The Comet

The Newsletter of K. International School Tokyo

Since 1997

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

In this issue...
Facebook: Friend or Foe?…p. 2
College Acceptances…p. 3
On Stage with Joseph…p. 4
WASC Accreditation Visit…p. 4
Spring Welcome Party…p. 7
Sunshine for the Children…p. 9“Youg
you g ive but littlive
It is w e of your p when
Funding a Cure for Cancer…p. 10ohKIST in the News…p. 11
yours en you giv ssessions.
eelf thaChildren’s Self-Discipline …p. 12
t you of—truly g
Kahli
The Physics of Floods…p. 13
ive.”l GibrBasketball Season…p. 14
anArtScape 2011…p. 15

From the Head of School
Greetings to you all! Much has transpired since the last issue of The Comet,
with the first semester exams over and done and the second semester wellunderway. During the past month, the recruitment of teachers for next year has
been the primary focus. I am pleased to report that a very experienced groupof teachers have been hired, most with advanced degrees and IB experience.
While it is always sad to experience changes in staff, it is comforting to knowthat qualified and experienced teachers will be replacing the void left by thoseleaving KIST. Big shoes to fill!
The primary issue that I would like to address in this message is the tuition
letter that went out to parents on February 8, 2011. Many of you expressedthat the tuition increase was quite sudden and unexpected, while others of you
expressed concern over the reasons cited for the increase. I would like to takethis opportunity to address some of your concerns.
First of all, the message about next year’s tuition was distributed hurriedly inorder for recent applicants to be able to make informed enrollment decisions. I
was not aware that this letter was sent out and therefore did not have theopportunity to proof it, or I would have tried to provide a more detailed
explanation. It would have been optimal for you as current parents to receive athorough explanation about the tuition increase first, and on behalf of theschool, I apologize that this did not occur.
The School Handbook states that “tuition and other fees need to be adjusted
from time to time. Before adjustments are made, notification will be given as far
in advance as possible.” Given the mission of KIST to offer an affordable
education, meeting expenses with receivable income has been an ongoingissue, and as a result, efforts are underway this year to implement a budgeting
process to more adequately balance income with expenses, and a financial
plan to more predictably ensure financial sustainability.
The operating budget of a non-profit international school is derived primarily
from tuition and fees paid by parents. Establishing an appropriate budgeting
process this year has been a time-consuming but necessary endeavor, and thetuition and fee schedule for next year was established as part of this process tomore adequately meet expenses.
In addition to the budgeting issue, KIST has begun the process to earncredibility as an accredited international school. The preliminary visit will occur
in April, and then will follow a two-year self-study to address specific criteria in
all areas of the school.
Continued next page
KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for Life KIST Learning for LifeDATES TO REMEMBER

March 21:
Student-led conferences
March 25:
No clubs on this day
March 26 − April 3:
Spring break
April 4:
School resumes
April 5 − 7:
WASC accreditation visit (see p. 4)
April 5 − 11:(G12) DP mock examinations
April 11:
Clubs resume from this week
April 16: **Date changed!**Spring Welcome Party (PTA) (see p.
7)April 18:
School photographs (New andabsent students)
April 22:(G12) Semester 2 reports issued
April 28:
School newsletter issued
April 29 − May 8:
Golden Week vacation

2

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

Continued from previous page

To meet accreditation requirements, we will need to
substantially improve specific resources and programsin several areas of the school, to include the library,applied and performing arts, technology, PE facilities,
enhanced math/science program, governance, school
nurse, language support, etc. Such improvements will
require substantial additional funding in areas thathave previously been under-funded.
To improve resources, programs and facilities, it iscommon practice in international schools toperiodically raise tuition and fees, and some do soevery year. In the case of KIST, added to this is theneed to establish a sound budgeting process andensure financial sustainability, and the need to berecognized as an accredited international school. But

at the center of all efforts are our students, for thefocus of everything we are doing revolves around
offering them enhanced opportunities to increase theirlearning, develop their talents, and ensure they leave
KIST as global citizens prepared for life in the 21stCentury.
I hope I have addressed some of your very legitimate
concerns, and please don’t hesitate to contact me if
you would like to discuss this further.
With warm regards,
Nanci Shaw, Ph.D.
Head of School

