The Comet

The New sletter of K. International School Tokyo
Volume 20 | Issue 4 | June 2017

In this issue...
04...ISA Results

18...G11 DP Visual Arts Excursion

07…“Making Smart Choices” Assembly20...Academic Writing at KIST

09...K1 Home Visits

21...Middle School Brain Bowl

10...Early Literacy Goals in K2A

22...MYP Personal Project Exhibition

12...Canning Experience in K3

23...Grade 9 Camp Reflections

17...Waterloo Math Contest

31...Earthquake Disaster Support

From the Head of School

DATES TO REMEMBER

20 YEARS STRONG!

KIST’s 20th year of operation was a hugely eventful one with
our school completing our five-year IB evaluation visit andattaining another milestone in KIST history by becoming fully accredited by theCouncil of International Schools (CIS). Both of these accomplishments were aresult of collaborative efforts by our entire community and supported further
growth of our school. Thank you again to those who contributed in preparation
for, and during, the visit and a big pat on the back for all in completing thesesignificant tasks.
As I write this article, our Class of 2017 is just finishing up their DP exams andit is wonderful to see the Grade 12s on campus looking much more relaxedwith their DP experience now behind them. We started this year announcingthat our Class of 2016 had broken a KIST record, set the previous year by theClass of 2015, by attaining a 37 point DP average. If the university
acceptances for our current G12s are indicative of their final DP results, thisyear should be another strong year as well. From the acceptance information
received so far this year, all but two of our G12s who applied to the UK
received offers from each university that they applied to, our US applicantsreceived a total of 17 scholarships, and a total of 26 scholarships offers weremade overall. For the second year in a row, a KIST student received a fullscholarship (expenses, tuition, housing) to the University of New York in Abu
Dhabi. We look forward to the arrival of DP results in July (and to perhaps
another KIST record?). Congratulations to all of our graduates as they
complete their time at KIST and commence the next phase of their education.
Your school community is immensely proud of you! We wish you all the bestand look forward to hearing about your post-KIST experiences.
This year too, KIST students continue to excel in many areas. We do our best
to include news about as many events as possible in each issue of The Cometand I hope that you enjoy the news shared in this issue as well. Since the lastissue of The Comet, our KIST team performed exceptionally well in the
University of Waterloo sponsored mathematics competition (8 of 9 students
were in the top 25% of global results) and we had 23 students attend the World
Scholar’s Cup and come back with over 90 awards. We also participated insome technology related competitions for the first time this year: our robotics
club students won awards in the Lego Sumo Competition and ourprogramming club finished 1st place in a gaming competition with their video
game controlled by bananas! I hope that this issue of The Comet allows you toreflect on the great things happening at KIST and toContinued on next pagecelebrate another fantastic year for our school.
KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life

June 201712-13 (G9) Career experience with
KIST program
14 (S) Secondary awards assembly
14 (G10) Promotion ceremony
14 (K1-G11) Semester 2 reports
issued14 (W) Last day of school forstudents (Half day for students)
14 (K1-G2) After care not available
on this day
15-30 Office open
19-30 Summer program session 1

July 20171-30 School closed
31-Aug 11 Summer program
session 2

August 2017
17 (K1/K2/K3) Parent welcomenight
21 First day of school for all
students
22 (G1-G10) Mathematics
diagnostic testing
23 (G1-G5) Parent welcome night
24-25 (G2-G5) English diagnostic
testing
25 (G6-G12) Parent welcome night
25 (G12) University informationnight
28 (K2-G3) After care begins

PYP | MYP | DP2

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“ T h e Co m e t ”

Continued from previous pageOn the academic front, our students continue toperform well across the school, with more students at
or above expectations for Mathematics and English.
Each year our Grade 10s sit the PSAT exam and ourstudents’ results were exceptionally strong once again.
Building on the PSAT success from last year, about
80% of this year’s Grade 10s attained above the 70th
percentile for Mathematics, with 54% of them attaining
above the 90th percentile (vs. 52% last year). For
overall PSAT scores, 38% of our G10 students
attained above the 90th percentile this year (vs. 33%
last year). To learn more, please do visit our
homepage for more standardized assessment data
(Learning > Academic performance).
None of our KIST accomplishments would have beenpossible without the hard work and support of ourstudents, parents and KIST staff. On behalf of theschool, a very big THANK YOU to all of our community
members for all that you have done to support KIST in
2016-17. And another very special thank you to our
Community Association for the leadership they provide
in getting all of us involved with school happenings.
We are fortunate to have such strong community
support in all areas of our school as we work together
to make our global community a better place througheducation.
Have a wonderful, and safe, holiday everyone! I lookforward to welcoming you back on August 21.
Jeffrey Jones
Head of School

Congratulations to the Class of 2017!
KIST is proud each year to graduate another group of hard-working students and see them off to universities
around the world, confident that their IB experiences have prepared them well to not only perform at leading
universities around the world, but also to make a positive difference in making our world a better place for all.
Congratulations KIST graduates of 2017! We hope that you cherish your memories of KIST and move forwardwith confidence and pride knowing that you have the committed KIST community here waiting to celebrate your future successes, and support you with your challenges, as you continue ‘learning for life’ on the next phase of your educational journey.

New Faces
Since the last issue of The Comet, wehave welcomed three new staff
members to the Secondary School—
Erika Karasuyama as an assistantfor the science laboratories as well as
the LMC; Kei Komaki who is currently
performing relief and other general
duties and will join the mathematics
department from August; andDouglas McGillivray who is a new
ELS instructor.
On behalf of the school community,
we wish you all the best in your newroles and hope that you enjoy yourtime with us.

Erika Karasuyama
Laboratory and
Library Assistant

Kei Komaki
MYP/DP
Mathematics

Douglas McGillivray
ELS Instructor(Secondary)V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7“ T h e Co m et ”

From the Board President
With the successful completion of our annual end-of-year events – Family Day, theGrade 12 graduation ceremony and the school concert, we are almost at the end ofanother school year.
I founded KIST with my wife back in 1997 using our personal funds to create theschool of our dreams where children are provided with the opportunity to receive
quality education regardless of their financial and social backgrounds, and for themto develop as competent individuals who contribute to the society. Time flies, and weare celebrating our 20th anniversary this year.
Reflecting on the past 20 years of KIST, the journey to achieving our mission andvision has not always been easy. There were times when we had to take the longway around and faced various obstacles. However, as we worked towards our goal, I
feel that these experiences were beneficial in helping to build a stronger and betterschool.
In August 2014, Mr Jones was appointed as the Head of School, and together with
the Elementary School Principal, Mr Yoshihara, the Elementary School Vice
Principal, Mr Bradley, the Secondary School Principal, Mr Cowe, the Director ofOperations Director, Mrs Naito and the Director of Admissions and Personnel, Mr
Larsen, the members of our Management Team have shown strong leadership in
guiding the school to achieving its mission and vision in a short period of time. Thishas been possible through the warm and dedicated contribution of our staff members
and the support of our very cooperative parent community who share the same
mission. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all for your continued
contribution and support.
With the support of our dedicated community of staff and parents, as well as manyothers, KIST has developed into one of the leading international schools in Japan. To
express our appreciation to the community, we are planning to hold a special KIST
anniversary event to celebrate our achievements over the last 20 years.
As part of the celebration, our annual school festival, KISTival, will be cancelled, andin its place, we will hold a special event for parents and the KIST community that will
be known as the “K.20 Celebration”.
This event will mainly be run by school staff and current students and we will invite
former KIST students and their family members, as well as those who havesupported the school to join us in celebrating 20 years of KIST. We hope this event
will be an enjoyable celebration for all members of the school community.
Yoshishige Komaki
Board President3

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ISA Results
ISA (International School Assessment) test results
are in and have been sent out to families. Below are
the results for KIST for 2016-17 compared against the ISA global mean on each component of the test. Onceagain, KIST students did exceptionally well, with scores (blue) above the global mean (orange) on allcomponents for all grades. The results can also be viewed on the KIST website by clicking HERE (Learning >Academic Performance > ISA).

WELL DONE KIST!

V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7“ T h e Co m et ”

Teacher Appraisal and Support System
TASS: Supporting great teachers to become EVEN BETTER!
KIST believes it imperative that we hold an incremental approach to intelligence. We
believe that through a continuous cyclical process of increased awareness andunderstanding, reflection and action, anyone is able to improve. This mindset is not justapplicable to students, but to staff as well. KIST employs teachers who are never satisfied with the present andalways reflecting about how to improve not only student learning, but also their professional practice.
To measure teacher effectiveness, all KIST teachers participate in our Teacher Appraisal and Support System(TASS), an annual appraisal system designed to measure teacher effectiveness on six performance standards:
professionalism, learning environment, instructional planning, instructional delivery, assessment of/forlearning, and impact on learning.
TASS is a holistic process that involves teachers, students and administration in appraising teacher practice. It is
teacher centered and designed to empower teachers in objectively analyzing their effectiveness and planning for
further improvement.
Each year, KIST teachers analyze data from school administered student surveys, observe other teachers toreflect on observed practice, keep a record of professional development, receive documented observational
feedback from administration and other members of our instructional leadership team, and implement an action
research cycle. Teachers build a Professional Portfolio that records their TASS experience and submit it with a self
-appraisal against the six TASS performance standards which is verified, using the contents of the portfolio, by therespective Area Principal and the Head of School.
KIST believes that these continuous efforts further improve the support we provide to even better support learningin our classrooms. KIST hires great teachers who continuously work hard to get even better.

