The Eagle Review—Winter 2014

A PUBLICATION OF SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOLWINTER 2014

Celebrating OurThird Culture Kids

EditorZachary Young

DesignersFredrik JönssonCindy Wang

StaffKendall SternbergJay Bian

Director of AdvancementLindsay Thierry

Communication ManagerAbby Torres

A PUBLICATION OF SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOL WINTER 2014

Cover: These students are from Alysia Asp’s advisory class in the Pudong campus middle school. Front row: Ibaia Batcabe, Kevin Guan and Terry Qi. Row two: Dylan Shepard and William Wang. Row three: Justin Zhou, Brandon Lu and Vivi Quintanilla. Back row: Jennifer Loeffler and Cade Williams. Above: The most popular picture to date on the SAS Facebook page is the barefoot librarian, Kimbra Power, posing with some of her favorite new books in the Pudong campus elementary school library. For more great pictures, visit www.facebook.com/SASChina.

The Eagle Review© is published four times a year—fall, winter, spring, and summer—by the Shanghai American School Office of Advancement, Communications department. Information in the magazine is primarily about the SAS community. We encourage students, parents, teachers, and administrators to submit articles and photography for consideration to: [email protected]. All sub-missions will be edited for style, length and tone.

Pudong Campus: Shanghai Links Executive Community, 1600 Lingbai Road, Sanjiagang, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201201. Telephone: 6221-1445.

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

The Eagle Review | 3

Winter 2014

INSIDE SAS From the Superintendent

From the Desk Of...

News and Updates

IN EACH ISSUE

People to Meet

From Our Classtooms

Why We Give

A Closer Look

Student Voices

20 Questions

From the Archives

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Celebrating Our Third Culture Kids They’ve been called global nomads, alien expats and even the citizens of the future. At SAS they are everywhere. But what exactly is a third culture kid? And what are the unique benefits and challenges they face—both now and in the future?

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The Way of the Sword An activity that transcends the lines between sport, art and philosophy, kendo quietly molds the way of its practitioners on both a physical and spiritual level.

34 A Day for PlayThe Global Cardboard Challenge invites children around the world to design and build their own creations using cardboard, recycled materials and imagination.

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High School AcademicsOur high school students have a variety of educational programs and opportunities to pursue academic excellence—and they are setting records along the way.

18 Habitat for HumanityStudents dedicate their time and energy to build homes for less fortunate families and, by broadening their worldview, they also learn more about themselves.

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4 | The Eagle Review

We are all profoundly and indelibly shaped by the culture or many cultures in which we grow up and are educated.

It dawned on me only recently that I too am a “third culture kid” (TCK). At the age of five my family moved to Germany for six years because my father was

an American diplomat. My introduction to German culture and language came as I played with neighborhood children. Because we had moved regularly, I often said I wanted to settle down and never move again. But then my TCK cultural roots re-energized me and at the age of 21 I too joined the American Foreign Service as a diplomat. Starting my career in Australia, then studying Vietnam-ese and later Chinese, I served in Vietnam, Beijing, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Later, my wife and I reared two third culture kids who today are intrepid travelers themselves.

All these varied and often conflicting cross-cultural experiences have been overwhelmingly posi-tive, despite an ambassador chiding me for poor use of chopsticks or seeing the destruction in post-World War II Germany. I’ve seen the results of what happens when cultures clash. I’ve learned the importance of cross-cultural understanding and what it means to live, work and play across cultures, ethnic groups, and nationalities. In my work as a diplomat and educator my goal has always been to build strong communities of people coming from very different points on the compass.

Why is cross-cultural sensitivity important? An international business person must understand how the person across the table approaches the deal. A diplomat must understand a negotiating partner’s interests and thinking processes. A teacher must understand the different types of students and cultures in the classroom and adjust the teaching to ensure their learning. And a parent must understand the environment and educational program of the school in which

their children are growing and learning.At SAS you are part of a large community made up of many smaller ones. We have the

Puxi and Pudong communities. Each division is a community. There are PTSA and various cultural and language group communities. How do we relate to each other given our differ-ent backgrounds? How do we come to common understandings with respect and mutual support?

In this issue of The Eagle Review you will find examples of students from diverse back-grounds building strong communities. Our students travel to Indonesia to build homes with Habitat for Humanity, raise money in a swim-a-thon to support the Jacaranda School for Orphans in Malawi or help teach English language skills to members of our SAS com-munity.

These projects help not only others but also our own community to build strong bonds. Students’ unique experiences will help give them the competence to build healthy communities around the world throughout their lifetimes.

I’ve seen our community grow stronger in sophistication and complex-ity over time. Can we become even stronger? Absolutely. I encourage you to learn more about each other. Learn about others’ backgrounds, cultures and values through dialogue and by simply asking questions and listen-ing carefully. Assume good intentions. The more we educate ourselves about each other the more we will understand and grow together.

How well our adult community works together in positive ways has a direct impact on how well our children learn. Don’t take it just from me, but also from my favorite Harvard professor, Roland Barth.

And don’t forget, in the end it’s all about our students!

Warm regards,

Building a Strong CommunityBY RICHARD W. MUELLER, SUPERINTENDENT

INSIDE SAS

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• When you don’t have access to the internet, you feel scared and alone.

• Wherever you live, you feel like home is somewhere else.

There are many other characteristics found in many TCKs—too many to describe on this page. Even more interesting perhaps is how these characteristics play out in TCK adults. The effects can vary greatly by cultural back-ground, family structure, age at which the TCK experience ended, gender or a whole host of characteristics that make us who we are. But let’s look at some generalities that have held true over the last few decades . . .

• Due to repeatedly watching friends move away, often with only a few days notice, TCKs may learn to make friends easily, but also to disengage from friendships more easily.

• They make many friends, but these friendships tend to not be as deep.

• Friendships are not based on geography, but on time zones and internet connections.

• They may get “airport withdrawal syndrome” whenever they don’t travel after a few months.

• They tend to work in the fields of education, medicine, public service or self-employment.

• They tend to marry older, but also have lower divorce rates.

• Their adult relationships are often with other TCKs that they meet as adults, or with high school friends from their TCK years.

• They tend to experience an undefined sense of “rootless-ness.”

The list could go on. Suffice it to say that our students—your children—are growing up as very different people than they would have “back home,” or, if you are from mainland China, then they would if they attended a local school. There are challenges, and it isn’t all fun. But keep in mind one final characteristic of former TCKs: When asked if they wish they had never experienced being a TCK, they almost universally say, “No—I wouldn’t have had it any other way!”

Third Culture Kid? Are you kidding? BY JONATHAN BORDEN, HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, PUDONG CAMPUS

The term “Third Culture Kid” or “TCK” is one often heard in international schools like Shanghai American School—which is logical since all of our students, to one degree or another, are TCKs. It may also be surpris-

ing to learn that many of our parents share characteristics of TCKs, too.

So what exactly is a “TCK?” This term for “international kid” was first coined in the 1950s to describe young people who grow up outside their parents’ culture. As time passed, technology grew, international business exploded and travel became easier, both the number and variety of young TCKs has grown. Today, it also can include those kids whose educational and social life is integrated with TCKs—such as SAS students whose parents are from main-land China, but who share many of the characteristics of TCKs.

How is this group different from any other group of kids in today’s world? As a group, TCKs share specific characteristics that impact their lives both now as students and later in life as adults. It impacts in their university and employment choices, their mobility, their friendships, their attitudes and even their choice of spouses. Such generalizations don’t apply to all TCKs, or even an individual all the time. However, they are worth identifying and thinking about.

But first, lets have some fun with this.

You know you are a TCK when . . .• The question “Where are you from?” is best answered

“When?”

• When people ask “So, where are you from?” you inwardly groan.

• You flew before you could walk.

• When you meet someone who doesn’t own a passport, you wonder how he or she survives.

• You go into culture shock when you return to your “home” country.

• When you visit wherever “home” is supposed to be, you feel like you don’t quite belong any more.

• You begin to tell friends “back home” about your Christ-mas in Phuket, and they think you are joking (or might ask what state or province Phuket is in).

• You quickly learn to not to say anything about your ayi, driver or masseuse to your relatives “back home.”

• By the age of eight you had at least four different frequent flyer cards.

• You have at least three different countries’ money in your wallet.

• You feel at home with people you don’t know, who are also living outside their home country.

INSIDE SAS


Ambassador Baucus and Consul General Smith Visit SASShanghai American School welcomed Max Baucus, United States ambassador to China and Hanscom Smith, United States consul general, Shanghai to the Puxi campus

on October 7. Richard W. Mueller, superintendent, hosted them for lunch and a brief tour of the campus. He described the SAS legacy and how the school, in recent years, has grown to more than 3,000 students on two campuses.

The ambassador also met with high school student council members. The students spoke about their experiences as students at SAS and as teenag-ers living in China. Ambassador Baucus shared what it was like serving as a U.S. senator before becoming ambassador. The ambassador also described the importance of his own learning experiences through global travel and the satisfaction he gains from participating in public service.

Admission Coffee and Tours The admission department has introduced monthly Coffee & Tour events for pro-spective parents looking to learn more about our school. This is a unique opportu-nity for people to meet with our admission manager and school administrators to learn more about SAS and the admission process. We encourage you to share this opportunity with people who are interested in learning more about SAS. For more information, or to register, visit www.saschina.org/make-an-inquiry.

Pudong Performing Arts CenterThe construction of the Performing Arts Center in Pudong continues and is on track to be completed in time for the 2015-16 school year. When this state-of-the-art facility is complete, we will continue to highlight and showcase student talent and bring professional productions directly to our community.

New Photo Gallery in Administration BuildingHave you been through the Administration Building in Puxi lately? The hallways are a gallery filled with photos of students, faculty and staff. Student artwork has also been installed on the second floor with regularly sched-uled rotations to occur throughout the school year. We welcome you to have a look. You may see someone you know.

SAS Board of Directors UpdateThe board is investigating the viability of adopting an online electronic voting system for use in future board elections. In September, the board of directors approved the formation of an Electronic Voting Task Force. This task force will recommend a vendor to test pilot online electronic balloting, conduct online electronic balloting pilot and submit a final report on the viability of an electronic voting system at SAS. The board will keep parents informed on future develop-ments.

Marketing Manager Joins SASDaniela Kister joins SAS as marketing manager. Daniela is originally from Germany and lived in the U.S. for 15 years before coming to Shanghai in 2012 with her husband. Throughout her career, Daniela gained experience in marketing, public relations and event management in a number of different industries. She headed the charitable foundation of a private club in New York City for seven years, worked as an account manager at an international public relations agency in Germany and, most recently, worked as marketing coordinator for North and Southeast Asia. She is thrilled to be joining the terrific SAS communi-ty and will continue to increase our external visibility and contribute in helping build futures.

