The omet

The New sletter of K. International School Tokyo
Volume 22 | Issue 3 | March 2019

In this issue...
02...School Calendar Change20...Japanese New Year Party 2018-19

03…World Cultures Day

21...Alice in Wonderland Jr.

08...Learner Profiles in the Early Years

24...Week of Code

10...Personal Space

25...smartBowl 2019

13...Coding at KIST

28...Japanese Haiku Contest

19...My Journey into Slavery

34...MUN Conference

From the Board President

DATES TO REMEMBERFirst of all, I would like to thank all the parents who attended
the information sessions on January 14. As there were someparents who were not able to attend, however, I would like totake this opportunity to provide a simple summary of theeducational changes that will take place from next year.
At the core of KIST’s mission is our dedication to providing academicallymotivated children with a high-quality education to develop competent,
academic and compassionate individuals who make meaningful contributions
to our global community. In order to achieve our mission, help our students
develop the high-level knowledge and skills that they need to be successful inour global society, and prepare them to be able to continue their education at ahigh level after they graduate from KIST, we offer the IB Diploma Programme,
which is highly regarded by top universities around the world. As a high scoreon the final DP exam greatly broadens students’ chances for acceptance atleading universities around the world, we believe that helping as many of ourstudents as possible to achieve as high a score as possible on the DP exams
is an important indication that we are achieving our mission as a school.
Because of this, we set a goal of achieving a final DP average score of 36 outof a possible total of 45 points. Last year, our graduates achieved a DP
average of 38 points (compared to a world average of 30), which consolidated
our record as the top ranking IB DP school in Japan for the fourth year in a row.
On a world scale, however, there are schools in the UK, Singapore, Hong
Kong, and other countries that offer a phenomenally high-level IB education
and, as a result, consistently achieve averages of 40 points or higher. The
strong reputations of these schools allows them to attract the most giftedchildren from academically-conscious families around the world. However,there are very few of these schools in existence, and they are extremely
selective, making it almost impossible for children who wish to study abroad at
a secondary school of this caliber to gain acceptance.
Recognizing this issue in high-quality secondary education on an international
level, the KIST Board of Directors has decided that it is necessary for KIST to
aim to accomplish its mission not just within Japan, but on a world scale. As aschool with students representing over 40 different nationalities, we strongly
wish to offer an elementary and secondary level education of the highest
quality so that all of our students are able to continue their education in turn athigh quality universities after graduation. To this end, we have decided toembark on a new educational reform. Just in terms of the DP scores for which
we’re aiming, we hope to achieve an average score of 39 by 2023 and an
average score of 40 by our 30th anniversary in 2027.
Continued on next page
KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life

March 2019
9 SAT@KIST
13 (G2-G3) Mathematics diagnostic
testing13-14 Musical
14 (G7-G11) KPASS Math field day(@Zama) (*Tentative)
21 (K1-G10) Student-led
conferences
21 (W) Spring university fair
21 (G10) DP options morning
21 (G12) DP visual arts exhibition
22 Last day of quarter 3
23-31 Spring vacation

April 20191 School resumes for all students
5 (G1-G10) KIST cross country
meet
8 School photographs (for new andabsent students)
10 (K1/K2/K3) Cross country(*Morning)
11-12 (G5) PYP exhibition
19 (G12) Last day of classes
19 (G5) Day camp
22-26 (G12) DP study week (G12teachers available)
23 ISTAA cross country invitational(*Tentative)
23 (K1/K2/K3) Kindergarten concert
rehearsals
24 (K1/K2/K3) Kindergarten concert

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Continued from previous page

Additionally, in alignment with our increased goals forthe future, there will be a change in the educational
program at KIST next year. Currently, KIST students in
G6 through G10 study in the IB Middle Years
Programme (MYP), but starting next year, G6 throughG8 will remain in the MYP, while G9 and G10 will
study in the International General Certificate ofSecondary Education (IGCSE) to help them better
prepare for the DP. The IGCSE is the internationalversion of the British curriculum, the GCSE, and isconsidered slightly more challenging than the GCSE.
For this reason, the IGCSE is used at many private
schools in the UK, as well as international schools in
Singapore and Hong Kong.
Another important change next year will be various
adjustments to the progression criteria. Among theseis the addition of the criterion “Academic motivation
and attitude.” This has been added in response to pastexperiences and results which have shown thatsuccess in the DP requires students to have a highlevel of motivation and the will to take their studies
seriously. For this reason, we feel that the DP may not
be the best choice of curriculum for students who do
not have a high level of academic motivation. A variety
of other changes have also been made to theprogression criteria, so we ask for the cooperation of
all families in checking these carefully. The updated
document will be available on the school website
toward the end of this school year.
Additionally, the following changes in our schoolleadership will occur.
 Our current Elementary Principal,
Dr Kevin Yoshihara, will assume
the role of Head of School for a 3year period, and will take on thejob of educational leadershipalongside the Associate Head of
School, Mrs Komaki.
 Our current DP Coordinator, Mr
John Rose, has been appointed
Secondary School Vice Principal.
Additionally, as Mr Rose has
extensive experience with the
IGCSE, he will be the IGCSE
Coordinator.
 Our current Secondary Math
Subject Area Coordinator, Mr HiroKomaki, will use his experience
having completed his secondary
education at KIST in the DP andstep into the role of DP
Coordinator.

It is with great pride in our students and highexpectations for the future that KIST has decided to
set our goal on achieving our mission not just on anational level, but on an international one. To enable
our students to gain the academic knowledge, criticalthinking skills, and communication ability to excel inour global society, we will work tirelessly to provide aneven higher level of education than at present. We
understand that many children and their families

currently living in Japan might feel that a high-level
education on an international scale is not necessary.
However, for those students, however few, who areunable to study abroad at high-level schools such as
those in the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong, but desireor need to gain a top-quality education, we want toprovide the opportunity to gain such an education in
Japan.
Finally, we would like to emphasize that the only way
for KIST to attain our goal of providing a high-level
education is for our students, staff and parents tocome together as one. We sincerely thank all
members of the KIST community for your support sofar, and ask for your continued support in the future.
Yoshishige Komaki
Board President/Acting Head of School

School Calendar Change
A list of school vacation periods and otherimportant dates for the 2019–20 school
year was included in the December issueof The Comet to assist families planningoverseas trips. Recently, however, wehave learned that a special national
holiday has been added in October 2019
to commemorate the enthronement ceremony of the
new Emperor. It has been suggested that schools
close on this day. To avoid reducing the number ofschool days in the year, we have therefore decided
to adjust one of the school vacation dates
previously announced. Please see the table below.
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may
cause, but ask for your understanding that theadditional holiday was not announced until recently.
The complete calendar will be distributed in June.
 First day of school for students:
August 19, 2019
 KISTival:
October 26, 2019
 Autumn vacation:
October 27 – November 3, 2019 Winter vacation:
December 14, 2019 – January 5, 2020
(Classes resume from Monday, January 6)
 Spring vacation:
March 21 – 29, 2020
 Golden Week vacation
May 2 – 10, 2020
 Last day of school for students:
June 17, 2020

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World Cultures Day
The World Cultures Day event promotes inter-cultural awareness, cultural
diversity and support of home-languages.
There are 42 countries represented within the KIST community andFriday, February 15 was the day to recognize and celebrate them.
Elementary students participated in the World Costumes Parade, watchedby guests from KIPS, Shirakawa-Kamome nursery and Global Kids.
Students from K1 to Grade 9 contributed to the World Cultures themed
exhibition in the lobby and MPR. Students and adults devoured items at
the ever-popular international bake sale, with numerous books donated to
Elementary classroom libraries.
Twenty-eight Secondary students volunteered to provide culturalexperiences for Elementary students. They had been preparing since
December and their professionalism and commitment was outstanding.
Classes ranged from life in Russia or Thailand to a taiko workshop.
The event website will introduce you to all the student
presenters from the day, plus Mr Ichuu the guest
shamisen player.
bWeb

http://bit.ly/KIST-WCD-2019

Video of the day including the full paradebWeb

http://bit.ly/KIST-WCD-2019-video

Mr Tim and Ms Erika
KIST Libraries Team“ T h e Co m et ”

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Elementary School News
Critical thinking
Critical thinking is defined as “the objective analysis
and evaluation of an issue in order to form ajudgement.” In our modern world the ability for humans
to make informed judgements is more important thanever. With the endless amounts of information we haveaccess to online, this ability to think critically isespecially important. When I was growing up, the mostaccessible source of information for me was theEncyclopedia Britannica set we had in our living room.
It was seen as reliable and trustworthy. The advent of
the World Wide Web has been a game changer, andnow we have almost unlimited access to information on
any topic imaginable.
A few weeks ago I was asked to judge the final roundof debates in our Grade 5 classes. Through this unit,
our students researched and debated various
challenging topics including: Eating right is more important for health than
exercise Living in the countryside is better than living in thecity All schools should require students to wear a uniform
I was very impressed with not only the camaraderie ourGrade 5 students demonstrated, and the support they
provided for each other, but the way in which theyattempted to understand both sides of their issues inorder to defend one side. According toStudyinternational.com, debating helps you todevelop critical thinking skills which they defined as“the ability to make reasoned and well thought out
arguments in addition toquestioning the evidence
behind a particular stanceor conclusion.”
Through the PYP,
students develop andapply a range of thinking
skills. These include
analysis, evaluation, anddialectical thought. The
Grade 5 debates a few
weeks ago were a great
example of these skills
being applied in anauthentic manner. As ourchildren grow, having theopportunity to apply theseskills in a meaningful way
outside of the classroom
will further promote
thinking skill development.
While watching the news,
reading books, or overdinner conversations,encourage your children to question facts, seek
clarification when needed, and to consider the multiple
perspectives on any issue. The ability to make sense of
information, analyze, compare, make inferences, andmake judgments are skills they will use their whole
lives.
It is better to debate a question without
settling it than to settle a question without
debating it.”—Joseph Joubert

Kevin Yoshihara
Elementary School Principal
Reference:
Study International. (2016, January 11). 12 ways debating will help
you for the rest of your life.
Retrieved from:https://www.studyinternational.com/news/12-waysb
Web
debating-will-help-you-for-the-rest-of-your-life/

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PYP News
Agency in the “Enhanced PYP”
Professor Dumbledore in the book Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets said, “It is our choices, Harry, thatshow what we truly are, far more than our abilities”.
This describes agency in relation to the choices wemake as we live our lives. The International
Baccalaureate has highlighted agency in the PYP’s
newly released Principles into Practice as afoundational keystone in the student’s learning journey.
We as educators strive to understand our students interms of their ability to inquire, question, wonder, andtheorize about themselves, their community, and theworld around them. Building on experiences,observations, interactions, and exploration, they begin
to develop new perceptions and understandings. With
these tools in tow, students need to be given theopportunities to take the reins and become an agent intheir own school experience and maneuver toward aself-determined goal. Having this mind-set leads to abelief in the ability to achieve one’s goals or selfefficacy.

that lead to a more
independent yet
globally responsible
sort of thinker.
Learners that can act
with agency toward
local and global
issues, all the while
being aware of theopinions, values, and needs of others.