Facebook: Friend or Foe?
We have all heard of Facebook
and many of us are addicted to it.
There are many different social
networking sites on the Internet
today, but Facebook is possibly themost popular. Did you know:
People on Facebook
 More than 500 million active
users.
 50% of active users log on to
Facebook in any given day.
 Average user has 130 friends.
 People spend over 700 billion
minutes per month on
Facebook.
Activity on Facebook
 There are over 900 million
objects that people interact with(pages, groups, events andcommunity pages).
 Average user is connected to
80 community pages, groups
and events.
 Average user creates 90 piecesof content each month.
 More than 30 billion pieces ofcontent (web links, news
stories, blog posts, notes, photo
albums, etc.) shared eachmonth.
[All information was taken directly fromwww.facebook.com]

But did you also know that if you
are under the age of 13 it isillegal to have a Facebook
account and you are breaking
Facebook’s terms of agreement bygiving false information to
Facebook?
KIST is very concerned about how
some students are using Facebook
and we are asking parents for their
help. Facebook is a great way ofconnecting to friends all over theworld and sharing PERSONAL
information. But when theinformation or statements turntowards each other or adults, thisis where Facebook is our foe.
I’m sure that every student has had
something said about them on
Facebook that they wish hadn’t
been. How do we stop this fromhappening again? It is interesting
how we would never say thesetypes of comments to each other’s
faces, but students feel it is okay to
say them for millions of people tosee! This is the biggest problem
with Facebook, when we make anegative comment to someone inperson we can see how they reactand most times stop! Humannature! But on Facebook, we don’t
see how they react so we continue
with the negative comments.
KIST will not tolerate misuse of
Facebook and any kind of bullying
towards students or staff members.
We ask parents to be involved with
their child’s account and talk withthem about proper behavior on
Facebook.

REMEMBER, FACEBOOK IS
PUBLIC FOR ALL OF YOURFRIENDS TO SEE AND IF YOU
DON’T WANT THE SCHOOL OR
ANYONE TO KNOW ABOUTSOMETHING, THEN DON’T PUT
IT ON FACEBOOK.
Here are a couple of simple hints
for parents about Facebook: Please check your child’s
privacy settings on Facebook:under Account - Privacy
Settings - Sharing on Facebook- make sure that only Friends
can see your child’s information.
 Parents should know your sonor daughter’s password andshould monitor Facebook
activities.
Robin Schneider
Secondary School Principal

“The Comet”

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 20113

College Acceptances and Conditional Offers
The letters begin to arrive
Our Grade 12 students are beginning to see the resultsof their hard work in November and December
preparing college applications. The notification season
has begun and thus far, KIST students have fared very
well. There is always a certain amount of apprehension
as the letters and e-mails arrive; providing that warm
reassurance that you, as a student, have promise, orworse, being advised that you are just not right for acertain college or university. KIST students have comeaway in this early round of offers and acceptances
feeling very good about themselves.
From the American schools, we have acceptances andscholarship money from:
Pacific Lutheran University
Michigan State University
University of Southern California
Our students also have acceptance letters from:
Purdue University
Worchester Institute of Technology
From the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, our students
have received conditional offers from:
University of Sheffield
University of Manchester
University of Leicester
University of London (Royal Holloway)
University of Kent
University of Sussex
University of Leeds
University of Saint Andrews
Kingston College

KIST’s Karate Kid
On December 19, 2010, Anna (G8A) competed in the
5th Annual All Japan Junior High Karate Hamanasu
Tournament in Tatsumi, Tokyo.
First, players compete at a tournament held every
summer. The top eight competitors from Grades 7 and
8 (Junior High School 1st and 2nd year) then compete
in the all Tokyo tournament. From these eight, twocompetitors were then chosen to represent Tokyo at
the national tournament that will be held at the end of
March in Hokkaido. Anna was chosen as on of the two
representatives for Tokyo.
At the national tournament, which is one of the largest
tournaments in Japan for this age group, Anna will becompeting against two representatives from each of
the 47 prefectures.
We congratulate Anna on her selection, and wish
her all the very best in Hokkaido!

