The Comet

The New sletter of K. International School Tokyo

Since 1997

Volume 15 | Issue 1 | September 2011

In this issue...
Welcome to New Staff…p. 3

KIST Group 4 Project 2011…p. 15

IB Diploma Results…p. 7

Brain Humanities in Borneo…p. 16

IE Junior Advisory Board…p. 7

Leap into LEAP…p. 17

Library News…p. 8

Young Leaders Conference…p. 18

College Guidance News…p. 10

Asian Science Camp 2011…p. 19

PTA News…p. 12

A Taste of University…p. 20

From the School Director“Educa
replac tion’s purpoean op an empty m se is to
en on
ind w
e.”
ith
— Ma
lcolm
S. Forbes

DATES TO REMEMBER

I would like to extend a very special welcome to all new families joining the
KIST community for the first time this year, and also a warm welcome back to
our continuing families.
During the 12-month period of the 2010-2011 school year, people in many
countries around the world, including Japan, experienced the devastating
effects of an unprecedented number of natural disasters. These in turn affected
our school community in various ways. As we move into the second month of
2011-2012, the mood around the world remains somber; however, I would liketo highlight some of the positive aspects that make KIST a very special place
to be.

East Japan earthquake disaster relief
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake, the size of which is said to occur only once
every 1,000 years, struck the Tohoku region of East Japan causing devastating
damage. Immediately after the disaster and in the period that followed, with thegenerous support of the school and local communities, we were able to send a
total of five trucks carrying relief supplies to the affected areas. We also
conducted five successful trips to the region to serve meals to those affected
and assisted with efforts to clean up the coastline.
For our first relief trip to the affected areas, a total of 24 school representatives,
including two students, departed Tokyo on March 25, two weeks after the initialdisaster. We delivered supplies and served hot lunches to the people of
Takajou City in Miyagi Prefecture. For our second visit on April 16, 23
members joined us. For our third visit on April 30, a total of 36 members,
including 13 students, joined us and worked under a very grueling schedule,
departing Tokyo during the night and serving hot meals at three different
locations before returning to school next morning. Next, 36 representatives,
including 20 students, were a part of our fourth trip on June 22 – 25, andfinally, 31 representatives, including 9 students, made the trip again on July 28– 30 during the summer holidays, staying overnight and helping with thecleanup efforts being carried out in the area.
During the period these five trips were conducted, the parents and othermembers of the KIST community served approximately 7,000 hot meals to
evacuees in a total of nine different locations and assisted with the cleanup at
two beaches, school gyms being used as evacuation centers, and alsodelivered much needed aid and supplies to those in temporary housing.

September
19 School closed (National holiday)
20 Short Tuesday
20-22 Live@edu Training Sessions
22 (G5) Camp Explanation Meeting
23 School day
23 PTA Coffee Morning / Library
Committee Meeting
23 MYP Parent Information Session
24 High School Drama Festival
27 (W) Free dress day
28 *Date changed* PYP Parent
Information Session #1
28 *Date changed* (S) College
Information Night
28-30 (G8) Camp

October
1 School Explanation Day
3 2012-2013 enrollment
applications open
4-5 School photographs
4 Short Tuesday
5-7 (G5) Camp
10 School day
11-13 (G3/G5/G7/G9) ISA testing
12 (G10/G11) PSAT tests
14 KISTival preparation day
15 KISTival 201116-23 Autumn Break
24 (W) School resumes
25 Short Tuesday
28 (S) SRC danceNovember
C ont i nu ed n ex t pa ge

KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life

3 Parent/Teacher/Student
interviews
3 Board of Directors meeting2

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C o n t i n u e d f ro m p re v i o u s p a g e

I would like to takethis opportunity to
express my sincere
gratitude to all those
who provided
assistance in any
way, from those who
prepared hot meals
and supplied
donations, to those
who helped with thecleanup. Your support was greatly appreciated. Thankyou very much.
The evacuation centers were closed at the end of July,so for now, we will not be making any more relief trips;
however, I hope that together we will continue to lookfor ways to support those affected by the earthquake
and kindly ask for your continued support.

Diploma Programme (DP) 2011 results
Results of the Diploma exams held in May werereleased on July 5. All 16 of our graduates challenged
themselves to take the full DP exam, and I am very
pleased to report that 14 passed successfully. This passrate of 87.5%, together with a 90% pass rate from the
2009-2010 school year, continues the exceptional
success of our students. The DP exam is extremely
challenging and at a large number of IB schools, onlyaround 50% of students take the full Diploma, with theaverage worldwide pass rate remaining around 70%.
KIST is one of only a limited number of schools wherestudents all choose to take the full DP. As such, I am
delighted with this year‘s results. You will find moredetails of the results on page 7.

Other initiatives
This year, we are exploring various new initiatives tohelp strengthen our numeracy/mathematics curriculum
across the school from the PYP through to the DP. We
are also reviewing our language curriculum throughout
the school. Additionally, the implementation of the newPowerSchool student information system will enableboth parents and students to check student progress online. I believe that these improvements will help us
continue to build an even better IB World School andensure success for our hardworking students.
Finally, I am pleased to be working with the members of
our Administration Team who are all highly qualified
educators with a rich experience in the IB curriculum.
Further, together with our continuing teachers who haveled our students to great success, we welcome a large
group of highly skilled and enthusiastic new staff. One ofthe distinguishing features of KIST is that our students
are highly motivated to succeed academically, withparents who are dedicated to their children‘s education.
It is my sincere hope that through a strong three-way
partnership, we are able to provide even greater support
for students‘ education, and together make 2011-2012 a
year of great progress.
Yoshishige Komaki
School Director/Acting Head of School

East Japan
Earthquake Relief
5th TripJuly 28 - 30, 2011

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Welcome to New Staff
We are pleased to introduce our new qualified and experienced staff to the school community! This year, in
addition to a number of new teachers and assistants hired locally, we have a large group of teachers joining
us from overseas. For many, this is their first experience living and working in Japan. After arriving in Tokyo during
the peak of the summer heat wave, all have made a smooth transition and have begun the year with energy andenthusiasm. We welcome all our new staff to KIST and wish them all the best for the year ahead. E-mail addresses
for all faculty, new and continuing, are available on the Contact >> Staff Directory page of the school website.

Faculty…

Marina Babaeva
MYP/DP Music

Christian Baker
MYP Math

Mridula Bardhan
DP Chemistry / MYP
Science

Brooke Boldon
MYP English

Alice Cheung
Grade 2A

Bruce Duxbury
MYP Design
Technology

Jim Erber
MYP PE

Keith Erickson
MYP/DP English,
Humanities

Benjamen Fishman
Student WelfareCounselor

Megan Geshel
Grade 3B

Wendy Gore
MYP English,
Humanities

Kara Haines
MYP English,
Humanities

Elizabeth HeardPYP Coordinator

Wyn Hughes
DP Psychology,
Economics

Andre Ito
MYP/DP Math

Taichi Komiya
Elementary English
Language Support

Chee Lee
MYP PE

Jay Leroy
PYP PE

Sindy Leveel
MYP/DP MathFerdinand Licuanan

Wilhelm Merchel
K1

Carolina Murgado
MYP English,
Humanities

Kevin Murphy
Secondary English
Language Support

Divya Okubo
K3B

Rachel Parkinson
Elementary English
Language Support

Teacher-Librarian3

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Eric Patterson
PYP Music

Vedrana Pavletic
MYP Coordinator /MYP Art, Music

Allison Rabenau
Elementary English
Language Support

Kim Riemer
Grade 5A

Robin Scardino
MYP Math, Science

Katrina Sentgeorge
PYP ArtAidan Siddall
Grade 5A

Michael Steele
MYP English,
Humanities

Agnes Theilen
Grade 4B

Anthony Theilen
Grade 2B

Jennifer Thomas
MYP Math, Science

Paige Venturino
K3A

Rob White
MYP/DP Language B
New teachers making
yakisoba with the help of
our Japanese staff.