INSIDE SAS


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President Barack Obama is one. So are writers Pearl S. Buck and Isabelle Allende. You can find them in the sciences—take for instance Richard Dawkins. Or in sports like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. And like Colin Firth and Kathleen Turner, you can find them on screen. At Shanghai American School they are everywhere.

They’re called Third Culture Kids. And, like all kids, they each have their own unique story, unique background and unique experiences. But research does

indicate that TCKs tend to share some characteristics and experiences that bring both challenges and re-wards. Shanghai American School counselor Benjamin A. Fishman explains more in this look at our interna-tional community.

Photo: Students in language art teacher Jessica Beck’s class shared some insight on being a TCK—they also had fun playing with the term. Totally cool kids indeed.

WHAT IS A TCK?



A TCK, or a Third Culture Kid, refers to an individual who has spent a significant period of time of their developmental years in one or more countries and cul-tures geographically and culturally different from their

countries of birth. A TCK’s culture, the third culture, is therefore the sum of these values, beliefs and world views that a child experi-ences when moving from one country to another.

A cross-cultural life during the developmental years is believed to have profound effects on that child’s sense of identity, relation-ships with others, and view of the world. This is different from adults who may experience culture shock and may need adequate time for a period of adjustment when leaving one culture and transitioning into another.

TCKs are also known as missionary kids, diplomatic kids and business kids. TCKs are also referred to as the next generation of mobile youths, that embrace their unique, and sometimes unusual, upbringing and use their experiences to contribute to this increas-ingly multicultural world. But perhaps the more common term used to describe individuals who spent their developmental years in one or more countries outside their countries of birth is global nomad. Due to its widespread use, the term global nomads—which is initially used for adults who grew up in this lifestyle—has been used interchangeably with Third Culture Kids. It follows that TCKs is a term that could also be used to refer immigrants or individuals who grew up in a cross cultural context.

Various studies have been written about the effect of mobility and unique upbringing found among TCKs. TCKs are known to have exceptional cross-cultural skills and adeptness to new situ-ations and environments. While mobility affords TCKs such re-wards, it may also bring confusion, mainly in their sense of home and belongingness. For some kids who have been global nomads, home is not their countries of birth. Oftentimes, home is a place

BY BENJAMEN A. FISHMAN, COUNSELOR, PUDONG CAMPUS

Third Culture Kidsthey have just recently transitioned from.

The effects on mobile youths may vary according to influences that go into their development; such as, the employing sponsor, the family’s size, relationships and cultures. The effect of mobility on TCKs also varies according to the number of countries lived in and the duration of their stay as well as the ages of the children at which the journey takes place, the type of schooling acquired and where and how the family lives in the visited culture. These varying degrees of influence determine the extent of exceptional linguistic ability that TCKs have on one hand, and the sense of rootlessness that they experience on the other. Furthermore, mobile kids are said to have more in common than they do with their less inter-nationally mobile peers. It is important for parents and those who interact with TCKs to recognize the rewards and challenges that comes with having a multicultural childhood.

Benefits of Being a Third Culture KidMost studies claim mobile youths have exceptional linguistic abil-ity. Many TCKs are found to be either conversant in at least one or two languages or have shown heightened interest and ability to learn a new language. English is said to be one language they func-tion in, but they can think and feel in two or more.

TCKs also have well-developed cross-cultural skills or more specifically an acute understanding and high acceptance level of differences among individuals and groups. Unlike most of their peers in their home countries who grow in an environment where most, if not all, are driven to assimilate to cliques, determined by common interests in clothing, music or hobbies, TCKs are believed to show more appreciation in how individuals and groups differ. Moreover, many are believed to have the ability to incorporate the best characteristics of the cultures they have experienced or have been exposed to while living abroad.

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TCKs are also believed to be highly flexible adapting well to new situations and environments. Unlike their counterparts back home who tend to be more dogmatic and controlling, TCKs are said to generally exhibit openness to anything new, but most espe-cially to rich and diverse cultures. It is perhaps this openness and flexibility to changes that TCKs are able to generate new perspec-tives and critical thinking-skills than most of their “mono-culture” peers. It is therefore not surprising that most TCKs are educational achievers, where a high percentage obtains advanced degrees.

This flexibility could be viewed as having a direct influence to TCKs’ unique ability to view the world in several dimensions held only by the belief that the world as a global entity is inhabited by people who essentially has similar human needs as another. Accordingly, this world view provides TCKs with a much greater potential for leadership roles and among others.

Given the ability of viewing the world in several frames of reference, it is not surprising why TCKs are known for their greater level of maturity than their mono-culture peers. More specifically, most TCKs are found to be socially mature, mostly as a result of frequently dealing with international travel, foreign currency, food choices and, at times, unrest in their host countries. As a result, they are typically able to comfortably interact with people of all ages and cultures, are more welcoming of newcomers, and are more open-minded and less prejudiced.

As a result of their mobile living arrangements, TCKs thrive in openness and change, are keen on travelling and prefer interna-tional careers. TCKs are also known to have close family ties largely due to shared experiences of adjusting to a new home and culture.

Challenges of Being a Third Culture KidAccordingly, TCKs usually feel that they belong to several cultures but may at times feel they own none. Because of this, TCKs as adults may change colleges or jobs more often than their mono-culture peers. Part of the reason has been attributed to their need for, or perhaps more accurately, their association with change. This rootlessness is known to result to a particular difficulty among TCKs when dealing with the basic need to establish identities. Such complexities on identity may come in the form of difficulties

fitting in social situations in schools or in communities. TCKs, upon returning, may find themselves with a sense of

feeling different from others. This sense of being adrift or alone is heightened by the fact that they do not know anyone outside of their family unlike most of their peers who have friends they es-sentially know from early childhood. This sense of being new to ev-eryone and everything else may, for some, compound the sense of being out of balance, not knowing what they need, where to get it, whom to turn to or why they feel this way. In essence, the dilemma that TCKs face in the process of integrating into a new or different culture than the one which they have been accustomed to arises from the contradiction between the differentness they experienced from living overseas and sameness they experience in their home countries.

TCKs may also experience problems in decision making. This arises from either one or two of the earlier mentioned difficulties associated with being a TCK. During such times when TCKs need to make preliminary decisions on their occupational goals, choos-ing classes or majors in college, TCKs (who often have had limited opportunities to observe role models in their communities) are believed to again to feel a sense of perplexity and find themselves experimenting with multiple identities before finding one that “fits.” Furthermore, this often leads delayed occupational choices among TCKs.

TCKs are also said to view relationships as mostly short-term, loosening ties after at least two years. Intense relationships can end rather quickly for TCKs.

An Authentic PerspectiveIt is believed by many that the benefits to being a TCK outweigh the disadvantage. More importantly, however, the debate could be viewed as entirely referring to benefits of being a TCK on the one hand and the pitfalls to not having recognized and nurtured them at all on the other. TCKs have the potential to become educational achievers or leaders that promote unity and diversity. And almost universally, TCKs experience the world from an authentic perspec-tive that allows them to think locally and globally, which as a result enriches them academically, socially and personally.


Raising My TCKs“Where are you from?” my daughter Luci was asked.

“I’m from China,” she replied in her not so quiet, three-year-old voice.

“But you are not Chinese, I think you are American.”“No, I’m from China. I’m Chinese.” “But you don’t look Chinese.”“I am Chinese!”There were a few more exchanges and my daughter was so

adamant…and confused. In her young mind her argument was: I live in China, I speak Chinese, therefore, I am Chinese. Simple as that. To make it more confusing, her little brother was born in Shanghai so he was definitely Chinese. Even people at home were confused about Dylan being born in China—can he be president?

These days, my children would answer that they are American, but are they? We are in America less than two months of the year, they don’t like McDonald’s, they prefer dumplings to pizza and they recognized Xi Yang Yang before Big Bird. In the early years, they thought that watching live TV was like watching a DVD and they could change the show whenever they like.

Aside from the obvious cultural differences, this life is a far cry from how my husband and I grew up. We did not have gardeners, drivers or ayis. From the time I could see above the lawn mower, I was the gardener. And as soon as I could reach the sink, I was the ayi. Our kids do have ‘chores’ but not out of necessity because both parents work and the kids need to help, but in an attempt to keep them grounded in this privileged life. We often discuss with our friends how to bring the “real world” to life here.

On a trip home several years ago we picked up a rental car. Af-ter loading the car with our overstuffed bags, Luci looked at us and said, “Where is Shushu?” Meaning, where is the guy who is going to drive the car. Ben, my husband, explained that he was going to drive. Her eyes big (and tired) looked at him in confusion and she asked, “you know how to drive?” Of course she had witnessed

us driving before but this was the first year that she noticed and recognized the many differences of living in China versus America.

During the ride from the airport, making a bee-line to Target, Luci piped up from the back seat, “Where are all the cars?” To further her wonderment, and ours, we walked into Target and had space to move. We looked at each other and thought, where are all the people. We actually asked each other, “is it closing time?” This was not our first trip back home but it was a year of discovery for all of us.

Every year there are more discoveries and more remind-ers—like explaining to my children that they cannot run to the bathroom in a mall or restaurant on their own. Even though my son Dylan really wants to use the boys room, as he does here, he really needs to go with me. I try to explain to the camp counselor that we live in China and Dylan might not be as “tough” as the other boys. Or there’s the time Luci recalled a trip to Malaysia and her friend asked, “What is that, is it like Disneyland?” Well, yes, in many ways it is.

Speaking of Malaysia, we don’t travel for every holiday but our kids have traveled more than I had by the time I was 30. They get on the plane and situated like most kids get in the car, know-ing to put on their seat belts, when they can and cannot use their iPods and where to go to ask for more juice. Their frequent flyer miles could buy several round trip tickets. They love staying in hotels and are very discerning guests. And brunches, don’t get me started…the two of them can eat more sashimi and lobster than I can.

We are all lucky to be living this life but the trick is how to keep it real and how to find ways to relate to those “back home.” That’s pretty tough when “home” has only been your adopted country. Our kids are not Chinese, but China is home and as a wise man once said, “You can take the kids out of China, but you can’t take China out of the kids.”

—Jodi Montgomery, parent and PTSA president, Puxi campus

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A True TCK StoryOne of the rather interesting characteristics that I have noticed over the years is that TCKs tend to be what I call “world smart, but street stupid.” A former female student of mine, then in grade 7, ran away from home in Seoul on Wednesday night of Thanks-giving weekend.

She took her passport and mother’s credit card with her to the Kimpo airport, bought a ticket and boarded a flight to Frankfurt, expecting to fly on to Denmark, where a recently repatriated friend lived. She landed in Germany about 2:00 a.m., caught a cab and told the driver to take her to a hotel. She checked into the hotel, sure that only the cabbie, the doorman, the desk clerk and the bellboy knew that she was traveling alone.