Career Experience with KIST
Expanding minds, building dreams
Building on the successful launch of our Career Experience with KIST program last year,
over forty Grade 9 students spent two days in June on career placements at a variety ofcompanies around the Tokyo area. Aligned with their personal interests, students had
opportunities to learn first-hand about careers in fields such as medicine, finance, IT, manufacturing, logistics, education, sales, television, public service and other areas.
With Japanese language proficiency and strong understanding of Japanese culture, KIST graduates offer globallyminded companies in Japan an attractive option to hiring foreign staff from overseas. KIST believes that throughdeveloping long-term relationships with Japanese and Japan based multinational companies, we can be of support
in fostering connections to employees that support companies in managing their globalization challenges.
We are always looking to expand placement offerings for upcoming years. If you know of a company that might beinterested in supporting the Career Experience with KIST program, please contact Yukinori Honda, our Development Manager, in the main office at yukinori.honda@kist.ed.jp.

Thank you to all who work so hard to support this project each year!

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Elementary School NewsPYP News

Keeping learning alive!

Summer: Learning for fun!

The 2016-2017 school year isquickly coming to a close andas I reflect on this memorable
year, my thoughts quickly
return to planning for theupcoming school year! As parents we have seen ourchildren grow both socially and academically over thisyear; however, we still need to ensure our children
retain what they have learned over the summer andare prepared for the next school year.

The summer months are upon us and that is no excuse
for easing off our goals of learning. The lessons thatlife teaches us are numerous and varied in theirappeal. Summer time is the perfect opportunity forfamilies to easily provide valuable lessons that would
be more difficult to produce in the classroom. These
can include the excursions that families take as aregular part of their summer vacations. With a little
effort, moms and dads can do research that will
provide an extra dimension to the quality of their trip.
Things like history, geography, famous landmarks, aswell as folklore and infamous characters can give yourfamily trip that extra “snap” that makes the holiday
more rewarding and memorable.

As Barbara Rowley from parenting.com wrote, many ofus dream all winter of lazy summer days in the
backyard and homework and project-free evenings! I
think many of us want to spend the summer enjoying
the freedom with our children. According tooxfordlearning.com, “Between the end of one school
year and the start of the next every student risks
summer learning loss”.
Never fear, there are many tips which can be useful forparents to keep the learning alive over the summer.
Barbara Rowley recommends preparing for the nextschool year by familiarizing yourself and your child withthe curriculum. Our Program of Inquiry is available on
the KIST website for you to preview. Seeking out
activities which will reinforce upcoming learning can bea fun and educational way to spend the summer
holiday.
Angela Mulholland from CTV News explains that
reviewing math concepts while thinking beyond
textbooks can make this more enjoyable. She
recommends watching math videos, getting interested
in math yourself, and trying some online math games.
For more information and links to sites the authors
recommend, please see the links below.
As this school year wraps up, I would like to thankeveryone in our school community for your support.
Working together we will see our children grow sociallyand progress academically. I wish you all a wonderfuland learning-filled summer holiday!
Kevin Yoshihara
Elementary School Principal
References: Mulholland, A. (2016, July 14). Parenting lessons: How
to keep kids math-savvy all summer. Retrieved May 07,
2017, from http://www.ctvnews.ca/5things/parentinglessons-how-to-keep-kids-math-savvy-all-summer1.2986368
 Rowley, B. (n.d.). Stop summer learning loss. Retrieved
May 07, 2017, from http://www.parenting.com/article/
stop-summer-learning-loss
 Summer learning loss statistics (And tips to promotelearning all summer long). (2016, September 26).
Retrieved May 07, 2017, from https://www.oxfordlearning.com/summer-learning-lossstatistics/

Other focuses that every child can benefit from include
social skills and moral responsibility. Throughout theschool year, we cover these items in our classrooms
during the Community Circle time, where students
interact and consider events and situations that takeplace in the school from day to day. Learning to besocially responsible begins at home. These lessons
become that much more effective with family members
as role models for each other. It will take a bit of effort,
but by asking your child about their individual
challenges throughout the past year, parents can give
advice and discuss solutions that can soothe students’fears and anxieties. Outcomes from these sessions
could include a more confident and balanced approach
to one’s learning and relationships at school.
Lastly, movement is important. Even though thesummers in Japan are hot, you can still find ways to
get out and exercise your bodies and minds. Of course,
swimming comes to mind immediately. Swimming is agreat way to beat the heat while using your muscles
and burning energy. Stretching, yoga, relaxing walks inthe early evening can help you beat the boredom andthe heat while staying in shape.
Don’t forget, summer is just another way that we can
explore ourselves and the world around us. Stay in top
shape, mentally and physically this summer. Heat up
the learning and “Enjoy the summer”!
Clay M. Bradley
PYP Coordinator / Elementary School Vice PrincipalV o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7“Making Smart Choices” Assembly
To make wise, kind, safe and helpful choices, we should evaluate ourdecisions and predict the consequences before we act. If your child is young,you might be making some decisions for him/her as it can be difficult forchildren to predict these things themselves. However, as children get older,
they will have to start making decisions by themselves. It is a fundamental
life skill that children need to build on, and it is important for us to ensure that
our students make steady progress in this area throughout their education.
On Tuesday, April 4, Grade 3 and K2A held an assembly called “Making
Smart Choices”. During the assembly, the G3s who volunteered explained
about decisions and consequences, then all of K2A told four different stories
they made with Ms Cat, which are related to our ordinary life, in order tomake us realise that we are able to have either good or bad
outcomes depending on what we choose to do. Then volunteers fromG3 acted out two skits called “I found a phone in the street” and “I
need to go to the toilet (during class)”. Both of the story ideas camefrom the G3s during their community circle lessons, which Mr Sullivan
and I then turned into skits. In these, the main characters used the IB
learner profile attributes in order to choose the best possible
decisions. All the G3s then sang a rap song called “The IB Learner
Profile Song” in order to remember all the attributes so they caneasily recall them when making decisions. Live music was played by
Mr Collins and Mr Wilson. Students enjoy seeing their teachers’
hidden talents, so Mr Green and Ms Watanabe joined in with the rap
in order to maximise the audience’s attention.
Here is the QR code link to the assemblysong. Enjoy!
Kana Furnival
Elementary School Student Care
Coordinator“ T h e Co m et ”

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K1 and K2 News
This is the last issue of The Comet for this school
year! The time is flying by so quickly, and I’mpretty sure all the teaching staff are saying thesame thing in the classroom to their children: “Are you
ready for the next grade?”This year, for the first time in quite a while, KIST has had
two classes each in K1 and K2. In those 4 classes, we havea total of 7 instructional staff members. The adult-child ratio
is quite high, which supports our young learners’ in learning
a lot at school. I hope you were able to see and enjoy
watching your child’s learning journey throughout the year.
The one nice and obvious event to show the children’sdevelopmental progress through their age-group was theKindergarten Spring Concert that was held on March 17.
When we placed all the pieces together on the stage fromP2 (preschool 2) to K3, it was amazing to see how muchthe children are capable of accomplishing according to theirage. With Ms Karen – the K1-K2 music teacher – thechildren worked hard and all the staff in the early childhood
department supported her along with Mr Rob – the K3
music teacher – to make the concert a huge success.
Young children enjoy learning when they havedevelopmentally appropriate goals to tackle with support.
Please review what your child has learned in class this year
over the summer, especially letters and sounds and mathskills, so that when they come back to school, they are fully
ready to start their new grade!!
Oh, and please don’t forget to have an enjoyable time that
only you can have with your child, too. Children learn
through fun and meaningful activities.
Lastly, thank you very much for your continued support
towards your child’s learning.
Eri Ozawa
Early Childhood Coordinator (K1, K2) / K1B Teacher

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

K1 Home Visits
K1 parents open up their homes
For our last unit, ‘Where we are in place and time’, focusing on
homes, K1 parents opened up their homes for our excursions.
We visited four homes overall: K1A visited Lia and Kodai’s
homes, and K1B visited Kaiji and Koa’s homes. K1 parents werevery supportive as they always volunteered to help out eventhough they were busy with their jobs. On behalf of the K1teachers and students, a huge thank you to our K1 parents fortheir never-ending involvement which is aligned to the PYP
curriculum. The K1’s success stems from parental support as
the IB PYP specifically expresses that the whole schoolcommunity should be engaged in the learning at both school
and at home.
To further enhance our learning during these excursions, the K1classes answered questionnaires related to thehomes we visited. Some questions were:






How many doors can you see?
How many beds are there?
How many people live in this home?
What are the things you can see inthis home?
Who are the people who live in this home?
Draw a picture.

