants together to enjoy this experience. The team organizers are plan-ning to do a kick-off at the beginning of 2012–2013 school year to get more students involved. So, stay tuned and meanwhile, if this is your type of event, spread the word to friends at SAS and other international schools.

ACTIVITIES

First Lego League is a robotics program for 9–14 year-olds, which is designed to get children excited about science and technology — and teach them valuable employment and life skills. In FLL, the participants program an autonomous robot (using the Lego Mindstorms robot set) to score points on a thematic playing surface, create an innovative solution to a problem as part of their project.

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You sure you want to eat that?By Shri Chander, parent / team advisor, Pudong campus

What does the US Army and a group of middle/high schoolers across the world have in common? I’ll tell you. It’s “Ecybermis-sion” — an online science fair that is sponsored by the US Army for students in grades 6–9 in order to promote STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math-based learning.

We were the first international school to ever participate in this competition, which began 10 years ago. There were over 2,000 project submissions across the world. Our team, Team RADIANS, was selected as the one of the top 16 teams and will now travel to Washington, DC, to compete for the national title.

To compete in Ecybermission, teams must first think of a problem in their community. They must then use the prin-ciples of STEM to solve this problem. The challenge that Team RADIANS chose to tackle was the issue of general mistrust of Chinese-branded food products. A prevalent question in the Shanghai community is whether to buy fruits and vegetables at the local Chinese “wet market,” where the produce is cheaper and presumably fresher, or from the international supermarkets.

The team chose fruits and vegetables from the “dirty dozen list” — which means they are most susceptible for pesticides. In collaboration with a food safety lab in Shanghai, we tested the selected fruits and vegetables for exposure to 138 known pesticides, heavy metals, and bacterial contamination, and also compared their nutritional content.

The results from these tests were very interesting. The results indicate that the samples from the local markets and the supermarkets were both contaminated by Coliform bacteria. The samples from the supermarket, however, contained more heavy

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SHRI CHANDER PHOTO PROVIDED BY SHRI CHANDER

ACTIVITIES

metals than those from the wet market. And overall, of the 138 different pesticides tested for, only six were detected on samples from both the supermarket and the local market. One surprising result, though, was that strawberries from the supermarket con-tained about 330 times more Iprodione (a fungicide) than the strawberries from the local market. The test results also showed that there was no nutritional difference between the produce fom the two types of markets.

These results helped the team conclude that the nutritional value of the produce was the same and that the produce from the local market is less contaminated than that from the supermarkets.

The team hopes that these results will encourage the com-munity to shop at the local market knowing that, according to our tests, the produce is safer than produce from the supermar-ket. Consuming locally cultivated produce is a small step that will result in big returns for your health and globally, by reduc-ing the carbon footprint caused by mass transportation. This trend will boost the local economy and you will save money at the same time. It’s a step forward to adopting a “green” lifestyle in Shanghai.

We hope that next year we can have more team participation in this exciting competition. If you are interested in learning more about this program visit http://www.ecybermision.com. It’s a wonderful experience!

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Roots & ShootsMillion tree project in Inner MongoliaBy Coke Smith, Science teacher, and Luke Wang, Grade 11, Pudong campus

ACTIVITIES

Where: The remote village of Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia, a region of China that has been devastated by deforestation, habitat destruction, and desertification.

What: Working with the Chinese government and the global NGO Roots & Shoots, 21 SAS Roots & Shoots members participated in the Million Tree Project. The project is attempting to mitigate the environmental destruction by planting poplar trees (Populus simonii) in an effort to stem the tide of desertifica-tion. This is their third planting experience with the program.

How: Students on both campuses generated funds by selling carbon offsets through student and teacher travel as well as direct fundraising at various events throughout the academic year. Students who participated in the expedition planted nearly 500 trees during the day spent digging in the Inner Mongolian hardpan. This was not quite as many in years past but the soil in this year’s location was particularly hard and dry, which made digging a challenge.

Broader ConcernThis is one of Inner Mongolia’s most impov-erished and ecologically devastated areas. For decades the landscape has been over-planted and overgrazed to the point where nowdesertificationhasbecomeaveryseri-ous issue. This area is often the nucleus of many of China’s most severe sandstorms, which impact regions as far away as Beijing and Shanghai several times a year.

