The Comet

The New sletter of K. International School Tokyo

Since 1997

Volume 15 | Issue 4 | June 2012

In this issue...
Farewell from Mr Brunton…p. 2

Library News…p. 10

Family Day…p. 3

World Education Games…p. 11

Elementary School News…p. 4

Yearbook Club…p. 12

Secondary School News…p. 6

The Year in Sport…p. 14

Math Field Day…p. 9

Alumnus Report…p. 16

Secondary SRC…p. 9

KIST on Stage…p. 18“Shoot
if you for the moon. E
miss ivetamon
g the you will la nstars.”
nd
—Les
Brow
n

From the School Director

DATES TO REMEMBER

I hope everyone in the KIST family is well. I have been extremely busy of late with endof-year events and preparations for next year. I am also pleased to say our 7th
graduation ceremony on June 8 was a success. One of our graduates this year was
accepted by the notoriously competitive Seoul University in South Korea. This is our
second student to go to Korea, as one of our graduates was also accepted by Yonsei
University the year before last.
KIST also continues to send a large number of graduates to universities in the US andUK, as well as Canada and Australia. Our graduates also include students of medicine
at Hungary University and students of Hong Kong and Antwerp University. In Japan, our
graduates have also been accepted by Waseda University and ICU, Sophia University,
Kyoto Ritsumeikan University, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Kyushu and Meiji
Gakuin University. The KIST network of universities around the world continues to growas our number of graduates increases.
A school is a place where one acquires the essential knowledge and skills for adult life.
Through my work, I have met many KIST and non-KIST DP graduates who through the
IB have acquired wonderful skills and knowledge such as theoretical thinking, appliedskills and communication skills, and are using them at universities and in their daily
lives. Through their endeavors, they are also displaying the merits of the DP and thepossibility to be future leaders.
One of our aims as an IB World School is to help our students succeed in the DP. Thisis because achieving a high score on the final exam of the DP is confirmation that a
student has acquired the knowledge and skills required by universities and in everyday
life. Those who attain a high score of 6 or 7 out of 7 in a high level DP subject receive
recognition by universities and companies for their ability and in some instances canreceive credits from American universities.
For students to achieve success in the DP, it is vital that there is an effective integrated
system in place. At this year’s Family Day, I presented our plans for the establishmentof independent curriculum maps for K1 through G10 mathematics and Japanese A tobetter prepare students for the final exam of the DP. Next year, we will proceed with thisprogram in class and evaluate any problem areas. It is our hope that we can enrichlearning through this program, especially in vital subjects such as language and math.
This year, we increased internal and external tests to measure our students’ levels of
attainment and we have designed after-school as well as summer school enrichment
learning programs on the basis of those results. I intend to continue with our reforms tofurther improve the level of education at the school.
In order for our students to achieve success in the Elementary and Secondary Schools,
it is vital that the following mechanisms are in place: 1) Considerable personal effort; 2)
Appropriate parental support; 3)A school which offers an effective education. KIST
takes the third point “A school which offers an effective education” as our responsibility.
It is the responsibility of our students to work hard on point one, “Considerable personaleffort”, and parents towards point 2, “Appropriate parental support”.
Finally, this year has been a year of change at KIST. I would like to express mygratitude to the members of the School Management Team, all the teachers and schoolstaff and also all of the parents for making it a wonderful year. I would especially like tothank our Elementary School Principal, Mr Greg Brunton, who has been with us for 7
years. Mr Brunton has been the driving force behind many of the developments andimprovements in the Elementary School this year. Mr Brunton, on behalf of the schoolcommunity, my sincere thanks for all of your efforts. I wish you all the very best for the
future.
Yoshishige Komaki
School Director/Head of School

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

June
20 Peer student-led conferences
20 (K1-G10) Last day of school
22 (G11) Last day of school
25-Jul 13 LEAP summer
academic program (1)27 Semester 2 reports issued by
post

July
16-27 Office closed
30-Aug 17 LEAP summer
academic program (2)August16 (K1) Parent welcome night
20 (W) First day of school
29 (K2/K3/G1) Parent welcomenight
30 (G2-G5) Parent welcome night
31 (G6-G12/EIC) Parent welcome
night

September
7 (S) College information night
14 Student free day
14 The Comet issued
17 School closed (National holiday)
18 (S/EIC) Field Day
19 (E) Field Day
19 (G1-G12) Clubs program begins
20 (G5) Camp explanation evening
21 MYP New parent informationnight
22 High school drama festival
25 (W) Free dress day
26-28 (G8) Camp

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“The Comet”

Farewell from Mr Brunton“

Dear Daddy,
I hope you be theprincipal because
then you can do
nothing and lay inyour chair.
Thank you.
Love from Alexcia(A good luck cardfrom my daughter
the morning of myprincipal interview)”

It has been seven years since I started at KIST, three
years since I became a principal and in those years I
have yet to “lay in my chair doing nothing.” During mytime at KIST, there have been many milestones,
setbacks, achievements and tragedies but we haveworked through them together, and in some cases, theunfortunate events even brought us closer together. Allof those experiences have made KIST what it is today,
the school I am proud to say I work for.
This has been my favorite year as I see it as the year
where the whole school community has come together
to support each other the most. I hope the hard work of
those that have made the many improvement initiatives
possible will be appreciated and supported by theentire school community next year so those initiatives
can grow and make KIST even better. Some of thoseelementary improvement initiatives include KIST
standards for Language and Mathematics, YearlyCurriculum Overviews, lots of computers andtechnology, many teacher resources, online
mathematics and literacy sites for students andteachers, F&P reading assessments and reports,
PATMaths mathematics assessments and reports,
report cards for all K1-G5 students 4 times a year,
classroom library additions and many, many more.
Everything that has improved or has beenaccomplished in the Elementary School has not been
the result of me, but the result of the professional team
I am honored to be a part of. In my sixteen years as an
educator, I have never worked with more enthusiastic,
dedicated or caring “Elementrians.” Discussions about
how to make things even better for one student, thegrade level or for the whole school are a regularoccurrence. Through the benefits of having
collaboration time, those discussions turn into action.
And those actions continue to mean a better educationfor our children. I would especially like to thank Ms
Heard for organizing and supervising so many of thecurriculum and reporting improvements this year and
Ms Nomura for her outstanding organizational andtranslation skills keeping everyone on track andinformed.
But we Elementrians could not have done everythingalone. Through ongoing collaboration with Mr and Mrs
Komaki, Mr Rothkopf, Mr Cowe and the Secondary