Other staff…

Catrina Christian
Teacher‘s Assistant
K1

Robert Collins
Teacher‘s Assistant
K1 / K1, K2 Music

Darina Dubenko
Teacher‘s AssistantGrade 1B

Leslie Hynes
Teacher‘s AssistantGrade 1A

Mari Nameshida
School Nurse

Eri Nomura

Mackensie Roland
Teacher‘s Assistant
K3B

Jude Ross
Teacher‘s AssistantK2 / K1, K2 Art

Tyler Silvasti
Teacher‘s AssistantK2

Ai White
Teacher‘s Assistant
K2

Elementary
Administration Assistant

We wish all staff the best for a great year!

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Elementary School News
Three C’s for our students
How can you determine the qualityof a school? I believe it isdetermined by the choices theschool makes. Great schools
consistently make decisions
focusing on what is best for theirstudents. This year, you can see
how we are focused on ourstudents through our choices withthe three C‘s of Commitment,
Curriculum and Communication.

Commitment
The KIST Elementary School iscommitted to the PYP Programme,
its values and its philosophies.
Working at a PYP school is noteasy, but we have a full faculty andstaff of committed individuals whoare here for our students. They are
life-long learners who are
constantly improving our school
and their practice.
The school is committed to its
teachers by providing collaboration
time and professional development
which in turn greatly benefits ourstudents.
The school is committed to thevalue of integrating technology,
both for the staff and students.
There has been a recent explosionof IT resources available including
digital cameras, desktop
computers, laptop computers,
digital projectors, online readingsites, Mathletics, Moodle,
Live@edu, Destiny, PowerSchool
and more. Never before in thehistory of KIST has so much beenaccomplished in such a short time,
but we are doing it to provide thebest education possible for ourstudents as they prepare for theworld outside of school.

Curriculum
Building on the work that has been
done each year to improve theProgramme of Inquiry, this year wehave taken the curriculum planningand documentation even further.
Every grade level is planning out
how we are integrating language
and mathematics by organizing
what is fully integrated within theunits of inquiry, what is taught
outside the units, and what istaught throughout the year. All of
this is being documented into
grade level specific yearly
overviews which will be posted onclassroom sites and Mr Brunton‘s
Corner in a few weeks.
But simply having a plan is notenough; we are committed toproviding a consistent curriculum
which is aligned from grade tograde by providing our teacherswith essential resources to support
the programme. To support ourstudents, a major transformation
has occurred in the Elementary
Library. Many resources havebeen brought in and purchased
including books and magazine
subscriptions as well as
researching and library software.
This year, we are making ourcurriculum even better.

Communication
A community is based onrelationships, and the quality ofrelationships is based on the levelof communication within thoserelationships. At KIST, we arecommitted to building our schoolcommunity through valuable
relationships supported by open
communication. With

information sessions, coffee
mornings, casual chats, Live@edu,
Moodle pages, newsletters, parent
meetings and various other ways,
we hope to keep the channels ofcommunication open.
Our PTA is off to a running startwith many parents already eager tostart working within the different
committees. In addition to theusual Student Portfolios andconferences, we strengthened ourcommitment to written reports byproviding them for all students fourtimes a year. This year, we havechosen to use a consistent
standardized reading assessment
for all of our K3-G5 students threetimes a year. For mathematics, wewill be giving them a standardized
mathematics assessment twice ayear for G1-G5 in addition to the
ISA assessments given in G3 andG5. All of these choices are tokeep our community informed ofwhat we are doing and how well
our students are learning in as
many different ways as possible.
Communication keeps ourcommunity together.
Together, I know we are going toprovide our students with the besteducation possible. I am truly
excited to be involved with what
will undoubtedly be the finest yearof KIST‘s Elementary School.
Greg Brunton
Elementary School
Principal

Mr Brunton56

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Secondary School News
Greetings KIST families
The 2011-12 academic year has
started very well. As we move into
the fourth week of school, many
enhancements have beensuccessfully introduced.
With the addition of wirelesscomputer access throughout theschool last April, the new laptops
added to the Library Media Center(LMC) have been very popular withstudents and teachers alike. The
remodeled LMC is becoming an
area many students visit before
school, during recess and after
school. Our DP students are alsofinding it perfectly suited forindependent study blocks in theschedule.
These enhancements support our
school‘s IT Plan which seeks tointegrate technology within the
curriculum supporting‗constructivist‘ or student-centeredlearning. In a constructivist
educational setting, students are
not seen as passive recipientsabsorbing knowledge via direct
lecture, but rather active learners
taking responsibility for their own
learning while actively building
knowledge through inquiry.
The use of technology allows
learning to continue outside of theclassroom and increases student
interaction with teachers and fellow
classmates. The intent is to moveaway from traditional ‗chalk andtalk‘ teaching which will better
prepare our students for learning
long past their years at KIST.

Parent Welcome NightI would like to thank all the parents/
guardians that were able to attend
this year‘s Parent Welcome Night. I
heard from numerous parents thatthey found the format very
informative. If you were not able toattend, please feel free to contact
your child‘s teachers or me directlyby e-mail if you have any questions
or concerns.

Live EDU – New e-mailAs discussed during the parent
night, the school has introduced a

new e-mail system. In order toreach teachers, please use thefollowing format:
given name.family name@kist.ed.jp

For example, if you need to contact
me directly, kindly send an e-mailto: stephen.rothkopf@kist.ed.jp

New Secondary blog
Once all families have been
introduced to the school‘s new email system, I will be using Moodle
to send out regular updates. These
updates will be delivered throughMoodle in a similar way thatstudents receive updates from theirindividual subject teachers. The
Secondary Blog will also haveessential documents andannouncements in one convenient
place to visit. I encourage you tovisit it often.

Grade level trips
This year we have 3 trips with anemphasis on the environment
planned that are designed to offer
students unique activities that they
could not take advantage of at
school. More detailed information
will be provided, but please keep
the following dates in mind: September 28-30 (Grade 8)
 November 9-11 (Grade 6)
 March 7-9 (Grade 10)
Warm regards,
Stephen Rothkopf
Secondary School
Principal

Mr Rothkopf

Secondary Class Times
Homeroom
8:30-8:35
Block 1
8:40-10:00
Block 2
10:05-11:30
Lunch
11:30-12:15
Block 3
12:20-13:45
Crossover
13:45-13:55
Block 4
13:55-15:20

Long Tuesdays
Homeroom
8:30-8:35
Block 1
8:40-9:45
Block 2
9:50-10:55
Lunch
11:00-11:45
Block 3
11:50-12:55
Block 413:00-14:05
Crossover
14:05-14:15
Advisory
14:15-15:20
Short Tuesdays
Homeroom
8:30-8:35
Block 1
8:40-9:45
Block 2
9:50-10:55
Lunch
11:00-11:45
Block 3
11:50-12:55
Crossover
12:55-13:05
Block 4
13:05-14:10

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7

IB Diploma Results
During the summer vacation the IB Diploma results were issued to the students of the ―Class of 2011‖. The tablebelow summarizes the performance of the candidates and also KIST graduates from 2008-2011.
Year of Graduation