The students were able to see the difference between thehomes we visited. They commented that some homes haveelevators and some don’t, some homes have staircases andsome homes are tall whereas some are short.
Students were able to experience different homes first hand andbecause of this experience they could easily grasp theunderstanding of different parts within a home as well different
homes as a whole.
It has been a fun and enjoyable year for the K1A and K1Bclasses!
Once again a huge thank you to all K1 parents for theirinvolvement in making these excursions a success!
Claire Yoneyama
K1A Teacher“ T h e Co m et ”

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Early Literacy Goals in K2A
I recently read a very interesting article about early literacy,
published in ‘Developmental Psychology’ which showed the resultsof a study which concluded that the most valuable early literacy skill
to encourage in kindergarten is not alphabetic knowledge ormemorization of sight words, but a child’s ability to use invented
spelling as he/she writes.
Invented spelling is a child’s beginning attempts to spell words,
based on their own phonetic knowledge. As this grows, the invented
spellings become more and more similar to actual words spellings.
This process enables the child to reflect on how to spell words andinternalize letter-sound associations, also allowing them to practice
making decisions, rather than passively memorizing.
After reading this article, and after completing a full cycle of Jolly
Phonics, I implemented a project in my class which would
encourage students to start constructing sentences using phonetic
knowledge, and knowledge of common sight words learned so far.
As part of our Unit of Inquiry, ‘Sharing the Planet’, K2A have beenlearning about living things and researching about different animals
and what they need to survive and thrive. After researching about
various real animals, a small group of students volunteered a desire
to make their own animals, and the whole class decided to maketheir own animals from separate parts. From their research into thedifferent habitats and diets of animals, they also had to decide
where their animal could be found, and what it eats.
After using creativity to produce the artwork, the class started
working on their first pieces of writing. Each child wrote down thename of their creature, where it lives and what it eats. They received
encouragement but no spelling correction and had to sound out
each word in each sentence. Although many words were difficult tointerpret, when each student read their work back to me, I could seethat they could read what they had written, and that these words
were how they sounded in each child’s head. I was amazed at what
they had accomplished, and the students were also very proud of
their efforts, some going on to complete two or three animals.
To conclude, this helped cement my feelings that although writing
correction is important, giving a young child time to deepen
understanding of phonetic language, combined with praise andencouragement when they do write, should set them up for reading
and writing with confidence.
Catherine Wells
K2A Teacher

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

Sand Art Stories in K2B
For the third unit of inquiry of the year, “How we express
ourselves,” the K2 students inquired into the magical worldof storytelling. We watched various videos, went on an
excursion to the Ghibli museum, and each class exploreddifferent forms of storytelling. In K2B, the students
explored sand animations. There are famous sandanimation artists in the world and it was extremely
fascinating to see how they told stories through sand. A
picture gracefully made of sand would evolve and change,
step by step, into another phase of the story. We decided
how fun it would be if we could all tell our own stories
through sand art as well.
Ms Aya prepared some fine Amazon sand and anelectronic light board. Children planned a story at home,taking into consideration the characters and the setting of
their individual stories. Some children had step by stepplans for themselves to follow when it was their turn to try.
Some children knew without referring to their plans what
they wanted to express on the light board. Everyone had achance to express themselves through sand art! What an
amazing form of storytelling.
Aya Kurosaki
K2B Teacher“ T h e Co m et ”

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Canning Experience in K3
Tools can make our work easier
In our ‘How the world works’ unit of inquiry, we discovered theimpact of scientific and technological advances on society andon the environment. K3 students explored different kinds of toolsthat exist in the world and learned about how they can make ourwork easier.

Central idea
Tools can make our work easierLines of inquiry
 There are different types of tools (form) Tools help people in different ways (function)
 Tools continue to change (change)

Students participated in a workshop hosted by the Maruha
Nichiro Food Processing Company to learn about how we
can preserve food by using special tools. English-speaking
representatives from Maruha Nichiro came to KIST and taught
students about the history of canned food and how theypreserve food safely, and without lots of extra chemicals, bypreserving them in cans.
After the presentation, students were able to create their own
original cans with cute labels. They put some small special
items of their own (toy/photo/etc.) in cans, and a questionnaire
filled out with their hopes and dreams for the future. K3 parents
came in to help us to work the canning machine, and thestudents were able to see how to seal a can. Students tookhome their time capsules with a plan to open them in 5 to 10
years.
We were very lucky to have representatives from Maruha
Nichiro visit us at KIST. The students had a great time!
Anna Holdaway
K3B TeacherV o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7“ T h e Co m et ”

Elementary ELS
Summer reading fights the summer slide“Summer slide” – where some of the progress students made during the school year slips
away during their extended break from school – may be something that you are worrying
about as we head toward the summer vacation, but reading for pleasure over the holidays
is one key way to help prevent your child from slipping backwards in their language
learning. To keep the “pleasure” in “reading for pleasure”, it’s crucial that your child leads
the way by choosing what they read for themselves, and it doesn’t have to be books. Comics, magazines, kids’
newspapers and websites all count.
What’s more, most of the students at our school have two or more choices of which language to read in, andreading in any of your child’s languages will help them avoid the “summer slide”. As mentioned in the ELS article in
the previous issue of The Comet, when your child reads in their home language, this is a key support for theirEnglish learning, too. If you’d like to know more, the article at this link explains the research behind why we pushso much for home language reading: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/why-reading-your-kids-your-home-language-will-help-thembecome-better-readers
While your child should choose the reading material, a parent’s role is in helping to deepen the experience he or
she gets from it by talking about it together. Remember, discussing in your home language is great! Whicheverlanguage your child is currently reading in, discussing it with them in your home language will boost their literacy
skills and so support their English literacy and vocabulary learning, too. For more tips on reading with your child,see the following sites: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-tips-parents-11-languages
 http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/parent-tips-summer-reading
Maybe, like these dazzling G4 students, your child already knows one of the things they would like to read thissummer…
Rachel Parkinson
Elementary ELS Coordinator / G5 ELS Instructor

Sam (G4B), Prakariti (G4B), Dhivya (G4B), Donna (G4B), Nao (G4A), Haruka (G4A), Brian (G4B)
and Andrew (G4A) with some of the books they are reading right now, tell us what else they areplanning on reading this summer and why we should start making our summer reading plans, too.

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LEAP News

Hello, KIST Family!
The 2016-17 year has been a great
one for LEAP, from making board
games, to putting on plays, to using
technology to enhance learning,and so much more! It’s a wonderful
way to enhance everyone’s love oflearning.
This year, we began a new way ofgetting information back to parents
with newsletters. The LEAP
instructors did an amazing job ofreporting what the students had
been doing while in their lessons,and even provided resources forparents to further support theirchildren at home and over the
break.
I am very proud of all of thesechildren and teachers for all of their
hard work this year.
Congratulations to all of you!
Next year, we will start somethingelse new: the LEAP Wall! In theelementary foyer, we will start
displaying LEAP work on the wall
beside the wall calendar. Pleasekeep an eye out for this during the
2017-18 school year! We are allvery excited to see what amazing
projects and work the students will
be displaying!
Thank you all for such a wonderfulyear of LEAP! It’s been a blast!
Looking forward to next year!
Amber Guarente
LEAP Coordinator

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“ T h e Co m et ”

V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

KIPS News
P0-P1 class report
The 0- and 1-year-old children
spend the day at KIPS in thesame classroom. In
consideration of thedevelopment of the children’s mother tongue, we offer
a bilingual daycare environment in both English andJapanese. Along with mother tongue development, thechildren are gradually starting to express themselves
in English and Japanese and can use phrases such as“Yes”, “No”, “Open please” or “Help please”. Our
morning circle sessions are held in English, and thechildren can respond correctly by raising their hands
when their names are called out in English. They also
seem to enjoy the English environment by moving
their bodies to English songs and repeating the namesof animals, insects, food and other nouns when they
are read out by teachers during storytelling activities.
When they first started school, the children stillneeded support when eating, but now, they can eat bythemselves using spoons and forks. And those who
did not like their diapers changed at first are now used
to the routine and come to tell the teachers when theirdiapers are wet. As I watch the children developing soquickly during this period, I realize the importance ofproviding tailored daycare tosuit the growth anddevelopmental level of eachindividual child.