School team, Mrs Naito, Mr Larsen andthe office personnel, bus drivers, chefs,
PTA Executive, volunteers, parents andstudents, adjustments are made, support is given anda difference is made. Even some of the simplest ofdecisions can affect the entire school community.
Without the entire school community’s support, themany milestones, achievements and improvements we
Elementrians have accomplished recently would havenot been possible.
It is an exciting time for KIST. But, just as when
students eventually move away from home to attend
college, I too must have different experiences so I cancontinue to grow as an educator and life-long learner. I
sincerely want to thank Mr and Mrs Komaki forproviding me with an opportunity to be a part of the
KIST team and for trusting and supporting me all ofthese years. I have learned so much from theirguidance and appreciate all they have done for me andmy family. I have been working with Mr Yoshihara very
closely who will be the next Elementary School
Principal and am confident he will do well in leading
and improving the Elementary School. We will continue
to be in contact over the summer as he prepares forthe 2012-2013 school year.
To the entire KIST community, thank you for letting me
be a part of a team which is making a difference. I
sincerely wish everyone the best andwill miss you all. I look forward toseeing you all again during one of ourmany visits back home to Tokyo.
With warm regards,
Greg Brunton
Elementary School Principal

M r B ru nt on

LEAP Summer Academic Program
June, July, August 2012
Looking for something to do during the summer vacation? Want todevelop your skills or get a head start for next year? Then join us for
the LEAP Summer Academic Program! The following courses areavailable this year and focus on developing students’ academic
skills in English and mathematics.
Session 1: June 25 (Mon) – July 13 (Fri) [3 weeks]
1. New K2–New G1 Summer Academic Program
2. New G2–New G5 Summer Academic Program English Course
3. New G2–New G5 Summer Academic Program Math Course
4. New G6–New G9 Summer Intensive English Course
5. New G6–New G9 Summer Intensive Math Course
6. New G10–New G12 Summer Intensive DP Basic Math Course
7. New G10–New G12 Summer Intensive SAT Course
Session 2: July 30 (Mon) – August 10 (Fri) [2 weeks]
1. New G10 Summer Intensive DP Math Prep Course
2. New G11 Summer Intensive DP Math Prep. Course
3. New G12 Summer Intensive DP Math Course

www.k-leap.jp

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Family Day
Once again this year, the sun was shining brightly forthe annual KIST Family Day held on Saturday, May
19. Family Day is one of the main annual events
involving the entire school community. Based on themodel of a Japanese sports festival which emphasizes
interaction as opposed to competition, Family Day
provides opportunities to promote interaction andcommunication between students, parents and schoolstaff through enjoyable games and physical activities
such as tug of war, musical chairs, relays, ball games
and more.
Various booths were also set up in the gymnasium toprovide information on IT issues, university
acceptances, the summer academic program, theFounders’ Awards, the PTA and others. A sayonara
board was also provided for students and families towrite farewell messages to staff leaving KIST this year.
In addition, a number of food and drink booths werearranged to nourish the crowds. Funds raised fromthese booths this year reached 259,610 yen. With
expenses of 95,601 yen deducted, the total profit was
164,009 yen. This will be divided evenly between
Elementary and Secondary and put toward thepurchase of resources for the 2012-2013 school year.
We would like to thank everyone who was involved in
the organization and running of this year’s Family Day.
The many smiles seen on the faces of those who
participated in the activities attests to the fact that itwas certainly an enjoyable day.

“ T h e C o m et ”

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Elementary School News
Playground improvement projectWith the work of many
volunteer teachers,
staff, moms, dads andstudents, thePlayground
Improvement Project iswell underway. So far,flower pots have beenused on the outside of
the play equipment
area to hold theuneven ground back,the main deck has
been completed,seven benches havebeen added, the small playhouse has been restored withtwo more on the way, the old sandbox has been removed
and a much larger one built towards the back of theplayground and wooden storage boxes have been built for
the toys. We are currently working on the new water playarea complete with water proof smocks and fancy non-slip
rubberized flooring, and more decking areas. Thank you foryour support through KISTival, individual donations andmost importantly your time with the renovations.

Elementary clubs
Elementary students enjoyed an increased range ofdifferent sporting, academic and recreational club
opportunities this year to complement the standard clubofferings. New sporting clubs this year included Cross
Country, Walking Club, Relaxation and Stretching to namea few. Some new academic clubs included Reader’s
Theater and English Songs to go along with theincreasingly popular Homework Club on Fridays which uses
Secondary School student tutors. Some unique clubs were
offered for the first time this year such as the Knit Witsknitting club, French, Spanish, Digital Animation, andYearbook. We all look forward to seeing next year’s clubofferings beginning in September.

T h e F r e n c h c l u b ma k i n g c r e p e s .

B r unt on ’s A ng el s w i t h t hei r w ea po nsof m as s c ons t ruc t i o n.

Free dress day results
The final free dress day of
the year held on May 24 wasa huge success. A total of
76,850 yen was raised which
will go towards the purchaseof resources for the K1-G1
classrooms. Teachers will bepurchasing books, mathresources and educational
games. Thank you for yoursupport!

T he di gi t a l ani m at i o n c l ub i n ac t i on.

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PYP News
Grade 5 PYP exhibition
On May 18, the Grade 5 students presented their
Exhibition, Sharing the Planet, which explored issues
connected to the central idea: The way we shareresources can have an effect on communities andhow they relate to each other.
The Exhibition is the culminating experience for theGrade 5 students in the Primary Years Programme. It
gives students the opportunity to synthesize the Five
Essential Elements of the PYP: Concepts, Knowledge,
Attitudes, Action and Skills. Students take part in acollaborative inquiry that allows them to explore andinvestigate a real-life problem or issue. They take on
all aspects of their inquiry including collaborating todevelop a central idea, writing their lines of inquiry,choosing concepts, conducting research and planningtheir action.
Mentor meetings were also an important part of the
Exhibition journey. Students were assigned to amentor and met with them weekly to discuss theirprogress, share “aha” moments and help plan next
steps. Students documented their process on theirown Moodle page. Students presented their learning
through visual displays, information reports, art andperformance pieces and oral presentations. On the
Exhibition day students shared their learning withparents, teachers, students and visitors from two otherinternational schools. The Grade 5 students took pride
in all they had accomplished during the Exhibition.
Congratulations Grade 5!