Teachers using the conceptually based inquiry of the
PYP have a responsibility to provide the experiences

Clay Bradley
PYP Coordinator/Elementary School Vice Principal

As I stated in the September issue of The Comet, thisjourney into the Enhanced PYP is not going to be easy
unless we all pull together and share (as teachers,
administrators, and parents) what we know and plot out
where we want to go both for our school and ourstudents. Certainly, raising up students with a strong
sense of agency and self-efficacy will place us in goodstanding to meet any challenge that the world mayplace in our path.

Elementary Students Receive Awards
Two students from the Elementary School were awarded prizes in
the 64th National Youth Reading Report Contest.
Each year in Japanese class, we participate in this contest, andeach year, several students are awarded prizes. This year, bookreports by Arista (G4B) and Saki (G5B) were selected as“excellent reports” in the contest.
Congratulations to both girls who received certificates during the
Elementary assembly held on Monday, November 26, 2018. We
hope that this annual event provides opportunities for all students
to develop a greater interest in reading.

New Face
Since the last issue of The Comet, we have welcomed a new staff member tothe Elementary School instructional team—Alexander “Jay” McAllister who
is working as a PE Instructor for students in K1 to Grade 1 and also
supporting ELS students in various grades.
On behalf of the school community, we wish you all the best in your new roleand hope that you enjoy your time with us.

Alexander “Jay” McAllister
PE Instructor (K1-G1)

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Early Childhood News

K1A

Hello KIST families!
Our K1–K3 students have been as energetic as ever this winter,enthusiastically playing and learning with their teachers and friends
every day despite the cold weather outside. However, we’re all looking
forward to the warmer spring weather that’s just around the corner!
In this issue of The Comet, I’d like to share some of the ways in whichyoung learners in each of our early childhood classes have been
engaging with new mathematical concepts.
With our youngest students, we believe that learning through handson activities is the most powerful way for the children to gain newunderstanding. In K1, we recently took a walk around theneighborhood to count the different modes of transportation that we
see in our community. The children were each given their own survey
to tick, circle or tally when they saw particular modes transportation.
The children were able to collect data in this manner, keeping track of
how many cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles and taxis they saw, andplacing a numeral on their survey in the correct area for each mode oftransportation.
Meanwhile, the K2s have been counting each school day from the firstday of school using different tools. They mark off each day they are inschool during their morning calendar time, and have been practicing
counting the days on the calendar by 2s, 5s and 10s as they learn how
to “skip count.” After learning about estimation, they have also been
enjoying estimating how many days have passed and how many days
are still left before their “100 Days of School” celebration. We
encourage you to check out the Elementary foyer wall, where you cansee various sets of 100s collected by our K2 friends.

K1B

K2A

K2B

The K3A students are integrating math and literacy to describe sets ofobjects. They use their ability to count by 2s, 5s and 10s to find thetotal number of objects, and then take care to use the appropriate
suffix to express what they have counted. For example, “There are 10
cherry blossoms on each branch. There are 3 branches. There are 30
cherry blossoms all together.”
Meanwhile, K3B students are using different fruits to learn about
fractions. The K3B staff prepared kiwi fruit and strawberries for eachchild to cut into halves and quarters. Learning to share food among
friends and family members is a good way for young learners to grasp
the concept of fractions, as they see that they can divide objects orgroups of objects into smaller portions evenly.

K3A

In early childhood, we hope to show our students how the applicationof mathematical knowledge can make our lives easier. We encourage
all parents to try to provide opportunities where you can develop yourchild’s knowledge of mathematical concepts at home, too!
Eri Ozawa
Early Childhood Coordinator (K1–K3)/K1B Teacher

K3B

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K1 Responsibilities
In K1, we started our year on learning,understanding, and building our
responsibilities both at school and at
home. The K1 students explored their
responsibilities at school, in theirclassrooms, and on the playground.
They also focused on their
responsibilities at home. We have been
focusing on our responsibilities and thepeople who help us learn in our yearlong unit, ‘Who we are’. As part of theunit, the students brought a booklet or aposter with pictures and drawings on
how they are fulfilling their
responsibilities at home. They werecommunicators showing and sharing
to the class what they do to be
responsible athome.

“I help Ly to
pay theKleenex andI use money
and ticket.”

L uc as (K 1A )“Put shoes
neatly.”J ul i e (K 1A )“I pushingin Seby inbike.”“Clean up
my shoes.”

Claire Yoneyama
K1A Teacher
O w e n (K 1A )T am an a (K 1A )“I washbowl.”“Cleaning
up toys.”S h re y a n s h (K 1 A )“Wash yourhands.”

K ok i (K 1B )R i u (K 1B )“Toy cleanup.”“I take off
my jacket.”T s u m u g i (K 1 B )M as ak i (K 1B )7

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Learner Profiles in the Early Years
Encouraging the K2 students to understand and exemplify the IB learner profiles
can be a challenge, when some students are just starting their academic journeys,or are learning in a second or third language. Caring, courageous, open-minded,knowledgeable, principled, inquirer, communicator, balanced, thinker andreflective are huge words to comprehend when you are four years old.
As part of our Community Circle lessons, the K2A students are exploring one
learner profile per week with the aim of understanding and exemplifying that profile
over the course of seven days. We talk about what the actions of someone beingthat learner profile trait looks like. For example, caring in kindergarten is playing
with a new friend if they look lonely, or helping to open a packet of crackers forsomeone who isn’t able to. The students contribute their own ideas about it andhave lively discussions before applying their ideas to their inquiry work.
K2’s current unit of inquiry is on the theme of ‘storytelling’ and they are learning
about characters and how they interact to tell a story with a message or meaning.
The power of story goes a long way with young students, and it can be evident thatafter analyzing a book character, a student is better able to reflect and recognize
the trait in others as well as him/herself—and obviously, discussing the learnerprofile is also a great way to reinforce character analysis.
Each student then made their own superhero character and drew him/her on thefirst page of their comic book. Each week they apply their knowledge of charactersand positive traits and after discussions, draw their superhero exemplifying one
learner profile. Throughout the week they strive to demonstrate the chosen learnerprofile, and if all students manage to do so and are checked off on a list, theyreceive a superhero bracelet for that learner profile. Setting a small goal and only
focusing on one profile per week enables students to more easily understand what
is quite complex to teach, and it has led to a huge improvement in students
identifying positive behavior in both themselves, and their peers.
Catherine Wells
K2A Teacher

Inquirer

Communicator

Balanced

Courageous

Thinker Knowledgeable Reflective
Open-minded

Principled

CaringV o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9“ T h e Co m et ”

K3 Food Choices
As part of our new unit, Who We Are, K3 students have been learning about thedifferent food choices people make. Students are beginning to understand that
there is no one right diet in this world. People eat different things depending on
their health needs, beliefs, and where they live. So far, both teachers and students
are having a lot of fun with this unit. We have been eating a lot too! In a few days,
students will be going on an excursion to Ajinomoto Factory to learn about how the food they enjoy gets made.
Christie Chung and Kay Shinada
K3 Teachers

K-Tech Lego Robot ClubThis is our K-Tech Lego Robot Club. The
Elementary kids were very excited to design andbuild their own robots out of Lego blocks. Our
students worked hard building their first robots since
September 2018
before taking part inour first competition at
KIST on Saturday,
December 8, 2018.

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Personal SpaceG3A had a Community Circle lesson and learnt
about our ‘Personal Space’ including how tomeet the IB Learner Profile attribute of balanced by figuring out whenit’s appropriate to let people into their personal space.
The lesson started with Mr Sullivan asking two volunteers to stand inside
two different hula hoops, asking them how they feel about the space
between them. “No problem,” “I’m fine,” they replied. They were thenasked to stand inside one hula hoop. Immediately, they expressed how
uncomfortable it was to be so close to each other, and they both tried tostay away from each other as much as possible within the hoop.
Mr Sullivan explained that they should imagine this circle aroundthemselves as their private space, and they get to decide who comesinside it with them. He drew a circle to represent this ‘personal space’and then drew three more rings around it. He showed the pupils a list ofdifferent people, such as: parent, best friend, aunty, teacher, stranger,
police officer, sports coach, and classmate, and asked them to saywhich circle they thought they should go in.
The pupils then discussed the different types of contact that might
happen with each of the different people in their lives. For example, aparent might kiss and hug them, and a best friend might give them ahigh-five. The pupils found out that even a relationship with their parents
could be very different to others in the same class, and that doesn’tmean they have got either a better or worse relationship with theirfamily. They also found out that some of them like hugging their bestfriend while others find it quite uncomfortable being hugged.
The pupils were taught that we all have different personalities andcultural backgrounds, and therefore, it’s up to us to set rules for our own
personal space.
Throughout the lesson, they realised that it’s important to follow the IB
Learner Profile attributes/PYP attitudes and respect each other and not
to invade other people’s personal space by touching and hugging them
if they don’t like it, and to show empathy by thinking about how others
feel. Also, it is important to be confident and tell them about yourhonest feelings if someone makes you feel uncomfortable.
Kana Furnival
Elementary School Student Care Coordinator/Grade 3A ELS Instructor

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Mamemaki
Our annual mamemaki event for K1, K2 and K3
students was held on February 1. In preparation
for the event, all the children made many small,soybean-shaped pieces from yellow paper clay
while praying for good luck and for oni (demons)and sickness to disappear from around us. On the
day of mamemaki, we all chanted loudly “Oni-wa
Soto, Fuku-wa Uchi!” while throwing the yellow
paper clay beans at the red and blue oni.