In the case of the UCAS colleges
and universities, offers of
acceptance are conditional based
upon their final IBO exam grades.
So our students are very happy tohave the offers, but know that theymust perform well on the end ofyear exams to ensure a seat at the schools. The
American schools have guaranteed a seat for the
students providing they do obtain their IB Diploma.
The waiting, as well as the letters and e-mails, willcontinue to arrive for our students through the Spring;
The Japanese and many of the Asian schools will send
their announcements in late Spring and up until the endof July. Then the decision as to which school to attend
must be made and the parents begin the process ofrealizing their children will soon be off to newadventures.
In the College Guidance Office, we are still busy as theGrade 11s and 10s begin the college search. Thus far
this year we have had 25 colleges and universities visit
the KIST campus and talk to our students. As always,
parents are encouraged and invited to attend thesesessions. The information is posted on the College
Guidance Counseling Moodle site. Parents and students
can always drop by and e-mail the counselors: Mrs
Keiko Okude (k_okude@kist.ed.jp) and Mr Michael J.
Wagner (m_wagner@kist.ed.jp).
Keiko Okude and Michael Wagner
College Counselors

4Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

On Stage with Joseph
You may have seen posters up around theschool advertising the Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat musical that is coming
to Tokyo in March. I am very proud to announce
that we have nine (9) KIST students that worked
very hard to make it into the children’s choir forthis special US stage production. They havebeen very busy practicing
every day after school for the
past three weeks!

The players...
Keri (G4B)
Ibuki (G5A)
Riko (G5A)
Yi-Ting (G5A)
Jaime (G5B)

Seina (G5B)
Wataru (G5B)
Hee Won (G7A)
Su In (G7B)

In order to show our support towards The Arts aswell as our KIST community, the Grade 2 to 5
Elementary classes have been given the opportunity
to attend on Monday, March 14 and the Secondary
students on Saturday, March 12.
If you would like more information on the event,please visit the following site: http://hpot.jp/joseph
or feel free to e-mail me at the address below.

Performance schedule

Enjoy the show!
Erin Hoover
Elementary Music Teacher
e_hoover@kist.ed.jp

Preliminary WASC Accreditation Visit
We have received word from Dr. Marilyn George,
associate director of Western Association of Schools
and Colleges (WASC), that she will be visiting KIST
for the preliminary accreditation visit from April 5 to 7,
2011. This visit will include scheduled meetings withparents, students and staff, as well as the Board of
Directors to explain the accreditation process and to
gain input about the school.
The purpose of the initial visit is to determine ongoing
improvement and assess the readiness of KIST for
initial accreditation. With a focus on student learningand well-being, the criteria for initial accreditation areorganized into four categories:
 Organization and Governance Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
 Support for Student Personal and Academic
Growth Resource Management and Development
Within each category are specific criteria that must be
met. Depending on the level of mastery, KIST will beawarded one of the following:
1. Initial Accreditation Status, in which the school
will be fully accredited for a period of one to three
years, pending completion of the all-school selfstudy.

2. Candidacy Status, in which the school is moving
toward accreditation but is not fully accredited
pending evidence of planning and resources tomeet WASC criteria and completion of the allschool self-study.
3. Denial of Accreditation, in which the school does
not meet WASC criteria. The school may reapply
pending evidence of planning and resources tomeet WASC criteria.
After the initial visit, a report will be generated thatassesses the school’s readiness for initial accreditationand offers recommendations for improvement. This
report will be available to the KIST community once itis received.
The award of accreditation provides quality assurance,
university recognition, ongoing school improvement,international credibility, and an improved school for thewhole community. The driving concepts of an
accredited international school include being: Mission driven and vision led
 Focused on student learning and well-being International and intercultural
Nanci Shaw, Ph.D.
Head of School

“The Comet”

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

Elementary School News

Elementary Science

Mr Brunton’s Corner

Science Skills:
Vocabulary(Science words)

Do you want to learn more about what is happening in
the Elementary School, find resources to help at homeand do not want to wait until the next issue of The
Comet? If so, then “Mr Brunton’s Corner” is the place foryou! The site is new but we are continuously building iteach week to provide parents with the information they
have suggested we share more of.