ESRC
The ESRC (Elementary Student Representative
Council) has been hard at work this year. They are thestudent voice of the Elementary School and havehelped solve problems and have taken part in several
school initiatives.
Some the of the ESRC accomplishments include
implementing stair monitors during recess times toensure that students are walking safely on the stairs,organizing a free dress day, purchasing books for the
library and creating recess rules.
The most recent initiative the ESRC has taken on has
been to organize games during the morning recesstime. The ESRC noticed that some kids were bored atrecess and some were not playing safely and the
ESRC decided to do something about it! They
organize games three times a week which includes
setting up the equipment and teaching the game. The
games have been a great success. Thanks to the
ESRC for their time, work and effort they havedevoted to the Elementary School this year.
Elizabeth HeardPYP Coordinator“ T h e C o m et ”

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“The Comet”

Secondary School News
During this school year, we
experienced many progressivechanges. When leading in a
climate of change, the support ofthe school community is extremely
important. With this being my firstyear as the school’s Secondary
School Principal, I want to thankthe students, parents, teachers,
Board members, office staff, PTA,
the school management team andmy secondary administrative teamfor your trust and support inmaking this a truly memorable
school year.
In early June, our community
enjoyed the traditional “KIST on
Stage” school concerts. I would
like to highlight the positive
atmosphere which is typical of ourschool culture. This is most evident
by the sheer number ofenthusiastic students wanting toperform. The variety andinternationalism displayed inmusical selections, dance, andcomedy was truly international in
spirit. From an educator’s point ofview, the presence of older
students working with younger
classmates in performances isparticularly noteworthy. Theseexperiences are extremely helpful
in mentoring students in ways thattraditional classroom-based
curricula cannot do alone.
Providing a venue for creative
expression and the ability to sharestudent-centered performanceswith a community audience is partof our school culture which truly
instills a love of the arts along withsuch skills as self confidence andpride.
This school year, we integrated
quite a few changes. We trialed a
DP Book Exchange giving G12
students the opportunity to sell
books to incoming DP G10
students to help save families
money and ensure greater

recycling of
textbooks. We aregoing to trial
something similar
with MYP
mathematics classes
as well. This will
happen on June 20.
More details will besent via ECommunications.
Students on stage at the Secondary Concert.

The school will continue tooffer grade level excursions. These
excursions are integrated within
the curriculum and each year weseek to refine and improve uponthem. These are considered
required curriculum days and arescheduled for alternating gradelevels as shown in the table at thebottom of this page.
We have deliberately chosen toalternate grade levels to provide
meaningful experiences, but also
to keep costs at reasonable levels
for families. More details will follow
approximately four weeks before
each excursion is scheduled.
For Grades 10 through 12, theschool is moving ahead with our 1to-1 laptop initiative. Over the past
two years, the school has invested
heavily in our IT infrastructure
allowing the campus to gocompletely wireless while providing
network access at speeds
necessary to successfully integratetechnology within our classrooms.
Having students begin to use
laptops in this manner in G10 will
ensure the necessary digital
literacy skills are developed which
will greatly help our students asthey embark on their DP studies
and post KIST in college anduniversity settings. Our aim is toprovide a 21st century learning
environment while nurturing
student responsibilities associatedwith caring for a personal laptop

before they graduate from highschool. We are therefore
requesting students in Grades 10
to 12 to bring their own laptops toschool with a suitable carrying
case. Details on recommended
specifications were sent to allfamilies via E-Communications. If
you have specific questions, kindly
contact our IT Office directly.
The school offered parent
workshops to introduce new IT
systems at the beginning of thisyear in both English and Japanese.
We plan to offer something similar
next September along with aPowerSchool informationalsession. PowerSchool will allow
students and parents to view daily
attendance and academic
achievement 24/7 online. When
students complete units of work,summative assessments will beviewable via individual teacher
PowerSchool grade books. We
hope this will facilitate greater
discussion with parents andstudents and keep families up todate in an effort to become lessreliant on just official quarter orsemester school reporting.
With the last day of school quickly
approaching, I would like to wish
everyone a warm and fulfillingsummer holiday. I am looking
forward to welcoming everyone
back next August.
Warm regards,

Secondary School Grade Level Excursions in 2012-2013
Grade
Location
Dates
G6
Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture
October 3-5, 2012
G8
Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture
September 26-28, 2012
G10
Niigata Prefecture
March 6-8, 2013

Stephen Rothkopf
Secondary School
Principal

Mr Rothkopf

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7

MYP News
New chapter of the MYP
Panta rhei! Nothing endures but change!
This famous Heraclitus quote can be easily used as aconclusion at the end of this school year. Many things
were improved in our school this year, we have many
new teachers and students and many changes havebeen announced for the delivery of the MYP in coming
years.
The IB is reviewing the design of the whole MYP, withthe aim of providing a structure that more clearlyenables students to be successful in further IB studies.
The new design that should be officially in use by
autumn 2014 will create an innovative, concept-based
and appropriately assessed programme for 11–16 year
olds that fully reflects the IB principles of teaching andlearning.
All subject areas are under review. Suggestions
currently under discussion and development include: interdisciplinary key concepts;
 subject-specific related concepts that will betteralign with the Diploma Programme (DP); replacement of the Areas of Interaction (AOI) with
global contexts;
 units that are driven by inquiry, with the focus on acentral idea that reflects the key and related
concepts within a global context;
 greater emphasis on approaches to learning (ATL)
as a way to develop the IB learner profile
attributes;
 subject choice for students in years 4 and 5 of the
MYP.
These changes have not yet been approved by the IB
and will be piloted in schools all over the world during
the 2012-2013 school year. I am proud to announce
that the KIST art department will be piloting the newArts guide which will give us the opportunity to have an
insight into new developments in the art subject groupeven before they have been officially announced.

There are, however, changes that have been approved
already and will come into use from the beginning of
the next school year. In humanities, the assessment
criteria have been renamed and the highest
achievement level for each criterion has been changed
to 8 (previously 10). The most significant scope ofchanges will happen to the language B subjects –Japanese and English. The old language B model ofthree levels (foundation, standard, advanced) will be
replaced with six learning phases. The phases
represent a developmental continuum of language
learning. Schools are required to ensure students havethe opportunity to: study a language B (or second language A)
sustained across the entire year in each year of the
MYP; learn the same language B in each year of the MYPor achieve a satisfactory proficiency in phase 4 inorder to transfer to another language.
Based on the learning outcomes, teachers will decide
which phase is the best fit for the students. The phases
are not organized into age groups and do notcorrespond to the MYP year.
All of these changes and more information on thedelivery of the MYP at KIST will be explained in detail in
our MYP parent information sessions scheduled for
September and November 2012.
Warm holiday wishes to all,
Vedrana Pavletic
MYP Coordinator
Acknowledgements:
IBO MYP Coordinator`s Notes, May 2012
IBO MYP Language B Guide, March 2012
IBO MYP Humanities Guide, February 2012

Backpack Donations
We, Koyuki and Haruka from G8A, would like to sincerely thank all thepeople in the KIST community that donated a backpack in supporting our
project that was to convert any received backpacks into some emergency
supplies bags used for aid purposes such as in an earthquake situation.
Fourteen low income families living in some Japan Government funded
housing have received a backpack and they were very grateful to us. We
have learned a lot from this experience; there are quite a lot of families
with small kids and single parenting around us living in different
prefectures of Tokyo city in desperate need of basic goods even such as
food. Any church whatsoever is a good point of contact helping us toreach out to these people. Making just a small difference in peoples’ lives
counts no matter how small it is. A donation makes anyone feel good; itbrings a smile to a child’s face and relief to a mother’s heart. What if one
day you are in need too? You’ll be glad that we’re there for you!