Takeaway SAS fundraising raised enough to plant over 2,000 trees per campus and also traveled to old sites where SAS alumni had planted trees as recently as 2007 and 2008. Students were impressed with the over 84% survival rate of our forests and the success of previous years’ plantings!

Bonus The students had opportunities to travel to and learn aboutdesertecology,desertification,carbonsequestra-tion, and local Mongolian culture. Many of our students also imparted “green” lessons to local minority students in a rural Mongolian school near Kulun Qi.

PHOTOS By COKE SMiTH

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Puxi and Pudong students exploring the Kulun Qi dunes of Inner Mongolia during the Million Tree Project planting trip.

Students from both campuses and several corporate sponsors celebrating a hard day’s work planting “millions” of trees.

When the roads became too small for our big buses, we had to

hitch a ride with local farmers to the planting sites.

Taking local transportation to the planting sites.

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ACTIVITIES

A Chinese pen pal activityBy Stephanie Zuo, Chinese intern, Puxi campus

This past week, Puxi campus middle school students in Ms. Li’s Chinese class received letters from their high school partners from Mr. Shen’s class.

In an attempt to increase the students’ opportunity to write Chinese and know more about high school life, this pen pal activity was organized. Students wrote letters in Chinese, asking their partners about the differences between middle school and high school and how to deal with the changes and the coming challenges.

The high school students were friendly and enthusiastic. They answered these questions in detail, sharing their personal experiences and giving a host of suggestions that middle school students felt were very practical and helpful.

Firstly, the most frequently mentioned issue was about time management. Middle school students were advised to finish their homework in advance instead of leaving it to the last minute.

Secondly, they were encouraged to join in a variety of clubs. And if none of the clubs interested them, they could even estab-lish their own.

Thirdly, they should learn to balance their academic work, activities, and social life because they need to develop in an all-round way.

Jeffrey Sun, grade 7, Puxi campus, said, “This is a fascinat-ing experience that improves communication skills and also ensures a somewhat smooth transition to high school.”

“I thought the letter exchange with HS students really helped my understanding of HS classes and school life, especially about what you were worried about in HS,” said Vivian Wong, grade 7, Puxi campus. “Reading the response was really interest-ing, and it can give you a head start in getting to know high school next year.”

After reading these letters, middle school students had a clearer perspective of their future school life. Their doubts about high school and their fear of the heavy pressure going forward were replaced by confidence and the expectation of a promising future. They were more convinced that once they make clear PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CELINA LI

Top: Studetns in the Chinese Literacy 4 class, Grade 8 – Jeffrey Sun, Jaime Liu, Sophie Wong, and Vivian Wong

their goals, they should steer their boats towards their destina-tion, leaving all fear and hesitation behind.

The pen pal activity was very appreciated by the students because it was more than a Chinese class. It served as a bridge, which connected middle school and high school. Just as Jaime Liu, grade 7, Puxi campus, said, “The way of communication was very beneficial to the middle school student because we got a better idea about what high school life is like, and were able to ask any questions we had.” Other students like Sophie Wong and May Ko also considered it to be “quite helpful.”

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Huntsville, we don’t have a problem By Amanda Li, Grade 9, Pudong campus

3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF … to Space Academy! This past winter, 14 students from SAS (and chaperones) gathered at the Pudong airport, everyone more than ready for the flight to Huntsville, Alabama. However, no one was prepared for the amazing experi-ence that we would all have.

Our experience at Space Academy can be captured with these words: everlasting bond of friendship.

Our time together as “Team Metcalf ” really allowed us to connect with people we otherwise would not have really known. From riding scary rides like Space Shot, to going on our much-anticipated missions, or even just eating meals together, these acts really allowed each and every one of us to experience what Space Academy is really about.

Out of all the activities planned for us (rocket launching, six degrees of freedom, and team building challenges, just to name a few), I would say that the launch mission was the most important. In this mission, we were given jobs according to our personality, including flight commander, pilot, CAPCOM (capsule communicator), base director, and lunar specialist. Our job was to safely launch our rocket into space, and have the mis-sion specialists complete their EVA (extra vehicular activity), and return back to Earth with no hitches. Everything needed to be done in a certain amount of time, and even with that, the space camp staff would throw random anomalies at us that we needed to fix with haste. Thankfully, our group was able to get through the entire script without major incident, and we successfully finished the mission.

