ISSUE # 10

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WEEK OF: OCTOBER 21 to 25

SY 2013 2014

Friday Bulletin
Inside this issue:
MS Yearbook Photo Shoot Service Learning Admissions & Advancement Athletics & Activities Philippine Cultural Club ISM Upcoming Events

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

Dear Parents: Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs) in the Middle School are scheduled for Monday, October 21 and Tuesday, October 22 from 1:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. On both of these days students will be dismissed at 12:00 noon and there will be no after school clubs and activities. Please make the necessary arrangements for your child to be picked up on time. Also, in regards to PTCs, the Middle School PTC online reservation system for making appointments will close on Monday, October 21 at 8:00 A.M. Please make sure to bring a copy of your reserved appointments on the day of the conferences. Also, in preparation for the conferences, please login to PowerSchool and review your childs progress. We advise you to print a copy of your childs current standing and bring it for reference during your appointments. Photos for the MS yearbook Salinlahi will be taken during the week of October 21. Please see details within the bulletin if you are interested in purchasing photos of your child. On Friday, October 25 we will be celebrating Filipiniana with a barrio fiesta lunch, games, activities and performances. Together with the High School Philippine Cultural Club (PCC), our Middle School students are planning activities that will celebrate our host country and it should be an exciting afternoon. PCC shirts will be on sale for 500.00 pesos during lunch time, and students can wear the PCC shirt or their House shirt to school on Friday. If they like, students can also wear a traditional Filipino outfit and participate in the parade around the school, which will take place around 12:00 noon. We look forward to enjoying the afternoon that the Philippine Cultural Club has organized. The October holiday starts on October 26 and classes resume on Monday, November 4. After the past twelve weeks the students and teachers have earned a well-deserved break. Enjoy the holiday! Yours in Education, Simon Gillespie Middle School Principal

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Events & Activities:

OCTOBER

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PTC Filipiniana SCHOOL HOLIDAY

NOVEMBER

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SCHOOL HOLIDAY Academic Bowl Parent Coffee

Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

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We are looking for student and parent performers for the International Family Fun Day on Saturday, November 16. If you are interested to get up on stage and delight the crowd with your musical abilities, please come see Mr. St. Laurent in MS Guidance for details.

Seven Ways Students Can Get Involved in Service Learning

All of us have experienced the ethical conflict that arises when a homeless child knocks on our car window at an intersection. Adolescence is a time when many students start to grapple with their response to poverty, climate change, and other issues facing our world. The problems seem so big, that sometimes students feel helpless to affect change. Thats one way to look at it. The other way is to do something about it! As the Dalai Lama said, If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. The Middle School Service Learning Program offers students a diversity of opportunities to give to others and help safeguard our environment. Here are seven ways that your child can get involved in service and environmental projects:

1. Saturday Service
Beginning on October 19, eight different service opportunities will be offered on Saturdays. Some events involve a trip to visit a service partner, such as La Mesa Watershed and Chosen Childrens Village (CCV) near Tagaytay. Other events involve hosting a local education program, such as Love 2 Learn, on the ISM campus. Along with the joy of giving, students benefit by interacting with children from different backgrounds and getting to know the Philippines beyond Makati and Taguig. See the inset Saturday Service Calendar and discuss which trips interest them most. To participate, students simply pick up a Permission Slip from the MS Office on the Monday before the trip. Once its been signed and returned to the office, a student can sign up on the roster. Some trips fill up quickly so encourage them to sign up early. And yes, parents are welcome to attend!

SEMESTER 1 SATURDAY SERVICE DATES

10/19 Philippine Childrens Fund 11/9 Habitat for Humanity 11/16 CRIBS / Papaya Academy 11/23 Chosen Childrens Village 11/30 La Mesa Watershed 12/7 Love 2 Learn 12/14 Tzu Chi Foundation

CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS

9/26-27 (G5 teambuilding @ ISM) 2/10-14

2. Classroom Without Walls

For two days in late September and a week in February, students take part in our Classroom Without Walls (CWW) program. Activities range from teambuilding activities to hands-on service projects. Some trips are run from campus on a daily basis, while others involve an overnight trip. All of them offer rich opportunities for experiential learning, bonding with classmates, and helping others. In some cases, students run fundraisers and supply drives to support CWW service partners running up to their trips. For details about specific CWW plans, contact your childs Grade Level Coordinator.
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3. ECO Council ECO stands for Environmental and Community Outreach. This club is open to all MS students and meets regularly to plan and promote Saturday Service projects, special events ,such as, No Impact Week, and assist with community building activities around our campus. There are also smaller service clubs associated with service partners, such as CCV. Students can see Mr. Willey or Mr. Cook to get involved. 4. M.Y.O. Service Trip Students can make their own service trip. All they need is a teacher chaperone and a plan. Some Advisories create service projects together. Sports teams can get involved through events such as the Homeless World Cup. Of course, there are also a lot of opportunities for students to get involved in service activities through a parents employer, religious group, and out-of-school clubs. 5. Start a Family Tradition Many ISM families have forged their own ties with service partners. Some students even celebrate their birthdays by visiting their favorite service partner site. Its easy to arrange family visits. If youd like assistance organizing a family visit, contact me at the email address provided below. 6. Random Acts of Kindness Service is more than one-off events. There are lots of ways students can help others, and our planet, through their daily actions. Encourage students to practice Random Acts of Kindness such as writing a letter to a grandparent, conserving resources at home, inviting a new student to a sleepover, or reaching out to students who need a friend. Studies have shown that such activities often benefit the giver even more than the receiver. 7. Walk the Walk This is perhaps the greatest challenge of working with adolescents, whether you are a parent or an educator. Its also one of the most important. Share your own struggles with issues such as poverty, the environment, and inequality. Model empathy and compassion. Get involved in service projects that suit your own interests and concerns. Research shows that a respected adult role model is one of the most powerful instructional tools. International School Manila holds Service as one of its core values. Those of you who have been here for a while, know how integral service learning is to our commitment to educating the whole child. There are lots of ways for students (and parents) to get involved. Encourage your child to pick activities they are inter-