KIST mean
points*Number of IB
Diplomacandidates

Number of students
awarded the IB
Diploma

Mean points ofstudents
awarded the IB
Diploma*HighestKIST
Score*

Worldwide mean
points**

2011
2010
2009
2008

30.5
27.05
31.80
30.88

16
18
10
8

14
11
9
5

32
30
32
35

40
38
45
39

TBA
29.55
29.51
29.57

*Maximum score: 45 points

The results of the ―Class of 2011‖ were very positive. As the table above shows, 14 out of 16 students achieved theaward of the full IB Diploma. Nine students achieved a good to very good IB Diploma of 30 points of more.
Congratulations to Shreya who achieved the highest score this year of 40 points, an excellent IB Diploma. Other
very good IB Diplomas were awarded to Maung Pyay Phyo (37 points), Faye (35 points) and Jakub (35 points).
Special mention should also be made of 6 students who were awarded a bilingual IB Diploma as they choose to
study both English and Japanese as first languages. With more than a third of KIST graduates achieving a bilingual
Diploma, this puts KIST above the IB world average for this. Also notable this year was that four students wereawarded an A, the highest grade possible, for their Extended Essay.
Parents who would like more general information on IB Diploma results should go to http://www.ibo.org/diploma/
assessment/results/. The IB publishes a ―Statistical Bulletin‖ summarizing IB Diploma results, a link to which is on
this webpage. The ―Statistical Bulletin‖ for the May 2011 Examination Session should be published in November.
Congratulations to the students on their individual successes in the DP curriculum and thanks to all the Grade 12
teachers from last year for all their hard work!
Mark Cowe
Secondary School Vice Principal / IB Diploma Coordinator

IE Junior Advisory BoardIn April of last spring, I traveled to IE University in Spainto participate in the Junior Advisory Board meeting. I
was selected as a member of the Board, alongside 11
other high school students from every corner of theworld to share our views on the purpose of education,
together with our expectations regarding university life.

which, althoughslightly
intimidating tobegin with, was atremendous
honor.

Our agenda while in Spain was packed tight withmeetings and workshops, but we also experienced local
culture. On the first day, we were given a tour of IE
Business School‘s campus in Madrid, followed by adinner with IE‘s Deans and faculty.

We were also treated to a Spanish Flamenco show, avisit to the Prado Museum, a tour around Segovia, and atapas dinner in downtown Madrid.

From the following morning, the University‘s professors
led workshops about innovation, social
entrepreneurship, and diversity in IE University‘s
Segovia campus. We then discussed what IE University
could do to promote these concepts through theircurriculum. To wrap up, we put all of our thoughts
together into a conclusion with recommendations for the
University, which we presented to IE‘s International
Advisory Board (IAB) of experienced leaders includingpresidents and CEOs of reputable companies. After ourpresentation, we had the opportunity to talk more to theInternational Advisory Board members over lunch,This experience—my first trip abroad alone—wasextremely valuable and enriching for me. The IE
community was very welcoming, and I am grateful forthe opportunity to learn from inspiring educators and IAB
members, as well as meet and make new friendships
with my fellow Junior Advisory Board members who
represented Colombia, Jordan, India, Peru, Lesotho,
USA, the Czech Republic and Spain. Immersing myself
in this completely new environment and learning more
about university life turned out to be a very special
experience. For more information on the JAB and how toapply, please visit http://www.jab.ie.edu.
Monica (G11C)

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Library News
Welcome to the new KIST Libraries!
We have been very busy over thesummer break in preparing ourlibraries for the new school year.
We are very grateful to the parent
and student volunteers who gave
up part of their vacation to help us
out with packing and shelving. We
could not have done it without yoursupport!
The new school year sees manychanges in both of our libraries.
Located on the 2nd floor of theMain Building, the former Main
Library has become the LMC(Library Media Center), for theuse of our MYP and DP students.
During the summer break, thisspace underwent a full renovationand extension. It now includes a
spacious reading area, an
independent study area and twoquiet rooms for DP students.
In the LMC, we also have newclass sets of laptops that will beavailable for student use, including
a set reserved for DP students to
help them in their studies.
Changes have also occurred in theformer Junior Library, now a fullElementary Library, which can befound on the 3rd floor of the West
Building. With the addition of new
shelving and furniture, the library
now caters to all of our PYP
students, from K1 to Grade 5.

Library staff
Ms Anna Findlay is ourElementary Librarian. She loves
helping students find something
great to read, and encouraging
reading and research skills inyoung learners in the welcoming
environment of the Elementary
Library.
Ms Satoko Yoshimoto is our LMC
Librarian. She manages the daily
operations of the LMC. If you needto know anything about the libraryor its resources, including laptops
and online resources, please ask
her.
As a new addition to our librarystaff this year, pleasewelcome our TeacherLibrarian, Mr Andi
Ms Findlay
Mr Licuanan
Ms Yoshimoto
Licuanan. He will be teaching
Brittanica Online can be used byinformation literacy in the library,
students of all ages, providing aand working closely with teacherssafe, age appropriate site whereand students to support study andstudents can research and explore.
research skills. He will also be
Students can search using theirtaking care of the independent
age level, from Elementary to Highstudy area for the DP students.
School, and there are plenty ofinteractive features and fun
New library services
educational games to explore as
KIST Libraries recently included
well as up-to-date articles andDestiny in our library services.
references for school projects.
Destiny Library Manager is a
powerful library software package
Both these online databases canfrom Follett Company thatbe accessed by logging into
manages our collection andMoodle and going to the LMC,
services. It is widely used by K-12
Elementary Library or Mr Brunton‘sinternational schools in Japan andCorner.
around the world.
Destiny is a user-friendly tool thatenhances collaboration between
the librarians, teachers andstudents. Searching for books in
the library, educational websites,
placing a hold request andrenewing items borrowed can now
all be done online. All users canmake and share lists of resources.
Above all, it is available online
24/7, making it accessible in our
school, at home or anywhere withan Internet connection.
Explore Destiny using the link fromour LMC Moodle page, Elementary
Library Moodle page or you candirectly visit this site:
https://kist.follettdestiny.com
Students can log in using the sameusername and password as for
Live@edu and the Moodle
eClassroom.
Other online resources the school
has available to all students are
Questia and Encyclopedia
Britannica Online.
Questia database is available forupper MYP and DP students,
allowing them to search thousandsof texts online to support theirresearch. Books, journal articles
and more, provide current researchmaterial for secondary students.

Library hours
LMC: 8:00 am – 4.30 pm (except
for short Tuesdays)
Elementary: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm(except for short Tuesdays)
Elementary students must be
accompanied by a parent when
visiting the library after school.
Parents are welcome to borrowbooks too; please ask library staff
about setting up an account.

Volunteers
If you would like to volunteer tohelp in the library with covering or
shelving books, please contact the
PTA Library Committee or one of
the Librarians.
PTA Library Committee Meeting
September 23 | 10:30 am | LMC

DonationsIf you have resources you would
like to donate to KIST Libraries,
please contact thelibrary staff first toensure that theitems will matchour collection‘sneeds.

We look forward toseeing you in the new
KIST Libraries!

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Elementary Library

What a mess!