Koyuki and Haruka helping the community.

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“The Comet”

DP News
Grade 11: The EE takes shape!
Since the last newsletter entry, Grade 11 students
have been continuing their Extended Essay as part oftheir DP curriculum.
On May 24, students were required to submit a firstdraft. This draft is approximately 1500-2000 words andallows the students to demonstrate what they havefound so far to answer their research question and thestructure their EE is taking. Teacher supervisors will
read these first drafts and provide feedback to their EE
students before the summer vacation.
Grade 11 parents can help support their son/daughterby finding out about the EE on Moodle. The DP
Extended Essay Moodle page has all the resourcesthat parents need to support their child. Parents canalso ask their son/daughter about their EE first drafts
and even read what they produced!
The following is very important:Students should be working on their EE over thesummer vacation. It is an ideal time to collect any final
resources or conduct any final research and to have a
few hours just to focus on writing the EE full draft whichis due on Monday, August 20, the first day back at
school. Failure to meet this deadline will result in thestudent being internally excluded from the first day ofregular classes for Grade 12. Full instructions on the
DP EE full draft are on the EE Moodle page.
Mark CoweEE Coordinator

The Grade 11 TOK Moodle
page has all the resources thatteachers are using to deliver
TOK. Parents looking to findout more about TOK should go to the Moodle page orlook at the DP course descriptions on the school
website. They can also ask their son/daughter whatsorts of activities they are doing in TOK and also ask
them about their TOK journal. Parents could also ask
to look at their son or daughter’s TOK Essay, one of
the most challenging academic experiences of theirschool career thus far and which makes up some of
the Semester 2 grade for TOK.
Mark CoweTOK Coordinator

Andrew Young
Jun Hishiyama
G11 TOK Teachers

Grade 12: DP assessment update
In May, Grade 12 completed their final IB Diploma
examinations. Whilst the whole school was enjoying
their Golden Week holiday, the Grade 12s were doingthese examinations in the MPR whilst the rest of thetime they were off site at the Morishita Cultural Centre
to have the necessary facilities to conduct theassessments.

Ferdinand Licuanan
Teacher Librarian

Grade 11 TOK: Pulling together the “waysof knowing”!
Last block on a Friday afternoon continues to be a hiveof activity for Grade 11 students as they continue their
TOK course. Since the last newsletter entry, students
have been working on a TOK Essay in which they are
given the opportunity to show their understanding andawareness of the Ways of Knowing. They have had
whole class workshops and presentations in the MPR
and individual class time with their regular TOKteachers. More recently they have been exploring theirfirst Area of Knowledge, Science.

Grade 11 students in action in their TOK/EE class.

Grade 12 students sitting for their final IB examinations.

The exam organization went very smoothly both forthe school and the students. A big thanks to KIST
office staff and teachers who helped support thesmooth organization of these. A full summary of DP
results will appear in the September issue of The
Comet as in previous years.
Mark Cowe
IB DP

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9

K I S T s t ude nt sr ac i n g t o g ett h ei r t ea m ’s
a ns w ers
c h ec k ed!

Math Field Day
On Wednesday, April 18, twenty-eight KIST
mathematics students attended Math Field Day at
Yokata High School, located on the Yokata air base.
These students, ranging from Grade 7 to 12, had spent
the previous month and a half preparing for thecompetitions, meeting at lunch times to compare
answers to practice questions and sharing mathematicalproblem-solving strategies.
Math Field Day, organised by KPASSP, included teams
from other international schools in the Tokyo area. In themorning, students sat individual papers. These were:rapid computation, junior, intermediate, senior or
calculus. Following a lunch break, students from allschools were scrambled into new teams for Math Mania– an event in which teams raced to answer fourquestions per round correctly.

W ork i ng w i t h
s t ud ent s f r o mot he r s c hoo l s
w as a hi ghl i g ht .

At the end of the day, Jiaying (G8B) came second in
the intermediate competition, and Samkit (G11B) wasawarded the second place in the senior competition.
Congratulations to all students who participated – youwere a credit to your school. And special congratulations
to Samkit and Jiaying! Well done!
Jenny Thomas
Team CoachJ u n w o rk i n g
o n t h e ra p i d
c o mp u t a t i o n
p a p e r.
M a ny i nt e rn at i o nal
s c ho ol s at t e nde d.

Secondary SRC

SRC Executive for 2012-2013

SRC Executive for 2012-2013
We just finished the election process for the SRC
executive positions on May 31. Each of the candidates
went through the formal process of applying for the
positions which included presenting their speeches to Mr
Fishman, Ms Pavletic and Mr Rothkopf before our SRC
Elections Assembly.
The staff and students were quite impressed by the
intrinsic motivation of the candidates as well as thequality of the campaigning, which included going into
homerooms and talking with students and answering
questions. Students also created campaign posters topromote their mission and vision for next year. Lastly,
students running for executive positions gave stellar
speeches for the entire secondary student body. The
SRC assembly was one of the highlights of the school
year and the teachers and administration were
impressed with the depth and delivery of the speeches.
Students received guidelines and teacher support;
however, all of the candidates were self-directed andshowed great initiative.

President
Monica (G11C)

Vice President
Miri (G11B)

Secretary
Kouta (G9A)

Treasurer
Min (G10A)

Student representatives for each homeroom will beelected in September. Getting involved in the SRC helps
build essential skills already used in classes; such as
working in cooperative groups, organization, setting
goals, time management, responsibility, and developing
public speaking skills. The SRC still needs to finalize
their constitution and submit it for ratification by the
School Management Team. Many of the great ideas andpre-work from this year’s SRC and past will be utilized tohelp guide the new SRC representatives as they movethe constitution forward. Once ratified, it will be postedon the Secondary Blog. Congratulations to allparticipants in the recent election. All candidates shouldbe very proud of their efforts!