After finding that she couldn’t go on to Copenhagen, the next day she boarded a flight to New York, where, eventually, she called her aunt in New Jersey (her mom had stopped payment on the credit card) who drove to downtown Manhattan and got her and put her on a morning flight to Seoul. She was back in school on Monday morning.

When I talked to her later, and asked her if she was at all

afraid of traveling alone, she shrugged and asked me, “Why should I be?” When I followed up and asked if she was afraid getting into a cab in a strange city in the middle of the night, she responded, “Why should I have been?” I got the same answer when I asked her about the hotel check in. Frightening.

This grade 7 girl was completely comfortable flying on her own around the world, navigating Frankfurt and New York, pur-chasing international airplane tickets, buying meals and doing all the other expected and unexpected events of travel. She was, in my words, “world smart.” However, she was completely clueless when it came to personal safety. Having grown up in the protection of her family and in the very safe environment of Seoul she was, also in my words, “street stupid.”

Although she was growing up in the culture of her parents (Korean) she was truly a TCK. Now she has grown up to be a truly TCK adult and hopefully a little more street smart. Some later experiences with my own kids confirmed this worldly confidence existing happily alongside cultural naivety.

—Jonathan Borden, high school principal, Pudong campus


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Additional ResourcesThere is a great deal more to say about this subject—our own children. Each TCK is different; each one reacts to the life that has been chosen for them in different ways. Some embrace the experi-ence; others resent it. Some adjust easily to changes; others have to seek professional help just to manage.

If this subject of TCKs interests you, check out these addition-al resources. Each one comes from a slightly different perspective, but all help complete the story of TCKs.

• “Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds” by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken is the classic work on TCKs.

• http://tckid.com is written by and for TCKs.

• http://www.academia.edu/874126 is a scholarly study of Asian TCKs.

• www.tckworld.com is written by and for TCKs.

• http://www.libbystephens.com is good source of information, blogs, and other resources.

• http://www.denizenmag.com is a digital magazine by and for TCKs.

• If you are interested in the experience of Korean TCKs in particular, Jonathan Borden, high school principal on the Pudong campus, wrote the book, “Confucius Meets Piaget.” Contact him at [email protected] for more information.

• Each division at SAS has a team of counselors that are ready to help with any of your family's transitional needs. Contact the division secretary for more info.

PHOTO: Parent and PTSA President Jodi Montgomery with her husband, Benjamin Baker, and their children, Luci, grade 2, and Dylan, kindergarten.


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Each year, the International Fair draws thousands of people to our school. This event, organized by the Puxi campus Parent Teacher Student Association, is open to the entire Shanghai community. Students, parents and people from many other backgrounds fill the cafeteria to sample foods from around world—foods prepared by SAS parents to showcase their home cultures. Each bite is a cross-cultural exchange—a moment for people from different places to build understanding. It’s a celebration of our unique international community. And a chance to break bread together. Or naan. Or tortilla. Or rice cakes or fried buns.

Breaking Bread


COMMUNITY


Homesick AliensWhen the Homesick Aliens took the stage during a middle school assembly, the crowd went wild. Performing cover songs from the Ramones and the Foo Fighters was frontman and lead guitar player Max Mah (pictured above center) with De-van Chung (right) on bass and Wein Hsu (left) on drums.

These grade 7 rock stars are quite the accomplished musicians. Among other things, Max plays electric, acoustic and classical guitar; Wein has played drums for six years; and Devan plays bass guitar and drums and performs with another local band called The Five.

The Homesick Aliens first formed in SAS music teacher Rick Glascock’s Rock Band exploratory course. Though they are interested in exploring all genres of music, the group takes much inspiration from classic rock. “I listen to a lot of my

dad’s music like Cream, Roy Orbison and the Beatles,” Max says. “In my first year of playing guitar I saw an Eric Clapton concert in Hong Kong and was really inspired by that.”

The band’s name is quickly becoming well known around the Puxi campus, which is noteworthy as the name reflects feelings that many SAS students share. “Sometimes we have some hard days in Shanghai and you think about other places,” Max explains. “Aliens are from a far away place and homesick means you want to go home. So for me, ‘Homesick Aliens’ kinda fit.”

Though they may occasionally think of other places, for the time being they have found a place together as a band. “We can all understand each other in the Homesick Aliens,” Max says. “It just comes together naturally.”


PEOPLE TO MEET

You have worked here for so many years. When did you start this job and what brought you here? I started working at SAS at the end of 1996. I was a temporary hire at first because I had a full-time job as an electrician at East China Air Control Center. In 1999, I officially joined SAS, which was a very big career move for me. Not every part-time handyman could become full time back then. The candidate pool for handyman was competitive. Only those who were really good might get a chance to stay—I was lucky to be one of them.

What is your typical day like?I wake up at 5:30 a.m., take care of my pigeons and make breakfast for my family. Then I bike to campus and start working. Prepa-ration is always very important for our job because you cannot repair things without materials. I print out all the email requests, get organized and straighten out the priorities before really getting started. Then I will bring the materials we need and bike to each division and office.

Speaking of biking, you have no idea how much I love it. It makes my life so much easier and everything becomes more effi-cient. Sometimes there are some urgent requests that I need to take

care of in the middle of work. I can quickly bike there from one end of the campus to the other. I can help more people with my bike. There are only three handymen on our team so everyone is really busy. If you happen to see someone ride an old Chinese bike on campus, that’s us. Say hello.

What do you think it takes to be successful as a handyman?Being detail-oriented, accurate and reliable are indispensable for a handyman—especially for a handyman working at a school. We have to be really careful of each step we make. Even for fixing a little bulb, if you happen not to secure it, it may fall off and stu-dents will get hurt. That’s not even to mention big tasks like setting up a stage. We need to think of all possible consequences.

What kinds of people do you like dealing with in your work? I like kids. I don’t really need to talk to them when I fix things, but it’s nice to see them and have them around. Sometimes when I work in elementary school, kids will come to me and ask “shu shu (uncle), what is this? What are you doing?” They have so much curiosity when they see someone put up a ladder and do something with a light or ceiling. They are eager to learn even really small things. I will show them some tools if I get a chance.

I also like talking to expats who know Chinese culture. For example, a couple days ago, when we hung the pictures and nailed them on the wall in the administration building, our superinten-dent, Richard Mueller, was there and talked to me in Chinese. Richard is more like an old pal to me. We know each other because I fixed his desk once. At that moment, I felt we were connected without any language barrier.

What do you like most about your job?The most wonderful thing about working here is I can see the whole world here without even going abroad. I like people com-ing from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Also I can see many young students everyday, which makes me feel young. Besides that, people are really friendly and nice here. They can feel I put my heart in my work and they always smile back at me.

How do you like to spend your free time?I like traveling. I have been to Hong Kong, Macao and Hainan. Other things I do on weekends are cooking, fishing, arranging flowers and gardening. I like spending more time with my family.

What is your dream?I want to open my own business. I used to own a flower shop. I am probably too old to make it come true, but that’s OK. Lately I want to have a car, a Volvo S60, so I can drive my family outside of Shanghai and have some fun over the weekends.

People to Meet: Wan ChunmingWan Chunming, a handyman on the Puxi campus, is a loyal employee who has worked at SAS for more than 15 years. Everyday he bikes across campus, walks into each division or department and sets up and repairs the many things used and needed daily. Jay Bian from the SAS advancement office met with Mr. Wan to find out more about him, his life and his dreams.


While students were on stage in the spotlight living their dreams, off stage, Orchestra Director Phillip Green was living his as well. One of the driving forces behind selecting “West Side Story” as this year’s musical was due to Green’s lifelong dream to conduct the music for the show. Green assembled a talented group of 37 musicians that played the entire score of the musical live. “‘West Side Story’ is so much about the music,” director Jean Simmons said. “Phillip really helped bring the show to life. And his passion and spirit inspired the whole production and was an example to always follow your dreams.”

ON STAGE

Thank You for the Music


While students were on stage in the spotlight living their dreams, off stage, Orchestra Director Phillip Green was living his as well. One of the driving forces behind selecting “West Side Story” as this year’s musical was due to Green’s lifelong dream to conduct the music for the show. Green assembled a talented group of 37 musicians that played the entire score of the musical live. “‘West Side Story’ is so much about the music,” director Jean Simmons said. “Phillip really helped bring the show to life. And his passion and spirit inspired the whole production and was an example to always follow your dreams.”

ON STAGE

“West Side Story” has everything: sublime music, stylized and chal-lenging dance, wonderful ensemble work. Most importantly, at its core is a heartbreaking drama that allows us to stop and look at our own lives and communities and be grateful for our freedoms and encouragement to live our dreams.

Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” explores the idea that two families could hold so much hate for each other that their own children become the tragic victims of their fears and jealousies. The original director and choreographer, Jerome Robbins, and his cre-ative team transported this tale from the streets of Verona to 1950s New York. Feuding families were replaced by two teenage gangs of different ethnic backgrounds playing out their heated rivalry on the streets of the Upper West Side. Romeo and Juliet became Maria and Tony whose love at first sight turns into tragedy as hatred and violence trigger a shocking end.

The challenges of this production were immense. The team tried to stay true to the original conception of the musical, attempt-ing to keep it as stylistically accurate but still making it resonate with our audience here at SAS. The work that we shared was the re-sult of a wonderful ensemble of highly dedicated and creative young people and teacher collaborators who have grown through our time together. This show was indeed a labor of love for all of us.

Playing It CoolBY JEAN SIMMONS, DIRECTOR AND THEATRE TEACHER, PUXI CAMPUS

Thank You for the Music


Impressive Feats by AP ScholarsOn both campuses, our students take advantage of the AP pro-gram and the range of the 24 AP courses we offer. In the 2013-2014 year, 286 Pudong students took a total of 651 AP exams; 317 Puxi students took a total of 694 exams during the same time. And of these, over 92 percent of exams from both campuses received the equivalent of a passing score on at least one exam (usually a score of 3 out of a possible 5 is considered passing by universities). The large majority of exams scored 4 or 5.

But what some people might not know is that on top of the challenge of taking university-level material, students can earn an AP Scholar designation if their marks are high enough. The scholar designations are, according to College Board, as follows:

• AP Scholars are students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams.

• AP Scholars with Honor are students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams

• AP Scholar with Distinction are students who receive an av-erage score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams

Once again, our students are impressive:• Of the 286 AP students at Pudong campus, there were a to-

tal of 143 scholars, 25 scholars with honors, and 86 scholars with distinction. These scholars had an average score of 4.36 out of 5.

• Of the 317 AP students at Puxi campus, there were a total of 157 scholars, 76 scholars with honors, and a 76 scholars with distinction. These scholars had an average score of 4.22 out of 5.

Given that the global average on exams taken last year was 2.89, you can see why we are proud.