BeforeStudy area and picture books
New books display, reading
area, and non-fiction

Library Media Center

Student and parent volunteers
unpack in the new LMC ↓Packing up the old Main Library ↓Entry area

Class work area

Teachers and students working
in the quiet study area9

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College Guidance News
Greetings from Mrs Keiko Okude, KIST College
Guidance Counselor! The College Guidance Office has
been open and busy during the summer to respond tovarious requests from current and former KIST students.
This has included sending the final transcripts to theuniversities which the Class of 2011 chose for theirdestinations to start their new academic lives after
graduating from KIST. I am very pleased to announce
that the 2010-2011 school year was another successful
year for KIST graduates. And more will come during theyear from the students applying to Australian andJapanese universities. Please check the list of
acceptances and offers for the Class of 2011 below.

KIST College Acceptances and Offers 2011
(As of August 31, 2011)
Bold type indicates enrollment
Asterisk (*) indicates scholarship offered King’s College London, UK
Monday, September 26 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
 Brown University, USA
Tuesday, October 4 | 2:20 pm – 3:20 pm
 ICU (International Christian University), Japan
Thursday, October 6 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
 UBC (University of British Columbia), Canada
Monday, October 10 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
 University of Connecticut, Binghamton
University (SUNY), University of Oregon, USA
Friday, October 14 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
 PLU (Pacific Lutheran University), USA
Monday, October 24 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
 Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
Friday, October 28 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

USA
Purdue University | University of Chicago* |Michigan State University* | Clark University* |California Institute of Technology |Worchester Institute of Technology* |Wake Forest University | University of Southern California* |Marist College* | Pacific Lutheran University* |University of Massachusetts* |State University of New York at Binghamton* |Boston University* |State University of New York at Stony Brook |Northeastern University* | University of Miami* |Rice University*
UK
University of Sheffield | University of Manchester |University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) |University of Kent | University of Sussex |University of Leeds | University of Saint Andrews |London School of Economics and Political Science |University of London (Royal Holloway) |Kingston University | University College London |Staffordshire University | University of York |HULT International Business School
JAPAN

College Fairs
 Education UK (The British Council)
Venue: Grand Hall Shinagawa
Date: Sunday, October 2
Time: 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm
 Discover Australia! Australia University Fair 2011
Venue: Ebisu (EBIS303 4F)
Date: Sunday, October 2
Time: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm

KIST College Information Night
Venue: KIST gymnasium
Date: Wednesday, September 28（Date changed!)
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
All families of Secondary students are welcome toattend this information night which will cover generaland basic information about college/university
admission throughout the world, including IB
recognitions. A Q&A session will also be conducted.
More specific informational conferences will bescheduled later for G11 and G12 families in the form ofindividual or group meetings with Mrs Okude.

Waseda University | Lakeland College

PSAT Tests (for G10 and G11)
College Guidance Events: Fall 2011
College Presentations at KIST (for G10 to G12)
Sign up to attend presentations from the following
colleges and universities and meet the reps! Parents arealso welcome.
 Colgate University, Skidmore College, Kenyon
College, Northeastern University, Colorado
College, St. Olaf College, USA
Thursday, September 8 | 9:00 am – 10:00 am
 IE University, Spain
Friday, September 9 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
 SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), USA
Thursday, September 15 | 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Wednesday, October 12 (during the school day)Compulsory for all G10 students; optional for G11
students. Further details will be distributed to familiessoon.
For more information about college guidance, pleasecontact:
Mrs Keiko Okude
College Guidance Counselor
Office hours: Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. |10:00 am – 5:00 pm
keiko.okude@kist.ed.jp

Mrs Okude

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11

Short Tuesdays

Car Parking

In line with IB requirements, we have introduced asystem of ―short Tuesdays‖ for the purpose ofincreasing school-wide collaborative planning time forteachers.

Families dropping off andpicking up children by car are
reminded that parking for any
length of time is strictly
prohibited on all streets surrounding the school.
This includes drop off and pick up times during theregular school day, as well as days when special
school events are held. The school will refer any
complaints from our neighbors to the police department.

On these days, school finishes
for all grades at 2:10 p.m. All
students from K1 throughGrade 12 are required to leave
the school grounds at thistime. No after-school activities
are scheduled and After Carefor K1 to K3 students is notavailable. However, theseparate after-school LEAP
program will not be affected
and will continue as scheduled.

September 6, 20
October 4, 25
November 8, 29
December 13
January 17, 31
February 14, 28
March 13
April 3, 17
May 1, 15, 29
June 12

Please also note that the road in front of the main
school entrance gate is recognized as a one-way roadby the local community through an informal agreement
to enable a smooth flow of traffic. Vehicles should enter
the street by turning off Kiyosubashi-dori Avenue next
to the Comfort Hotel and leave the area via the street
next to the Akafudado supermarket.
Please assist us in maintaining agood relationship with local
residents and businesses byobserving traffic rules and using
a public car park instead ofparking on the streets, and bycooperating with local
community procedures.

This year, 18 short Tuesdays
are scheduled during theyear.

Free Dress Days
As indicated on the school calendar, free dress days
will be held during 2011-2012 as follows:
September 27 (Tuesday)
November 30 (Wednesday)
February 10 (Friday)
May 24 (Thursday)
All free dress days during the year are for the whole
school. Separate notification will not be distributed, so
please highlight the dates on your calendar. Students
who choose to wear free dress on these days are
required to pay a fee of 200 yen per student.
Families are reminded that although students do nothave to wear the school uniform on these days, theclothes they wear must uphold the image of the school.
Furthermore, all students are expected to follow theregular school dress code in terms of generalappearance. Please check the School Handbook(available on the Admissions >> Documentation pageof the school website) if you are unsure of these
expectations.
The theme of the first freedress day on Tuesday,
September 27 will be―Sports‖. On this day,students are encouraged
to wear appropriate sports
attire that depicts,
advertises or features thecolors of their favorite
sport teams or players. Funds will be allocated to the
PE department.

Math Games at Home
In order to make the learning of math fun and relevant,there are loads of fun and engaging
games you can play with yourchildren at home. The best part isthat most require items we normally
have around the house!

Playing Card GamesThe following site provides lots of fun games using
regular playing cards.
http://letsplaymath.net/2006/12/29/thegame-that-is-worth-1000-worksheets/

Dice GamesThe following site explains numerous fun
dice games.
http://www.family-games-treasurehouse.com/
math_games_for_kids.html

Flash Cards
Using printable flash cards you canplay and invent your own games.
Templates will be available soon in Mr.
Brunton‘s Corner through Moodle!
Happy playing!
Kevin Yoshihara
Elementary Mathematics Coordinator

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PTA News

Staff 10!

Hello everyone. The PTA for 20112012 looks forward to working
alongside the school to ensure an
enjoyable and safe school life for all students and theirfamilies. The PTA Executive Committee will meet at theschool on the first Wednesday of every month at 2:00
p.m. School administration staff and other faculty
members will join these meetings, and we will discussschool-related issues and make suggestions every
month. If needed, we will also invite the leaders fromeach of the standing committees to support us with ouractivities. Parents who have any questions, suggestions
or requests on any PTA matter are welcome to contact
the members of the Executive (contact details will be
distributed soon). We will work together to find an
appropriate and constructive answer. Any matters that
the PTA is unable to resolve, and in situations where it
is more appropriate to contact the school directly, we
will refer the matter to appropriate person at the school.

In this month‘s Staff 10!, we arepleased to present Benjamen
Fishman who joined KIST this year
as our school-wide Student WelfareCounselor. Read on to find out
more about Mr Fishman and his
many interests.

For general members, coffee mornings and otherevents will be organized by the various committees
during the year. All parents are invited to join thesesessions to meet other parents and exchange ideas.
The first coffee morning will be held as below.
“PTA Coffee Morning”
September 23 (Friday) | 9:00 am
Secondary Lunch Room
Please bring a plate of food to share.