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“The Comet”

Library News
What’s been happening at KIST Libraries?
A highlight in April was voting for the
Sakura Medal winner, with Elementary
students from Grades 2 through 5
participating enthusiastically, and many
students from Secondary getting
involved in reading and voting for theirfavorites of these great new titles from around theworld.

to spend on books so they can readeven more!
The winners were:Elementary: Miku (G2B), Miwa (G2B),
Kishore (G2A), Tom (G5A), Meng
Ting (G5B)
Secondary: Emi (G7A), Emily (G7A), Jamie (G9A),
Ria (G9A), Youn Jae (G12)
As we wind down towards theend of the year, library staff ask
that all students please beprompt in returning their librarybooks, and remind all libraryusers that they are responsible
for the loss or damage of library
resources. Please contact
library staff if you haveconcerns about items which

The Sakura Medal is an award given by theInternational School Librarians of Japan Group, withbooks being chosen by the group and the winners
voted for by students at international schools. Books
must be published within the last two years, andspecial attention is paid to choosing quality books
from a range of countries and perspectives.
For your information, the results of the Sakura Medal
Awards, voted for by students from all over Japan, areshown in the table below.
Category
English Picture
Books
Japanese Picture
Books
English Chapter
Books
Japanese Chapter
Books
English Middle
School Books
Japanese Middle
School Books
English HighSchool Books
Japanese HighSchool Books

Title

AuthorThe Interrupting Chicken

David Ezra Stein

Konmori-kun
こんもりくん

Genichi Yamanishi

Out of My Mind

Sharon M. Draper

Saraba Shikkozaurusu
さらば、シッコザウルス

Chiharu Hattori

Blood Ninja

Nick Lake

Himitsu-no Suutsu
秘密のスイーツ

Mariko Hayashi

Boys Don’t Cry

Malory Blackman

Otouyan-to Ojisan
お父やんとオジさん

Shizuka Ijyuuin

KIST students also participated in the Sakura Medal
Japanese Book Trailer competition with otherinternational schools in Japan. Congratulations to
Kouta (G9A) for winning the Silver Award in HighSchool Division A! Kouta’s book trailer can be viewed
here:
http://youtube/MrDwneUyXEA
Many thanks to all students who participated in reading,reviewing and voting for these books, and to theteachers and parents who encouraged and supported
them. Please look out for the chosen books for 2013
appearing in the LMC and Elementary Library in the
new school year. There are some great titles coming!
The PTA kindly donated “tosho card” book vouchers as
prizes for students who participated in voting for Sakura
Medal books. All students who voted were entered in adraw, with the lucky winners receiving 2,000 yen each

may have been lost.
Library staff would like to say a HUGE thank you to thevolunteer work of the PTA Library Committee
throughout this school year. The support of the schoolcommunity means a great deal to us as we continue toupgrade and improve our KIST Libraries and services.
Over the summer, we will be busy checking thecollection in both libraries, processing many new books
ordered with the proceeds from KISTival, and planning
the information literacy programs for the next school
year. We look forward to seeing everyone again in the
new school year, with some exciting new programs
coming up including Hungry Readers, and continuingfrom last year D.E.A.R., Sakura Medal 2013 andInternational Mother Language Day.
Have a great summer vacation, with plenty of time torelax and read!
KIST Library Staff

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Coffee with the Counselor

World Education GamesThe KIST PTA organized a parent workshop withschool counselor, Benjamen Fishman on the morning ofJune 7. Fifteen parents attended the workshop which
focused on the topic of bullying. Mr Fishman’s
workshop explored the complex issues involved withbullying and armed parents with prevention andintervention strategies. Specific topics included:
 Talking with your child about bullying Talking with your child about friendship struggles
 Helping your child develop positive, safe andhealthy relationships.
 Warning signs that your child may be a target ofbullying or be engaging in bully behavior
 Steps to take if your child is bullying Helping the bullied child heal
 Empowering the child who witnesses bullying
behavior
 Working with the school to prevent bullying
behavior and advocating for your child

On March 5, 6 and 7, KIST Elementary School
students competed in the World Education Games.
Over 1.57 million students from around the world took
part in the online spelling, science and mathematics
games.
Two of our classes at KIST ranked in the top fiftyclasses worldwide. Let’s all congratulate Grade 1A
and Grade 5B. Grade 1A ranked number 34 in World
Spelling Day! Grade 5B ranked number 16 in World
Science Day, number 28 in World Spelling Day, andnumber 30 in World Math Day! Congratulations!
All students who took part received a certificate.
Grade 5B held a special event to celebrate their highachievement! Way to go K. International School
students!
Kevin Yoshihara
Grade 4A teacher
Elementary Mathematics Coordinator

Stay tuned for more PTA sponsored parent workshopswith Mr Fishman next year.
C on gr at ul at i o ns G ra de 5B !

School Beautification Project

Morning Arrivals

The School Beautification Project began on April 6, with fivesessions taking place through May 26. Students, parents andstaff volunteered their time to paint the interior walls of theschool buildings. Participants gathered after school on Friday
afternoons to set up equipment, then actual painting took place
on Saturdays.

Families are reminded that students are notpermitted to be on the school grounds
before 8:00 a.m., unless they have made aprior appointment with a teacher, as supervision
is not available. In recent weeks, a number ofstudents have been arriving around 7:30 a.m.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who
gave up their days off to participate in thisproject and helped make the school a more
attractive place to be. We ask for thecontinued cooperation of all members of
the school community to help in keeping
our school clean.

We ask for the cooperation of parents inensuring that your child/children leave home at an
appropriate time that allows
them to arrive at school after
8:00 a.m. Parents of students
found arriving before this time
will be contacted.

Once again, thank you everyone for all
your hard work.

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“The Comet”

Yearbook Club
Students’ reflections
This was my first year in the yearbook
club and in K. International School. As astudent, I was lucky to capture the personality ofthe school through photographs and by creating
yearbook pages. In the first semester, Mr Itotaught specific techniques on Microsoft Publisher
and in photography. During this period, I
developed my photography skills and grew toenjoy the art. Halfway through the semester, westarted creating the yearbook pages.
Members of the club were continuously attending
school events in their free time to take photos forthe yearbook. We all had a lot of fun flipping
through the pictures to pick out and put onto thepage. There was a whole cycle to it: take thephotos, put it into SkyDrive, create the pageusing the photos, show it to Mr Ito, fix it, andshow it to Mr Ito again.
When the second semester came, eachhomeroom had to create their class page. Thiswas very exciting because there were very few
people in the club and suddenly the room wasroaring with laughter and enthusiasm. It was
enjoyable because we could personalize thepage in a way that defined our class.
This year’s yearbook has a lively vibe that noother yearbook has had before. Since the whole
yearbook was created by the students for the
students, we were able to shape it in a way that
embodied our school through our perspective.
The yearbook club helped me appreciate ourschool more in an entirely new way. It was anhonor working on the school’s yearbook and I
hope that I can join the club again next year.

Minami (G9A)

Minami and Tamami showing off their colorful page designs.