A further 18 students on Pudong campus and 19 students on the Puxi campus received AP International Diplomas, a recogni-tion automatically awarded to students who earn scores of 3 or higher on five or more AP exams from a specific range of subject areas.

— Marney Rosen, AP Coordinator, Pudong campus and Fernanda Dillon, AP Coordinator, Puxi campus

Photo: Between these six Pudong campus seniors, they scored perfect scores on 38 AP exams. Pictured, from left, are Allen Chen, Eliane Jiang, Carrie Lin, Allison Fu, Ellie Beaudry and Ivor Huang.

COMMUNITY

AP Capstone Comes to SAS Shanghai American School has been selected as 1 of only 100 schools worldwide to implement the AP Capstone program. The AP Capstone is an extension to the Advanced Placement (AP) pro-gram that offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students.

“It is a unique honor to be trusted and selected to launch the AP Capstone. We are proud to offer this program that gives stu-dents an unprecedented opportunity to engage in the challenging development of skills needed to be successful, not only in college, but as they enter the global workforce,” said Richard W. Mueller, SAS superintendent.

No other educational institutions in Shanghai—or all of Mainland China—offer the AP Capstone. This partnership between the College Board (the organization that provided AP programs) and SAS is proof of both organizations’ commitment to excellent education.

The College Board developed the AP Capstone to prepare students for the rigors of college and for success in future careers. “It is one of the most advanced programs that can be offered at high school,” said Paul Harris, AP Capstone instructor, Pudong campus. “As far as real-world learning goes, the application for the program is ahead of its time. It’s getting students ready to deal with exactly what they will have to deal with in college, before they’ve gotten there.”

Students who complete the program have an opportunity to distinguish themselves during the college application process by demonstrating their commitment to challenging coursework and showcasing their in-depth understanding, interest and passion for specific issues.

AP Capstone, which typically begins in grades 10 or 11, is a two-course sequence taken concurrently with the AP program. In the first course, AP Seminar, students are equipped with the power to explore academic and real-world issues through an interdisci-plinary lens and consider multiple points of view.

The subsequent AP Research course allows students to design, plan, and conduct a yearlong mentored investigation on a topic of their choosing. Students will build on the skills learned in the AP Seminar course to present and defend an argument. Teachers have the flexibility of choosing themes based on student interests, whether they are local issues or international topics.

Students who earn scores of 3 (out of a possible 5) or higher on the AP Seminar and AP Research exams and on four additional AP exams of their choosing will receive the AP Capstone Diploma. This signifies their outstanding academic achievement and at-tainment of college-level academic and research skills. SAS offers students 24 Advanced Placement courses to choose from as they work towards their AP Capstone Diploma. Last year alone, SAS administered more than 1,300 AP exams.

The cross curricular nature of the AP Capstone program, com-bined with real-world learning, highlights the SAS commitment to its students to provide an unparalleled education. The experiences in this program give students the foundation they need in order to succeed in college and beyond.


Jasmine Hui: I’ve always been involved in a lot of extracurriculars—student council, math tutoring, swimming, Model United Nations—so I didn’t have to go out of my way to meet my CAS requirements. However, we have to write reflections for every CAS activity we do, and that prompted me to give more thought to why

I did the things that I do and what I learned about myself through them. I ended up being glad I did the activities that I did, because they each improved a different aspect of me, and I think that’s what CAS should be about.

Keith Wong: To me, CAS began as an obstacle. It was extra work, extra time and extra energy that I thought I simply could not muster. How wrong I was. Through this program, I was guided along a system which helped me to go beyond my traditional scope. From building houses in Indonesia to organizing and attending

Model United Nations conferences, CAS has helped to broaden my perspective on global issues of importance. Not only is CAS an enriching experience, it also ensures that one stays in touch with the various aspects of life outside the educational curriculum.

In addition to academic studies, all students in the Interna-tional Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma program build a portfolio of their participation in three required activities—creativity, ac-tion and service (CAS). These three students share some of the things they’ve learned from this program that takes them both in and out of the classroom.

Sabrina Hsu: “Good eye, good eye!” “Talk him up, infield!” These are phrases that I’d never heard before baseball. Though baseball was never a sport I thought I would come to love, my first game was an amazing experience. Even though I was in the dugout the entire time, hands shaking as I tried to watch the game and

keep stats, I found myself cheering along with my teammates, even taking on the habit of eating sunflower seeds to keep off the stress. Through taking on the role of varsity baseball manager, I’ve learned how to adapt to a completely new environment and to work things out on my own when I’m given a job to do. Most importantly, though, I realized that the most important aspect was not necessar-ily to win the game but to win one another’s support and to share our passion for baseball. That’s what makes us a team.

COMMUNITY

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists AnnouncedRecently, proud parents, excited faculty and five accomplished students met for a celebratory breakfast in the counseling center. The cause for celebration? Five senior students from the Pudong campus and one from the Puxi campus are among the top one percent of students who took the Preliminary SAT test (PSAT) test in 2013. The students from the Pudong campus (pictured above, from left) are Carrie Lin, Amanda Li, Edward Liu, Elaine Jiang, and Allison Fu. Yvonne Ye (above, right) is the sole semifinalist from the Puxi campus.

As National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists, these students have earned the privilege to compete for the honor of being a National Merit Scholar and recipient of a scholarship ranging from $2,500-$10,000 USD.

The National Merit Scholarship program is a U.S.-based aca-demic and scholarship competition for U.S. citizens that started in 1955. The students were selected based on their junior year PSAT test scores; last year 1.4 million students in 22,000 high schools took the PSAT. From the 16,000 semifinalists, students had to submit a detailed application covering their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities and honors and awards received. In addition, the students were recommended by our school, wrote an essay and earned SAT scores that confirmed their earlier performance on the qualifying test.

We are proud of our National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists and wish them well in the next round of the competition.

— Michelle Barini, high school counselor, Pudong campus

CAS Reflections

20 | The Eagle Review20 | The Eagle Review

TOP: Puxi middle school students in a Ningbo factory where they designed their own outfits.

BELOW, LEFT: Ms. Lola Alvarez helps the youngest students at SAS construct a crib.

CENTER, RIGHT: Grade 8 students in Jonathan Chambers’ advisory class get their hands dirty.

CENTER, BELOW: Students rush to pick up beans scattered across the pavement.

FROM OUR CLASSROOMS


Passion for FashionMiddle-school student designers in Ann Hefte’s Passion for Fashion exploratory class lived a day as real fashion designers. Students travelled on an overnight trip to Ningbo where they had 24 hours to turn sketches into patterns. And with the help of their own professional computer programmers and tailors, those patterns became a finished look that they modeled for the middle school at a showcase assembly.

No Bed for the BabyEven our youngest students are developing their critical thinking skills to identify real problems. Recently, the pre-kindergarten students in Lola Alvarez’s class were concerned that the classroom doll did not have bed to sleep in, so Ms. Alvarez brought in a crib that the students had to work together to construct. By identifying a problem and using teamwork and collaboration, the three-year-olds are learning to think beyond just themselves. They are taking ownership of their classroom community and doing what is best for everyone, including their baby doll.

Pizza JuiceInquiry-based learning is a type of learning that starts by posing a question or a problem that students then explore. It’s an instruction method that goes beyond lec-tures and textbooks, and, as it’s a more hands-on approach, students are able to see answers for themselves. Sometimes the process gets a little messy. For instance, in Jonathan Chambers’ middle school homeroom class, students asked, “Can you juice pizza?” While the students didn’t discover the next big beverage fad, they did show off their impressive skilled inquirer approach to learning.

Survival of the FittestWhat looked like a game in the parking lot was actually a unit on natural selection for Ruby Hundley and Nola Heckmann’s grade 8 science classes. Students were placed in different clans; each clan was assigned a different “appendage” (i.e. hands, a spoon, a knife or latex gloves restricting the thumb). Then, students had one minute to collect beans scattered across the parking lot with their appendage. Based on how many beans the different groups collected, students determined if their species was able to repro-duce or go extinct.

Rather than researching data on the Internet, they used their own data they had gathered to build graphs and visual representations to project which traits allow species to reproduce or perish. Students built their skills of collecting, recording and analyzing data. It was an approach to visually seeing natural selection in a real-life and meaning-ful way—even if it was a lot of fun.

Project Now is our commitment to provide excellent education to every student, every day.

The phrase Project Now has emerged to describe power-ful, experiential programs that we offer here at Shanghai American School. Students’ transformative learning in these experiences reinforces

the importance of support-ing deep, real-life learning for our students each and every day.

A team of teachers developed a Project Now framework (pictured here) specifically for SAS

that incorporates some of the key 21st century

learning competencies: col-laboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication. This framework has become a vehicle for teacher collabora-tion around best practices in education. As a result of this approach to teaching and learning, as well as a focus on cross-cultural compe-tence, students become self-empowered, risk takers, explorers and reflective of the learning process.

Project Now provides our students with dynamic edu-cational experiences that will allow them to develop the high-level skills necessary to thrive and contribute in our global society. To learn more about Project Now at SAS, visit: www.saschina.org/projectnow

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FROM OUR CLASSROOMS


FROM OUR CLASSROOMS

Street Art for ChangeUsing the Pudong campus as a canvas and the style of artist Banksy as inspiration, students created “street art” to bring attention to a global issue. During the grade 8 humanities global issues unit, students investigated an issue of global significance about which they are passionate. As a connection, visual art students studied the work of Banksy, a famous yet anonymous street artist, whose graffiti highlights many controversial social and political issues around the world. For their art project, students first scouted out the best location on campus to use as their “canvas.” Then, they created oil pastel “trick of the eye” drawings that communicated the essence of their global issue.

The Science of SweetsHave you ever tasted homemade fluorescent ice cream filled with Oreo crumbles,

condensed milk, sugar and a drizzle of tonic water? Coldstone Creamery doesn’t even come close. In fact, Coldstone employees and restaurant managers may want to ask 54 International Baccalaureate students how they created exceptional entrées, includ-ing fried rice, caramel popcorn and protein shakes.

Creating delicious delicacies isn’t a simple task; it requires time, effort and a comprehensive understanding of how biology, chemistry, physics and environmental systems interconnect and complement one another. The open-ended instruction led

to many different scientific investigations and end products, such as viscous Coke, durable eggs, conductive citruses, crispy bacon and lactose-free ice cream. At the end

of two days, each group presented their findings in a five-minute video. The project allowed students to interact with their peers, review learned material and examine how

theoretical scientific concepts apply to real-life situations.