It is my sincere wish that the entire school community
can work together with to build a successful PTA. I lookforward to working with you all during the year.
Akiko Inoue
PTA President, on behalf of the PTA Executive

PTA Executive Committee 2011-2012

Mr Fishman and his
saxophone.

 Tell us something interesting
about your hometown.
My hometown is Colorado in the United States. Colorado isconsidered by many as the premiere place for skiing in theentire world. Breathtaking scenery and world-class skiing
make Colorado a prime tourist destination. The main tourist
attractions in the state include Rocky Mountain National Park,
Curecanti National Recreation Area, Mesa Verde National
Park, the Great Sand Dunes and Dinosaur National
Monuments, Colorado National Monument, and the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument.

 What is your favorite place in the world?
Japan! I spent two summers in Japan and traveled toNagano, Nagoya, Gifu City, Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo. It has
been a goal of mine to move to Japan for about 5 years.

 Who would you like to meet if you had the chance
and why?
I would like to meet Louis Armstrong. In my opinion he wasperhaps the best musician who ever lived. Louis Armstrong
grew up in dire poverty in New Orleans, Louisiana, when jazz
was very young and was instrumental in innovating the art
form to what it is today.

 Do you have any special skills or talents?
I was a professional musician in Los Angeles and Denver,
Colorado. I was a classically trained clarinetist and wasfortunate enough to study with some of the finest. I worked asa woodwind doubler, meaning that I played all of thewoodwind instruments: clarinet, saxophone and flute.

 Please share a little known fact about yourself.
I have four degrees and am a licensed principal, musicteacher and counselor.

 What is your most prized possession?
My Selmer Mark 6 saxophone.

 What words would you use to describe yourself?
I would describe myself as someone who cares about others
and is a true life-long learner, passionate educator, and would
never consider doing anything else with my life‘s work.

 If you could live your life again, would you doanything differently?
Akiko Inoue
President:
Vice President:
Treasurer:
Secretary:

Mitsuka Ishikura

Scott Smith Charlotte Jacobsen

Akiko Inoue (Emiri G5A, Taisei G10A)
Mitsuka Ishikura (Hikaru G6A)
Scott Smith (Shu G10A)
Charlotte Jacobsen (Harriette G2B, Magnus K3A)

Newcomer’s Committee
The PTA Newcomer‘s Committee would like toextend a very special welcome to all families withchildren newly enrolled this year. We look forward tomeeting you over the coming weeks and working withyou at KISTival and other events during the year. We
also invite you all to attend the PTA Coffee Morningscheduled for September 23. Contact details of ourcommittee members will be distributed soon.
Tracy Silvasti, Newcomer‘s Committee Chair

Perhaps after finishing my master‘s program, I would havecontinued my education further and worked towards earninga PhD in psychology.

 Is there anything you are trying to learn/improveabout yourself at the moment?
I am constantly trying to improve myself physically andmentally; I am trying to do yoga a few times a week and keepa positive mind with whatever I do.

 Do you have any special message for your fans?
For all of the Mr Fishman fansout there, I would like everyone
to know that I am thrilled to be
at KIST, so please neverhesitate to stop by my officewhen you need assistance. My
office is located in thesecondary building, 3rd floor,
room 313.

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Office Updates

KISTival 2011

School fees

The school festival, KISTival, will
be held on Saturday, October
15. This annual event is thebiggest fundraising activity of theyear and is made possible
through the hard work of schoolstaff, parents and students.

For families with children continuing their enrollment
from last year, the payment date for the second
installment of school fees was September 15. As thisdate has now passed, we ask that you makearrangements for payment to be made as soon as
possible, if you have not already done so. For students
who enrolled from this year, the due date is October
15. Families who are unable to meet deadlines forschool fee payments are asked to contact the Accounts
Department prior to the due date to make alternative
arrangements. A late fee of 2,000 yen is incurred where
no prior notification is received.
Please note that from this year, Accounts issues only
one invoice per year. For families who have chosen to
pay school fees in installments, the relevant amounts to
be paid with each installment during the year are
indicated on this invoice. Other fees for the school lunch
and school bus services will continue to be invoiced
separately at the appropriate time.

School hours
Teacher supervision commences on the school
playground from 8:15 a.m. Students should not arriveat school before this time. On rainy days, Secondary
students may use the gymnasium and deck areas
before school, and Elementary students should gather
in the Multipurpose Room. After school, all students are
required to leave the grounds by 3:30 p.m., unless they
are supervised by a teacher, participating in an afterschool club activity, or studying in the library.

Student ID cards – reminders
 All students in Grades 1 and above must be sure toscan their ID card at the main entrance gate every
time they enter and leave the school grounds, even if
the gate is opened by someone else. Attendance
may be verified based on gate records.
 Lost or damaged cards must be replaced
immediately.
 Only 1 card should be scanned at a time.
 Cards for K1 to K3 students should be held byparents only. Cards should not be handed to children
or kept in their school bags.

PE uniform policy Elementary students are permitted to wear their PE
uniform to and from school on days when they have
PE classes scheduled.
 Secondary students are required to wear their formal
uniform to and from school, bringing their PE uniform
to change into at school. They may wear their PE
uniform to school only if they have PE in the first
block, and then change into their formal uniform.
They may also wear their PE uniform home only ifthey have PE in the last block.
 Navy blue polo shirts or sporting team outfits may
not be worn during regular PE classes.
 Families should ensure that children have spare PE
clothing items if they have PE scheduled on
concurrent days.

13

This year‘s profits will be put
towards further improvements in the school libraries
and the redevelopment of the ECE playground. In
addition, continuing our earthquake relief, a percentageof the profits will also be donated to the Tohoku region.
Further information regarding the arrangements for thefestival will be distributed to all families very soon. In themeantime, don‘t forget to start thinking about what
costume you will wear this year!
The success of KISTival relies heavily on parental
support. In particular, the various booths and activities
are organized by the parent body as led by the classparent representatives. For this reason, if your child‘sclass is yet to choose its representatives, and you wish
to volunteer, please contact the school office as soon
as possible to register your interest.

Explanation Day 2011
For the 2012 - 2013 school year
KIST will hold an Explanation Day for parents
interested in enrolling children for the 2012 2013 school year.
Administration and teaching staff will beavailable to answer questions regarding
admissions procedures, the school
curriculum, progression to universities, andgeneral features of the school. Visitors will
also be able to view the school facilities.
Date:
October 1, 2011 (Saturday)
Session times:(1) English: 9:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
(2) Japanese: 1:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Reservations close:
September 31, 2011 (Friday)
Reservations essential!

www.kist.ed.jp

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IT Office NewsKIST featured as case study on Microsoft
websiteTowards the end of last school year, the IT Office, incollaboration with the Grade 5 teachers, created a
special Moodle site for the Grade 5 PYP Exhibition
which integrated Live@edu and Moodle together.
We establishedcontact with Microsoft
Japan and invitedthem to observe a
lesson and the final
exhibition
presentation. The
enthusiasm and highquality of work
displayed by the G5
students impressed
Microsoft Japan so much they decided to feature KIST
as an example of how a school can utilize Moodle andLive@edu to improve student learning.
The entire case study may be viewed at the following
address:
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/showcase/kist.mspx
You can also download the case study in Japanese or
English by clicking on the following PDF links:
Case Study Japanese / Case Study English
Currently KIST is the only K-12 school in Japan
involved with this level of integration and application; it
is usually only seen at the university level.
All the hard work by the G5 students (currently G6) is
the reason why we have rebuilt and redesigned thisyear‘s KIST Moodle site with the tight integration of
Live@edu – to benefit the entire school community.