This was my first year in KIST, and I decided tojoin the yearbook club due to my interest in taking
photos and creating pages that would represent
the school. In this club, our job was to mainly takephotos and put them creatively on a page.
Although this sounds like an easy job, there weremany different rules that we had to follow in order
to complete the pages to the best of our ability,and had to go through the process of making thepage and improving it.
During this year, I made three different pages; twocamps and one class page. I was first afraid ofwhat everyone else would think of the page I
created, but I soon became used to the job andenjoyed having the responsibly to create
something that signifies the school. My time in the
yearbook club allowed me to learn new, different
things. I learnt the skills and rules necessary to
make a page so that it could be added into the
yearbook, and the different tools on Microsoft
Publisher to make the pages like we wanted.
It was the first year to have this club. In previous
years, the pages were made by the teachers
instead of students. I think that creating this club
was an excellent idea as it allowed the yearbook
to become organized, and making students create
the pages let the yearbook be filled with memories
that the students wish to carry on in their future.
As a club, and with the supervision of Mr Ito, I
think that we put a lot of effort into creating pages
that would make the school proud of what they
have. I had a lot of fun in this club, and wish tojoin again next year as being in this club let me
see the school from a different perspective since I
joined. I hope that the school will enjoy looking at
the yearbook as much as we had fun making it.

Tamami (G9A)

The club getting their first look at the printed pages.

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Staff 10!
In this month’s Staff 10!,
we are pleased topresent Andrew Young
who joined KIST in2009 as a scienceteacher in theSecondary School. He
is currently the Science
Subject Area Coordinator.

Mr Young testing his
scientific theories.

 Tell us something interesting about yourhometown.
I call Christchurch my “adopted” hometown, since I
wasn’t born there but any time I go back to New
Zealand for a holiday that is where I head to first.
Something completely amazing is that since September
4, 2010, a total of 10,355 earthquakes have beenrecorded in Christchurch. The 25 largest have been
between magnitude 7.1 and 5.6. Things seem to besettling down recently and the rebuilding of the city has
begun.
 What is your favorite place in the world?
No one place stands out but I have many favourite
places like:
Pioneer Hut, Mt Cook National Park, New Zealand
Mt. Arapiles, Natimuk, Australia
Railay Peninsula, Krabi, Thailand
Kalymnos, Greece.
Pamukale and the Hierapolis, Turkey
Rome, Italy
Mt. Yatsugatake in winter, Nagano, Japan Who would you like to meet if you had the chance
and why?
Charles Darwin. I believe that his contribution to ourunderstanding of life is the single greatest of any
individual throughout the course of humanity. For
people still alive, Richard Dawkins.
 Do you have any special skills or talents?
Well, I used to be quite a handy alpinist. I hope to beable to get back to it but have been out of action due toback problems.
 Please share a little known fact about yourself.
My first real job, while I was still in high school, was asa “Chicken Catcher”. I’ll let people use their own
imagination as to what that involved.
 What is your most prized possession?
A greenstone carving that I received from my motheron my 21st birthday. In New Zealand we call it
Pounamu. She had designed it herself and had it madeby a Maori master carver. The design can loosely be
regarded as a Piko and symbolizes the life cycle,
growth, eternity and wisdom.
 What words would you use to describe yourself?
Slightly nuts, rather eccentric, but such a gentleman.
 If you could live your life again, would you doanything differently?
Well, it’s only as we get older and wiser that we
recognize the mistakes of our inexperienced, uncertain
and over-exuberant youth. Chances are, I would makedifferent choices now with my older head, but the sameones then with the same young head. And I wouldn’t
want to give up the lessons learnt either. I think it isbest to take as many opportunities as present

13

themselves, since we tend to regret more the things we
didn’t do than the things we did.
 Is there anything you are trying to learn/improveabout yourself at the moment?
I’m trying to fix my back. Two herniated disks are a total
nuisance. It is quite a battle and I am still waiting for the“improvement”. I have learnt quite a lot about thecauses and treatment of back problems.
 Do you have any special message for your fans?
You’re all perfectly capable of messing up on your own,
you don’t need my help!

Office Updates
School fee payments
The payment dates for school fees for the 2012-2013
school year are May 15, September 17 andDecember 17. The date for the first payment has
passed. Please check that you have made yourpayment correctly. Families who have not yet paid areasked to do so as soon as possible as your payment is
now overdue. If you need assistance or are unsure of
the amount or method of payment, please contact the
Accounts department. Please note that a late fee of
2,000 yen will be incurred for any overdue payments
where Accounts has not been informed of a delay.

New school bus route
Due to the large number of requests
received, we are pleased to announce a
new school bus route to the Toyosu area
for the 2012-2013 school year that will
service Shinonome, Toyosu and Tsukishima
Stations. Families wishing to apply for the new service
are asked to submit a School Bus Application Form(available from the school website Community >>Forms page) by July 13, 2012. In addition, a number ofadjustments will also be made to the bus schedule forthe current bus routes. Please check the school
website for details.

School support program changes
As a result of a proposal made at the recent PTA
Annual General Meeting, the following system will
come into effect from the beginning of the 2012-2013
school year: In recognition of the time and effort
contributed by PTA executive committee members andgeneral committee chairpersons, parents holding these
positions will be exempt from regular SSP duties during
their period of office.

New SSP duty option
For those who enjoy working outdoors orjust want to help improve the physicalappearance of the school, a new SSP
duty option will be introduced from January 2013. The“outdoor improvements” duty will involve gardening,pulling weeds, sweeping the walkways and other tasks
to help make the outdoor areas of the school more
attractive. This duty will be offered on Mondays from
8:45 – 10:45 a.m. More details will be distributed later.

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“The Comet”

The Year in SportAs another successful year in sport andathletics comes to an end, I would like torecognize all the coaches and athletes fortheir commitment and hard work.
Special thanks to all of our outstanding coaches this year for
offering your expertise to what has been noted as our bestcoaching staff in recent history:
U 14 boy s f ut s al (w i t h t he B S T t e am )Mr Lee—U18 Boys & Girls Volleyball
Ms Haines and Ms Geshel—Girls Volleyball & Basketball
Mr Steele—U14 Boys Basketball
Mr Theilen—U14 Boys Soccer & U18 Boys Futsal
Ms Sentgeorge—U18 Girls Futsal
Mr Kenyon—U14 Futsal
Mr Nogami—U18 Boys Baseball
I would also like to recognize our achievements in competition
within the ISTAA (International Schools of Tokyo Athletics
Association). KIST teams were crowned 2012 champions in: U18 ISTAA Girls Volleyball U18 ISTAA Boys Basketball [Brandon (G12) ISTAA MVP] U18 Girls Basketball – Yokohama Invitational
 U14 ISTAA Girls Basketball
 U18 ISTAA Boys Futsal
 U14 ISTAA Boys Futsal
We were also very busy in the Elementary School competition,
taking part in many different events over the school year. Somenotable performances were: Top honors at ASIJ Elementary Soccer Jamboree
 Great individual performances at two BST Elementary
Swim Galas 2nd place at BST Mini-Basketball Tournament Competitors in the 1st Annual KIST Soccer Jamboree
 Competitors in friendly matches vs Nishimachi International
School Mini-Basketball

U 18 boy s f ut s al

U 14 gi r l s v ol l ey b al lGreat year Comets! I can’t wait to see what’s
in store for next year! Keep working hard!
Jay Leroy
Athletics Director / Elementary School PE
Teacher

U 18 gi r l s f ut s al

B r an do n (G 12 )I S T A A M V P U 18
b oy s bas k et b al l

U18 girls volleyballE l e m ent ary s w i m me rs

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15College Guidance News
Congratulations class of 2012!
The graduation ceremony for the class of 2012 was held on
Friday, June 8 at Morishita Cultural Center with the Grade 12
parents and families, Mr and Mrs Komaki, school board
members, administration, DP teachers and school staff.
Grade 11 students also attended the ceremony and shared
the moment of departure of their “sempai” (seniors) into theworld. They might have been imagining themselves asgraduates next year.