P2 class
reportWith the exceptionof Japanese
language lessons, the children in P2 spend
their day in an all-English environment, justlike at KIST. After more than six months, thechildren who cried when they first started
school now greet everyone happily bysaying “Good morning!!” with a big smile.
The children seem to have developed closefriendships and can express who they want
to play with or be partners with during walktime. There are also more instances where
they use English among themselves bysaying phrases such as “Can I have it?”,“OK!” or “Wait please!”. As the days go by, I
am happy to see the children adjusting to
KIPS and feeling more relaxed and “athome”. I hope the children will enjoy
learning at the spacious KIST campus next
year when they join K1. I look forward toseeing the further growth and success of thechildren who have shown great
development in both their social andlanguage skills
at KIPS.
Mai Inagaki
P2 Teacher

Yoshimi Machida
P0-P1 Teacher

From the KIPS office
KIPS re-opened as an in-house daycare facility last October near Morishita station. As this is our firstexperience to cater for 0-2-year-old children, we are striving to provide as safe and nurturing English
environment as possible for our children.
We recently passed an unannounced naptime inspection by staff from the Cabinet Office. During naptimes,
as a measure against SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), we check the breath, facial expression, facialcolor and body position of the 0– and 1-year-olds every 5 minutes, and every 15 minutes for 2-year-olds.
In order to maintain a safe environment, we also conduct regular inspections of the facility, self-evaluationsof our preparedness for disasters as well as drills. To maintain hygiene, we conduct regular sterilization andcleaning, and staff and children wash their hands regularly to prevent the spread of infection. To secure asafe environment for the children, we implemented a reporting procedure for minor incidents in order tobecome aware of, and prevent any possible accidents. Our nurse also carefully checks the children’s healthcondition 3 times a day (first thing in the morning, after a walk, and after naptime).
Several KIST staff members have undergone training to attain certification as “childcare support staff” in order to be able to support KIPS when needed. Furthermore, staff
members also actively participate in professional development opportunities held by
the Cabinet Office to further develop and improve the quality of the services provided
at KIPS.
Yukiko Murai Jones
Office Coordinator

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MYP News
Students reflect on
experiences for student-led
conferences
Each year in March, KIST students
meet with their families to share theirexperiences and reflect on theirstrengths and areas of improvement.
Each year, the student-led
conferences offer the opportunity forstudents to take stock and see allthat they’ve accomplished.

The portfolio document stresses the value of reflection.

Planning for the SLC begins withstudents compiling portfolios of theirwork and reflections. This year’s
portfolio process was changed toencouraged students to take abroader view of their time and KIST.
In addition to their academic
success, students also used theirportfolios to explore life skills, MYP
essentials, learning strategies, alongwith extracurricular experiences theyfound to be rewarding.
Students looked back on a range of experiences.

All of these reflections were framedby the IB’s Approaches to Learning
Skills. The ATLs are a good measureof progress for all students.
All in all, the MYP Portfolio and theStudent-Led Conferences bothoffered great opportunities forstudents and parents to get a clear
view of school life here at KIST.
Rob White
MYP Coordinator
A closer look at academics.

@
Thinking about the IB learner profile attributes.

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

Waterloo Math Contest
On March 1, 9 students from Grades 9 to 11 took part in the University of Waterloo
Pascal, Cayley and Fermat math contest for the first time at KIST. The contest
involved a 60-minute multiple-choice paper with challenging and stimulating mathproblems designed for the strongest math students in each grade level. In addition,
on April 7, 2 students in Grade 12 took part in the University of Waterloo's Euclid
contest. This contest involved an intensive 150-minute paper that involved solving
complex, multi-step math problems. Hundreds of students from public schools in Canada and private schools
around the world took part.
Of the 11 students who took part in the contests, 9 achieved a score in the top 25% of participants. This is a very
impressive achievement, especially considering that this is the first time KIST students have competed in thesecontests. Congratulations to…

Ji Hye (G9A)

Natasha (G10A)

Tian Wei (G10B)

Chae Hyun (G10A)

Gopal (G10B)

Xiang Yu (G10A)

Rinchin (G11A)

Shimpei (G10A)

Amartya (G12A)

We hope to be able to continue having these contests in future years and to have even greater results!
Wilson Fong
Secondary Mathematics Teacher“

As many of you may not know of it, the Waterloo math contest is a way
for students all over the world to participate in a casual contest to test
one’s flexibility in mind. With a wider range in topics, one can taste a
different side in mathematics from what our school curriculum provides—agreat way to relax, have fun and enjoy math. I highly encourage anyone
interested in trying it—there’s no harm in having fun!”—Ji Hye (G9A)

”

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G11 DP Visual Arts Excursion
Kusama Yayoi: My Eternal Soul
We Grade 11s visited the Kusama Yayoi: My Eternal Soul
exhibition on April 7 as a part of our DP Visual Arts course. There
we saw a wide range of pieces of different mediums from paints tomirrors and lights.
A lot of us in DP art have decided to take on concepts that relate toour identity—this was something that was explored by Kusama
Yayoi and gave us a new perspective, a new way of approaching
our art.
Kusama Yayoi's almost excessive use of geometric shapes andvibrant colours gave some students headaches—but that’s theprice we pay for art, right?
In my opinion, her work was almost mesmerising with her use ofvibrant colours and repetitive use of simple shapes. One thing I
really enjoyed about her paintings, that didn’t seem to make muchsense at all from a distance, is that unless the viewers decide tolook at the title for themselves, their perception of her pieces,because they’re so abstract, is completely subjective: dependingon the viewer’s emotion and thoughts at the time what you see
would be very different. This idea of giving the viewers freedom
and a narrative voice was extremely intriguing.
You will find the opinions of some of my classmates below.
Rachel (G11A)“I think that Yayoi Kusama’s work was interesting and unique
because she doesn’t illustrate the theme of painting directly since it
seems random and weird. However, when you look at the title ofher work started to make somewhat sense in terms of tone andshapes utilised in her work. Also, due to the colour usage in her
work, I couldn’t take my eyes off her work because most her
pieces have bright colours and simple shapes.” Moe Min (G11A)“The exhibition was very unique. I liked the light room—it was myfavourite.”
Sarah (G11B)“I found it a little scary… Everything was so vivid I felt overwhelmed. I was also extremely intrigued and interested in her stateof mind.”
Su Bin (G11A)

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

G12 DP Visual Arts Exhibition
Friday, March 24 marked the culmination of works for grade 12
Visual Arts students. Their final exhibition represents 2 years ofwork by those students undertaking the IB Diploma Visual Arts
program. The students created works in a range of different media,
exploring personal themes and concepts from a diverse spectrum
within the Visual Arts. The Exhibition offered a showcase of
students work to be enjoyed by the whole school community.
Engaging students from elementary and secondary to discuss andexplore the works created and ask the creators themselves WHY?

Marcus (G12B)
Digital photography

On behalf of the students and faculty of KIST, we would like tocongratulate our graduating class of DP Visual Arts students. Welldone and good luck in all your endeavors.
Luke Jones
MYP/DP Visual Arts Teacher / KPASS Fine Arts Coordinator

Marcus (G12B)
LEDs and canvas

Ima (G12B)

Ima (G12B)

Clay and wire sculpture

Mixed media

Olivia (G12A)
Mixed media stitching

Isabella (G12A)

Isabella (G12A)

Painted wooden kokeshi

Mixed media

Sanami (G12B)
Fashion accessory and photography

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Academic Writing at KIST
The aim and objectives of Academic Writing this semester have been to offer
students the feedback and encouragement to develop their overall written
production skills to meet high academic standards of KIST. With a focus on
improving essay writing skills, analyzing different styles of texts and on
developing a higher level of academic vocabulary, ELS Instructors endeavor tohelp students remain motivated on meeting the needs of their disciplinary units
they are studying at each year level.
Recently, I sat down with students from Grades 6 to 10 and we chatted about
our KIST Academic Writing Program and how it has helped them. This is what
they had to say:““

It is great to chatwith the instructors
and get feedback
that we need to
improve.

I actually started
getting 8s for mysummative tasks!

“

“

”

” “

I learnt to get mywork in on time rather
than wait until the lastminute.

The period zeroclass is early but it
will help get us
ready for the DP.

It improved my
vocabulary andhelped me focus
in the morning.

“

”

”
“

We got to work on
skills to practice fordiagnostic tests.

”
The skills we developed
matched what we neededfor our summative tasks.

””

Congratulations to these AW students who finished the semester on top of their academic class for their gradelevel in practicing their vocabulary lists:

Yuki (G6B)

Tatsunori (G7A)

Aidan (G8A)

Emily (G9A)

Tian Wei (G10B)

Now that another semester of Academic Writing has come to a close, I’d like to thank the ELS team of instructors
for the ongoing support they give their students. I would also like to thank the parents and students for putting in
the extra work this semester.
Have a safe and restful summer break.
Donna Linnett
ELS Coordinator (Secondary)“ T h e Co m et ”

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21

Middle School Brain Bowl
In March, a group of 13 students travelled from
Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station to Nerima where they took
part in the Middle School Brain Bowl. They completed
various activities that tested their knowledge in manydifferent areas: science, English language andliterature, history, geography, mathematics, current
affairs and more.

questions.” Another mentioned how they liked that theirfriends were “rivals for the day”, this made it fun but acompetition too and another student said “I recommend
everyone to join this competition next year, to help
improve many skills,” after having said “By working withothers who you don’t know, your collaboration skills aretested, not just your knowledge.”