— By Stephanie Ganzeveld, grade 12, Pudong campus

Our Finite PlanetThe purpose of the Innovation Institute at the Puxi campus high school is to encourage students en-rolled in the institute to develop and practice what are pedagogically called, the four Cs: critical think-ing, collaboration, creativity and communication. This fall, these grade 9 students undertook their first problem-based learning activity to answer the question, “How do we justly endure on a finite planet?” Students were asked to create a four- to six-page magazine spread that integrated design and art, math, English, social science and science. It was a challenging project and forced students to address the very question world leaders are trying to answer. The project culminated when the students presented their final design that addressed one aspect of the driving question. Some of the topics students confronted include political corruption, food waste, air pollution and energy production. The final pieces are im-pressive, and you can view them at: http://sites.saschina.org/innovationinstitute/category/tbd/jefp/

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Y O U R L A S T CHANCE

Ou r s o -c i e t y t o d a y

depends greatly on oil as our main source of energy. However, as the amount of oil decreases as we continue our usage of it, and the demand for oil escalates to meet our current needs, the price of oil will rise to a point of

unaffordability, when we will be forced to switch to an alterna-

tive. But what will happen if there is none?

ALI-NA ZHU,

BENJAMIN HO, COLE KNIGHT, JA-COB EARLEY

ALINA ZHU,BENJAMIN HO, COLE KNIGHT,JACOB EARLEY

Image (clockwise from top right):Wikipedia (2), The Mirror, Wikipedia, and Flickr

TOP: Grade 8 student Kiki Huang’s street art, posted in the Pudong campus cafeteria, is a reminder about the problems of waste.

BELOW, LEFT: International Baccalaureate students are developing edible confections in the Pudong campus science labs.

CENTER RIGHT AND BELOW RIGHT: Magazine spreads designed by students from the Puxi campus Innovation Institute.

FROM OUR CLASSROOMS



EDGE FOR EXCELLENCE



EDGE FOR EXCELLENCE

Why We GiveBY CRICKETT KASPER, DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS MANAGER

“We build futures” is a familiar statement on our campuses. But it was my conversation with Barbara and Tim Boyer about why they give to SAS that brought the words to life for me. The Boyers believe they have the responsibility to positively impact our community and to change the lives of our students for the better. Whether it is giving their talents to help students learn robotics, giving their time to help a colleague or giving their treasure to support our community, the Boyers are fully committed to SAS. Their type of passion and dedication is what builds futures—a future for each student, each faculty member and our school.

Q: How long have you been at Shanghai American School?Tim: This is our seventh year at the school. Barbara and I both

have been teaching for more than 20 years now. We have been teaching in international schools for 11 of those years.

Barbara: We have lived and taught in Korea, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. before joining SAS. Tim originally taught science before he joined me in the library.

Q: Why do you give to Shanghai American School? Tim: We want to lead by example, for our children and for

our students. Giving has the power to change things for the better.Barbara: We are proud to give to SAS. I understand that some

people struggle with the idea of giving to their employer or to their school—but we are proud to give because we see it as an invest-ment in the community we believe in.

Tim: You invest in what you love and value. We love and value SAS. As teachers, we all give our time and our hearts every-day. We do everything we can to support our students. That is our calling. That is who we are as educators. Giving money is a valida-tion of that passion. It says that you value our entire community and are proud to be counted as members of our school.

Barbara: I had the opportunity to be part of the strategic planning process a few years ago and it was an amazing experience. The process set the school on a course for the future. As a faculty member and as a parent, I am invested in the outcome.

Tim: We are all in. It is who we are as people and it is who we are as a family. We teach here, live here and give here. SAS is part of who we are.

Barbara: The school invests in us. Why wouldn’t we invest in it? We have had wonderful professional development opportunities here and as a result we have high-quality faculty members who are risk takers, life long learners and professionals dedicated to their craft. My students and our children directly benefit from that.

Q: How are we building futures at Shanghai American School?Barbara: I think we are building a future for every child here.

We want to lead by example with our children and with our com-

munity’s children. We give because we want to raise givers. We want to show our children and our community that you can make a difference and have an impact. You should support the things you care about. And we care about SAS.

Tim: We have the faith, the belief and the hope that our stu-dents will make a difference in our world. All of our students are part of the future.

Barbara: When I think about the course of history and the many people who have shaped it—people who did tremendous things and those who did horrible things—I wonder what their teachers were like. Did they have people who cared about them? Encouraged them? Did they have heroes?

Tim: As librarians, we come into contact with all SAS stu-dents. I hope that what do here in the library has a positive impact on each child. We want every student to have a challenging, grow-ing, loving and caring experience at our school.

Barbara: I recently asked my daughter if there was anyone at school she admired? If she could be like someone at school, who would it be? She immediately said, “I would be like coach Sandy. She is my hero.” She explained that coach Sandy is a learner that tries new things. My daughter said, “She is not just a coach. She has several degrees and she is interested in many areas. Coach Sandy is a risk taker. I admire that.”

I was proud that my daughter not only recognized these quali-ties in one of her teachers, but wanted to emulate those qualities herself. We are so lucky to be surrounded by amazing colleagues. I get to work with my children’s heroes. That is truly special.

Q: What are your hopes and dreams for the future of SAS?Barbara: I dream about how design thinking and program-

ming can be integrated into our curriculum for all ages. I see connections between robotics, writing, science, art…there are links between all the disciplines. I see us building an exciting future for our school.

Tim: I dream about expanding the opportunities for our students to follow their passion out of the classroom and into our community. When a student wants to go deeper into a subject than our curriculum can offer, I want to connect that student with our parent community. I hope we can build a bridge through our parent community that can connect what is happening on campus with the city of Shanghai. I hope we can provide more internships and other opportunities for our students to explore their passions.

PHOTO: Tim and Barbara Boyer, high school and middle school librarians and media specialists on the Pudong campus, with their children Hannah, grade 12, and Will, grade 9.


A CLOSER LOOK


FINDTheTIMEThis fall, students visited a rural part of Chitwan district in Nepal to build a home with Habitat for Humanity. When not building the home, the students witnessed the construction of elaborate swings reaching 10 meters high for Dashain—the most auspicious festival celebrated each year in Nepal. Like the students, the girl pictured here also found the balance between helping build the home and participating in the celebrations by building her own traditional swing. She’s a simple reminder that, regardless of where you are, there’s a way to find the time to join the fun.

A CLOSER LOOK


PHOTO BY JERRY KOONTZ


COMMUNITY

HABITAT for HUMANITY

IndonesiaJASON HUANG, GRADE 12, PUXI CAMPUS

As a veteran of a couple of Habitat trips, I can say each place has its own flavor. The bamboo homes of Nepal differ from layered domiciles in Cambodia, and the humble little houses in Sichuan have their own special charms. But the one thing that never differs fundamentally, from place to place, is the people.

Sure, each location has its own customs—I’ve never been wo-ken up at 4 a.m. by a call to prayer in Sri Lanka, but I’ve also not been treated to sweet tea and rice cakes in Indonesia. The people in Africa click their tongues as part of their language and the people in Sri Lanka shake their heads, but these are all surface variations of a deeper, human instinct.

When I went on a Habitat for Humanity trip for the first time, it was an Indonesian trip. Now, four years later, I’m back again. I’m struck by something. The first time, I noticed differ-ences. The second time, I noticed commonalities. When you go on a Habitat for Humanity trip, you will meet people who are entirely alien to you—and they are in a way. The experiences of these

people are unimaginable to us, the privileged few. They go through challenges we cannot comprehend. Don’t fall into the sentimental trap of waxing poetical on the virtues of the common man, able to find joy in the hardships of life. You’ve not walked in their shoes. You can’t understand that.

What you can understand, however, is their humanity. The way they smile. The way they cry. That awkward laugh every-body makes the first time they meet. The moment is fleeting, the connection, subtle. But it’s there—and that’s what Habitat for Humanity is all about. It’s not just about helping other people, it’s helping yourself. It’s recognizing with shock how 80 percent of the world live in conditions you cannot imagine, then realizing this is the universe where their romances, dreams, and glories live and die. In the end, it’s just like you, and just like me.

And there’s something precious in recognizing that. So next time, if you have a chance, try it out. The experience will humble you.


COMMUNITY

HABITAT for HUMANITY

NepalESTHER YAO, GRADE 12 AND SHAWN LIM, GRADE 10, PUXI CAMPUS

We went to Nepal with hopes of helping a less fortunate family construct a brand new house. Knowing that we were only given a limit of three days to complete the job, everyone was committed on finishing the house. Using simple materials such as bamboo sticks, a Nepalese war weapon called the khukuri, and dirt and mud, we were able to lay a good foundation for the home. Apart from that, the homeowners were extremely friendly to us, and even pitched in to help us as we were building the house. The owner of the home, Laxmi, explained how she had already been living in that community for around 40 years. She told us that she and her husband had been saving up for many years in order to be able to afford this house. Now that they have been given this opportunity, words cannot describe how grateful they were for our help.

The overall experience was both fun and educational. We knew that it would not be an easy job at all, but we gave it our best efforts nonetheless. From the moment they welcomed us to their community with open arms, to the moment we bid them farewell with tears in our eyes, it was as if we were a part of their com-munity. Although we did not always understand each other, it did not stop us from developing a strong bond that will last into the future.

CambodiaJULIANNE WU, GRADE 11 AND STEVEN GEORGE, GRADE 12, PUXI CAMPUS

For our Cambodia Habitat for Humanity team of 18 students, our hard work began after our guide, introduced us to the homeowners and their family. That day, the children scarcely dared to glance at us. However, as the days progressed, our interactions went from glances to high fives to stone throwing competitions to chasing the shockingly speedy village chickens.

During the day, we strapped on our gloves and went to work. In the span of five days and with the aid of four masons, we passed buckets of sand and water to lay the foundation, heaved wheelbar-rows of stones across bumpy terrain, pounded the rocks into the floor, mixed bag after bag of cement, dug four-by-four meter pits and learned the art of brick laying. It was amazing to see some-thing beautiful rise out of the chaos of construction.

On the last day I learned that the homeowners had experi-enced hardships that any one of us would likely never come close to experiencing in our lives. When making their speeches, their eyes were glistening with joy and hope of finally having a home and hope of starting a new life, of a brighter future for their chil-dren.

After this week of sweat, laughter and tears, none of us was ready to return to our daily routines back under Shanghai’s gloomy skies. Cambodia will remain in our memories for years to come.


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“I’m working on a project with the National Art Honor Soci-ety that is a collaboration with elementary school students. It was hard to come up with the idea…and even harder to inter-pret what the kids drew.”

“I was in a group and we had to direct and shoot a music

video. There was a lot strenu-ous and tiring action shots—

I had to do high knees up stairs. And we had to reshoot

it numerous times.”

STUDENT VOICES


STUDENT VOICES Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote, “the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” We were curious about some of the more bitter moments, so we asked these grade 10 students from the Puxi campus high school about the difficult things they’ve faced so far this year. Not everything they had to say is included.

Dar

by L

ynch

Mic

helle

Fan“In my AP U.S. History class

we have a giant packet of ma-terial we have to go through. We call it the party pack—it’s not much of a party.”