College acceptances for the Class of 2012
We are pleased to announce that KIST had anothersuccessful year with college acceptances. The following is alist of universities that offered admission to our Class of 2012
up to June 14, 2012. There are some students who are still
waiting for the results or are planning to start applying touniversities/colleges after graduating from KIST so this is nota final list. As Mr Cowe noted during his speech at the recent
graduation ceremony, there are several universities where
KIST students received acceptances for the first time
including Seoul National University in Korea, School of Visual
Arts in the US, American University in Cairo, Egypt,
Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto and Sophia University(Green Science) in Tokyo. This year, a higher number ofstudents chose to apply to universities in Japan than inprevious years. Some students applied to universities inNorth America and other areas; however, no students applied
to universities in the UK or Europe.

USA
Willamet University* | Seattle University* | Pacific Lutheran
University* | Savannah College of Art and Design* | Schoolof Visual Arts Northeastern University | Otis College of Arts
and Design | School of the Arts Institute of Chicago | Snow
College | Utah State University

CANADA
McGill University* | University of British Columbia |University of Toronto* | University of Western Ontario |Carelton University* | Simon Fraser University

JAPAN
Sophia University (Liberal Arts) | Sophia University (Green
Science) | International Christian University | Waseda
University | Meiji Gakuin University | Ritsumeikan Asia
Pacific University* | Ritsumeikan University

KOREA
Seoul National University

EGYPT
American University in Cairo

College visitors at KIST
More than 30 universities and colleges from all over the world
visited KIST during the year and provided presentations andmeetings for our G9 through G12 students and parents. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the visitors
who came all the way from Europe, North America, Asia, thePacific and Japan to meet our students and staff at KIST. It is
our pleasure to have college representatives from admission
offices and faculties conduct presentations to highlight theirprograms and provide mini lectures for our students. It is
worth mentioning that the visitors always mention how muchthey enjoy visiting our vibrant and friendly campus and how
they are impressed with our students who ask pertinent
questions and make appropriate comments during themeetings. It was pleasing to see so many students from G9and G10 participating in the recent presentations by the
University of Leeds, University of Anglia Ruskin andCambridge University, as well as G11 students.

Campus visits
by Mrs Okude
As a College
Guidance Counselor,
I have been attending
college fairs andcollege explanation
events outside of
KIST to becomeacquainted withadmissions officers
and to obtain up-toYonsei University Librarydate information aboutadmissions and programs. I also take advantage of visiting
university campuses by invitation or during my private trips
around the area. Since October 2010, I have visited the
University of Hong Kong and Savannah College of Art and
Design in Hong Kong, National University of Singapore and
S.P. Jain University in Singapore, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific
University in Beppu, Ritumeikan University and Doshisha
University in Kyoto. During my recent trip to Seoul, Korea toattend my alma mater (MBA ‘84)the George Washington
University’s large alumni event, I also had the chance to visit
Seoul National University and Yonsei University. Campus
visits provide me with opportunities to see and feel how it
would be if our students choose these destinations after
graduation as well as to exchange information withadmissions officers
and faculty
members. Meeting
KIST graduates on
campus is anotherpurpose of the visit
and it is a joyous
moment to seethem enjoying theircollege lives. I am
looking forward toseeing more KIST
graduates all overSeoul National University, International Center the world in thenear future.

G11 advisory college guidance
During the last session of college guidance, G11 students
filled out and submitted their College List and Summer 2012
Action Plan in a booklet called Life after 2012 My Post-KIST
Plan along with the first draft of their personal statement forcollege application. These will be returned with comments on
the last day of school. I hopestudents will spend valuable
summer exploring their college
options and improving theiracademics in order to pursue
their future college or careerplans.
Have wonderful summer!
Mrs Keiko Okude
College Guidance Counselor
James (Class of 2010) at
Yonsei University

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“The Comet”

Alumnus Report
Junichi (JC) Takase is an alumnus of KIST’s “Class of 2011.” He iscurrently in his first year at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University’s College ofInternational Management in Beppu, majoring in business administration.
Graduating high school and going
to college felt so bitter sweet. I was
glad I graduated and took the next
step forward in my life but at thesame time sad because thosedays in high school are nevercoming back. On a brighter note,
most—if not all—my classmates
were so happy that they graduatedsince they are finally "free" andcould go to university. Although as
the months pass by, and as wecatch up with each other throughSkype or Facebook, there's always
that topic within our conversation
about how much we miss highschool. Don't get me wrong, guys, I
am glad I am out of the IB
program, really. But let me beclear. Once leaving high school, I
felt extremely excited and at thesame time incredibly scared.
Most of my high school life wasspent in KIST; a small school witha very tight international
community. As you all know, ourschool is small so moving in to auniversity that is not even locatedin Tokyo was a challenge.
First of all, to give you a generalidea of where I am and what ishere, I’ll start with the city. I live in
Beppu, Oita, a place generally
known for hot springs. All my life
I’ve lived in cities; this was by far
the biggest change of them all.
Whenever I catch up with myfriends from Tokyo and they ask
me where I am and I tell them“Beppu”, almost always a shortsilence fills in the reply, andimmediately they say, “What..?
Where is that? ... Beppu?”. I tellthem where it is and then thelaughter begins. Some even pity
me and order me to come back toTokyo. I say no. Never!
Beppu is a quiet, coastal town in
Kyushu and it’s beautiful! The
locals are friendlier and more
understanding than the locals inTokyo. Although honestly in the
beginning I didn’t felt the same way
I feel right now. The moment I
arrived at the airport, I thought I