Upon walking into the hall where the competition was
taking place, we were immediately filled with a sense of
excitement and welcome. Students, all from different
international schools from Tokyo, were organised to sit
in groups of 4 where each person in the team was froma different school. There was an amazing atmosphereas students and teachers alike immediately talked to
one another, introducing themselves, getting to makenew connections and potentially making new friends.
After a brief introduction and coming up with a team
name, the competition began! There were various
activities from word association, Sudoku, picture
games, a team buzzer game and many more!
Congratulations to Yungandhar (G8A) who was in theteam that came fifth place and congratulations to Hugo
(G7B) who was in the team that came first! Anotherhuge well done to the other participants, you werepolite and fantastic representatives of KIST.
One student said, “I think that was a really goodexperience for me, as we got to interact with one
another, and put all of our knowledge together in the

The Middle School Brain Bowl will behappening again next year and thistime it will be run as a club during
semester 1. It will be a fun, thoughtprovoking and enticing experience.
There will be activities like Jeopardy,
board trivia games and much more.
Members will not only compete against
each other (there will be prizes!) in afriendly but spirited setting, but they
will also have the opportunity to comeup with questions that could possibly
come up in the competition itself. I look forward toseeing you there!
Louise Green
MYP Mathematics Teacher /Brain Bowl Organiser 2016-17

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MYP Personal Project Exhibition
Grade 10s shine at the MYP Personal
Project exhibition
The 2017 MYP Personal Project exhibition was held inthe school gym on Friday, March 3.
The G10s work to complete their projects from the
beginning of the year. The PP is the culminating project
for the MYP. It is an opportunity for students todemonstrate the knowledge and skills they’ve
developed over their time in the MYP.
The project, completed independent and in addition to
the students’ other subject work, involves producing a
product or outcome, a process journal documenting
their work, and a Personal Project report that highlights
their achievements.
The exhibition was an enjoyable day and included visitsfrom elementary and secondary students as well as theparents of Grade 10 students. Following the exhibition,
MYP Personal Projects supervisors worked to complete
assessments of the students’ work.

G10s on exhibition day.

Judging by the variety of topics covered, the quality of the products, and the high degree of student interest, the2017 Grade 10 class should be proud of their work.

Elementary students enjoyed seeing theclay art project of Varsha (G10B).

Ushani (G9A) discusses the best approach to the
Personal Project with Ryota (G10A).

Chae Hyun (G10A) gathered feedback about
her book on endangered animals.

Personal Project supervisors review the students’ work.

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

Grade 9 Camp Reflections
G9s bike, boat and hike their way throughcamp
Following the Golden Week holiday, Grade 9 students
participated in a camp trip to Yamanashi Prefecture. At the
YMCA camp at Yamanaka-ko, the students enjoyed a
combination of recreational activities in the beautiful nature at
the foot of Mt. Fuji. The students also shared time working with
one another in a series of experiences led by Grade 9 teachers.
The academic focus of the trip was preparing for the Grade 10
Personal Project. Students had a chance to discuss theirthinking about how they’d like to approach the project. They
also received advice from past KIST students in the form of aletter. KIST teachers shared their advice about approaching a
project in which they have a chance to explore a meaningful
topic over an extended time.

The camp began with a photo with Mt. Fuji
providing the beautiful backdrop.

The students were asked to reflect on their camp experience
after they returned. Remi (G9B) wrote, “I enjoyed boating themost of all three recreational activities. It required the most
teamwork and communication while we paddled the boat
through the lake. I loved the scenery and the view of Yamanaka-ko during the cycling as well since I haven’t seen Mt. Fuji as
close as I did during the activity.” Conan (G9B) also enjoyed histime at camp: “Participating in these three activities allows us asa class to bond with one another while having fun.”The camp included an evening of team building activities
followed by a campfire. Kushali (G9B) enjoyed the evening
activities a lot. She wrote, “Team building and the campfire weremy favorite parts of camp. It was fun to sing songs together,
listen to spooky ghost stories and just watch the fire.” Ami(G9B) agreed: “Both of the activities were very fun, especiallythe team building sessions. They really helped me interact withpeople that I normally don’t interact with. The campfire was a
nice and relaxing time for us as well.” Ami was also positive
about the chance to think about the Personal Project: “Thesession was really helpful in giving us an overview of what is
expected of us next year. Listening to some of the ideas
proposed by the teachers helped me realize how there is many
possibilities for choosing our topics.”
When they returned to KIST at the end of the trip, it was clearthat the students had a rich, rewarding time with theirclassmates. When asked if next year’s Grade 9s should attend
the camp, Karen (G9A) was emphatic: “Definitely. Throughout
the camp there are many opportunities to talk to your friends
and build a stronger bond between each other, especially during
the bus rides, outdoor activities and in the group rooms. I wasable to make new connections with my classmates enjoy every
second of the trip.”

Pausing the bike ride around
Lake Yamanaka.

Building a sense of community
while sharing a meal.

On May 8 and 9, we were given the opportunity ofvisiting the YMCA facility up near Mt. Fuji. At the facility,
we settled in and were given groups of which people wewould be sleeping with for the night and who we would
be dining with. After this transaction, we began eating
lunch at the facility. Everyone in the group had a role tofulfill so that we can start eating, promoting
collaboration between people we may have neverworked with before. Afterwards, the grade was split into
two groups to take on activities 1 and 2. Activity 1
involved canoeing at a lake near Mt. Fuji while activity 2
involved cycling around the area. Seeing all the failuresand successes was a good laugh. After these two
activities, we were given 30 minutes each room toshower and clean ourselves off, following that withdinner. Before being sent to our rooms, we all sataround a campfire, singing songs as a grade. Followingthat were ghost stories from both classes. The next day,we began the day by having an hour-long session,
discussing the personal project. Afterwards, weembarked on hiking up a mountain. The trail began with
400 steps up a stone staircase. Very tiring but
surprisingly very enjoyable. Upon coming back from thehike, it was the unfortunate end of our camp.
All in all, camp was a very enjoyable experience. We
were able to interact with people we have never spoke
with, we were given some insight on the personal
project. Most importantly, we all had
a good time with us, laughing at our
successes and failures. For those
who are nearing Grade 9, be
prepared to have an illustrious twodays. You will not forget it.
—Conan (G9B)

Camp ends with a long hike to the small shrine on Mt. Ishiwari.

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Math Field Day

Congratulations!!!!

In April, KIST students took part in the Math
Tomoko (G6B) 1st place in G6 Category
Field Day competition hosted by Zama High
Chan (G11B) 2nd place in G11 Category
School in Kanagawa. They worked hard, both
Chae Min (G11A) 3rd place in G11 Category
individually and within groups, competing in
Mehak (G7A) member of the 1st place team junior division
many different activities. The day was spent
Chan (G11B) member of the 1st place team senior division
not only exploring more mathematicaltechniques and learning new ones, but also
spent making friends and connections from all over Tokyo.
One student said, “I found it very fun, especially the card building activity that involves
not only math skill but also manipulative ability.” Another mentioned how “Math Field
Day is a wonderful opportunity for those looking to exemplify their mathematics skills.”
And another student said they particularly enjoyed “team activities such as energizer
competition [because it] changes your perspective when solving mathematicalproblems”.
In preparation for this year’s
activity there was a lot of timespent on the past papers. Next
Chan (G11B), Tomoko (G6B)
and Chae Min (G11A).
year there will be past paper
practice in amongst energizer
rounds, jeopardy rounds and other quiz-type activities.
Members will not only compete against each other (there will
be prizes!) in a friendly but spirited setting, but they will also
have the opportunity to come up with questions that could
possibly come up in the competition itself.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Louise Green
MYP Mathematics Teacher

G7 Trip to KidZania
On Friday, May 12, all of the grade 7 students
set out on an excursion to KidZania in Toyosu.
This was part of the Interdisciplinary Unit ofStudy they are currently working on in both
Individuals and Societies and Language andLiterature. The aim of the excursion was toobserve a real-life model of a successful theme
park. Whilst on the excursion the students
participated in various activities such as pizza
making, police officers, journalists, manga
artists and even pencil makers, to observe themarketing and advertising techniques that
KidZania uses to cater to the needs and wantsof both a local and global audience. It really wasboth an educational and a fun experience! Now
the students are busy putting together their own
business proposals as well as an advertising campaign
for their educational theme park idea. In the last weekof school both 7A and 7B will be presenting theirprojects to potential investors in the hopes of earning
their group the most cash!
Donna Linnett
Secondary English TeacherV o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7“ T h e Co m et ”

25

Secondary SRC
University fair
The Secondary SRC volunteered to help out at the KIST Spring University Fair. SRC
members helped in setting up the fair as well as helped guide the college representatives totheir booths. Throughout this session, we were able to interact with many different college
representatives, understanding more about different universities, the courses they offer
etc. This was a great experience for all the SRC members and we hope to meet all of
Let your voice be heard
these college representatives again next year.

Girls’ futsal jerseys
The KIST SRC donated a total of ¥45,600 for the girls’ futsal jerseys. The jerseys have been purchased and are
now in use by the girls’ futsal team. Prior to the purchase of these uniforms, the girls’ futsal team had been using
volleyball uniforms for soccer and these uniforms were often too small or worn out. The addition of this uniform
raises the school spirit and presents unity within the team. The SRC strongly supports the KIST sports teams andwishes them all the best for their tournaments. GO COMETS GO!