Go Comets!
In February, an Elementary basketball camp was held at KIST. It was
gratifying for me as a coach to see our players training hard byrunning and chasing the ball for 10 long hours during the 2-day camp!!
Following the camp, we participated in the annual ISTAA basketball
tournaments: for G3–G4 players at NIS, and for G4–G5 players here
at KIST. There were 6 teams in the G3–G4 tournament and our KIST
Comets gained 4th place. Our G4–G5 team won the previous
tournaments two years in a row, and this year we had a big
advantage: yes, our home court!! Thank you to all the supporters whocame to cheer for our team. The final was very close!! All players
played well on court and also cheered on their teammates from thebench. We are the ISTAA basketball champions again this year!!
Did you know that the Japanese representative team, Akatsuki 5, has
just made their way to the World Cup? Let’s have fun playing andcheering for our teams!! Happybasketball!
Eri Ozawa
Elementary Basketball Coach

G4–G5 Comets: ISTAA Basketball Champions 2019

G3–G4 Comets: 4th place

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Elementary ELS
Talking helps us write
What do all the class activities inthese photos have in common? You
can see students talking together,but in fact they are in the middle ofa writing task.
Why do the class teachers and ELS (Left to right) Aryan, Sean and Rury (G1A) and Rutvik and Lauren (G3A) talk about each other’s
instructors arrange talk time as part writing and say how it’s great and how it could improve.
of writing activities?
While speaking, listening, reading
and writing get graded separately,in fact these four skills naturally go
together in daily life and support
each other when we are working tounderstand others and express
ourselves.
Talking supports us to write better,
all the more if we are writing in ourless dominant language. Talking
Koa and Sara (K3B) talk about what details
they could add to their writing.
with both teachers and our peers
helps. Through conversation, we
generate ideas and work out which order to put them in. We work out how
to make sentences that get our true meaning across clearly and find thewords that paint our thoughts precisely.

Sarah and Dootee (G2A) in their extension
LEAP class, talking about the letters they are
writing to their role models. Asking each otherquestions about what their role models were
doing gave them more ideas about what towrite.

If your child is writing at home, and you want to find a way to support them, letting them discuss their writing withyou is a good place to start. Conversations about writing don’t need to be in the samelanguage as the piece of writing is in. It is very helpful to talk in your home language about
your child’s writing, no matter which language they are writing in.
Rachel Parkinson
ELS Coordinator (Elementary)/G5 ELS Instructor

Middle School Spelling Bee
On Monday, January 28, the KIST middle school
spelling bee was held in the LMC. We had an excellent
and well-prepared field of ten participants acrossgrades 6, 7 and 8. There were many very strong
performances—so much so that it took nineteenrounds to determine a winner! Several students had
memorized all of the 225 words on the study lists,
necessitating a shift to the unseen word list for the last
three rounds.
Thank you and congratulations to the 10 participants:
Grade 6 – Aryan, Tomoyoshi, Arham, Cherry andSehyunGrade 7 – Shaunak and Arnav
Grade 8 – Ketan, Devaj and Sara
The winners were:

Sara (G8A)

Shaunak (G7A)

Arnav (G7B)

Sara’s winning word was fruition—(n.) the state ofbeing real, accomplished, or complete.
Congratulations to our winners andthank you to all the participants,
spectators and judges. Sara will
move on to compete in the Japan
Times National Spelling Bee on
March 10. Please wish her luck as
she prepares to represent KIST!

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Coding at KIST
Sharing student success
Because we didn’t learn coding in our own
elementary education it’s difficult to imagine
that students today can master it. Can
kindergarten student learn sequencing? Can a first-grade student
understand conditional statements? What does a third-grade student
understand about digital citizenship?
I am happy to report that the students at KIST have demonstrated theirability to grasp the concepts that are central to programming. The K3s cantell me how to solve a maze using commands put in a sequence. The G1s
can perform a dance with conditional statements such as “If you’re a girl,spin clock-wise; else, spin anti-clockwise.. And the G3s are learning
valuable lessons about what is safe to share online and how to manage
shared cloud storage.
The first project students tackled was on scratch.mit.edu. This website
allows students to put “blocks” of coding script in a list to create an
animated sequence. The G3s were all able to code a game of their own
design. The G2s animated a dance party or sports game. The G1s made avirtual greeting card for a holiday of their choice, and the K3s made theletters of their name move and change in fun ways. I am so proud of thestudents’ ability to create a valid script on scratch.mit.edu. Although many
struggled at first, all the students showed perseverance and completed an
animation that will make you smile. Ask your child for their scratch.mit.edu
login information to see their first project!
Coming up soon: Look forward to a video of your child’s research project
presentation.
Emily Cobbs
Coding Instructor (Elementary)“ T h e Co m et ”

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Elementary SRC
The Elementary SRC is run by the class representatives who are elected from each G2 to
G5 class. We ask each class to choose four representatives, with each one holding theposition for a quarter of the school year.
We became the ESRC mentors from the start of this school year, as we wanted to raisesome social, emotional and behavioural issues with the representatives, and encouragethem to propose and take forward initiatives and projects on behalf of their peers.
The ESRC mentors’ objectives are to help our pupils to: feel that their school responds to their needs and views.
 have the opportunity to express their feelings and opinions about a wide range of issues that affect them.
 organise social events and fundraisers.
 develop life skills through participation such as; team work, responsibility, thoughtfulness, communication,organisation, fairness, listening skills, reliability, confidence, and leadership.
 promote democracy.
This school year, the members of ESRC participated in the following activities:


Promoting the collection of Bell Marks
The first activity of this school year was to create posters and asked their fellow classmates to collect Bell
Marks, on behalf of the CA.

Leading the Elementary school assemblies
From this academic year, the Elementary school will organise and hold four assemblies per year. Each one
has a specific theme which is related to PSHE (Personal Social Health Education) topics. The ERSC led theseassemblies and demonstrated their communication skills through taking to the stage and explaining theagenda of the assembly to their peers. They also introduced themselves and explained their motto as amember of ESRC by using some of the IB Profile Attributes and PYP attitudes.



Odd Socks Day
To raise awareness of the anti-bullying week, the ESRC organised an event called Odd Socks Day. The
purpose of the activity was to be open-minded and to celebrate our differences by wearing two different socks
for a day. One of the G5 representatives wrote a persuasive letter to the school board, asking to hold thisevent, which was approved. The representatives created a short video to explain the activity and rules andshowed it to their peers.



Hokkaido earthquake fundraising
To show empathy and support pupils in Hokkaido who have been affected by last year’s earthquake, theESRC asked their fellow classmates for some activity ideas and proposed a bake sale to the board.
Unfortunately, the idea was denied due to the difficulty of ensuring all were safe from possible allergy
problems. Instead, they organised a free dress day. The members discussed the theme and colours during themeeting and came up with three options. They then went back to their classrooms and voted to choose themost popular one.

We are very proud of the ESRC for being such great risk-takers and for taking action. Well done!
Oliver Sullivan and Kana Furnival
Elementary SRC Mentors

Arista (G4A)

Sora (G4B)

Marvi (G3A)

Yicheng (G3B)

Tae Sung (G2A)

Harsh (G2B)

“ T h e Co m et ”

V o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 915

LEAP NewsK3 support

Setting goals to improve student
motivation
As most likely would not surprise any teacher or parent,
at 8:10 in the morning, when LEAP Before-School
English Support lessons begin, students, blurry-eyedand bed-headed, occasionally come to school seeming
to have misplaced their motivation.
As I discussed in the last issue of The Comet, support
lessons provide students with entire days of additional
instruction, which are vital for English language
learners; however, lack of motivation, confidence, andefficacy might lower the benefit students receive fromthis precious extra time. The question becomes, then:how do we keep students feeling motivated and excited
to learn?
LEAP instructors answer this question in a variety ofways, including creating fun learning experiences(some of which can be seen in the photos included
here); however, there is one method in particular I
would like to share today: goal setting. Many LEAP
instructors set goals with their students at the
beginning of each semester, finding that helping
students discover an intrinsic reason to study builds
students’ agency, self-regulation, and self-efficacy.
Providing students with a chance to create a focused,
relevant goal of their choice develops students’ feelingsof responsibility toward their own learning, in addition to
helping them reflect on their skills and areas of need.
Students who feel their academic progress is under
their control are more likely to have motivation, “…more
likely to feel pride, satisfaction, conﬁdence and have ahigher sense of self-esteem. Consequently, thesestudents will choose to work on more difﬁcult tasks,
persist longer in the face of failure, display higher levelsof cognitive engagement and produce work that is ofhigher quality” (Seifert 140).
I would like, therefore, to introduce some goal setting
methods currently being used by LEAP instructors, inaddition to goals students have produced using thesemethods (student names have been omitted to respect
students’ privacy).
At the beginning of the semester, G1 students wereasked to reflect on their writing and identify strengths
and weaknesses. With guidance, students were able tochoose one area of their writing to work on over thesemester, though, because of their metacognitive
development, they found it difficult to identify methodsby which they might improve. Some responses include: “I want to be better at [using] adverbs.”
 “I want to write more better [sic] dialogue.”