STUDENT VOICES

“I really enjoyed designing a book cover using pen and ink.

It was more enjoyable than units 1 and 2’s math word

problems.”


Are you reading anything good right now?Good Night Moon and The Gruffalo

What's the last song you listened to?“Gold Dust” and “Wheels on the Bus”

Most interesting place you have travelled?I have had the good fortune to grow up all over the world and having seen some amazing places like Somalia, Burma and Hong Kong. I couldn’t say one place in the world is more interesting than another.

What country would you most like to live in?Any country with year round sunshine and on a coast

If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games

What makes you laugh?British humor and my son

What are three things you could not live without?Breakfast, sunshine and exercise

20 Questions with Alice HarwoodAlice Harwood is the newest PE teacher in the Puxi middle school, but she’s certainly not new to an international lifestyle. She’s a true third culture kid having lived in more than 10 countries, including England, the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Oman. But it’s her sense of adventure and courage that truly make her belong at SAS.

Who do you most admire?My husband, for putting up with me

On the weekends you like to ... ?Go on bike rides with my family, work out, go dancing, watch movies

What is your biggest pet peeve?People who step out into the road without looking

What word or phrase do you most overuse?I tend to preface everything with “Now…,” even though it’s not needed.

What quality do you most admire in a student?The courage to keep trying something even when they are strug-gling

What quality do you most admire in a teacher?Patience, empathy and a good sense of humor

At what age did you become an adult?When my son was born, but sometimes I think I’m still working on it

What is your most memorable gift from a student?A signed album with photos spanning five years of teams I had coached

The biggest change you would make to the educational system?No more standardized testing

If you were not a teacher, what would you have done instead?A journalist, reporting from the front lines

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned at SAS?How it feels to be valued and appreciated for what I do and how important it is to then help others feel that way, like your students. When administrators treat teachers well it has a trickle down effect.

Which educator affected you the most and why?My parents for reminding me that no matter what happens in life that you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep on going.

What should we ask the next person who will take this quiz?What is one of your favorite inspirational quotes?

20 QUESTIONS


COMMUNITY

PITCH PERFECTAs the Puxi campus deputy superintendent, Marcel Gauthier is responsible for the day-to-day operations in each of the school divisions. But he also is a teacher, a musician and a role-model to grade 3 students.

Mr. Gauthier is a skilled baroque recorder player and sur-prised the grade 3 students when he arrived as a special guest to help teach the recorder in their music class. He also amazed the class with a special performance of his remarkable talent from years of playing the instrument.

“I was impressed with his flexibility and, not only his willingness, but his eagerness to share music with the stu-dents,” music teacher Alicia Lewis said. “He was able to meet the needs of the class and give the students a delightful experi-ence.”

And it didn’t stop there. Mr. Gauthier also performed with the grade 4 students at their annual concert. Now that’s music to our ears.


SPORTS

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The Way of the SwordBY YVONNE YE, GRADE 12, PUXI CAMPUS

War cries ring across the elementary stage, punctuated by the loud stomping of bare feet and the clacking of bamboo shinai. Partners dressed in full hakama circle each other warily, now and then charging forward with a fearsome kiai that echoes in the high rafters. For just a few hours each week, a corner of the Puxi campus is trans-formed into a dojo where high school students in the newly-formed Kendo Club learn “the way of the sword.”

“Basically, kendo is an art of swordsmanship,” senior Cici Qi explains. “It originated from the samurai, who needed to practice swordwork, but instead of using a real sword, they used a bamboo shinai. Eventually, the training became its own sport.”

Kendo evolved as a new branch of kenjutsu—the blanket term for Japanese swordsmanship—in the early 18th cen-tury as a training method for warriors. Now, an estimated six million kendokas practice the art worldwide, including the members of Kendo Club, who drill under the stern eye of sophomore Nicholas Liu, president and founder of the group.

Wielding the shinai—four slats of bamboo bound together—Qi practices striking Liu’s weapon in one meeting while staying light on her feet.

“There are a lot of rules in kendo,” she notes. “You’re not only cultivating your body, you’re also cultivating your mind. A lot of respect is involved—for the dojo, for the teachers.”

Unlike other schools of swordsmanship, like fencing, kendo has a strong basis in philosophical principles. Sopho-more Gabriel Lee, who has been practicing kendo for about a year now, initially began training simply for physical exer-cise, but later discovered the additional layer of meaning beneath the swordwork.

“It became more interesting because there’s actually philosophy behind the sport itself, and I like that,” Lee says. “Kendo doesn’t just focus on physical endurance and the technique; it’s a form of self-discipline. It makes you want to reason what you do a little more than just doing it, even if it’s just the small things, like trying to pour a glass of water.”

The atmosphere of discipline in kendo manifests from the moment the kendokas bow at the door to their closing courtesies in seiza (kneeling). Practices are filled with perfecting footwork and learning new techniques.

“For now, we’re just practicing strikes.” Lee shrugs. “It’s just repetition, learning more multi-movement techniques. The general philosophy of kendo teachers is that they don’t want to teach you too fast. They teach slower so you get to grasp the technique.”

The slower pace allows for more attention to detail, so that, in practice, the technique performs well. “The idea of be-ing able to stop your swing midway is that you can stop before following the movement of your sword all the way down and save time and energy in case you miss,” explains Lee. “That time used in pulling your sword back up could be used to pull back and block.”

As a result, kendo teaches agility and speed, taking the emphasis off the devastating blows one might see in mov-ies, but one part where real-life swordsmanship does overlap with Hollywood lies in the skill of the kiai. Practice quickly becomes noisy as kendokas shout, bellow and roar war cries as they dart toward their opponents.

“The kiai is pretty common across Japanese martial arts,” says Qi. “The purpose of the kiai, firstly, is to intimidate your opponent. Second, it’s to expel out your aggressiveness so you don’t keep it bottled inside.” She laughs. “One of my teachers told me that it’s not healthy if you don’t yell when you play kendo.”

Screaming and yelling also breaks down any barriers in Kendo Club as the members good-naturedly joke and chat as they change out of their formal hakamas—uniforms—after practice.

“Compared to the rest of the dojos I’ve been in, the atmosphere in Kendo Club is a little more light-hearted since it’s not just about the training,” says Lee. “Maybe because we’re a bit out of line here and there. We should be training more than we should be joking around, but I’d say that’s for the better.”

As an activity that transcends the lines between sport, art and philosophy, kendo quietly molds the way of its practi-tioners on both a physical and spiritual level.

“Personally, for me, kendo is a really good way to de-stress,” says Qi. “It’s a place where you leave other things behind and focus on one thing, so you leave everything outside and you come into the dojo to play kendo.”

SPORTS


BOYS CROSS COUNTRY Nine students ran the entire season and all of them beat their per-sonal record. At the Tapei American School meet they placed third. At the SISAC meet they finished second. In Guam for the API meet they finished ninth out of 21 teams. They ended the season with the APAC meet finishing in fifth place. Alec Roig received the most valuable player award, Hugh Buckeridge received the most improved player award and Bradley Chen received the coach award.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRYThe cross-country team finished first for SISAC with six students in the top ten. At the APAC meet, they did an astonishing job, win-ning the gold medal with four students in the top ten. Even though they were tired from the Guam meet, they committed to the team.

BOYS RUGBYThe year finished with a fantastic APAC tournament hosted at the Pudong campus. All teams performed well and demonstrated the tradition and pride that comes with being part of the Pudong rugby program. The less experienced team worked hard and performed well above their expectations.

GIRLS RUGBYFor the first time, these girls clinched the APAC championship by beating a scoreless International School of Beijing, the reigning champions for two years. They join an elite group of teams (includ-ing the Puxi campus team) as one of three teams to ever win an APAC Girls Rugby Championship.

BOYS TENNISAt Shanghai Cup, Sidd Chandra (singles), Daniel Min (singles), and Phelim Tong and Jose Puente Davila (doubles) all competed in the quarterfinals. At the Tri-Cities Tennis Tournament the team placed second and Brandon Kali and Sidd Chandra won 7 out of 8singles matches. The team placed fourth at SISAC and Tong and Davila competed in the semifinals. At APAC the team placed fourth with Kali placing fifth, Chandra placing seventh and Tong and Davila placed fourth.

GIRLS TENNISThe tennis team had a stellar season. As a team, the girls placed third at the Tri-Cities Festival at Western Academy in Beijing. They also placed third at the APAC championship. Angella Qian had a particularly successful season winning the singles tournament at the Shanghai High School Cup. She also placed first at the Girls’ Division I SISAC. She also set the record as the first SAS singles champion at the APAC girls singles tournament.

Scoreboard: Pudong Campus

PHOTO: Angella Qian, seen here competing in Daejeon, South Korea, won the championship at three tournaments this season.

ON THE SCOREBOARD


ON THE SCOREBOARD


BOYS BASEBALL The highlight of the season was going undefeated against the SAS Pudong campus team. At the APAC championship the team cel-ebrated in a thrilling walk-off victory against SAS Pudong.

GIRLS RUGBYBy the end of the season our varsity girls team finished third at WAPX, fourth at China Cup and fourth at APAC. This a young team so this has been a great development year. The team captains for the year were Victoria Chiu and Hannah Tan. Our most valu-able players at APAC were awarded to Darby Lynch and Hannah Tan. Darby is new to the sport and she is fearless in the line outs and tackles. Hannah plays with everything she has and she scored 3 tries at the APAC tournament.

BOYS TENNISAt the APAC tournament this varisty boys team placed first. The boys won every single match in team round robin except one. In the doubles tournament Jaime Liu and Zach Chavet placed first; also placing first was the mixed doubles team of Mecoly Dong and Tim Tan. In the individuals tournament Andrew Kao placed second and David Kong placed fourth.

GIRLS TENNISAs a team these girls had a particularly successful season, most notably winning first place at the APAC tournament. Also at the APAC tournament, Joy Wang and Nicole Cappo placed first in the doubles tournament and Mecoly Dong and Tim Tan placed first in mixed doubles. In the APAC singles competition, Franchesca Fu placed fourth and Katherine Chen placed fifth.

BOYS VOLLEYBALLThe Puxi boys varsity volleyball team had an amazing season winning China Cup and the Tri-Cities tournament. They were gunning for top spot in the Super APAC championship, but came in second. Jon Ng led the team well, Ben Lai showed what an extreme talent he is and Connor Yeh impressed with some amazing skills. All three were chosen as All-APAC athletes.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALLThe varsity girls volleyball team went undefeated locally in our SISAC tournament and earned second place in all of Shanghai. It was a wonderful season with a young team of student-athletes who have grit and play with joy.

Scoreboard: Puxi Campus

PHOTO: Darryl Ooi ducks and weaves in this match against Tae-jon Christian International School. Over the course of the APAC rugby tournament Ooi scored seven tries.