Live@edu rollout underway!
The IT Office is pleased to announce that the
Live@edu rollout is underway. We are enrolling eachclass of students into Live@edu (and Moodle) uponreceipt of a class set of permission slips. For parents
who were unable to attend one of our recent Parent
Welcome Nights, Live@edu is our new schoolcommunications platform which allows for a unified email and calendaring system as well as a single logon
for KIST online services such as Moodle and the
Destiny library catalog system.
To explain how Live@edu can be used, we will beholding parent training sessions in English andJapanese as indicated below.
“Live@edu Training Sessions”
September 20 (Tuesday): 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
September 21 (Wednesday): 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
September 22 (Thursday): 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
English: Main Bldg. 3F, Technology Lab
Japanese: Main Bldg 2F, Library Media Center
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED!

If you would like to attend one of these training
sessions, please send your name and your child‘sname and grade to Rob Whittaker atrobert.whittaker@kist.ed.jp. Don‘t forget to include
the date and language preference of the session you
wish to attend.
We expect to have the new system completely up andrunning from October 3. This means that all school emails will only be sent to your new KIST Live@edu
address from this date onwards.
Please watch for more information from KIST Contacts
in the coming weeks.
KIST IT OfficeSecondary SRC
The Secondary Student Representative Council(SRC) is very excited to welcome you all to the 20112012 school year! We are looking forward to making
it a very fun and productive one.
We will be holding our Homeroom Elections thismonth, so start thinking about your Representatives.
You will be hearing more details about this in the
coming weeks.
Until then, please contact us with any concerns orsuggestions.
Kevin Murphy
SRC Advisor

Frank (G12), Monica (G11C), Ryosuke (G12) andAiri (G11B) with advisor, Mr Murphy.

Secondary SRC Executive 2011-2012
President:
Vice President:
Treasurer:
Secretary:Frank (G12)
Ryosuke (G12)
Monica (G11C)
Airi (G11B)

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KIST Group 4 Project 2011
It’s a Gas
The Group 4 project is aninterdisciplinary activity in which all
Diploma Program science students
must participate. The Group 4
project took place in June of lastacademic year, while our current
Grade 12 class were wrapping up
their Grade 11 year. The total
duration must be 10 hours; hence
the Grade 11 students were off theregular timetable for two full schooldays to work solely on the Group 4
Project. The intention is thatstudents from the different Group 4
sciences subjects analyse acommon topic or problem allowing
for concepts and perceptions fromacross the disciplines to be sharedin order to encourage anunderstanding of the relationships
between scientific disciplines andthe overarching nature of thescientific method.

rather than the products. As such,it provides an opportunity forstudents to work collaboratively
and for teachers to assess
students‘ interpersonal skills,
motivation and self-awareness in ateam work situation.

new resources thathave been purchasedby the school thisyear. All groups tackled difficult
problems and designed complex
experiments involving sophisticatedequipment.

Ideally, each of the main
disciplines; biology, chemistry andphysics should be represented
within a group. Group members
were selected with this factor
forming the first priority.
Secondarily, it was attempted tomake the groups mixed gender,
mixed ability and mixed level (SL/
HL). Finally, as students‘interpersonal skills were being
assessed, students were groupedwith those who they normallyinteract with the least (i.e. not theirfriends!).

The Group 4 project allows
students to appreciate theenvironmental, social and ethicalimplications of science andtechnology. It may also allow themto understand the limitations ofscientific study, for example, theshortage of appropriate data and/or the lack of resources. The
emphasis is on the processes
involved in a scientific investigation

The topic for 2011 was ―It‘s a Gas.‖
Students designed and conductedinvestigations that involved one ormore gas. Topics included cellularrespiration, the greenhouse effect,
temperature effects on O2 gas
sensors, enthalpy of combustion,
Boyle‘s & Charles‘ Gas Laws andclimate change. Many of thestudent‘s investigations were only
made possible due to a number of

In most cases, the students mademultiple errors with the design, datacollection, data processing,conclusions and evaluation aspectsof their projects. This is to be
expected given the pressured time
allocation for the project and theunfamiliar territory it forces students
to work in. However, nearly allgroups focussed on the overall aimsof the project and theirpresentations contained ample
reflection on the nature of scientificinvestigation and its real life
applications and implications. So, in
this regard, the 2011 Group 4
Project was a huge success. Welldone to all the students and thankyou for your efforts. Now that you
are the Grade 12 senior class, you
can expect more challenges thisyear. You have all demonstrated
that you are ready and able to copewith these. Good luck.
Andrew Young
Subject Area Coordinator: Science16

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Brain Humanities in Borneo
Taisei volunteers in Malaysia
This summer, I was able to participate asa foresting volunteer in Borneo, Malaysia
from August 5 until August 12.
This volunteer activity was held by an
NPO group called Brain Humanities andall of the participants were either juniorhigh school or high school students,
totaling 30 students. Brain Humanities is organized bymany university students and is operating in many
places that need help from teenagers. First, we needed
to collect money for buying trees to plant in Borneo, but
the participants, including me, needed to think up theway. Then we got an answer; it is by donation. For this,I went to Kobe by bus and prepared many things suchas making a poster for the donation activity, learning
basic Malay and practicing a farewell performance for 5
days. I was also excited to meet with new friends who
were going to visit Borneo together. We asked forsupport on the street at Hyogo and got many donations
from kind people. All of the donations were used forbuying the trees.
After we got everything ready, we headed to Borneo. I
needed to transfer airplanes three times and arrived in
the middle of the night in Borneo. All of the participants
were able to have enjoy experiences such as homestaying at a village in the jungle, foresting the trees webrought and helping the villagers work. Through thoseexperiences, I met many wonderful people who
supported me at the foreign environment. I would like tothank my great host family, the kind and friendly
villagers, splendid staff and other participants who werebold adventurers. These peoples‘ support and kindnesstaught me many important things.
In Borneo, I met people who didn‘t live in the modern
life or have enough water. The villagers didn‘t know
about baths and showers, children never played video
games, they don‘t have enough electrical supplies but I
think that they know what is really important in theirlives. The tribal people are kind hearted, hate racism
and wish to learn new things and work hard for theirlives. They taught participants the power of nature andalso how fragile the forest
is, and the way of living
together with nature. Byliving with those people,
eating together, talking
together and working
together, I started to noticea change happening inmyself. I got tougher inmany ways and was able tothink like the local people
and also understand how
precious nature is. I believethat the Borneo villagers
know about how to live inhope and in joy.
I learned many important and precious things and it
really changed my life. I recommend to KIST students
to leave the house and look at the world, it may change
your life and thoughts completely.
Taisei (G6A)