G1 support

G2 extension“I want to get better to write
nicely,” referring to thestudent’s handwriting

As students get older, they are
better able to identify specificgoals, understand the steps they
will have to take in order toachieve their goals, and apply self
-regulatory skills to reflect on theirprogress towards mastery. Ms
G3 extension
Kana’s G3 class used theS.M.A.R.T. method—–S.M.A.R.T being an acronym forspecific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely—in order to identify appropriate academic goals forthemselves. Some goals G3 students set are:
 “By the end of March, I will be able to drop a line
for the new speaker when I write a story.”
 “By the end of March, I will be able to include atleast one past perfect sentence within my story.”
In Ms Rachel’s G5 class, students set multiple goals forthemselves to correspond to the language skills they
study during lessons, which include academic writing,vocabulary building, and reading comprehension.
Students were encouraged to provide reasons for theirgoals, and they continue to reflect upon their progress
throughout the semester. Students responded that thissemester they want: “to organize my ideas into paragraphs with one
main idea and connected details.”
 “to use my other language to help me understandmore words in English.” “to put paragraphs into logical order so that thewhole piece of writing flows well.”
No matter the method being used, building students’
metacognitive skills through goal setting across theiracademic career translates to increased self-efficacy
and motivation for learning. For parents whose children
are enrolled in LEAP, I hope you can find an
opportunity to ask your child about their academic
goals and how LEAP classes are helping them toachieve those goals. I believe you will feel as proud as
myself that our students demonstrate such growth from
G1 to G5 in exercising responsibility over their own
learning.
Katherine Millican
LEAP Coordinator
Reference:
Seifert, Tim. “Understanding Student Motivation.” Educational
Research, vol. 46, no. 2, 2004, pp. 137-149. Research Gate, doi:
10.1080/0013188042000222421

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KIPS News
From the P1 classroom...
At KIPS, children play and learn through acurriculum designed to help them gain theskills and education they need to contributeto our global society in the future. Currently,
they are learning about Japanese culture
through a variety of cultural events and practices. On top of their once-weekly Japanese class, the children took
part in the KIST Japanese New Year Party, where they had the chance to observe traditional Japanese rice cakepounding and interact with sumo wrestlers. The children were able to share their emotions with the KIPS staff;
some cried, scared by the large sumo wrestlers, while most laughed and smiled at the sumo wrestlers’ kindness.
Additionally, volunteers from a local community library visit KIPS once a month to meet with the children. Theysing songs and play together, and the library staff tell stories using picture books and illustrations. Through these
activities, the children are able to deepen their understanding of our themes each term with the kind help of thelibrary staff. The P1 children always look forward to the volunteer visits, and pay attention and listen quietly for thewhole 20-minute sessions. While at first, the P1 children were nervous to meet new people and acted shyly
around the volunteers, they now happily spend time with them, sitting beside them and giving them high fives witha smile. They have also gotten very good at remembering to say, “thank you” and “arigato!” to the volunteers.
We are also hoping to participate in events in the neighborhood around KIPS tohelp the children connect to the community. This year, we are planning to join
the Fukakita High Touch Project. To support the runners in the Tokyo
Marathon, the children will each make a message board cheering on thecontestants. Using paints, crayons, and other media, we hope to help thestudents create a source of support that will bring smiles to the runners’ faces.
Hitomi Shimizu
P1 Teacher

From the P2 classroom...
It’s hard to believe how time flies; alreadyhalf a year has passed since the beginningof the school year. The children at KIPS
have been making more friends in theirclass and have learned how to share toys
properly with their classmates. They havealso started to speak more fluently and run more quickly. I enjoy watchingthem as they grow both physically and emotionally each day.
The P2 children participate in class eagerly and have been trying new things inline with our term themes. For Term 4, we studied “Shapes and Colors”
through singing, dancing, talking and making relevant crafts. When we go for awalk, the children excitedly take in their surroundings, pointing out things liketraffic lights and street signs and happily announcing, “green circle!” or “I can
see a red diamond!” I’m proud to see them gaining the ability to take what
they’ve learned in school, think about it, and then apply it to their outside lives.
We have begun practicing the song “Yes, I Can” for the Spring Concert, andthe children can be heard singing and humming the song during inside andoutside play time.
At KIPS, we are doing out best to create and implement fun
and educational activities and lessons for the children as
they grow and learn. Both the teachers and the children arelearning new things every day, and we’re working together
to create an even better preschool environment each day.
Yoshimi Machida
P2 TeacherV o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9“ T h e Co m et ”

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MYP News
MYP students attend seminar tomark World Cultures Day
Students in Grades 9 and 10 ended therecent World Cultures Day with a student-led
seminar in the LMC. The discussion, under
the direction of Riya (G10A), touched on avariety of subjects connected to language,
identity, culture and international
mindedness.
Photo by Michiko (G10A)

DP students Yui (G11A), Noa (G11A), Ewan
From left: Noa, Mr Ota, Yui, Riya, Twisha, Mr Vincent, Ewan
(G11B) and Twisha (G11B) each had achance to explain how their lives and their
which their complicated language backgrounds
time as students has been affected by complicated andproduced opportunities for growth. They could point torich connections to language and culture. The students
disadvantages as well. All of this year’s participants
were joined by PYP PE teacher Mr Ota and MYP
spoke about not fully belonging to one or more cultures
mathematics teacher Mr Vincent, both of whom alsothat they have a connection to.
have a lot of experience in reflecting upon such issues.
Each year, the discussion reveals fascinating
connections between the experiences of students andthe impact it has on their views of the world. The
students and teachers all shared memories of times in

MYP students reflect on service
MYP students in Grades 6–9 have completed detailedreflections on their Service work in the first semester.
The MYP model for Service calls on students to complete
cycles of Research – Action – Reflection. This allows foropportunities for students to identify needs in theircommunity, to take specific actions to address thoseneeds, and to reflect on how their actions are helping.
The basis for judging the success of Service projects are
the MYP Service Learning Outcomes.
The end-of-semester reflections offer an opportunity forstudents to see if they could make a more substantial
contribution and have a positive impact on the world.
Robert WhiteMYP Coordinator

All in all, the event was a great opportunity to reflect on
the nature of the diverse community at KIST and thevalue of international mindedness.

MYP Service allows students to become moreaware of their own strengths and areas for growth.
MYP Service allows students to undertake
challenges that develop new skills.
MYP Service allows students to discuss,evaluate and plan student-initiated activities.
MYP Service allows students to persevere inaction.
MYP Service allows students to work
collaboratively with others.
MYP Service allows students to developinternational-mindedness through global
engagement, multilingualism and intercultural
understanding.
MYP Service allows students to consider the
ethical implications of their actions.

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”

Science Department Updates
G11 and 12 Biology and ESS
learning journey to Ueno Zoo

G11 ESS Fieldworkat the Onagi River

In January, the G11 and 12 Biology and
ESS students went on a learning journey
to Ueno Zoo to learn about theconservation work and behind-the-scenes operations ofa zoo from Mr Hitoshi Suzuki, Curator and Education
and Public Relations Officer. Mr Suzuki explained tothe students about the 4 main roles of the Ueno Zoo,
namely recreation, conservation, research andeducation. The students managed to learn more about
the giant panda conservation program Ueno Zoo has
set up for their resident pandas, Li Li, Shin Shin andtheir almost 2-year old baby Xiang Xiang.

As part of the fieldwork
component of ESS, the Grade 11 students went to the
Onagi River behind the school to collect experimental
data about the water quality of the river on January 16.
They also managed to witness zonation of different
algae species occurring along the river banks,solidifying their understanding of the concept learnt inclass.

G12 ESS and Geography learning journeyto the Shin-Koto incineration plant

Mr Suzuki also presented some interesting researchfindings that Ueno Zoo has published in the past few
years, including one about their expertise of breeding
the Japanese wood pigeon which is endemic to the
Ogasawara Islands. The students then got theopportunity to ask questions and also explore the zooon their own so that they could add real life context totheir Ecology (Bio) and Conservation of Biodiversity(ESS) units of study.

Just before Christmas break in December last year, theGrade 12 ESS and Geography students took part in an
exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Shin-Koto
incineration plant. It was interesting to observe firsthand for ourselves, the various processes that go into
dealing with the incinerable wastes that we, residentsof Koto-ku produce. For example, we learnt that theamount of energy recovered from burning the rubbish
is so high that the whole incineration plant is selfsufficient in terms of energy requirements! We also
learnt that the landfills used to bury the burnt ash is
running out of space so we really needto think twice about the amount ofwaste we are producing.
Pamela Chan
DP ESS/MYP Science TeacherV o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9“ T h e Co m et ”

My Journey into Slavery
Last semester, G10 I&S students completed a unit that was titled ‘Trade and Exchange’. In this unit,
the students looked at how trade and exchange can lead to cooperation or exploitation. One of the
topics studied focused on the Atlantic Slave Trade and how this crime against humanity had
elements of exploitation as well as cooperation.
After watching a few clips about this, the students were then asked to write an emotive narrative of an individual
being taken from their land and forced into slavery. Congratulations to Ena (G10B) for successfully penning adescriptive and emotive narrative of what it must have been like for one to be transported into slavery.

It was during the night. I had heard a rustle amongst the bushes that surround our small
compound, but I brushed it off as I thought it was a wild quail or a rabbit. Preparing to sleep, I
cleaned up the last remains of the fire when I heard it again. Only this time, it wasn’t so subtle.
Then whispers broke the silence. Through our thin walls, I could make out certain words such as“board” and “shackles”. I began to panic and quickly rushed over to my brother who was alreadyfast asleep. He groaned as I vigorously shook his body in hopes of waking him up. After telling
him about the voices outside our home, he sprung to his feet and grabbed… a weapon?
“Are they here?”, I questioned, praying that he would deny it.
“I’m not sure… I’ll go check. You stay here no matter what”.
With that, he headed towards the back door.
A minute passed. Then five minutes. Then ten.
I no longer stood around and went outside, careful to not make a sound. My brother was
nowhere to be seen. I suddenly felt an eerie aura that was creeping amongst the shadows of theforest, casted by the dim moonlight. As I turned around to head back, I shrieked when I saw aman pouncing on me with chains in his right hand. I frantically thrashed around as I felt
something clasp against my wrist. Two men lunged forward from the dark and held me down as I
screamed into a ragged cloth that was repulsive to taste. The moment my lungs started tocollapse, I felt myself slipping away into unconsciousness. Then it became pitch black.
An immense headache dawned upon me as I slowly lifted my gaze off the rocking ground.
Wait… rocking ground? I tilted my head to the side where I caught the glimpse of foreigners
tugging harshly on a chain. Confused, I lifted my gaze even higher where I saw the village
people wearing shackles, hands tied together, trudging across the uneven ground. I muffled ascream when someone fell to the ground, perspiration covering their forehead, getting whipped
almost immediately by the white men. Unfortunately, the man carrying me had sharp hearing. He
threw me off, not even sparing a glance, and began to pull on the chain that bound my hands
together. He lugged me across the forest floor as I lost the balance to stand properly. The
pebbles grazed my skin and I hissed as it dug deeper into the flesh. My feet were struggling to
get a firm grip on the ground as they sped up their pace, but when we reached the shore, I was
finally able to haul myself up.
It was when we were told to line up near the port…I saw him. If it weren’t for the restraints, I
would have run straight into him, engulfing my brother in a hug from both fear and joy. But that
did not stop me from yelling his name. While I struggled with the chains, I yelled, and yelled, andyelled. When he finally looked over to my direction, he widened his eyes and mouthedsomething, but I could not figure out what he was saying. A rough hand grabbed
my frail arms and pulled me back, making me jolt in horror. The last words I heard
were, “This is what happens to those who step out of line”. Then I saw black.
Ena (G10B)