Student fund request
The SRC has recently approved a ‘student fund request’ to help cover the cost of food anddrinks at the G12 graduation ceremony, which will be held on June 2, 2017.By providing a
total of ¥10,410 to the graduation committee, the SRC will cover all expenses for the afterceremony party, ensuring that it will be a truly enjoyable experience for everyone who chooses
to attend. On behalf of all the students at KIST, the SRC wishes the graduates every successin their new journeys.

Edcamp Tokyo
We took part in this year’s Edcamp in Tokyo as volunteers. Edcamp is a global
phenomenon in which teachers and others in education related fields independently
gather to share and discuss their work. This was the first Edcamp hosted by KIST.
After helping to set up the event and giving directions, we were given an opportunity toshare our perspectives on our personal and school lives and how they are intertwined
together in group discussion with staff from other schools. We were able to openly
reflect on our lives and this was a refreshing experience.

Arts committee badges
Recently, the SRC Arts Committee designed their own badges, which we then got approval from the school tocreate. If you ever need to talk to an Arts Committee member, look for students with the badge on!

Bathroom shelves
Due to a very high request for shelves in bathrooms (to hold our stationery), the SRC will be implementing thissuggestion very soon: students, stay tuned!!
Secondary SRC

26“ T h e Co m e t ”

Spotlight on Clubs
Japanese Culture Club (Elementary)
This club is designed for students to learn more about
the country in which they are living by becoming familiar
with various cultural aspects of Japan in order to betterenjoy their lives here.
During club sessions, the students have tried origami,
watched popular Japanese animation, and become
familiar with various traditional Japanese events.
The students showed an interest in making Japanese
food, and so we tried making ehomaki rolls for Setsubun.
It was a bit difficult for the students to roll the rice andother ingredients onto the nori (seaweed), but the tastiest
rolls are the ones the students made themselves!
Everyone ate their rolls in silence facing north-north-west(the lucky direction) while making a wish.
The students also experienced Japanese calligraphy forthe first time and seemed to enjoy the challenge of using
unfamiliar brushes. Maybe the students like writing kanji
more now...
Through these cultural experiences,
we hope the students will come to like
Japan more and more.
Miyako Takayama / Yoshiko Torikai
Club Supervisors

Yoga Club (Secondary)
Tree pose, meditation and bending into a pretzel. That’s
what comes to most people’s mind when they think ofyoga! But students who attended yoga club this semester
will tell you that our goal was more than just being flexible
and strong.
Each week, the club had a focus that was not related tophysical fitness but mental wellbeing. Some of the
focuses were: stress relief, focus, perseverance, trust,and acceptance. By practicing a range of different poses,
from simple to very complex, we paid attention to ourbodies and our minds. For example; working towards
building confidence and trust so we could achieve aheadstand, improving focus and patience so we could
repeat a Vinyasa sequence continuously, and laughing atourselves when attempting full splits (Hanumanasana)then falling over when we couldn’t get out of the pose
gracefully!
By the end of the semester, advanced poses may nothave been mastered, but students definitely felt more
confident about trying them and not giving up if it didn’t
go to plan; this was the goal of yoga club. I look forward
to running the club again next year.
Jade Jagroo
Club Supervisor

V ol u me 20 | I s s ue 4 | J u ne 2 01 7

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V o l u me 2 0 | I s s u e 4 | J u n e 2 0 1 7

27

Library News
Summer resources
On the last day of the school year, June 14, students arewelcome to visit KIST Libraries to borrow up to a total often books for summer reading. But what to do if you finish
all of them? Here are some online resources to keep yourbrain working over the vacation.

Elementary#MetKids: “#MetKids is a digital feature made for, with,and by kids! Discover fun facts about works of art, hop in
our time machine, watch behind-the-scenes videos, andget ideas for your own creative projects.”
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/
metkids/
Storyline Online: “Reading to children has been repeatedly
shown to improve their reading, writing andcommunication skills, logical thinking, concentration andgeneral academic aptitude…as well as inspire a love of
reading. …Storyline Online streams imaginatively
produced videos featuring celebrated actors … readingchildren’s books alongside creatively produced
illustrations, helping to inspire a love of reading inchildren.”
http://www.storylineonline.net/about/International Digital Children’s Library: “The mission of theInternational Children’s Digital Library Foundation (ICDL
Foundation) is to support the world’s children in becoming
effective members of the global community – who exhibit
tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages andideas – by making the best in children’s literature available
online free of charge.”
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

Looking for more? The KIST
Libraries pages on Moodle will
be available throughout thesummer. Check out our
Research Links for a slew ofresources, even while yourlibrarians are away onvacation!

Miku (G7A), Armaan (G7B)
and Ajay (G7B) explore thedelightful online resources in
Moodle.

LMC bookmarks
New for the next school year
will be peer written bookreviews. The library team would
really appreciate your help inlaunching this initiative. These
are fun, easy to create, and are
a great way to tell your friends
about your favourite books. Asa reader, you will discover new
Gini (G6B), Saanvi (G6B) andtitles as recommended by
Nehal (G6A) holding upteachers and other students.
examples of bookmarks.
All you need to do is write one detailed sentence tellingyour friends why they should read one of your favourite
books. Why did you enjoy the book? Or, how will it help
with course work? You can see some samples in thephoto. Please visit the LMC before the summer break to
see more examples.

Secondary

To make one Download the colour template from: Moodle > LMC >Books
 Add your sentence (it must be for a book that is in the
LMC).
 Save the file with book title as the file name.
 E-mail the word file to library@kist.ed.jp.

Audiobook Sync: “SYNC is a free summer audiobook
program for teens 13+. …SYNC will give away twocomplete audiobook downloads a week – pairs of highinterest titles, based on weekly themes.”
http://www.audiobooksync.com/

If you would like to change the background colour to yourown design, please do! Get creative! Download the black
and white template for this. Have fun with your summer
reading and share your knowledge.

Note: Some titles may not be available for download inJapan.
Camp NaNoWriMo: “Camp NaNoWriMo is a virtual writer’s
retreat, designed for maximum flexibility and creativity. We
have Camp sessions in both April and July, and wewelcome word-count goals between 30 and 1,000,000.
[Writers] can tackle any project they’d like, including newnovel drafts, revision, poetry, scripts, and short stories.”
https://campnanowrimo.org/
StoryCorps: “StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve andshare humanity’s stories in order to build connections
between people and create a more just andcompassionate world. We do this to remind one anotherof our shared humanity, to strengthen and build theconnections between people, to teach the value oflistening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture theunderstanding that everyone’s story matters.”
https://storycorps.org/

We look forward to receiving your bookmarks!

New library team member
I am Erika Karasuyama,
the school’s new Laboratory
technician and Libraryassistant. I am Japaneseand part Filipino. I havebeen living in the island of
Mindanao in the Philippines
since I was three years old
and recently moved back toJapan. I love to read books,
learn new things and explore new places, I also loveanimals and dream about having my own no-kill animal
shelter in the Philippines someday. I hope you’ll approachme anytime if you need some book recommendations in
the library or need some help in the laboratory!
KIST Library Team28

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Habitat for Humanity (H4H) Update
Over the year, the 2017 KIST HFH Team has been involved in a numberof fundraising activities to raise money for the construction of a home in
Vietnam in June. Below are some examples of the activities.

HFH English presentation at Prologis
HFH mock MYPEnglish lesson
with Café Eikaiwa

On Wednesday, April 19, the HFH team held an
English presentation to a company called Prologis,
a logistic real estate company. The HFH
members: Aska, Amina, Rachel and Kevinprepared vigorously for the presentation. The goal
was to raise money for the HFH trip, a trip where
the HFH team must build a house in a certain
amount of days. The preparation took several
weeks with the group striving for perfection. Of
course, we had to keep up with our school workwhilst practicing for the Prologis presentation. It
was quite a challenge but we were able to present
to the members of Prologis to our best.

On Saturday, April 22,
a group of 2017 KIST
HFH membersorganised a mock
MYP English Language and Literature lesson foran Eikaiwa (English class) in Kayabacho. We took
an MYP English summative task we completed
last year, in Grade 10, and turned it into an activity
that would last a few hours. Not only did we
successfully fundraise to alleviate costs for Habitat
members going to Vietnam, the ‘students’ (adults)
On the day of the presentation, a handful of
seemed to enjoy the class quite a lot! After being
people came to listen to our presentation. The
introduced to this task, we, four HFH members
beginning went smoothly, which began with ourwere worried that adults wouldn’t want to listen toteam handing out pamphlets to the Prologis
us rambling on and on about the MYP and how it
members. Then came the presentation.
is different to the Japanese schooling system.
Throughout the presentation, we were engaging
However, to our surprise, the students ended up
with our audience and we felt that we had given
being very cooperative and enthusiastic about
them a justifiable reason to donate to KIST HFH.
everything we were explaining. For a lot of us, it
At the end of the presentation, they asked us
was the first time we attended an Eikaiwa lesson
questions about HFH and about us personally. We
and so we had no clue how much English ourbelieve that we had answered them with justified
students would be able to speak. Therefore, uponanswers. As we left the Prologis building, we
completing this task, I learnt how to be flexible andbelieved that we executed the presentation
use my vocabulary in a way that would make whatperfectly as all of the audience had donated to
I said a lot easier to understand. All in all, this was
HFH. If we were to do an English presentation to aa great experience for my team and can’t wait forcompany again, we would like thea similar opportunity topresentation to go as similarly as ourcome around.
HFH KIST logo T-shirt
Prologis presentation.
—Rachel (G11A)
Thank you to the families and staff who—Kevin (G11A)
ordered the HFH KIST logo T-shirts. We
received a total of 217 orders and madea profit of approximately ¥200,000 fromthe t-shirt sales. The money raised will go
towards the covering of the costs of ouractions.