ON THE SCOREBOARD


ON THE SCOREBOARD

PHOTO BY KENDALL STERNBERG


SPORTS

Taking It to the TopEagle pride took to the courts at the Shanghai International Schools Activities Conference volleyball tournament. The Pudong campus girls junior varsity volleyball team fought for each victory but remained respectful to the competition. They beat a tough Concordia team, finally winning in the third set to move on to the cham-pionship against SCIS Pudong. Again, a point-for-point match, the girls pulled out the victory in two sets and were able to hold high the first place trophy. The mother-daughter coaching team of Patricia Kearney and Katelyn Regan couldn’t be more proud of these girls.

Setting SailEver since I saw sailboat racer Xu LiJia win a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, I felt an urge to go sailing. Even though it is not a mainstream sport, I was desperate to give it a try. Ms. Judy Sweeney presented an opportunity to learn about sailing in a Physics of Sailing exploratory course. The excitement of powering and controlling a vessel with just wind seemed almost impossible. To me, that was the reason to sign up for the class.

Finally after a month of preparation, a group of eight middle school students arrived at the southwest shore of Dianshan Lake. We were fortunate to be accompanied by four teachers, as well as three experienced sailors from high school. Although the weather was not on our side, we still enjoyed every second of the day.

The skies were grey and the wind was strong, yet it did not suppress our enthusiasm. We kicked off the day kayaking at a smaller section of Dianshan Lake. With five kayaks, we paddled hard and even organized a quick race to heighten the fun we were having. So much fun that one student tumbled off of the boat. By the end, we were sweating from the warm-up exercise and also wet because we were splashing water on each other.

Luckily, we were able to choose the type of sailboat that we wanted to be on. Most decided to hop on a larger boat. However, I chose an Optimist, which is a small one-person dinghy. After I sat down on my boat, a kind man that stood on the docks yelled out to me, “Pull the lines. Steer the rudder. Push the centerboard.” I repeated this phrase first in my head, then followed by actions over and over again. Within half an hour, I was able to grasp the basics such as rotating 360 degrees. As the wind brushed past my body, I was overwhelmed by how much I adored this sport. Truly, it was an exciting experience.

— Bridget Lu, grade 8, Puxi campus

Serving Up Some SquashWhat if there were a sport with the agility of soccer and basket-ball, the finesse and gracefulness of badminton, the mental skills of golf and the power and precision of tennis? What if I told you that the sport was squash?

Not only is squash a great way to stay fit, you can burn up to an astonishing 750 calories per hour, but it’s also a great way to get noticed by many of the top universities in the world. An impressive 23 of 25 of Forbes’s top ranked colleges have squash courts. All Ivy League schools and many other great colleges, such as Stanford University and MIT have varsity squash teams. Ad-ditionally, 98 percent of all squash players are college graduates, of which 57 percent have graduate degrees—squash is a great way to socialize and build connections with other intellectuals.

Why is squash my favorite sport? Squash makes me think strategically to outsmart my opponent and to keep the game under my control. I like the feeling when my opponent makes an error and the adrenaline rushes through my body when I win a crucial point. It’s a game where my mental capacity is just as important as my athleticism.

If you want to try out squash, there are many places in Shanghai to play. For novices, I would recommend a local squash court. All you need is a squash racket, a pair of indoor court shoes (badminton shoes are perfect) and a ball. If you think you’d like to take squash more seriously, then try a few courses at a place like SECA Academy, a not-for-profit organization designed to promote and improve squash in China.

No matter your motivation, squash is a great game. It offers a great way to release your stress, make friends and increase your discipline and athleticism. Get out there and give it a try.

— Leonard Lee, grade 8, Puxi campus


Full Speed AheadMore than 100 drivers from 25 countries recently attended the Electric World Championships in Orlando, Florida. Representing the U.S. National team at this global event was our Puxi campus grade 11 student, JJ Wang.

JJ started remote control (RC) racing in 2005 when his father took him to a track in Shanghai to watch a race. A couple of months later, JJ’s incredible improvements and skills caught the attention of several Hong Kong based RC brand distributors and at age 7, JJ became the youngest sponsored driver in Asia.

Although the Electric World Championship competition ranks the individual racers, it is more of a battle between manu-facturers than between nations or individual players. JJ races for the company HPI Racing. Most of the top 50 drivers who attended this event are professionals who are paid for driving toy

Athletic Trainers Join SASShanghai American School kicked off the 2014-2015 school year with the addition of Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) to our athletic health care team. Our students and faculty now have access to a level of professional care and expertise that is absent in most international schools in Asia.

The ATCs at SAS provide comprehensive health care to both the students and faculty at all divisions and specialize in providing interventions of musculoskeletal conditions and injuries. Their services include:

• Preventative services• Emergency care• Clinical diagnosis • Therapeutic rehabilitation of acute and chronic injuries and medical conditionsSAS is proud to introduce our two Certified Athletic Trainers, Joshua Euten and

Caleb Lott, who join us on our Puxi and Pudong campuses respectively.Euten is available for students to drop in during their breaks through out the

school day. His office is located in the Puxi Library Media Center across from the high school gym. Lott has a sports medicine area within the high school nurses office. Both of our ATCs are available throughout the school day, during after school activi-ties, and they are onsite for all SAS sponsored activities where there is a high risk of injury.

Regardless of your child’s athletic skill level, we encourage you to contact the trainers if you have any questions about your child’s health needs.

SPORTS

cars—yes, salaried drivers. The typical participant’s age is around 25 to 40 years old—at this event there were only four drivers under the age of 20, including JJ.

After the first qualifying round, JJ was ranked in 11th place, just outside top 10. The media and press gave JJ a lot of coverage because JJ was debuting a new car for HPI in which he participat-ed in the research and development process and helped design the final product that goes on sale worldwide this coming February.

By the end of the event, JJ finished 15th in the world. He was also the youngest racer in the top 20, the highest ranked ethnic Chinese player in the history of the sport and the only non-profes-sional (paid driver). Though JJ doesn’t want to become a profes-sional driver, he does have a goal to become a world champion—and he’s speeding towards that goal.


“The cardboard challenge was awesome because we could build what we want-ed to, and then the best thing was getting to play with it and show it to our friends.”

MAX CHO

“I was sad when it was over. Can we do it two times a year?”

GRACIE MUMA

A Day for PlayBY KIMBRA POWER, THE BAREFOOT LIBRARIAN, PUDONG CAMPUS

Rocket ships, towers, secret forts and arcade games filled the SAS elemen-tary schools. Never mind that they were built from cardboard, they’re still impressive models and installations that showcased our students’ design, creativity, engineering, teamwork, collaboration and problem solving skills.

The Global Cardboard Challenge is an event that invites kids around the world to design and build their own creations using cardboard, recycled materials and imagination. It is a day to bring communities to-gether to rejoice in the creativity and imagination of children everywhere. But above all, it’s a day to play. This year, the day was celebrated by the Pudong elementary school and in many early-childhood classrooms on the Puxi campus.

Students commented on the freedom to choose—they felt empow-ered by the notion that they could make anything they wanted; they were thrilled to have a day set aside for them with very few boundaries.

In our childrens’ busy and scheduled lives, the opportunity to have free-time or play-time can sometimes be limited. Hearing how happy the children were to have a chance to make their own decisions was bitter-sweet.

SAY WHAT?

COMMUNITY

PHOTO BY AMY HOSSACK


COMMUNITY

“The best thing about the day was being able to create and build any-thing you want.”

SEAN CAROZZA

“Building a lot of games was awe-some and so much fun.”

KAITLYN FORD

“We got to use our imagination to have fun. We thought of ideas and built our own projects.”

HAN REI CHOW

“Working with friends was so cool for the cardboard challenge. Even when we argued, we still worked things out and had fun.”

CELINE WANG

“I liked that all the grades did the cardboard challenge.”

ELENA ZHAO

“Getting to make anything you wanted was amazing.”

CHRIS LANGFITT

PHOTO BY AMY HOSSACK PHOTO BY AMY HOSSACK


BY AUDREY YIN, GRADE 6, PUXI CAMPUS

Soon the night of our first show arrived. As we applied our stage makeup and did our hair, we were squealing with nervousness and excitement for the show—“Zombied.” We could see the audience through a TV backstage. I remember us pointing and laughing whenever we saw our classmates or teachers.

Our drama teachers gave a speech before each show telling

us how to improvise if we messed up or forgot a line. The show was now in our hands and the success depended on us to play the roles and tell the story for the audience.

We shook off the jitters and wished each other good luck before sitting in the actor boxes, where we waited until the lights dimmed, the curtains opened and the play would start.

ON STAGE


ON STAGE


Come TogetherAugust 29th isn’t perhaps a date that would immediately spring to mind as “the best day of my life,” but for the high school students on the Puxi campus, it certainly was a prevalent theme.

The second annual Community Day, hosted by the Honor Council, swept the high school with a field day of fun festivities centered on the theme of “bridging the gap.”

“This whole thing started because, on a survey, people wrote that they hoped to see more trust between students and teachers,” senior and council member Huntington Wu said. “So we tried to make it more action-based and made activities outside based on building trust.”

In a markedly different method than the contemplative fish-bowl discussions of last year, the council sought to bring together teams of students ranging from freshmen to seniors with activities from unraveling a human knot to piecing snapshots of “Despi-cable Me.”

“We wanted them to actually learn about community through action and action-based activities,” Andrea Su said, another member of the Honor Council. “We wanted them to actually experience activities that require them to have trust and collaborate with strangers in different grades.”

To do so, the faculty and student body of the high school worked together to build towers out of toothpicks and marshmal-lows, or to carry the lightest member of their group across a mat.

“You were put into a group, didn’t know any other names, now you have to do all these activities that are very physical,” senior Titus Hartmann recalled. “And we had to trust each other a lot.”

Along with the high school Link Leaders, Hartmann helped host the activities, in which he taught part of the choreography for a school-wide flash mob to the song “Best Day of My Life.”

Andrea Su, who choreographed the flash mob, was really proud that students enjoyed it. “I thought they would be really shy,” she admitted, “but afterwards a lot of people said that it was actually fun. It really brought everyone together.”

For many, dancing forced them out of their comfort zones, but they still enjoyed it. “With dance, it’s not about everyone having to do their own thing,” Hartmann mused. “It’s kind of collectively doing these same thing, so there’s no pressure. It’s just fun; it’s just different.”

— By Yvonne Ye, grade 12, Puxi campus

PUXI HAPPENINGS

The Will to SurviveIn the book “Not a Drop to Drink,” the author Mindy McGin-nis creates a dystopian society where survival is a daily fight. This story is set in the future with an enthralling plot and shows us wa-ter shortage problems that the world could face. Grade 7 students used this story in both language arts and science classes—and the unit culminated in the first-ever Survival Night.