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”Japanese New Year Party 2018–19
The annual KIST Japanese New Year Party
was held on January 30, 2019. The weather
was great, and the temperature felt warmer
than in previous years. It was an enjoyable
event, and everyone, including the Japanese
instructional team, had a great time.
As in previous years, there were many sumo
wrestlers who kindly joined us for the event.
This year KIST welcomed sumo wrestlers from
the Musashigawa stable and they performed
mock sumo bouts with the students. They also
helped with the rice cake pounding anddemonstrated how to make rice cakes for the
students. It was a great opportunity for KIST
and KIPS students to learn about traditional
rice cake pounding and to try sumo wrestlingwith sumo wrestlers.
Similar to last year, parent volunteers fromKIST and KIPS gathered to support the event
as well. This provided a great opportunity forthe parents to get to know each other better as
they served the pounded rice cakes to thestudents. At KIST, we hope to provide as many
opportunities as possible for parents to get toknow one another and build a strong
community, so we were pleased to see thesmiles on the faces of not just the students, butalso the parents as they worked together. We
would like to thank all the parents who came tohelp us; we couldn’t have done it without you!
This year’s New Year Party was a great
success again, and we look forward to holding
the event once again next year as we endeavor
to continue introducing Japanese traditions andculture to our school community. Thank you
once again to both the KIST parent volunteers
and the sumo wrestlers from the Musashigawa
stable for your support!
The Japanese
InstructionalTeamV o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9

Alice in Wonderland Jr.
Please come to KIST’s musical production of Disney’s“Alice in Wonderland Jr.”!
The shows will be held on March 13 and 14 at 5 p.m.
Each show will be performed at the Fukagawa Edo
Museum. General admission is ¥500 and tickets areavailable at the Elementary Office.
We had a successful musical showing of “Beauty and the Beast
Jr.” last year. We hope to see you all again at another amazingshow.
Here are the details:
Dates: March 13 and 14, 2019
Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Cost: ¥500 – Tickets are available for purchase at the Elementary
OfficeVenue: Fukagawa Edo Museum
Organizing staff: Robert Collins, Julian Dave, Emma Moulder,
Makiko DuranMain cast:
Sara (G11A), Yui (G11A), Conan (G11B), Justin (G11B), Ena(G10B), Thilo (G10B), Harunosuke (G8A), Ketan (G8A), Saanvi(G8A), Srinandhitha (G8B), Gini (G8B), Maya (G7A), Rintaro(G7A), Haruka (G6B), Sehyun (G6B), Hyun Seo (G5A),
Jacqueline (G5A), Riu (G5A), Ewan (G5B), Ji Min (G5B), Aina
(G4A), Arista (G4A), Ankita (G4B), Mirea (G4B), with the G4A
and G4B students
KIST Music Department

Orchestra ClubOn Friday, February 15, our orchestra club had avisiting conductor, Yohei Sato, a professional
conductor who lives in Boston.
We performed the last movement of “Pictures at an
Exhibition” for Mr Sato, and he gave an amazing
lesson to the orchestra members. He started out
lecturing us on how to tune our instruments, how to
sit properly, how to breathe together, and where tolook when playing. Even at our first tuning session
we started sounding like a professional orchestra!
Mr Sato will be back inJapan in June and will
be visiting here again tohear our performance.
Thank you very much,
Mr Sato!
Makiko DuranSecondary Music
Teacher“ T h e Co m et ”

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”

Mathematics Department News
Lesson on DP Mathematics and TOK: In
the shoes of Isaac Newton and Gottfried
Leibniz
One of the most remarkable developments in thecourse of mathematical history is calculus. Calculus isa study of change and it is one of the most basic andfundamental tools for modern mathematics. Today, it isapplied to a wide range of disciplines including
physics, engineering, economics, astronomy, computerscience, and more. It provides a framework formodeling systems and as a way to deduce possible
predictions of the outcomes. This remarkabledevelopment is credited to Isaac Newton and Gottfried
Leibniz who have said to independently discovered
calculus during the mid-17th century.
For the students,
calculus is one of
the most
anticipated topics
for their mathclass. By thestart of Grade 11,
students had
some lessons on
the basics of
calculus but werekeen to learn about its further developments and its
limitless applications. As IB Diploma students, students
were starting to be “knowledge seekers” and“knowledge knowers” through their Theory ofKnowledge (TOK) class and we therefore took thisopportunity to study the epistemology of calculus
through asking students to be in the shoes of Newton
and Leibniz.
Having done some prior research of the analyticalmethods used by of Newton and Leibniz, students
utilized a modern mathematical software called
GeoGebra to replicate their work. They used a basic
simulation tool available on the software to determine
the rate of change of a function (slope of the tangent
functions) for a range of x values. And with theirfoundational knowledge of calculus in mind, students
determined the derivative functions for sophisticatedfunctions they have not encountered before including
trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions.
After a few simulations, students were elated to
discover other patterns through exploring otherfunctional forms of their choosing.

As a culminating
exercise, students
were asked toreflect on theknowledge
construction
process
underlying thisexercise throughconsideringvarious TOKquestions such
as: Was calculus
invented or
discovered? How
did you utilize deductive or inductive reasoning? Whatways of knowing (WOK) were considered in the
exploration? What personal and shared knowledge canyou think of? As the activity came to an end, students
all seemed to have a variety of ‘aha’ moments alongwith true appreciation towards the IB experience!
Yugo Nakamura
IB DP Mathematics Teacher

Lesson on MYP Mathematics: Grade 6
lesson on coordinate geometry
Grade 6 students studied coordinate geometry in their
5th unit this year. Through this unit, we did a lot of
exploration; delving into our memories for the neededmathematical content necessary to build usefulformulae for the topic. We also linked our knowledge
from Science to talk about what variables are
independent and dependent.
One pivotal
lesson in thiswas to get us
up and moving!
We were givena scenario andthen had tochoose a side
Taking the time to read and think…
No need to rushof the room toshow Miss
Green whether
we thought it
was anindependent
variable,dependent
variable or if we
Deep in thought.
weren’t sure(that’s okay, remember we’re here to learn after all!).
There were some fantastic discussions amongst thegroup. At the start of the activity, the students weren’t
always in agreement, but by the end, we were all able
to confidently assess which variable was which, andable to give our reasons.

Continued on next page

“ T h e Co m et ”

V o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9Continued from previous page

Time for a bit of solo work! The students individually
worked with sets of variables such as “your cellphonebill”, moved them under the correct headings from“dependent variable” or “independent variable” andthen discussed with the people around us. There weresome that could have been in either column and it was
really interesting to discover how the other people
thought; it really opened our minds up more!

Now to put it into practice.

We were given a worksheet where we had todetermine the individual variables and then plot them.
We had done a similar exercise from the textbook the
day before, but after this lesson, we all felt a lot more
confident and were a lot more successful!
Louise GreenIB MYP Mathematics Teacher

Athletics Update
Winter season sports
Kanto Plain JV Boys Soccer
The JV Soccer Comets had a fairly successful inaugural season
with wins against St Mary’s, Lycee Francais (LFIT), and the ASIJ
B team. Unfortunately, they lost to St Mary’s in the semi-final
though they won once and tied one during the season. The coregroup consisted of G9 and G10 players, so the future looks
good. Great tactical work by Coach Hiro helped keep us
competitive.

U-14 girls basketball

ISTAA U-18 Basketball
Only a few games remain before the season-ending tournamentsthat will be held at LFIT and BST this year. Both U-18 teams arein the middle of the pack winning some and losing some. We
hope for a successful ISTAA tournament. Updates will come in
the next issue of The Comet.

ISTAA U-14 BasketballThis year, the U-14 Boys will be involved in an 8-team
tournament—the first time ever that so many schools will
participate. The Comets have done well in friendlies against
Kanto Plain B-Pool teams and ISTAA teams. Only a 4-point loss
to YIS and 2-point loss to Columbia in 6 games thus far.

U-18 boys basketball

The U-14 girls have just started up and will be participating in the
middle school girls Kanto Plain basketball season. Our Comets
have had a couple of friendlies so far against ISTAA opponents
and will have one more before the season gets started in early
March. The turnout has been higher than expected and we will
be putting in both A- and B-Pool teams.
Dennis Ota
Extra-Curricular Clubs and Athletics Coordinator
U-18 girls basketball

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19

Week of CodeDuring the first week of December
2018, KIST held its 3rd Annual Weekof Code event, in which we had anumber of speakers, workshops andpresentations from technology companies and experts fromaround Tokyo. Students from almost every year group had theopportunity to try new and exciting hardware and software andlearn from some of the leading experts in the technology field.
Some of the experiences included working with Adobe experts
using the new Adobe Suite, demonstrating their self-made Video
Game Controllers to a coding expert, working with EA Games toprogram their own 3D video game, or working with some of the
cutting edge technology being developed by Bunkyo University,
along with many more.
As part of the closing ceremony, KIST hosted the 2nd Annual Lego
Robotics RoboJousting Tournament. Students from schools acrossTokyo pitted their Knights on Robotic Horseback against thestudents from Grade 7 and the KIST Lego
Robotics Clubs. The competition was full of
unique and imaginative robotic designs allwith the purpose of charging down the field
to unseat their opponent’s Knight. Teamsfrom Yokota Middle School, Yokosuka
Middle School, and St Maur International
School all took part, but in the end it was
KIST’s own Lance (G7A) and Ruby (G7A)
Ruby and Lanceteam who took the win! Congratulations!
▲Week of CodeI feel that all the other teams madeexcellent robots, but what I think that I did
to my robot that let me win was my coding.
I made sure that it can follow the line andthat I used my creativity and imagination inbuilding it!”
Lance (G7A)“We had a lot of fun and it was great to see the students heavily
engaged for the full 90+ minutes that we had with them!”—EA Presentersb
Web

From Mr Tim for
KISTv▼The Week of Codevideo:
http://bit.ly/KISTWoC-2018▼Inter-school
RoboJousting video:
http://bit.ly/KISTLego-Jousting-2018▼Week of Codeevent website with fulldetails of all guest
presenters:
http://bit.ly/Code2018▼Lego RoboJousting Tournament

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V o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9

smartBowl 2019
On Saturday, February 9, twelve KIST Secondary students took part in a generalknowledge quiz called smartBowl along with students from some other international
schools in Tokyo. Two of KIST’s participants, Armaan (G9A) and Kishore (G9A) havewritten short excerpts about this event, and the information they provide illustrates how
well KIST students did. In fact, KIST won the overall school competition and you can
see the trophy in the display cabinet at the entrance to the school. Thanks to theorganizers of the event, SpotEd Japan, for providing our students with this opportunity!
Mark Cowe
Secondary School PrincipalT

he event kicked off with a shortpreliminary exam—20
questions, all written in considerationof the age of the participants. One
such question that I remember, andlaughed at with my partner Kishore,
was “Which celebrity, who not a while
ago held the title of “Most followed
Instagram account” was recently
taken over by an egg?” Fortunately
for us, all the questions were notdemanding, and could be answered
as long as one listened to or read thenews once in a while. The
quizmaster, Lloyd Saldanha, always
gave us hints, and in fact checked
our answers and told us whether wewere correct! All inall, it was an easyround, neverthelessenjoyable.”