PYP News
Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year!
We have had a great start to the year.
Students were eager to come to school,
see old friends and make new ones and
Ms Heard
to see their new classroom and teacher.
Already there has been some great
learning going on in the Elementary School. I am
looking forward to a great year of learning for students,
teachers and parents.
I am excited to begin my new adventure at KIST. I am
originally from Seattle, but have been teachingoverseas for the past 8 years. I recently came from
Hong Kong where I taught Grade 2 and Kindergarten
and also served as the Upper Primary Coordinator atHong Kong Academy. I received my teachingcredential in K-8 Education from Western Washington
University and recently completed my master‘s degreein Educational Leadership from Lehigh University. I
have been teaching in the Primary Years Program forfive years and am looking forward to using thisexperience as I work with teachers and students as the
PYP Coordinator.
To learn more about the curriculum for your child‘s
grade level, please log on to KIST‘s Moodle Page.
There you will find the Programme of Inquiry. A yearly
overview that details what your child will learn this year
will also be posted towards the end of the month. You
will also find the Programme of Inquiry posted in thelobby of the Elementary School. Feel free to come by
and take a look.
On Wednesday, September 28, there will be a PYP
Information Session in the Multipurpose Room
(opposite the school reception counter) from 6 pm. This
information session is intended for parents new to the
PYP and to those who would like a refresher on the
PYP philosophies and curriculum. I hope to see you
there!
Elizabeth HeardPYP Coordinator**DATE CHANGED**“PYP Parent Information Session #1”
September 28 (Wednesday)
Multipurpose Room
6:00 – 7:00 pm

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PE and Sports NewsThe KIST Physical Education
Department begins the 2011/2012
school year with new faces, newideas, and an enthusiastic
approach to teaching andcoaching. The curriculum willcontinue to support the PYP and
MYP programs as well as
encouraging the DP students toremain active and healthy.
The curricula will emphasize thefitness aspect of physicaleducation. The 5 fitness
parameters of upper body strength,
lower body strength, flexibility,
cardiovascular fitness, and speed/
agility will be included in eachclass daily. Skills, rules,
fundamentals and technique invarious sports and games will
enhance student knowledge. Cross
Country will be a focus early on in
the year to concentrate on the
KIST Inter-House Cross Country
Meet on November 18.

advancement of the teamand individual player will
be offered by qualified
teachers and staff.
Mr Erber

KIST is part of theInternational Schools Tokyo
Athletic Association (ISTAA) as
well as the Kanto League withother international schools inTokyo. There are three seasons inthe school term: autumn, winterand spring. Schedules areavailable during the current
seasons.
Please feel free to come out andwatch your sons or daughtersparticipate for KIST at games orpractice. We welcome all inquiries
regarding the Physical Education
Department, sports and clubs.

Mr LeeMr Leroy

Jim Erber, MYP PE Teacher andAthletics Director, Chee Lee, MYPPE Teacher and PE Subject Area
Coordinator, and Jay Leroy, PYP
PE Teacher are happy to become apart of the KIST family and lookforward toworkingwith yourfamily andyoursupport.

Sports and competition supports
the school curriculum and gives
students an opportunity toparticipate in team activities.
Sportsmanship, fair play, andtraining that is specific to the

Leap into LEAP
The LEAP after-school program isback! LEAP (Learning
Enhancement Academic Program)is pleased to announce its returnfor the 2011-2012 school year.
Following on from last year‘s
successful first year, the LEAP
after-school program is currently
open to all students enrolled at
KIST as well as students fromother international schools,
Japanese schools and other nonEnglish schools. The program isdesigned with the aims of building
a solid base of English and mathknowledge skills as well as guiding
students who aim to succeed inacquiring an IB diploma.
At LEAP students receive focusedlearning support with a maximum
student to instructor/assistant ratioof 4 to 1 (8 to 1 for lecture

http://www.k-leap.jp
classes). This allows students toreceive intensive support
according to each student‘s level
and to have their individual needs
met.
Our instructors and assistants
include qualified kindergarten,
mathematics and language
teachers, KIST teacher assistants
and IB graduates and current KIST
students who meet certain
standards, and each class has aproper balance of these instructors
and assistants.
We look forward to welcomingback our old students and meetingnew ones for LEAP 2011-2012. If
you are interested in applying for
LEAP please visit our website forfurther information on available
courses and fees.

What isLEAP?

LEAP is an after-school programthat provides opportunities forstudents to develop and improvetheir academic skills, focusing
primarily on developing basic
skills in language andmathematics that will transfer tothe regular classroom.

Semester 1 Courses
 K1 - K3 Course (Literacy/
Numeracy) G1 - G2 Course (Language/Math) G1 - G5 Course (Basic Skills
Development) G3 - G6 Course (English/Math) G6 - G10 Course (English/Math) G8 - G11 Course (Special Math)

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Global Young Leaders Conference―3…2…1…Welcome Scholars!‖That‘s what Ria (G11A), Rishab(G11B), and Monica (G11C) heard
several times a day from June 26
to July 9 this summer, when theyattended the Global Young
Leaders Conference (GYLC) in
Washington DC and New York with
300 other students from around theglobe.
GYLC is much like Model United
Nations, in that students are
divided into country groups ofaround 25 people, led
by one faculty advisor,
which they must
represent throughout
the conference.
We were all very
excited to get to GYLC
and start making
friends from around theworld and enhancing
our leadership skills!
We soon realized that the GYLC
schedule was very demanding,and that even though we worked
very hard during our LeadershipGroup Meetings with our countrygroups and during debates andsimulations, we were also given
time to socialize, explore
Washington DC and New York with
our new friends, and even do a bitof shopping.
On the academic side, we
represented either Boeing or
Airbus to engage in a debate about
the politics of trade, put ourselvesin the shoes of the UN Security
Council and debated peace andsecurity-related issues on Cyprus,
and finally, a Global Summit withall students at GYLC, where wewere delegates of our countrygroup as we presented and voted
on resolutions regarding various
global issues, in a conference
room at the United Nations
Headquarters.

last day, every
moment was a
new andexciting
experience.

Apart from stepping into the shoes(or rather sitting in the chairs) ofreal UN delegates and exploring
the UN headquarters, we visited
the US Department of State andWorld Bank, Ellis Island, The
Smithsonian Museums including
the Holocaust Memorial Museum
which is now imprinted
in all of our memories,
and Diplomatic
Embassies including
the Bahamian, French,and Saudi Arabianembassies. In many ofthese places we had
the opportunity to listen
to experienced leaders
representing the UN,
Department of State,
World Bank, etc. talk to us, andask them questions in return.
These speaking events left us
feeling inspired and empowered.

Out of all ofthesememorable moments, Ria‘s favorite
was our Leadership Group
Meetings (LGM), where we got toknow the group members and theirbackgrounds individually as time
went by. Rishab agreed, saying his
favorite part was the Cultural
Exchange part of the LGMs, where
each member introduced their homecountry, because it was very
interesting to know about whatbackgrounds people come from andthe cultures and traditions they
follow. Apart from the LGMs,
Monica‘s favorite part of theexperience was exploring the UN
Headquarters.

When we weren‘t learning andworking, we had a wealth ofentertaining and exciting events tokeep us busy. From exploring the
National Mall, taking pictures with
the White House and Statue of
Liberty, seeing New York from the86th floor observatory of the
Empire State Building, taking an
NBC Studio tour, strolling along inTimes Square and Fifth Avenue
with our new friends, to watching ashow on Broadway, having
evening socials, a 4th of July
Cookout, competing in our veryown ‗GYLC Olympics‘, andattending a dinner cruise on the

GYLC is held several times a year
for students of ages 15-19 from allover the world. Students who havebeen selected to participate havethe opportunity to choose between
attending the conference in theUSA, China or Europe. For more
information about GYLC, we
strongly recommend visiting
http://www.cylc.org/gylc/.
Monica (G11C), Ria (G11A) andRishab (G11B)

ISA TestingOnce again this year, students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 will sit the International Schools
Assessment (ISA) from October 11 to 13. Developed by the Australian Council for Educational
Research (ACER), the ISA measures reading, writing and mathematics skills, and is based oninternationally endorsed reading and mathematical literacy frameworks. The test isadministered annually in more than 200 school worldwide. Parents will receive the results of
their child‘s test around the end of semester 1.