Another much-loved event at Space Academy was Space Shot, a ride that shot people high up into the sky, close enough to touch stars, before plummeting back down. The purpose of this was to experience “microgravity,” because contrary to popu-lar belief, there is no such thing as zero gravity — one of the fun facts we learned. It didn’t matter how many times we rode it, we kept coming back for more!

In the graduation ceremony, Team Metcalf won two awards: Carrie Lin won the Mission Patch and our team won the Best

Mission Award. I think it’s safe to say that this once-in-a-lifetime experience was out of this world for every one of us. If you have the opportunity, I would say you should definitely sign up for next year’s trip to Space Academy.

Background: James Plaut and Kevin Lee experiencing a space walk. Front: Elaine Jiang at mission control.

Space 1 Graduation group ( back L to R): James Plaut, Shaun Chin, Phoebe Chen, Elaine Jiang, Ben Guo, Roland Chen, Alex Lee, Carrie Lin, and Mike Lee. Front (R-L): Devin Yang, Kevin Lee, Amanda Li, Anri Urano, and Hannah Boyer. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BRENDA KNOWLES

Next year's trip to Space Academy is open to all students aged 14 or over in 2013, and sign ups start May 28. If you are in-terested in joining the trip or need more information, see Mrs Knowles in L201 or email [email protected].

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Visting Authors bring books to life By Alice Chen, grade 5, Pudong campus

Everybody loves to read! To encourage reading, Shanghai American School organized three authors to visit in April, Kazu Kibuishi, author of Amulet series, Phil Bildner, author of the Sluggers series and Kevin Lewis, author and editor.

Kazu Kibuishi came on April 20. Author of the famous Amulet series, everyone was excited to meet him. First, he talked about his life and how he became a writer. It was really interesting because he thought he was going to be a doctor. At the end, he showed us how he draws cartoons using Photo-shop. It was really exciting because everything he drew looked so real and 3-D!

Phil Bildner and Kevin Lewis came on April 23-24. Both are friends with Mrs. Rekate, 5th grade teacher. Phil Bildner, author of the Sluggers series, didn’t just write that se-ries, he also wrote picture books such as Twenty-One Elephants, Shoeless Joe, Black Betsy, The Shot Heard Around The World, and The Greatest Game Ever Played. Phil Bildner loves sports, so that’s why he writes about them!

Kevin Lewis wrote many children’s books such as Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo and My Truck Is Stuck. He is also an editor. Right now, he is editing a book called Gum Girl. Everybody wants him to be their editor because he pushes them to make their books better. He has edited everybody’s favorite, Captain Underpants! That’s why it is so good!

ACTIVITIES

Top: Visting Author Kevin Lewis with grade 5 students on Pudong campus.

Left: Visting Author Kazu Kibuishi.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY BARBRA BOYER

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Authors share value of hard work with humorBy Bridget Lu, Grade 5, Puxi campus

Shanghai American School welcomed three popular children’s book authors April 23–27. The visiting authors were Kazu Kibuishi, Phil Bildner, and Kevin Lewis, who taught us use-ful techniques and also made us all laugh. The visiting authors brought a passion for literature to SAS.

On the 23rd, the whole fifth grade gathered in the project area to see Kazu Kibuishi, who is a graphic novelist for the #1 selling Amulet series. In the beginning, Mr. Kabuishi talked about his life at the University of California, Santa Barbara, studying film even though he planned to be a graphic novelist. Mr. Kabuishi never thought that he would ever really become a graphic novelist until two years after his graduation. Before that he always believed that he was going to be either a director or an animator. During his college years, he talked about drawing the comics for the student newspaper, and even showed us some of his drawings. One of the most unforgettable things was that he is living proof that doing anything for 10,000 hours will allow you to succeed in that topic. He told us that he had already reached 10,000 hours drawing in high school and was aiming for 20,000 in college. It was interesting when he said that he encourages failure. He said that he learned so much from his failures.

After Mr. Kabuishi graduated, he got into numerous great companies, and even got promoted to a high position, but he re-jected it. He knew that it was just not for him. So that’s when he

ACTIVITIES

Top: Visting Author Phil Bildner telling stories to a group of grade 3 students on Puxi campus.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY GABBY BURkE

decided that he was going to become a graphic novelist. All of his comics are like watching a movie in your head, because he always has had a passion for movies. Mr. Kabuishi showed us the proce-dure you had to go through to publish a book. At last, he painted a lively waterfall in just a few minutes using his computer; that image is still printed in my head. We also got a sneak peak at the iPad app for Amulet that is coming out in the summer holidays and the preview of the fourth Amulet book.