The students headed to the school grounds with large back-packs, luggage and tents. People who didn’t know we were camp-ing overnight at school would think we were traveling. Activities for the night included games to develop strategic thinking, physi-cal movement, balance and other survival skills. We built our own tents, learned how to make a fire, used a bow and arrow and, most importantly, cooperated and communicated with group members.

We built our own fires and got to make our own food over the fire. The best part for me was bartering our goods for the things we needed—a pair of chopsticks can be costly. Afterwards, we made some s’mores, sang by the campfire and, of course, told ghost stories.

There were many problems our group faced during Survival Night, such as pitching tents, cooking over a fire, having enough water and food and also bartering for supplies. The tent was easy to set up, but took forever to pack back up. Cooking over the fire was easy itself, but the smoke sometimes got in our eyes. We needed to barter many of our goods just for a cup of water or a slice of bacon. Some groups brought in extra supplies and wanted many of our goods just for one of theirs. We needed to bargain and reason to get a fair deal. Without those problems survival night wouldn’t be about survival, so it was worth it.

Survival Night was amazing, and not just because of the activities and getting to camp at school. The most I learned was teamwork and cooperation. I also appreciate my environment more instead of just taking it for granted. It was exciting that we were the first group to take part in a Survival Night, and it went fantastically.

— By Jamie Liu, grade 7, Puxi campus


Messes for MoneyTicket to Flickit was one of the most creative Giving Tree fund-raisers Puxi middle school has ever undertaken. The idea was sim-ple, students bought tickets to flick gooey substances into the face of middle school art teacher Ann Hefte, her homebase students and some other favorite teachers. Mashed potatoes, Jell-O and oobleck were some of the disgusting sloppy items slung. Thanks to all the good sports that participated and those who purchased tickets—we raised 1,220 RMB in only 20 minutes.

Making a SplashIn October, 51 middle school swimmers attended the annual Jaca-randa Swim-a-Thon. The focus for the event was to raise money for The Jacaranda School for Orphans in Malawi—a school for children orphaned by AIDS. After playing several games, the stu-dents went to the pool where they watched a video message from the Jacaranda students. Then, they swam as many laps as possible, raising more money with each lap swam. This year, the swimmers raised more than 730,000 RMB.

Working TogetherThis school year, we opened our doors to our youngest students ever. Though these pre-kindergarten students are the youngest, the skills they learn now will influence both their education and life.

At SAS we focus on developing a team working culture where helping and shared successes are celebrated and encouraged. We believe it is through teamwork that young learners learn to interact with the world. The ability to work with others as part of a team is a very important life skill that our pre-kindergarten students will need to use in all areas of life.

PUXI HAPPENINGS

We thoughtfully and purposefully plan learning experiences that teach children to get along in a group and begin the process of respecting other’s unique qualities.

In school, our children experience teamwork in many differ-ent forms. Children are invited to work in pairs, small groups or large groups during project work or activities such as ball games. They will also form their own team activities during playtime. They are naturally building the skills of cooperation, communica-tion and collaboration as they play in dress-ups, or with puzzles or blocks.

Being part of a team helps children to move from more intra-personal (individual) ways of thinking to interpersonal (commu-nicating with others). It helps them in all areas of learning such as language and literacy, and most importantly, it helps them learn how to be part of a community.

Through team building experiences children will:• Learn to trust and rely on others—while at the same time

understanding that they must contribute to achieve the group’s goals.

• Establish a sense of self, as well as a sense of group identity.• Develop confidence in their abilities to interact with others.• Begin to understand the concepts of trust, cooperation,

support, patience, perseverance, and sharing.• Encourage listening skills by having participants share

information with one another.• Assist in the friend-making process and help children

approach peers who they haven’t yet gotten to know.• Promote feelings of self-worth and satisfaction.Meaningful team building experiences help our children

to develop important life-long skills to succeed in a community while having fun and making friends.

— By the pre-kindergarten teachers, Puxi campus


PUDONG HAPPENINGS

Curriculums, standards and benchmarks are the last things that come to mind when thinking about a high school club. However, 70 high school students stayed after school to think about those very concepts.

English Service Project (ESP) is a club in which students teach English to the Chinese workers in our community. Through this service, we improve our community by improving com-munication and helping workers open new doors. Year after year, we seek to improve ourselves so that we can provide the best education possible for our students. We attend training held by SAS teachers and ESP members each semester, we set goals for ourselves and we collaborate with our group members and teacher-mentors to create effective lesson plans. This year, we tried something completely new: long-term unit planning.

The afternoon started off with some fun bonding activities run by the student leaders. Chatter and laughter filled the room as the entire club interacted together, an occasion that usually only occurs when we take the annual yearbook photo.

After we were all warmed up, the teacher-mentors joined in and we split up into our worker groups (bus monitors, cafeteria workers, guards, Links ayis, Links receptionists, maintenance workers and Green Court ayis) to brainstorm possible topics we could teach this year. With the student worker group leaders tak-ing charge, we laid out large sheets of yellow butcher paper that were soon covered in our ideas, such as food, texting language, and household items. Then, each teaching group of three chose the topic they wanted to focus on and developed that into a clear unit plan.

Using a template made by our teacher-mentors, we created essential questions (the purposes for teaching the topic), standards (the skills that we want to teach) and benchmarks (the descrip-tions of what achieving the standards looks like). We then out-lined the specific subtopics, like vocabulary or grammar concepts, that we would teach this semester. We discussed and debated our ideas, collaborating with our group members and mentors to design a curriculum.

To be honest, I was shocked at how well the afternoon went. I took a leap of faith when planning this event because it was hard to think that many others would share our conviction. However, seeing everyone putting a curriculum plan together for two hours eliminated my doubts (of course, it did help that there was free food for everyone).

As high school students, we all lead busy lives, so the best part of this day was that we finally had the time to dedicate our-selves to a club we all love. Instead of only thinking about what we would teach next week, we thought about what we wanted to achieve by the end of this semester and craft corresponding lessons. It was a wonderful experience to work with my peers and teacher-mentors to do what we are all passionate about: teaching, helping our worker-students and making an impact in our com-munity.

— By Ashley Chen, grade 12 and English Service Project president, Pudong campus

Setting the Standard

Walk the WalkThe Shanghai American School Pudong chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) recently hosted the 5th Annual Relay for Life. Relay for Life is a global, 24-hour event that aims to celebrate those who survived the battle against cancer, remember those who lost the battle and to fight back against the effects of cancer by raising funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society (ACS).

This year’s event involved a total of 365 people that included 280 participants, 44 chaperones, 33 NHS members and many more. There were 22 teams (each representing a different type of cancer) that walked nonstop around the track for 24 hours to symbolize that cancer never sleeps and that the battle against cancer is arduous.

During the event, our NHS events committee organized games including capture the flag, sharks and minnows, giant lim-bo, glow-in-the-dark bowling and a hula hoop contest. Through these games, we fostered a sense of community that reminded us that cancer is not a fight to battle alone.

Later in the night, all participants adopted a serious mood as we listened to speakers talk about their own struggles with cancer. We learned what it feels like to be a victim of cancer or what it’s like to hear the words “you have cancer.” We also learned what it feels like to watch someone you love battle cancer, to have a life that you so cherished taken away from you. Relay for Life not only reminds us about the real dangers of cancer, but also reminds us about the support and compassion of the SAS community. With each lap the participants walked, they inspired in us the simple hope for the intangible brilliance of life. The hope that, one day, cancer will be a part of history.

This year, we raised more than 211,000 RMB for the Ameri-can Cancer Society. This would not have been possible without those who helped make this event a success. Although the event is over, let’s carry out its mission in our daily lives and celebrate, remember and fight back!

— By Emily Chen and Carina Seah, National Honor Society president and vice president, grade 12, Pudong campus


COMMUNITY

Scouting AroundSince the first troop was formed 100 years ago, the Girl Scouts has been an American institution empowering girls to build courage, confidence and self-worth. Today there are over 3.2 million Girl Scouts in over 92 countries around the world.

More than 500 of the USA Girl Scouts Overseas call Shanghai

home, and more than 120 of them can be found walking the halls of Shanghai American School. Depending on the time in the year, our troops gather on a weekly, bimonthly and a monthly basis. These meetings provide our Girl Scouts a forum to develop their full potential by building a foundation for sound decision-making, understanding and respect for others, and the opportunity to con-tribute to the improvement of their community through activities and fundraising.

On our Pudong campus, Girl Scouts based a project on translating English children’s books into Chinese for the Shanghai Healing Home. This year, to earn their “business owner badge,” they held a pumpkin sale at the SAS Pudong carnival and donated a percentage of their profit to a local charity.

With a focus on community services, our Puxi campus Girl Scouts support the Giving Tree project with a rollerblading event. All funds collected will be donated to the organization. The troop also schedules reading and cultural exchanges with a local senior center and special needs school. They participate activities like an aquarium sleepover, an Austrian chocolate factory tour, campouts, rollerblading and scuba diving.

At the heart of these exciting experiences and opportunities are the parent volunteers. The volunteer team is made up of 19 troop leaders and dozens of moms and dads that give their time and energy to make the adventures and lessons of Girl Scouting a reality at SAS.

COMING SOON: MORE TO DISCOVERSpring Discovery Program March 23-27, 2015

The Discovery Program will offer courses in:• LEGO engineering• MAD Science• and a variety of Sports Programs

To learn more or to enroll, visit saschina.org/discoveryprograms

Enrollment begins December 1, 2014


From The Archives

Flying HighFrom the time Shanghai American School accepted its first enrollment application, the school was open to students from any western country. By the mid-nineties, when this picture was taken, SAS would rotate 32 flags representing the home country of each student. To-day, with students holding passports from 45 countries and having lived in many more, our school is home to a unique blend of nationali-ties and individual stories. Our flags are more than just a symbol of where our students are from. They are a reminder of where we’ve been, where we’re headed and that we truly are an international community.

A FINAL LOOK


IN THE NEXT ISSUE

IN THE NEXT ISSUEScience, technology, engineering, math and so much more.


Pudong CampusShanghai Links Executive Community, 1600 Lingbai Road, Sanjiagang,

Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China 201201 Tel: 6221-1445, Fax: 5897-0011

Puxi Campus258 Jinfeng Road, Huacao Town, Minhang District, Shanghai, China 201107

Tel: 6221-1445, Fax: 6221-1269

www.saschina.org [email protected]

Shanghai American School inspires in all students:上海美国学校要激励所有学生：

A lifelong passion for learning 具有终身热爱学习的激情

A commitment to act with integrity and compassion 具有诚信和同情心

The courage to live their dreams. 具有实现梦想的勇气。

The Eagle Review—Winter 2014

Documents

Transcript of The Eagle Review—Winter 2014