Family Day HFH lottery/raffle booth
On Family Day (May 27), our Habitat team organized a booth to selllotteries and raffles to raise funds for our activities and to raise awareness of our aim and goal. Anyone who
made a donation at the Habitat booth got lottery/raffle tickets to win goods, coupons and vouchers, whichwere generously offered by our neighbor shops and restaurants. Habitat members, mostly G11 students, paida visit to each shop around school (mostly in the Morishita area), explained our activity and asked forcooperation. In return for the kind contribution, we voluntarily offered help in translating their menus into
English and advertising their names at the booth. Throughout these activities, I am sure we have deepened
our friendship with our neighbors. It was also a good opportunity for them to be more prepared to welcome
foreign customers with the new English menu, especially in this time when the Olympic Games are coming in
3 years. This is something that we can offer because we are international school students. This was a great
experience, and we appreciate all the support and donations from our community. We are happy that ourteam has been doing very well so far, and hope that we will complete the project with a big success.
—Miu (G11B)

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Staff 10!
In this month’s Staff 10!, weare pleased to present Oliver
Sullivan who joined us in
August 2013 as a teacher inthe Elementary School.
Originally from England, Mr
Sullivan is currently thehomeroom teacher for Grade
3A. During our CIS self-study,
he was also appointed as the
Mr Sullivan and his children.
CIS Accreditation Coordinatorand is now the Literacy and Numeracy Assessment
Coordinator in the Elementary School.
 Tell us something interesting about yourhometown.
My hometown is Manchester in England. It’s a reallygreat place, although the weather can be pretty
horrible (lots of rain and pretty cold). I love it because
the people are very friendly and there are lots of things
to do in quite a small area. London, on the other hand,
can be quite intimidating because it’s so large.
Manchester is also famous for amazing music groups
like Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Stone
Roses and Oasis. Also, Manchester United are thebest football team in the world!!!
 What is your favorite place in the world?
Definitely Manchester United’s ground, Old Trafford. I
really miss going there with my friends on a Saturdayor Sunday afternoon. Instead, I now have to stay up
very late and watch them on TV.
 Who would you like to meet if you had thechance and why?
I would like to meet the former heavyweight boxing
champion Mike Tyson. He’s had so many problems in
his life (a number of them self-inflicted) but when I see
him speak, he always seems so positive and fun. I
would like to hang out with him.
 Do you have any special skills or talents?
I broke my nose many times when I was young so now
I can make it click just by tapping the side of it.
Impressive eh?
 Please share a little known fact about yourself.
When I was a lot younger, I used to play bass guitar ina band. Our sound was very dark with lots of synths
and samples but no vocals! We played many shows
and it was lots of fun but unfortunately, I don’t think wewere very good.
 What is your most prized possession?
This is embarrassing but my most valuable possession
is a teddy bear. He is an Ewok from Star Wars: Returnof the Jedi and I got him for my 5th birthday, making
him 33 years old. I actually bought my daughter thesame one in perfect condition from an Americancollector for her 5th birthday.
 Which IB learner profile attribute do you mostclosely identify with and why?
I wish I could say “risk-taker” but I’m actually a bit of achicken. I would say “open-minded” because I’ve been
lucky to meet so many people with different ideas of
the world so I am definitely not a judgmental person.

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 If you could live your life again, would you doanything differently?
Not really. I’ve made many mistakes but I guess thatthey’ve all somehow led me to where I am now, and I
am very happy with my life. I do wish I would’ve mademore of an effort with foreign languages when I wasyounger but I never thought I’d need them and now I’m
too busy to study.
 Is there anything you are trying to learn/improveabout yourself at the moment?
As I said before, I have very little time. I have twochildren who take up a lot of my free time so I suppose
I’m trying to listen more and make more time for them.
It’s hard to be patient sometimes, but I’m trying.
 Do you have any special message for your fans?
Haha, I don’t think I have any fans...and if I do, then
you need to listen to better music and watch better
movies, then find yourself someone cooler to be a fanof.

The PSAT exam is taken by all G10
students at KIST.
Results are in and once again our students
have produced some AMAZING results:
Mathematics: 73% of our students scoredabove the 80th percentile
Reading and Writing: 62% of ourstudents scored above the 60th percentile
Overall Score: 57% of our students
scored above the 80th percentile with 38%
scoring above the 90th percentile!
A BIG PAT ON THE BACKFOR OUR GRADE 10s.
If your child is looking for practiceresources for the PSAT or SAT, check out
the official College Board online SAT
preparation resource available FOR FREE
through Khan Academy at the link below:
https://www.khanacademy.org/sat

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Nurse’s Notes
When kids refuse to go to school‘School refusal’ describes a disorder when a childrefuses to go to school on a regular basis or has aproblem staying in school. School refusal includes
kindergarten students with relatively mild separation
anxiety and more severe students missing school forweeks or months because of anxiety or depression.
School refusal is not the same as truancy. Truant
students do not experience emotional difficulties andmay be involved in illegal activities or engage in amore attractive activity, such as playing games or
hanging out with friends.

Characteristics of students with school
refusalSchool refusal is not a formal psychiatric diagnosis.
However, students with school refusal may sufferfrom significant emotional distress, especially anxiety
and depression.

Anxiety
School refusal often accompanies disorders like
separation anxiety, social/performance anxiety (e.g.
when speaking in front of others), or anxiety related
to test-taking, athletic competition, or academic
difficulties. Students may refuse to attend school toescape from a situation that causes anxiety or togain attention from a parent or other person. Somestudents may feel that the school environment is cold
and unwelcoming, a place where they experience
failure. Some students feel unsafe due to bullying
and experience emotional difficulties associated withcoming to school.

Depression
Students show a depressed mood, lack of interest in
activities, irritability, difficulty getting along withothers, rebellious or risk-taking behavior, sleep
difficulties, physical complaints, fatigue or lethargy.
Students also show feelings of inadequacy orexcessive guilt, difficulty concentrating or
indecisiveness, and thoughts of death or suicide. The
presence of depression is associated with more
severe symptoms than for those students with
anxiety alone. Many students suffer from bothanxiety and depression.

Physical complaints
Some students go to the nurse’s room on a daily
basis with unexplained symptoms like a headache or
stomachache. Sometimes an actual illness, likeasthma, may be the initial reason for school
absence. Later, anxiety about returning to schoolleads to the student wanting to avoid school, evenafter recovering physically. Parents should consult
with a physician to determine if there are any
limitations for the child at school.

What parents can do Provide a mental healthprofessional withcognitive-behavioral
approaches that teachcoping strategies suchas relaxation, problem
solving, reducing
negative self-talk, and increasing healthy selftalk.
 Provide medication for a child who has a
psychiatric disorder such as severe anxiety or
depression.
 Expose children to school in small degrees,
increasing exposure slowly over time.
 Reinforce positive behaviors (participation
efforts), and ignore negative behaviors (crying,whining).
 Talk about feelings and fears, which helps
reduce them.
 Help your child establish a support system. A
variety of people should be in your child’s life –other children as well as family members orteachers who are willing to talk with your childshould the occasion arise.
Since school refusal leads to serious social andeducational problems when students are missing
school for an extended period, the problem needs tobe assessed promptly and aggressively with a teamthat includes teachers, parents, administrators,
support staff, and, in some cases, physicians.
Stephanie Pae
School Nurse
References:
Anxiety and Depression Association of America, https://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/school-refusal
Mary Wimmer, Helping Children at Home and School Ill: Handouts
for Families and Educators (NASP, 2010)

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Earthquake Disaster Support
Supporting the Great East Japan Earthquake disasterSix years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster. Following the disaster, KIST was involvedin providing support for children in the disaster-stricken areas through the donation of supplies and visits to theareas to provide warm meals for the victims. We continue to support Miyagi prefecture by sending monetarycontributions from our Free Dress Day held around March 11 each year with the theme of “red and white” (thecolors of the Japanese flag). This year, we raised a total of ¥71,362 which was donated to the Great East Japan
Earthquake Children’s Fund to support children orphaned in the disaster. Thank you to the students and staff who
participated. In kind recognition of our donation, we received a letter of appreciation from the Governor of Miyagi
Prefecture, Yoshihiro Murai, which we would like to share with you below.

I hope you are well and prosperous.

Thank you for your understanding and support towards our prefectural management.

We sincerely appreciate and would like to accept your donation to support the children

orphaned in the Great East Japan Earthquake. We will ensure that your donation will be
used effectively for the benefit of the children.