could never get used to living in
the province. And that I may not
feel part of the community in
Beppu since Tokyo felt so much
more like home. However, before
long, I gradually started to love theplace. I realized that it’s a greatchange of pace, as if I can startnew. It felt incredibly refreshing
being in a new city, a new
university, new people and a newroom. Everything was so different I
felt as if I was living someone
else’s life. Beppu isn’t as crowded
as Tokyo, it’s so different, so small
and yet it has so much to offer. Asof right now, I already feel part ofthe community. So much so thatthe locals already recognize me
since being featured in the local
Oita newspaper. I wasn’t aware I
was in it until one of the locals
showed it to me after I handed him
my student ID; he recognized myname from the article about APU.
Before officially starting university,
there was an entrance ceremony
for undergraduates and graduate
students. I represented my batch,
the undergraduates, and gave aspeech on their behalf. The speech
I did, in my opinion became
instrumental in making friends andgaining confidence as I started myuniversity life. Although in allhonesty, walking up onto the stage
filled with important individuals(President, board members, themayor of Oita, deputy heads of thecolleges etc.), along with all the
flashing lights, the cameras and ofcourse the audience staring at me,
as soon as I came up to the deskand faced everyone I took by far
the deepest breath I have evertaken in my life and delivered the
speech to the best of my ability. It
was legendary.
http://www.apu.ac.jp/home/news/index.php?
page=article&storyid=2400
Soon after that I started myuniversity life. I can’t begin to
explain how exciting and amazing
it was. There were so many events

Ready to take on the world.

going on for the first two weeks
that I felt I was missing out onsomething every time I would headback to the dorm to rest. And evenwhen I went back to the dorms torest, there were other events goingon inside the dorms. One thing I
can comment on about university
life is this: it’s busy, it’s fun and it
requires a whole lot of charismaand energy. You just have to open
up and let yourself get in there andmake the best of what’s alreadypresented to you.
After the events, tours, workshops
and introductions to everything, I
focused on choosing a circle andclubs to join in. I initially aimed toplay for the basketball team;
however, I thought to myself thatsince everything was so new, I’ll try
out something different, so I joined
the men’s lacrosse team. The
training was so difficult since ourteam is ranked as the 3rd bestcollege team in Kyushu. It also
houses players that are in the
Kyushu division team and a playerthat represents Korea
internationally.
I also joined circles such as kickboxing, diving and fair tradecircles. Circles make you meet
new people with similar interests,
spark friendships and at the sametime learn new skills andexperiences. Join anything,societies, clubs, sports teams,
groups whatever. These groups
will make you feel part ofsomething—small or big—it
doesn’t matter. In the end its
rewarding and it’s free! Be sure to
be active in circles and clubs when
you go to university.
C ont i nu ed n ex t pa ge

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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

Finally, I will discuss just a little bit
about the classes in APU since I’ve
only been here for roughly a little
over 3 months, therefore I haven’t
actually experienced the wholecurriculum longer to actuallycomment about it. One thing very
different though compared to highschool is that in university you
choose your own class, your own
time and day as long as you meet
all the minimum credits. Basically,
you have as much freedom as you
want. This in my opinion is great,but at the same time, dangerous.
All that freedom they gave you caneither backfire against you, so bewarned. The key to this is simply
being responsible and having
proper time management, which I
am sure most KIST students caneasily accomplish thanks to the IB.
To end this long and maybe boringarticle I wrote, I’ll finish it with this:College is the time where you
realize that everything is not toolate, that really, its just the
beginning. The life you once knew
you had, will turn upside down andsuddenly you will realize that ourperspective of the world is sosmall. We have so much to learn,so much to accomplish and somuch to prove. And the best
feeling of all—this especially goesto the probably “bored” and busy
seniors of KIST—is that once
graduating high school andtransitioning to college, yousuddenly realize that the best
years of your lives are not behindyou. They simply just keep on
going as we grow older. For the
next four years in college, you will
study, build life-long friends andmaybe even build a path on tosomehow saving the world. I say
that because when I entered
university for the first time, I felt
this incredible sense of possibility,that anything can happen. In allhonesty, just cherish your time inhigh school; it’s been great no
doubt. Yet above all, value yourtime in college because trust me, itwill be epic. Epic proportions.

Keeping the Balance
For my last year of high school, I was able to be in touchwith many sports activities at KIST; volleyball, basketball,cross country and soccer. I have always challenged myself
to play as much sport as I can, but this year was especiallyhard for me to balance academics and sports.

RyosukeTeachers and staff at KIST had advised me to concentrate on academics
and I once considered not playing sports at all. But I really enjoy playing
and I think sports are one of my talents where I can fully express myself
and be “me”. As I reflect back, I have no regret in being part of the
sporting teams. Actually, I think I was able to succeed in the DP course
because I had the opportunity to release my stress while I played.
Mr Lee, Mr Leroy and Mr Theilen have lead me through the year withstrict but enjoyable trainings. They have always lead the team spirit andmade our competition very intense. I really appreciate Mr Lee coachingvolleyball. He has always been strict and serious with us in our training. I
saw him frown sometimes at the difference in seriousness between theteam and Mr Lee, but he never gave up coaching us which lead to great
team spirit. I was really disappointed when we lost in the ISTAA
tournament because it was our chance to show Mr Lee how we havedeveloped and to prove how well he coached us.
With my one year experience of basketball, I decided to join the U18
team again this year. I was not familiar with the rules and the terms ofbasketball and I struggled many times. Mr Leroy always taught me little
by little about what basketball is. Not only that, but Mr Leroy kept playing
me in games and I was able to learn basketball from those experiences.
His coaching has enabled me to play confidently at the end of theseason and lead us to victory in the ISTAA Tournament. I reallyappreciate Mr Leroy for developing my basketball talent.
I appreciate Mr Theilen for coaching us in soccer. I honestly didn’t thinkof joining the team because we had many exams coming up but I am
glad I made the right decision and joined. We had to skip many training
sessions due to the exam schedules, but within that short length of time,
Mr Theilen taught us many important skills that we used to win games.
Unfortunately, many games were canceled this year, but we neverdropped a single game we had this season. Due to previous
commitments Mr Theilen could not come and coach us for the ISTAA
tournament, but I was proud to show Mr Theilen our development
throughout the season by becoming the champions.
What a great graduating year!
Ryosuke (G12)

Junichi Charles Takase
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
KIST Alumnus, “Class of 2011”
Ryosuke with the basketball team.

17

18

“The Comet”

KIST on Stage
Once again this year, the musical and dramatic talentsof KIST students were showcased at the annual school
concert series, “KIST on Stage”, held on Saturday,
June 2 at Tower Hall Funabori.
The Lower School Concert in the morning (for K1 toG1) and the Elementary Concert in the afternoon (forG2 to G5) featured mostly class-based performances
incorporating songs, instrumental pieces and dances.
The Secondary Concert in the evening (for G6 to G12)
featured songs, dances, drama, bands andinstrumental performances mainly from students
chosen through an audition process.
The weeks leading up to the concerts were quite
stressful for all those involved with the preparations
and in polishing the acts ready for public display, buteverything came together on concert day and we weretreated to some amazing performances, and at times, a
lot of laughs, as the students took to the stage toentertain the audience.

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