Armaan (G9A)

It was incredibly exhilarating when the results wereout, since none of us knew who was going toqualify. As soon as we heard our name, still in shock,we proceeded to the stage. There were a total of 6
rounds of questions with audience questions in
between. Whichever questions that were notanswered by the 6 teams on stage were passed on
to the audience, and whoever got it right received asmall treat. Each round had a different type ofquestion/theme, and so kept us engaged. Once thequiz had ended, we proceeded back to our seats andwaited for the prize ceremony. From KIST, Ethan(G10B) and Siddarth (G10B) were first place,
Satoshi (G9B) and Shriyan (G9A) were third, andArmaan and I (Kishore) were fourth. There was alsoa school award that all schools aimed to receive, andin the end it was given to KIST! All
things considered, smartBowl was
an incredibly fun quiz contest, andwe hope to take part again next
year.”

Kishore (G9A)

25

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”

G9 Peer Support Leaders
G9 peer support leaders explain why they took up this role and offer some good advice!
Why did I become a Peer Support Leader?
I decided to become a peer support leader because I wanted to help my grade withany problems they have, and help them during hard and stressful times.”

Advice to my G9 peers
If you have any troubles that you can't deal with by yourself, there will always besomeone you know willing to help you out, you just have to gain the confidence to
ask for it.”

Minn (G9B)

Why did I become a Peer Support Leader?
I was constantly getting vibes of stress and tiredness from my fellow classmates. I
also wanted a way to contribute to the grade and the school community (other thanbecoming an SRC representative) and this was an effective method.”

Advice to my G9 peers

Mehak (G9B)

I know it’s hard not to procrastinate on assignments (we’ve all been there), but if
you take it step-by-step, that long English essay usually starts to look lessintimidating than it did before. Or you could try, you know, starting stuff earlier; thatworks better.”

Artscape 2019
Congratulations to all the students whose
work was exhibited in the Kanto Plain
Artscape exhibition this year. This annual
event provides a wonderful opportunity
for students from a range of schools andeducational experiences tocollaboratively exhibit their work anddemonstrate the wealth of creativity in all
young people. KIST students, as always,
Eujin (G6A)
took pride in their work and displayed awealth of skill both technically and conceptually in their offerings.
Luke Jones
MYP/DP Visual Art Teacher

Uri (G10A)

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27

KPASS Middle School Brain Bowl
Fun to be had by all!
On February 13, ten students attended the annual KPASS Middle School Brain Bowl, competing against each otherand other schools in many different quiz events ranging from buzzer rounds to novelty rounds, testing themselves onknowledge from academics to riddles to recognizing foods from different countries.

There were three groups who won medals, and two of our students were the winners: Arnav’s (G7B) team won
bronze, and Muskaan’s (G7A) team took home silver.

It was, and always is a fantastic day out, meeting new people and catching up with old acquaintances. In Grade 6–8
next year? Come along! You won’t regret it.

Louise Green
Supervisor

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”Japanese Haiku Contest
1st place awards
A haiku contest was held in Japanese classes for MYP
students from G6 to G10. Three students from different
language level classes participated in the contest as one
team. The theme was to introduce traditional or modern
Japanese culture through haiku and calligraphy.
Students chose the 1st, 2nd and 3rd best teams. Eachwinner received a certificate from Secondary School
Principal, Mr Cowe.
Congratulations to all the winners of the Japanese haiku
contest!

G6
Shuntaro (G6B),
Dia (G6A),
Aryan (G6A)

Kiyomi Kanazawa
Subject Area Coordinator—Japanese
G7
Yusei (G7A),
Han (G7B),
Neha (G7B)

G8Mariko (G8A),
Amey (G8A)

2nd place awards
G6

Takeru (G6B), Ryo (G6B), Shota (G6A)

G7Ryan (G7A), Charlotte (G7A), Leika (G7B)

G8Elina (G8B), Shin (G8A), Shiven (G8B)

G9Shiro (G9A), Advay (G9A), Eleina (G9B)

G9Sara (G9A),

G10 Ishaan (G10B), Sung Guk (G10B), Sidaarth (G10B)

Rei (G9A),
Lilike (G9B)

3rd place awards
G6

Hana (G6B), Dawon (G6A), Zayan (G6B)

G7

Ethan (G7A), Erika (G7A), Shaunak (G7A)

G8Tomoko (G8B), Junyung (G8B), Akanksha (G8A)

G9Makana (G9B), Andrew (G9B), Armaan (G9A)

G10 Alia (G10B), Sneha (G10B), Shangzhi (G10B)

G10Abhinava (G10A),
Kaoru (G10B),
Ian (G10B)

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V o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 929

Library News
Elementary Library
New – Posters using
Adobe Spark
Mr Tim was very busy with Adobe
Spark creating many new displaysfor decoration and to encouragereading in the Elementary Library.
He is from England and his
favourite book characters arenaturally Paddington Bear, Poohand Piglet. The K1B students
really liked them too!
Masaki (K1B) likes Eric
Carle books and posters.

Elementary Library news for students
Students in Grades 4 and 5 know how to
log into Teams with their KIST e-mail address andpassword.
bWeb

http://bit.ly/KIST-EL-News

LMC news for students
Students log in with their KIST e-mails address andpassword.
bWeb

http://bit.ly/KIST-LMC-News

LMC secondhand bookstore

Spark is part of the Adobe
suite provided by KIST to
students in Grade 8 andabove.

Elementary picture books—new easy touse filing system
A big thank you from Mr Tim and Ms Erika to the K1
staff: Ms Eri, Ms Claire, Ms Karen, Ms Cyril and Ms
Ioanna who very kindly volunteered their time toreorganize all the picture fiction.
Students can now find and file books all on their own.
Bright clear dividers organize the books by author,
which is the first initial of the author’s family name now
also on the front of book. The picture book section isalways nice and tidy!

Donated books from the DEAR and World Cultures Day
initiatives that are not required for the LMC are solddirect to students. All money raised will be spent on
new books for the LMC.
Donations are always welcome! Please contact thelibrary team in advance if you are making a special
journey with heavy boxes. Any book suitable for K1 toG12—fiction or nonfiction—will be gratefully received.

KISTv
Tsumugi (K1B) with a dinosaur
book from author
Timothy Knapman.

New!

Riu (K1B) with a book from
author Giles Andrea.

MS Teams for the Elementary Libraryand LMCFor new book arrivals, latest magazines, library events,
and recommended resources students may wish to
subscribe to the following news feeds from Mr Tim and
Ms Erika.

Videos of recent school-wide events by Mr Tim.
 Week of Codeb
Web
http://bit.ly/KIST-WoC-2018
 KIST Interschool Lego Jousting:bWeb
http://bit.ly/KIST-Lego-Jousting-2018
 Japanese New Year Party with sumo wrestlersbWeb
http://bit.ly/KIST-Spring-Sumo-2019
 World Cultures DaybWeb
http://bit.ly/KIST-WCD-2019-video
Tim Smith
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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19

Community Association (CA) News
Events Committee
The CA Events Committee held a First Aid Workshop on December 7, 2018 led by five rescue team members fromthe Fukagawa Fire Station. The 16 parents in attendance learned and practiced the basics of CPR and how to use
AEDs. Although the workshop only lasted one hour, we were able to learn a significant amount of information andgot the opportunity to practice these important skills.
CA Events Committee

IT Committee
The KIST Community Association (CA) has launched a new IT Committee this school year.
The committee now has seven members, each of whom have IT-related experience and knowledge. We held an IT
seminar on February 22, and we were very pleased to have more than 30 parents in attendance.
The members of the IT Committee aim to contribute to the school according to it’s mission, vision and guiding
beliefs by providing support in helping to build the best IT environment possible for students and families. The IT
Committee welcomes your enthusiastic participation!
If you are interested in joining a general committee or finding out more about the CA, please contact the CA Officers
by e-mail at ca.officers@family.kist.ed.jp.
CA IT Committee

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Secondary SRC
The Secondary SRC is excited towelcome new and welcome backcurrent representatives for the second
half of the 2018–19 school year.

Let your voice be heard

In December, elections were held for a new Executive
Committee to serve for the 2019 calendar year. It is ourpleasure to announce the new SRC Executives asfollows:
President: Akino (G11B)
Vice President: Nimit (G11B)
Treasurer: Michiko (G10A)
Secretary: Marlinah (G11A)
Public Relations Officer: Thilo (G10B)

the acapella group, Pentatonix. Following that
performance, Srinandhitha and Gi Jeong (G8B)
staged a lovely acoustic version of “Perfect” by Ed
Sheeran. Finally, a surprise performance from theG10B boys reenacting their performance from 2018’s
EYC of “Likey” by TWICE.
(Left>right) Nimit, Marlinah, Akino, Michiko, Thilo

The SRC also welcomes two new class reps, Riya
(G10A) and Kaoru (G10B), who joined to fill the spots
vacated by Michiko and Thilo when they joined the
Executive. The new Executive Committee looks
forward to working with the class representatives,
student body and the school administration to create abountiful, supportive and exciting learning atmosphere.
So far in the new year we have achieved some notedaccomplishments, the most recent success being the
SRC Valentines Dance. With an estimated 115
attendees across all secondary grade levels, the danceconsisted of snacks, desserts and performances, andwas filled with its finest Valentine’s décor. The SRC
representatives, directed by the executives incommittees, organized all aspects of the event. The
Food Committee served homemade brownies, popcorn
and the favourite of all social events: pizza. The
Decorations Committee came together to glorify thetheme of love, while the Events Committee organized
the complimentary photobooth and performances.
Lastly, the Logistics and Advertising Committee
oversaw the whole process as well as promoting thedance.
Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the evening were
the performers: Emily (G11A) performed an
exhilarating dance to “Shape of You x Despacito” bySpecial acknowledgement and thanks to the Arts andMedia specialized committees for putting together
advertisements and decorations in order to support the
SRC. We hope all the attendees had a great time!
Finally, using funds
raised in the autumn
free dress day(Denim Days!), theSRC has purchased
some new sports
equipment for the
students to use
during lunch recess!
This included two
soccer balls, threebasketballs,
eighteen
shuttlecocks and six
badminton racquets. The SRC firmly believes in thebalance of academia and dynamic activities to supporta healthy and active lifestyle in KIST. We hope thestudents can thoroughly enjoy the new equipment andencourage athletic activities in our student community.
The SRC looks forward to future events andopportunities for the student body.
Secondary SRC

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”

Nurse’s Notes
Influenza
Influenza (or “the flu”) has once
again swept through Japan thisJanuary. While the number ofcases of influenza at KIST has
decreased over the past few
weeks, reports of new cases arestill coming in. In fact, the flu
season can begin as early as October and end as lastas May.