Phil Bildner gave us an amazing presentation that was extremely hilarious, and even got the teachers to laugh! The way he went through his works, carefully introducing each book, was very interesting. He told us he sometimes gets his ideas when he is out shopping. The best moment was when he said that all the bad characters in his books are always named after a teacher.

Kevin Lewis also did a great job with students on the writing process.

We all had a fabulous experience with the visiting authors, and surely learnt a lot from them. Thank you Kazu Kibuishi, Phil Bildner, and Kevin Lewis for coming to SAS and bringing us a passion for writing and reading to our school. It was a huge success.

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ACTIVITIES

Puxi boys, Pudong girls are APAC champions By Sandy Elder, Track and Field coach, Pudong campus

One week after successfully holding the season-ending SISAC Track and Field meet, SAS was again called on to host the even larger and more competitive APAC Track and Field Champion-ships on our Puxi campus. Seven schools vied for top honors in this three-day event, with perennial powerhouse Brent flying in from Manila, joined by Hong Kong International School, International School of Beijing, Western Academy of Beijing, and three Shanghai schools — SAS Puxi, SAS Pudong and Concordia. The stage was set of an exciting meet, as the boys’ and girls’ teams from SAS Pudong were looking to repeat their championship performances from the previous week, while up and coming track powers SAS Puxi and ISB were looking to upset the favorites.

In the boys’ competition, the top positions kept changing during the first two days of the meet, with performances on the last day shaping up to decide the winner. SAS Pudong, SAS Puxi, and ISB were within a few points of each other at the start of the day, and it took the final relay race to declare Puxi the boys’ champion, scoring 119.5 points to Pudong’s 116.5, with ISB in a close third with 114.5 points.

The Pudong boys’ team was lead by a strong performance in the track events, with five runners scoring multiple times (Miles Nakai, Eric Yang, Isaac Hing, Luke Niu, and Marcus Tan). Not to be outdone, Taylor Jarl and Scott Shi contributed powerful performances in the field events, both earning points in multiple disciplines, with Luke, Eric, and Billy Lomason showing their versatility by recording points in both track and field events.

On the girls’ side of the competition, SAS Pudong leapt out to a commanding lead after two days, and continued strong efforts on the final day enabled the SAS Pudong girls to claim the APAC championship for the first time. Pudong led all teams with 108 points, with sister school Puxi edging out ISB for third place, 84.5 points to 83.5.

The SAS Pudong girls outdueled their competitors with a balanced effort, as Lindsey Narr, Mary Ann Carey, Emily Yu, and Chandler Cooper contributed points in the sprints, while Liza Cahiz, Joy Yu, Vivian Zhang, and Ivory Loh led the way in longer distances. Elena Tan and Laura Simon added to the win-ning total through their efforts in the field events, while Haley Beebe and Chandler Cooper rounded out the scoring by bring-ing home points in both the field and track events.

The level of competition at the APAC Championships continues to grow fiercer, as this year 22 new APAC records were set, some multiple times. SAS Pudong led the way by breaking 10 APAC records (six by the boys’ team and four by the girls’ team), while SAS Puxi and ISB each set five records. With many returning athletes on all teams, next year promises even closer contests and another thrilling APAC championship.

Thanks to the coaches for another outstanding year for the SAS Track and Field teams!

Emily Yu, grade 11, Pudong, and Dorothy Chow, grade 11, Puxi, clearing hurdles at the APAC Track and Field Meet.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BERNARD ENOkA

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MON, JUNE 4 TUE, JUNE 5 WED, JUNE 6 THU, JUNE 7 FRI, JUNE 8Sautéed beef with black bean sauce

Pork steaks glazed apples (ES pork teriyaki), steamed rice, cabbage

Vegetarian

Curried veggies samosas

Dessert

Marble cake

Sausage bratwurst with fried onions

Lamb curry (ES mild chicken curry), garlic rice with coriander and fried potato, sautéed bokchoy

Vegetarian

Mushroom pie

Dessert

Puff pastry apple slice

Ham steaks in tomato sauce and cheese

Chicken drumstick, corn rice / baked potato, broccoli sautéed with garlic

Vegetarian

Spring rolls

Dessert

Apple strudel

Beef shepherd’s pie

Sliced chicken with onion and mushroom in oyster sauce (ES ham and cheese grilled sandwich), spinach rice, broccoli with carrots