ested in and try new things. If you have any questions, dont hesitate to email me at [email protected]. All the best, Cory Willey Student Advisory Coordinator
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UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS THROUGH THE ISM PARENT PORTAL

Dear Parents, We are pleased to inform you that your childs PowerSchool account may be accessed through the ISM Parent Portal. Aside from being a gateway to PowerSchool, the Parent Portal also provides information on school events, useful links, as well as child-specific academic blogs and student portfolios. Should you need to make any changes to your contact information, visit the Parent Portal and follow the steps below:

Well done to all players and coaches for the 1st season IASAS Championships that were held last weekend. CONGRATULATIONS to our incredible freshman Molly Bailey who ran away with the girls 5km XC race in Jakarta in a time of 19:33. What an amazing achievement for such a young runner. The girls and boys XC teams placed 5th and 4th overall in the teams divisions. Our boys and girls volleyball teams did extremely well to take Silver and Bronze respectively. Both teams played fantastic matches throughout the tournament and fully deserve their wonderful results. Congrats to both teams and the coaches for an outstanding tournament In Jakarta. The boys and girls soccer teams battled very hard in Taipei but alas close games did not go their way and finished in 5th and 6th place this year. Both teams were young this year with a solid group of freshman players. We look forward to better results next year with such a promising group of young players in both teams. Visit www.iasas.asia for all the final results of 1st season IASAS events. The RIFA soccer festival finals will be held tomorrow Saturday, October 19th at ISM, after yet another weather cancellation last Saturday due to the typhoon. All up to date information about our ES/MS soccer teams and the RIFA festivals etc can always be found here http://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/es-soccer-rifa-league-festivals/ For MS: http://atac.ism-online.org/atac/1st-season/ms-soccer-rifa-league-festivals/ In the event of a cancellation or if you are unsure whether a festival will be held, please refer to the links above or: http://atac.ism-online.org/manila-weather-forecast/atac-event-cancelation-extreme-weather/ As soon as a cancellation is notified, ISM security is informed and posts are made to the pages referred to on the ATAC blog. The 2nd season tryouts schedule and the season practice schedule which runs from Oct 23 to Feb 7 is now posted on notice boards around school, and is also now available on the ATAC blog. 2nd season sports are Basketball, Tennis, Varsity swim team, Rugby and Touch. http://atac.ism-online.org/schedules/hs/ New families, please take some time to peruse the ATAC blog as this will help orientate you with the wide variety of co -curricular programs that ISM offers. A great way to stay in touch with the ISM ATAC program is to subscribe via RSS feed to the ATAC blog and also to follow via twitter (see twitter feed on the blog home page). Each Monday, I will post the weeks happenings and highlight important events for students and parents information on the ATAC blog and in the regular Friday parent bulletins. GAME SCHEDULE PDF (access to game schedule information): Information about all mid -week/weekend fixtures for ISM teams can be found via the ATAC blog. Please note the game schedule does change often due to involvement with many local schools so please check the page regularly to find out the latest information of where and when the Bearcats teams are playing. Click on schedules tab or the Bearcat logo to be directed to the power school secure site: http://powerschool.ismanila.org/public/ You will need your power school user name and password to access the game schedule pdf. The Bearcat Den is open for business. Please drop by to check out the range of Bearcat products. We have a great team of volunteers who run the den and are always looking for more people to help out. If you are interested in joining a fantastic group please contact any of our den members during den opening hours or please contact Carolyn Ching for details at: [email protected]. We are always looking for new volunteers and encourage parents from ES/MS to join our group. BEARCAT DEN: http://atac.ism-online.org/bearcat-den/ Have a great year at the Home of the Bearcats! Regards, Mark Pekin Director of Athletics/Activities

Due to early release on Monday and Tuesday next week for MS/HS Parent conferences, there will not be any after school training for MS/HS seasonal or all year round teams. MS Tryouts start Wednesday, October 23.

MS Tryouts Schedule (see flyer on MS notice board or ATAC blog)

MS Tennis Oct 18 and 23 MS Touch (girls) Oct 23 and 25 MS Rugby (boys) Oct 23 and 25 MS Basketball (boys) Oct 23, 24, 25 MS Girls Basketball Oct 23 and Oct 25

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