What is influenza?

Treatment options


Influenza is an infection of the respiratory tract.
Influenza viruses are thought to spread mainly fromperson to person through tiny droplets of fluid madewhen people with the flu cough, sneeze or talk.
Occasionally, a person might get influenza by
touching a surface that has the virus on it and thentouching his or her own mouth, nose, or possibly
eyes.



Common signs and symptoms ofinfluenza














Sudden high fever (over 38 degrees)
Fatigue and weakness
HeadacheSore throat
Nasal congestion/Runny nose
Cough
Chills and sweats
Muscle or body aches
Loss of appetite
Vomiting/stomachache/diarrhea (These
symptoms are more common in children thanadults.)If you think your child has influenza, see a doctor sothat your child can take a flu test. It is especially
important for young children and people withweakened immune systems who think they may havethe flu to take the test, as an official diagnosis of
influenza can help their doctors make decisions about
their treatment.

Serious symptoms of influenza infection
in children












Breathing difficulty or shortness of breath
Worsening coughChest pain
Ear painNot drinking enough fluids
Not urinating at least every 6 hours when awake
Not waking up
Confusion
Vomiting for more than 4 hours
Severe diarrhea
Seizure (convulsion)






Antiviral medications
such as Oseltamivir(brand name Tamiflu),
Zanamivir (brand name Relenza), Baloxavir
marboxil (brand name Xofluza), and Laninamivir(brand name Inavir) can be prescribed by adoctor. These medications can be effective in
reducing the length of time you are unwell withthe flu, the severity of symptoms and reducing
complications. Antivirals provide most benefit
when taken within 48 hours of symptoms
developing.
Stay home from school, and stay away fromothers as much as possible to keep infection fromspreading.
Drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration.
Use a humidifier to make breathing easier.
Gargle with warm salt water to soothe your throat
if it is sore.
Get plenty of sleep to help your immune systemfight infection.
Wash your hands often to prevent spreading the
flu to others.

Warning
Antibiotics do not work for the flu. They treat bacterial
infections, while the flu is a viral infection.
Taking aspirin can cause serious complications of theliver and swelling of the brain (Reye’s syndrome) inchildren. Therefore, parents should not give aspirin tochildren unless instructed by a doctor.

Preventive steps











Cover your nose and mouth with tissues when
you sneeze or cough, or cough into your sleeveon your upper arm or elbow.
Keep hands clean: Encourage your child to wash
their hands with soap and water before eating andafter using the bathroom, coughing, sneezing or
wiping his or her nose.
Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers if soap andwater are not available.
Consider wearing a mask if your child has acough or sneeze.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes asmuch as possible.
Avoid sharing food, utensils, cups, water bottles,
towels and other items that could pass viruses.
Disinfect surfaces such as tables, chairs, door
handles and computer mice.
Encourage your child to keep water with them anddrink regularly if possible.
Practice good health habits including adequate
sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping
physically active, which can strengthen yourimmune system.
Continued on next page

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33

Continued from previous pageReduce the time spent in crowded settings if possible and keep your distance from people who show symptoms
similar to influenza, such as coughing and sneezing (try to maintain a distance of about 1 meter if possible).
Improve airflow in a living space by opening windows for a few minutes.

How long should I stay home with the flu?
According to the school health law, you should keep your child at home for a minimum of 5 days after contracting
influenza as the illness can be infectious for up to 48 hours after the fever has subsided. Furthermore, if your child's
fever persists, please keep him/him at home for another 2 days (for G1-G12) or 3 days (for K1-K3) after the fever
subsides.
If you have any inquiries, please feel free to contact me at yukiko.yamazaki@kist.ed.jp.
Yukiko Yamazaki
School Nurse

References: Centers for disease control and prevention: Influenza. (2019, Feb. 18). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

 Kids Health: Tips for treating the flu. (2019, Feb. 16). Retrieved from https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/tipstake-care.html

Migration Refugee Crises
On January 25, Mr Jordan Hattar
kindly visited KIST to speak to theGrade 9s about migration refugee
crises, and the human rights ofrefugees. This was a great
opportunity for all of us to deepen
our understanding of the current
unit, which was about populationand migration. Along with Ryuun
and Mehak from G9B and Shiro
from G9A, I was able to participate
in the discussion as a panel leader,
by asking questions that wereselected from each class.
Firstly, we got to learn about what
Mr Hattar does and how it connects
to the topic of the discussion. We
were amazed to learn that hevisited countries such as South
Sudan, Jordan or Syria, which areexperiencing refugee crises andconflict, to support refugees there.
He also spoke about the reality ofthese refugee camps that hevisited; feeble tents and families
and children suffering in harshenvironments. This was the firsttime that I realized thatorganizations such as UNHCR
wasn’t a power that could magically‘fix’ all these issues, despite its
efforts. Mr Hattar did various
activities to help the refugees, suchas providing caravans for those
who needed secure shelter.
However, the refugee crisis proved
to be very hard issue to solve, andas Mr Hattar has said, it seemed to
be going on for many years,

becoming a long-term issue.
The discussion turned to anotherperspective on this issue; refugees
in host countries. We knew thatseveral nations in Europe as wellas nations such as Turkey accepts
many refugees from places suchas Syria. On the other hand, welearned in our classes that mostrefugees tend to go to neighboring
countries which were low-income
countries. We asked questions
about whether high-income
countries should accept morerefugees and other questions about
host countries. Mr Hattar told usthat refugees can be thought asburdens to the host country, butthey could also be beneficial for thecountry and the refugees
themselves. He showed us a shortvideo about how refugees in
Europe were becoming able towork and live a better life andalthough at first it could bechallenging for them to live in acountry so far away from home,they felt happy that they were able
to live safely.
As the discussion came to an end,
we asked about how we could help
refugees and what was importantin supporting them. Mr Hattar had
told all of us about one thing that
he found very important insupporting refugees; sharing
stories. He spoke about when hemet refugees in many countries

and found that they all had stories
to share. Even if we couldn’t visit
the refugee camps or send
physical resources, one thing we
all could do is to listen to the
refugees and their stories andwelcome them in our community.
In summary, we had a very
meaningful discussion with Mr
Jordan Hattar, who shared with us
his experiences as a humanitarianand very detailed responses to our(challenging) questions. Later inthe day, he came to speak more
about his experiences with the
KIST MUN club members (which afew people from Grade 9 including
myself participated in). As a grade,
we really appreciate Mr Hattar for
coming to speak to us. Thank you!
Hanna (G9A)

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V ol u me 22 | I s s ue 3 | M arc h 20 19“ T h e Co m e t ”

MUN Conference
KIST delegates participate in Model United Nations
conference
On February 9 and 10, 34 KIST MUN delegates participated in theFifth Annual Japan Metropolitan Model United Nations Conference(JMMUN) at Senzoku Gakuen in Kawasaki. Topics that delegates
addressed included combatting populist nationalism, advancing thedecolonization of minor tribes, and promoting an understanding of
mental health. Congratulations to the following delegates who wererecognized during the conference:

World Health Organization
Committee delegatesThoughts from KIST MUN delegates:

Social, Cultural and
Humanitarian Committeedelegates

Hanna (G9A)

Best Delegate
SOCHUM Committee:
Nimit (G11B)
Delegate of Serbia

Best Position Paper
SOCHUM Committee:
Riya (G10A)
Delegate of Australia

Best Delegate
SPECPOL Committee:
Mehak (G9B)
Delegate of Gabon

Mehak (G9B)

T

I

After the committee debate sessions
ended, I felt very exhausted and relievedthat the debate was successful—at thesame time, I was able to reflect on how it
was such an unforgettable and amazing
weekend, especially when three KIST
students, including Mehak, won awards foroutstanding work (congrats)! As I headed
home in the light snow with some (both new
and familiar) friends, I found myself thinking
back to how fun it was, but most of all, we
all deserved a nice, long rest in bed.

My favorite part of the debate soon approached: theresolution making, the time where the real interactions,discussions and debates happened. Hanna and I, along with
two or three other delegates had taken the leadership role ofour ever-growing bloc, and it was quite difficult to manage somany unknown people at once, but a helpful lesson inorganization. Sadly, when it came to vote, none of the four
resolutions submitted by the committee passed, though ours
did come very close with a 28 in favor and 29 against vote.
The closing ceremony was a time for great celebration as
KIST students won three awards, and I was honored to havebeen chosen to be the recipient of an award that reallybelonged to everyone who had worked so hard in thedebate. I recall chattering tiredly on the long train ride home,cherishing the moments that had happened while also
looking forward to finally getting a good night’s sleep.

his year’s JMMUN was anotherenjoyable and memorable experience
for me. Since it was my second time
participating in the event, I saw manyfamiliar faces as well some new ones,
nevertheless all set to jump into MUN-styledebate. At first, I was excited yet anxious tostart debating, especially when my delegate
country was Antigua and Barbuda (a small
nation in the Caribbean, which is prettymuch unrelated to Kurdish or Palestinian
conflicts). After a few speeches, I got more
comfortable sharing my nation’s standpoint,and discussing with people from various
schools. It was a very hectic processcollecting ideas from 20–25 delegates andpossible solutions for the issue, but it wasworth it! Although no resolutions werepassed, it was a valuable debate that
helped us gain more knowledge about thecurrent world as well as debating and public
speaking skills.

t must be said that participating in an MUN conference
where everyone truly wants to contribute to solving reallife world issues is enlightening and an extremely valuable
experience. This was my second time as a solo delegate
representing a country and though it was hard, I enjoyed it alot. Just like Hanna, I was quite anxious during the opening
ceremony as the debate became inevitable, and I feared
going up to the front of the large auditorium to speak topeople whom I had met just then as a representative ofGabon (a country that I, to be honest, did not know muchabout). However, like always, the logical side of me took oversoon after I first spoke, though I was still very nervous andself-conscious. I was very impressed by the confidence andintuitive knowledge of the other delegates about selfdetermination and secession histories as well as policies andit was a learning experience beyond anything. It felt as if thefirst day was over too quickly though we were all exhausted
by the end of it.