Vegetarian

Mushroom pie

Dessert

Brownie

Mild yellow beef curry

Pan-fried fish steak with tartar sauce (ES bread fish steak), steamed rice, greens

Vegetarian

Veggie pizzas

Dessert

Marble cake

Eurest Food Technologies, cafeteria phone extensions: Pudong campus – 3293, 3290; Puxi campus – 2561

MON, MAY 28 TUE, MAY 29 WED, MAY 30 THU, MAY 31 FRI, JUNE 1

Macaroni cheese

Spaghetti with tuna, onion tomato, parsley, steamed rice / oven baked potato sticks, sweet butter carrots

Vegetarian

Sautéed mixed veg

Dessert

Lemon pie

Stir fried chicken Chinese style

Pork steaks in mustard sauce (ES hot dog), onion rice, sautéed bokchoy

Vegetarian

Samosas

Dessert

Apple strudel

Beef shepherd’s pie,

Mushroom chicken topped with puff pastry (ES ham and cheese grilled sandwich), parsley rice / ES oven baked French fries, broccoli with carrots

Vegetarian

Veggie burger

Dessert

Carrot cake

Beef goulash

Chicken in black bean sauce (ES pan fried chicken breast), steamed rice, sautéed green peas

Vegetarian

Veggie burger

Dessert

Brownies

Salami pizza

BBQ chicken wings, steamed rice, seasonal greens

Vegetarian

Eggplant and tomato lasagna

Dessert

Apple tart

Olivia is three months old, affectionate, playful, and amazing with other animals (cats AND dogs). She loves children, rubber bands, and random bits of paper, and she'll stare at your computer screen for hours waiting for a chance to “catch” the cursor. Saved from a life on the street when her very pregnant mother was rescued from a garbage pail, this little Calico has never known anything but love and affection. She's up to date with her shots and is looking for her forever home. Can you help? Her foster family is willing to “cat-sit” over the summer if the timing of adopting her is the only thing hold-ing you back! If interested, see contact info below. This service announcement is brought to you by Pudong HS Animal Rescue, a community service club that supports Jaiya's Animal Rescue (JAR). If you would like more info on adopting the animal pictured above, please contact Animal Rescue club orga-nizer Marney Rosen at [email protected].

Pet of the Week

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ACTIVITIES

Upcoming EventsPUDONG

May

26 Super Saturday SAS Invitational Track and Field Meet

27 High school graduation, 10:00 a.m., Shanghai Center Theater

31 General PTSA Meeting in the LLH at 9:00 a.m.

31 Fall BBQ Meeting at the Pudong Campus

after PTSA General Meeting

June

1 MS MYG Night Cruise

7 ES Summer Sizzle

8 Grade 5 Transition Ceremony

12 End of the school year — student half day!

PUXI

May

25 Grade 5 Soccer Day

25 PK-2 Assembly, 8:20-9:00 a.m.

27 High school graduation, 2:00 p.m., Shanghai Culture Square

29 Grade 8 Band/Orchestra Concert, 5:30-6:30 p.m., PAC

30 PTSA General Meeting, 10:30 a.m. -12:00 noon, LMC

30 Field Day Gr. 1 (morning) / Gr. 4 (afternoon)

31 Field Day Gr. 2 (morning) / Gr. 3 (afternoon)

31 Grade 6 and 7 Band/Orchestra Concert, 5:30-6:30 p.m., PAC

31 SAS Summer Program registration deadline

June

1 Field Day Gr. PK/K (morning) / Gr. 5 (afternoon)

1 MS end of year social/dance

5 PK end of year party

7 Grade 3 end of year party, 11:15 a.m.-12:00 noon

7 Grade 8 Transition Ceremony, 8:30-10:00 a.m., PAC

8 ES end of year assembly, 9:00 a.m., ES Gym

8 Grade 5 end of year party, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., PAC

8 Grade 4 end of year party

8 Grade 2 end of year assembly, 10:00-11:30 a.m., PAC

8 Grade 1 end of year assembly, 12:30-3:00 p.m., PAC

10 Broadway Center Dance Recital 2:30 p.m.

11 Grade 5 Transition Ceremony, 1:00-3:00 p.m., PAC

12 End of the school year — student half day!

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Eagle May 25 2012

Documents

Transcript of Eagle May 25 2012