As governor of Miyagi Prefecture, I will do my best to revitalize our prefecture, hand-in-handwith the citizens of the prefecture.
I ask for your continued understanding and cooperation in promoting the administration of
the prefecture.

May 2, 2017

To School Foundation K. International School Tokyo
Yoshishige Komaki, Board President

Yoshihiro Murai, Governor of Miyagi Prefecture

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University Guidance News
Greetings from University Guidance! We have had
another successful year again at KIST for university
admissions. You may have seen the list of
acceptances posted at the University Counselor boothin the gymnasium on Family Day. A complete list will
be published in the September 2017 issue of The
Comet. Congratulations and best wishes to the Class
of 2017!

KIST Spring University Fair
We are very pleased to report that the KIST Spring
University Fair held in the gymnasium on March 20
was a great success this year again with hundreds ofparticipants from the entire KIST community as well asgroups of students, parents and counselors from otherinternational schools in Japan. This year we hosted 25
universities mainly from Japan which offer English
programs and/or a special entrance examination for IB
students to enroll in their regular Japanese programs,
as well as three universities from Australia, Canada
and EU. Thank you for coming to the fair and I hope
you were able to gather information directly from theuniversity representatives at their tables. And special
thanks to the KIST Community Association officers
who kindly prepared a reception and refreshments forthe university representatives after the fair.

Mrs Okude attends Oxford University
information session in Hong Kong
I was invited by a fellow counselor at an international
school in Hong Kong to attend an information session
conducted at their school by Oxford University in April.
It was a great opportunity for me to meet anadmissions officer from the university who never visits
Japan because of the very limited number ofapplicants from Japan. If you are interested inattending this university, please contact me. I will behappy to share the information with you.

Mrs Okude’svisit to theChineseUniversity ofHong Kong
The Chinese
University of Hong
Kong (CUHK) is
one of the top
three public
universities inHong Kong alongwith the Universityof Hong Kong
(HKU) and theHong Kong
University of
Science andTechnology (HKUST).

I visited Professor
Jan Kiely at theCentre for China
Studies and had awonderful meeting
there. Now, I havecompleted campus
visits to all three
universities and amable to explain thesimilarities anddifferences.

With Prof Jan Kiely at CUHK.

Mrs Okude’s visit to International Christian
University
I visited International
Christian University(ICU)’s Mitaka
campus in Tokyo in
May to attend an
information session
for international
school counselors.
After the session, I
enjoyed a tour of thecampus and wasable to explore its
beautiful grounds
and also received a
special tour inside
the Science Hall andAyaka and Nino at thea newly opened
ICU campus.
dorm. During thetour, I also happened
to meet Ayaka and Nino (KIST graduates from the“Class of 2016”) who are enjoying their freshman year
there. What a wonderful surprise!

KIST alumni talks—Motoi, Jiaying, Muskan
and Pranita (Class of 2016), and small
reunion in Hong Kong
In recent years, we have developed a nice tradition
where former students come back to visit KIST when
they return home on their breaks. This year, thefollowing alumni have all returned to KIST to present
talks to our current students:
 Motoi (2016), a freshman majoring in mathematics
at NY U Abu Dhabi, UAE visited in March.
 Jiaying (2016), a freshman majoring in medicine at
St George’s University London, UK visited in April.
 Muskan (2016), a freshman majoring in psychology
at Rutgers University, NJ, USA visited in May.
 Pranita (2016), a freshman majoring in accounting
at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
USA also visited in May.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences!

CUHK is located near thestation named “University”.

Continued on next page

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Continued from previous page

During my stay in Hong Kongin April, I was also able toenjoy a small KIST reunion. I
had a wonderful time with
Disha (KIST 2010, HKU 2013)
and Aneeza (KIST 2010,
SCAD Hong Kong 2014) at acool (hot!!) Chinese restaurant
in downtown Hong Kong. Bothof them were able to gain goodjobs in Hong Kong and are
enjoying their lives there,
which was really nice to see!

Alumnus Report—1
Muskan is an alumnus of
KIST’s “Class of 2016.” Sheis currently in her first yearof the Bachelor of Arts andSciences course at Rutgers
University in the USA, and ismajoring in psychology.
Muskan (right) and friends.

With Disha (middle) and Aneeza(right) at a small KIST reunion in
Hong Kong.

Open campus andinformation sessions
Summer is one of the best
seasons to visit university
campuses. Please check thewebsites of individual
universities for information
about open campus
opportunities, campus visits
and information sessions. I will
post some information on the
University Guidance
Calendar if I receive
information from universities.
Have a nice summer breakand I look forward to seeing
you in August!
Mrs Keiko Okude
Career and University
Guidance Counselor
Office hours: Mon, Tue, Thu,
Fri 10:00-17:00
keiko.okude@kist.ed.jp

My first year at university was quite an experience. I had a lot of
expectations for it, especially about the environment there, but as I got toexperience more of it, I learnt to adapt and act accordingly. First of all, thepeople back in Tokyo and the people there in New Jersey are quite different,
especially at New Brunswick, which is basically a city based around Rutgers
University. People there are quite open about their opinions and are very
outgoing. Not only this, people take a lot of pride in being a part of theuniversity, which is always fun to watch and participate in, giving you asense of community.
Speaking of community, my university offers a lot of extracurricular clubs
and activities so that you can form even smaller communities. I took
advantage of this by joining a lot of clubs and attending multiple events; I’ve
joined many cultural clubs, a dance company, and participated in manythings such as showcases or even quirky events like watching a samosaeating competition. These clubs have helped me balance my workload fromclasses by adding some fun and giving me something to look forward to.
I really enjoy my classes, especially because I’ve chosen classes that not
only are a part of my major but also ones that interest me and it’s been a lotof fun learning every day. I’ve even participated in some research studies
which are super cool and allow you to learn more about other students andtheir passions and interests.
My advice to anyone who would be joining university would be to make sure
you find a balance between work and fun. I, for example, made a goal to
give myself more time by making sure I get days of no classes. The past 2
semesters I have never had a Friday class (which is always fun to rub inother people’s faces), and my upcoming semester also ensures I don’t haveany Friday classes. My other friends balance their lives by having something
every 2 or 3 weeks that they do just for themselves, whether it’s a whole dayof no work whatsoever, or painting or what not, they find their own ways tohave fun, which is always important.
I’ve had an incredible experience so
far and hopefully others will too intheir near futures!
MuskanKIST Alumnus, “Class of 2016”

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Alumnus Report—2
Pranita is an alumnus of KIST’s “Class of 2016.” She iscurrently in her first year of the Bachelor of Science inAccounting course at the University of Illinois in UrbanaChampaign and is majoring in accounting.
Freshman year at the
University of Illinois
College is a critical time for growth.
Everything that we do somehow
contributes to our personal or
professional development. My firstyear at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign was filled withchanges and challenges that haveplayed and will continue to play animportant role in helping me define
my path.
From establishing new friendships
to adapting to a new culture tofinding the correct balance
between social and academic life,
freshman year was one of the mostdynamic years of my life. The firstfew weeks of college were alreadylife-changing. I had never felt suchextent of independence andfreedom before. There was nobody
there to tell me what to eat, what todrink, what to do or what not to do.
That is when I truly realized thatwith independence comes
responsibility. What I chose to dowith my time and freedom would
essentially define who I am as aperson.
The first semester was revolved
around personal growth. Initially,
my goal was to meet as many
people as I could and experienceas many new things as I could. On
a campus of nearly fifty thousand
students, there are so many
opportunities to meet new people.
You can always find something
exciting to do – go to a concert at
the Canopy Club, play billiards or
bowling at the Illini Union, eat at arestaurant on Green Street or go to
karaoke night at the Courtyard
Café.
Being so far away from home
could be very challenging at first,
so I am grateful for all the exciting
opportunities that my campus
offered me. I am lucky to have met
all the incredible people that I did –some from my lectures andclasses, some who were living inthe same dorm as me and somefrom the very first day when we
met at international student
orientation.
By second semester, I had
successfully “settled in” and was
focused on professional growth.
Uncertain about my career path in
the future, I dedicated thissemester to growing professionallyby utilizing the Business Career
Services at Illinois. I met Mark
Williams, who has been my friend
and a mentor ever since I met him.
I attended workshops held by the

Pranita (4th from left) and friends.

Illinois Leadership Center to learn
to be a better leader throughnetworking, communication skills,organization and many other skills.
I also got more involved inorganizations such as SCNO
(Students Consulting for Nonprofit
Organizations), the Finance Cluband ActGreen, to further explore
some of my interests.
Graduating from KIST a year ago
and saying goodbyes to friends
and teachers was very saddening,but I had not expected theincredible opportunities that it
brought with it. With newexperiences, it also broughtchanges and challenges that are
helping me discover who I am and
who I would like to be. Most
importantly, it helped me find mypath to the University of Illinois,
which I am proud to call my new
home…until the next change
comes along.
Pranita
KIST Alumnus, “Class of 2016”

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Family Day 2017
Saturday, May 27

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Friday, June 9