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V o l u me 2 2 | I s s u e 3 | M a rc h 2 0 1 9

Staff 10!
In this month’s Staff 10!,
we are pleased to present
Catherine (Cat) Wells
who joined us in August
2015 as an ELS instructorin the Elementary School
before moving into ateaching position in
August 2016. She iscurrently the classroom
teacher for K2A.
Ms Cat enjoying the festive1) Tell us somethingatmosphere in her classroom.
interesting about yourhometown.
I am from a small village in England called Cranfield,
located in Bedfordshire. The name means ‘field of
cranes’ and it is so old it is mentioned in theDomesday book. There is a road in the village that is
supposed to be haunted by a ghost called Lady
Snagge who had her head chopped off by robbers!

2) What is your favorite place in the world?
I am lucky to have been able to spend many years
backpacking around the world and have experienced
many wonderful places, but one of my favorites is
Hampi in India. This a world heritage site that has
miles and miles of ruined temples, shrines and waterfeatures. Wandering around the ruins of a bygone era,swimming in the river and watching the sun set fromthe top of a mountain was a magical experience that I
will never forget.
3) Who would you like to meet if you had thechance and why?
If I could meet one person it would be Christopher
Hitchens. He was an English philosopher, novelist anddebater, famous for his strong views, although he wassometimes controversial. I am a great admirer of him
for his eloquence, oratory and his clarity of thought
and action on freedom of speech, secularism andraising arguments that others would not dare to go
near. The most important lesson from Christopher
Hitchens is to question everything, which is a skill
which I believe everyone should aspire to.
4) Do you have any special skills or talents?
I don’t have any extraordinary talents but as I studied
art at university, I am a proficient painter andillustrator. When I lived in England, I was a graphic
designer and also used to illustrate for magazines andnewspapers so had plenty of chance to experimentwith different forms of art.
5) Please share a little known fact about yourself.
I have been a vegetarian/vegan for the past 27 years. I
turned vegetarian when I was young because I did notwant to eat animals anymore, and I have not eatenmeat since. This can be challenging in Japan, acountry famous for amazing fish and meat!

35

6) What is your most prized possession?
I am not a materialistic person, but one thing I could
not live without is my kindle. I am a voracious reader
and I am never happier that when I am nose deep in astory. My idea of a perfect afternoon is drinking tea
and reading my kindle, under a tree in summer, or on
my sofa in winter…bliss!
7) Which IB learner profile attribute do you mostclosely identify with and why?
I identify strongly with being open-minded. To travel,
live and work in a country that you did not grow up inrequires you to be open to others’ perspectives andappreciative of different cultures. Throughout mytravels I had always been aware that diversity makes
the world such a wonderful place.
8) If you could live your life again, would you doanything differently?
I would not change anything and try to live my life withno regrets. If we are the sum total of our experiences,
those experiences—be they positive or negative—
make us the person we are, at any given point in ourlives so why would we want to change them?
9) Is there anything you are trying to learn/improveabout yourself at the moment?
I am always trying to improve so many things!
Currently I am trying to improve my yoga practice,learn the Chinese flute and to be in contact moreregularly with my friends and family around the world,
despite time differences making it really challenging.
10) Do you have any special message for yourfans?
Only that I love coming to work and that my K2
students make me smile and feel grateful andprivileged to spend every day with them.

Office Updates
Requesting documentation
We would like to remind all families of theprocess of requesting documentation such as proof of
attendance statements, letters of recommendation,transcripts and copies of school reports.
All documentation requests are coordinated through theschool office. To request documents or the completionof forms required for admission to other schools(including summer or other specialist programs), please
complete the Documentation Request Form at thelink below and submit it to the office. Please do not
approach individual teachers regarding letters ofrecommendation.
b

Web http://www.kist.ed.jp/node/5
Please be aware that documentation may take sometime to prepare so please be sure to submit yourrequest as far in advance as possible.

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Spotlight on Clubs
Scratch Programming Club (Elementary)
In 2013, I participated in the first Learning Creative Learning massive
open online course (MOOC) offered by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group
within the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), the same researchers who created Scratch. Since then, they
have adopted the principles of Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play toinspire young programmers to enjoy learning computer science.
I am delighted to provide a space for KIST’s passionate Elementary programmers tomeet, practice, and share their projects. It is my hope that these experiences will help thechildren to feel empowered to use technology to explore their creativity and contributemeaningfully to society.
For more information on the Learning Creative Learning
MOOC, please visit:b

Web https://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl
And to see our club members’ completed Scratch
projects, visit:b

Web https://sway.office.com/LNo6PopC5hwHXOec
Bartholomew Miller
Club Supervisor

Acroyoga/Rueda Club (Secondary)
Want to fly? With acroyoga, you can! Acroyoga is the combination of
yoga and acrobatics; think doing yoga-ish poses on top of someone
else’s feet. It’s played in groups of 3: one base, one flyer, and one
spotter for safety. Progression is very gradual so that everyone canfind his/her own challenge. Acroyoga is about having fun andbuilding connection in a safe environment.
Fun and connection are also at the center of Rueda. Rueda sharesthe basic salsa count you all know, but with a slight twist: we dance
in a big circle and execute pair or group figures at the same time –think synchronous swimming, but more fun and relaxed, and to
upbeat salsa music.
The acroyoga/rueda club is organized in two halves: 30 minutes ofacroyoga, 30 minutes of rueda. Here is what club members have to
say about their experience during semester 1:
Our first meeting with Acroyoga and Rueda felt
unbelievably fresh with massive curiosity and excitement.
As we learned new things about them, the amusement
along with the entertainment grew larger and larger. It was
like we could visit a new world, a world that we had nevernoticed before.”
Florent Debouverie
Club Supervisor

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Alumna Report
Jamie is an alumna of KIST’s “Class of 2015.” She is currently
in her fourth year at Nagoya University and is majoring in law.
Hi everyone! My name is Jamie, a
student from the Class of 2015. I
hope some of you remember me, or
if not, nice to meet you! I am
currently enrolled in one of Japan’snational universities, Nagoya
University (NU), majoring in law.
This will be my fourth year here, andI hope to share some of my stories
with you.

occasionally (everyone made niceyummy sweets). When I was tired
from homework, I could always
knock on my friends’ door and spendsome time there. Unfortunately,
because the dorm was only offered
to first-year students, everyone,
including myself, had to move out inour second year, but overall, it was
truly a wonderful experience.

Four years ago, around this period, I
remember myself studying for the
DP exams, while writing personalstatements for universities andattending university fairs. My
encounter with Nagoya University
was actually at one of the university
fairs held at KIST. What attracted myattention to NU was its G30
program, a program where allclasses are held in English. Wanting
to continue my education in English
even in university, and having aninterest in law, I decided to apply for
NU’s G30 law major.

Academically, I feel that the G30
classes provided at NU are what I
wanted when I enrolled into
university. Class sizes are small (20–30 students) and the professors areclose to the students. I especiallylike my seminar classes where theclass sizes are even smaller (below
10 students) and I can research
about issues that I’m personallyinterested in. For example, in one of
my seminars, I researched about art
deaccessioning and law. Of course,many classes require commitment.
Schedules regarding tests,
presentations and essays arepacked tight, extensive studying andtime-management skills are needed,
but I felt I learnt a lot from theseclasses. This year, I was also
allowed to take law classes offeredin Japanese, so I decided tochallenge myself and took theJapanese constitutional and civil law
class. I guess this is an advantage of
NU’s G30 program, because I get tolearn both international andJapanese law.

Enrolling into NU also meant living a
new life. For more than 10 years, I
had been living in Tokyo with myparents, but in the autumn of 2015, I
moved to Nagoya and started mynew life at the dorm. The dorm
provided me a place to make friends
with students not only from law, butalso from other majors. I got to meet
people from different countries withvarious backgrounds, which allowed
me to continue to immerse myself in
an international environment.
Dorm life was indeed a lot of fun! In
my year, seasonal parties andcooking competitions were held

In front of the canteen at Nagoya University
with friends and sempai (Jamie, left)

In my third year, using NU’s student
exchange program, I went abroadand studied at Fudan University.
This allowed me to brush up my
Chinese, take law classes that were
not offered in NU, and again, makenew friends. I even got to experiencesomething I never imagined I would
do in my life: talking to Chinese vets,
typing up Weibo posts, running
across Shanghai streets with friends,
a box in our hands, trying to save asmall kitten’s life.
As for my club life (called “circles”),
wanting to start something new, I
joined a band club and with local
students, I was successful at
performing on stage! Through theseexperiences, I feel that both NU andthe people at NU, have supported

Studying with friends at Fudan University(Jamie, center)me academically and socially.
Now, back in Grade 12, I rememberthat a lot of my classmates applied
for universities in the US and UK,
and I was only one of the few
applying for universities in Japan(mainly because of school fee
issues). I remember myself being
worried, because I was not taking apath similar to my classmates andalso because at that time, there
wasn’t much information about NU’s
G30 program, let alone the G30
program itself. However, after
spending three years here, I can saythat I am satisfied with my choice.
Currently in my fourth year, I am
starting my job hunt. Here, I have to
say again, that I am one of theminorities. Many of my friends are
moving back to their countries andothers are applying for Masters, but
this time, I am confident.
Because now I understand, that
wherever you go, there will be help,
only if you take the initial action. So
lead your own life and stay positive.
Regardless of which university you
decide to enroll in, there are somany more things to gain than justgraduation requirement credits.
Life is long, and as long as you don’t
stop moving, there will be
opportunities to be successful. Don’t
stress out, and I wish you all the
best!
Jamie
KIST Alumna, “Class of 2015”

Travelling to the Great Wall with friends in
China (Jamie, center)

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