“ T h e C o m et ”

V o l u me 1 5 | I s s u e 1 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 1

Asian Science Camp 2011
During the summer break, Kei andFrank from Grade 12 attended a
program called ‗Asian Science
Camp 2011‘ which took place at
the Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology (KAIST)
for 7 days.
A total of 212 students from 19
Asian countries were invited toexperience a variety of activities
such as listening to lectures heldby a number of Nobel laureates
including Makoto Kobayashi(Nobel Prize in Physics, 2008),
Aaron Ciechanover (Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, 2004) and Masatoshi
Koshiba (Nobel Prize in Physics,
2002) as well as other world-classscientists.
The program consisted of four
major activities: plenary lectures,lessons, a creative poster
competition and an excursion to
the largest scientific research
institute in Korea.
Ten university students and 10
high school students were selectedby the Japan Science andTechnology Agency (JST) torepresent Japan based on theiracademic achievements in school,
recommendations written byscience teachers and an
application essay written in
English. Costs were covered by
KAIST and JST.

―Asian Science Camp was a lifechanging experience for me, as I
had a priceless opportunity to gain
ideas from Nobel laureates andmany other great scientists bylistening to their speeches andquestioning them. Together with
the inspiring lecturers, the friends
who I met were very intelligent andenthusiastic; it was very exciting todiscuss science and share
viewpoints with them. I was very
surprised to hear that 4 out of 20
Japanese participants hadreceived a certain medal in past
International Science Olympics. As
a student whose aspiration is tobecome a physics teacher, thissummer‘s great experience has
motivated me to work harder in the
DP as I understood that the world
is a large place full of youths withhigh potential.‖ (Kei, G12)

Kei with 2008 Nobel laureate,
Makoto Kobayashi

Truly International
This year at KIST, 43 different nationalities are represented in the student
body. These are:American, Australian, Bangladeshi, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Chinese,
Danish, Egyptian, Filipino, German, Indian, Indonesian, Iranian, Israeli,
Italian, Ivorian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mongolian, Myanmar,
Nepalese, New Zealander, Nicaraguan, Norwegian, Pakistani,
Panamanian, Peruvian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Salvadoran,
Senegalese, Serbian, Singaporean, South African, Sri Lankan, Swedish,Taiwanese, Thai, Turkish, Ugandan
Amongst staff, 15 different nationalities are represented as follows:
American, Australian, British, Canadian, Croatian, Filipino, French, Indian,Japanese, Malaysian, New Zealander, Polish, Salvadoran, Ukrainian,Uzbek

Yubo with 2004 Nobel laureate,
Prof. Aaron Ciechanover―The ASC held in Korea this year
was truly a once in a lifetime
experience for me as an aspiring
scientist. To have the opportunityof working with distinguisheduniversity professors, IBM-fellows,
and of course, Nobel laureates insuch close proximity wassomething I‘ve never evendreamed of accomplishing in myhigh school years. Also of course,
being able to learn and cooperatewith participants of 19 different
countries from all over thecontinent was also a huge honor,
as most of them were university
students going into their Bachelor‘s
degree studies in different
branches of the sciences. Thissummer camp was deeply inspiringand I highly encourage the science-oriented DP students of KIST to
apply for next year‘s ASC, which
will be held in anothervenue.‖ (Yubo, G12)

19

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V ol u me 15 | I s s ue 1 | S ept em b er 20 11“The Comet”

A Taste of University
Carmina Mancenon is a Class of 2010 alumnus of KIST. She is currently in her second year at Princeton University,
majoring in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with a certificate in Environmental Studies.
My fall semester Princeton writing
seminar professor once advised
me to start my paper with ametaphor…or a sentence that
captures the essence of thecontent, at the very least. I am notquite sure doing so is possible
when looking back at the pastyear.
As a KIST primary/middle/highschool student, you are probably
wondering: what is university like?
Well, I was too. Would it be like
Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story?
Perhaps it will be like John Nash in
A Beautiful Mind? I arrived at
Princeton with no expectations.
Surely it will be like Fitzgerald‘sThis Side of Paradise? My first few
weeks at Princeton set the scene
quite accurately: it was to be ayear of many ‗firsts‘. Ourorientation period was three weeks
long: one week of international
orientation, another of Outdoor
Action and the last of frosh week.
Within those first three weeks, I
already had many firsts: seeing themost beautiful campus, canoeing,
hiking/camping for 7 days with noshowers or toilets in the woods,
eating ice cream with every meal
just because you can, and hip hop
dance classes.
As the year went on, this list
became longer and longer. I
became involved in projects I
never even knew existed in highschool. I sit on the Pace Council
for Civic Values, a student boardthat oversees civic engagement
initiatives on campus, was elected
Co-Social Chair of the International
Student Association and cofounded the Princeton Sustainable
Fashion Initiative. This summer, I
lived for two and a half months in
Zithulele Village, rural South Africa
working on a Princeton-sponsoredrural healthcare research project.
Amidst beautiful people, a tongue
workout language (try YouTubing‗Xhosa‘) and incredible views,
Zithulele gave me so much morethan I could ever give back to it. I
am now sitting in my studioapartment in downtown Chicago
where I have spent five weeks
exploring the city and interning at a
medical fashion enterprise as a
Business Systems Analyst.
Princeton never ceases to surpriseme.

movie at the local theater, hang out
with my hallmates or do my maths
problem set? (Just in case you are
curious, the right answer is the last
but I ended up doing the second.)

There is a saying that in a
student‘s life, he can only choose
two of the three: academics, social
life or sleep. I used to think thiswas IB life in a nutshell (MYP, PYP
and ECE kids, you‘ll find out what I
mean soon enough!), but I now
realize that the same cannot apply
more to university life. One day as
a university student feels like one
week at times. When you get yourschedule at the start of thesemester, you will smile (Wow,only one two-hour lecture on
Thursday? Cool!) until you realizethat your Thursdays would be filled
anyway with group projects,
extracurricular meetings, professor
office hours, exam prep, that parttime job, those performancesyou‘ve been dying to attend, and,oh, naps. Lots of them. You willlearn to thoroughly appreciate thebeauty that is Apple‘s iCalendar
when you face a dilemma you
regularly find yourself in: should I
attend the lecture by Sonia
Sotomayor, cheer my roommate
on in her dance performance,
watch a free Princeton-sponsoredWith all of that said, each person
has their own experience. You may
be living in a dorm like me, you may
be living in an off-campus house, or
you may be living with your parents.
Regardless, I am realizing that theimportant part is that you find a way
to make your experience, might thatbe high school or university
experience, just how you want it!

Nevertheless, with every new face I
meet, hand I shake, and experience
I have, I still find comfort infamiliarity. Nothing compares toending the week with a nice Skypesession with the parents, or visiting
your best friend at UPenn‘s
Wharton School (Hi, Soo Min
Hwang!). Just about a month and ahalf ago, exactly one year after I
waved goodbye, I visited KIST
again. Hearing familiar voices allaround me, familiar smiles from thestudents, teachers, guidancecounselors and staff made me
remember what a unique little place
KIST is. Some things will always
stay with you and KIST is definitely
one of those for me.

I still don‘t have a metaphor or
sentence to describe my first year,
but I do think I have a phrase that
relates all of this back to you:Ganbatte ne!
Carmina Mancenon
KIST Alumnus, ―Class of 2010‖

Find out more about Carmina here:
http://www.princeton.edu/admission/whatsdistinctive/studentprofiles/mancenon_carmina_14/