Scientists use
scientific words to
explain what they
have observed andexperienced. So weneed to: Describe characteristics/features of objects andevents accurately.
 Talk and write about what we observe.
 Use scientific words such as observation, prediction,
data, diagrams and measure when we record ourscientific findings.
Cool science fact #4:
The earth isn’t perfectly round; itis slightly fattened at the northand south poles.

Ms Homerlein, our PYP Coordinator, posts information
about the program, her informational sessions, andanswers to other common questions. To see somequick news and photos about Elementary School eventsand events in other classes, please visit the Elementary
Events section. Ms Hoover, our Early Childhood
Coordinator, has made some postings, too, which
parents have found helpful. You can also learn more
about the Student Representative Council, as well asview some resources for math, science and IT.
If you have not received the e-mailed announcements
sent from the site roughly each week, please make sure
you update your e-mail address in your profile section
on the site and enable it.
Be sure to check your class’s site weekly as theteachers have been working very hard to keep you
informed. Please let me know if you have anysuggestions on how to make this resource even better.
Greg Brunton
Elementary School Principal

Read-a-thon 2011
I hope everyone is finding room in their day to read!
Just a reminder that the organization we are supportingis RoomtoRead.org.
Also, March 7 is Book Character Day – dress as yourfavourite book character. Each class will parade in theircostumes during the morning assembly. Good Luck!!
Diana Hudson
Elementary Literacy Coordinator

Susan Lee
Elementary Science Coordinator

Mathematics Skills andTechnology
In mathematics, it is essential that students learn thebasic skills in order to progress to more complex
calculations. Even though this often requires thememorizing of basic number facts, it doesn’t have to beboring! With the use of technology we can make it fun,enjoyable and rewarding.
For those of us lucky enough to own an iPhone, iPod
Touch or an iPad, there are many applications which
can be easily downloaded, and many are free.
There are also numerous free math games available
online. Below are just a few examples to help you andyour children get started!
http://www.kidsnumbers.com/
http://www.prongo.com/games/
http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
http://www.coolmath4kids.com/
Kevin Yoshihara
Elementary Mathematics
Coordinator56

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

ICT @ KIST
(and around the world)
In this issue, I wanted to share with you one of mysecrets to staying informed about and connected to thelatest technology innovations in schools from aroundthe world. My secret is the SmartBrief on EdTech enewsletter.

SmartBrief on EdTech is a daily e-newsletter designed
for education stakeholders such as teachers, parents
and school administrators with an interest in the
education-technology world. SmartBrief EdTech editors
become your personal research assistants,
handpicking, distilling and disseminating the best, mostuseful news from a wide range of sources from aroundthe world.
Some of the latest headlines from SmartBrief on
EdTech: Can iPads engage students in reading?
 How teachers can use Twitter Social-networking tool for tweens is headed toschools
 Schools face challenges in adopting digitaltextbooks
 Could schools go all-digital by 2015?
 How to make the most of Skype in the classroom
 Schools find no easy answers on cyber bullying
SmartBrief on EdTech e-newsletters are FREE, simply
sign up by visiting:

http://www.smartbrief.com/edtech
Erwin Dumenden
Elementary Technology Integration Coordinator
Grade 3 Teacher

Influenza Prevention
Recently, all students andstaff in the school received
a box of 60 face masks
through a generous
donation from the family of
one of our Grade 2
students. With an increasein the number of cases ofinfluenza throughout the
winter season, we sincerely
thank the family involved on behalf of the whole schoolcommunity for this very timely and thoughtful donation.

Staff 10!
In this month’s Staff 10!, weare pleased to present MarkCowe who joined KIST in2007 as our DP Coordinator.
Mr Cowe also teaches
History and Theory ofKnowledge (TOK).

Mr Cowe in action at theGrade 10 camp.

 Tell us somethinginteresting about your hometown.
I am from Edinburgh in the UK. I believe that the regionof the UK that Edinburgh is located has the most golfcourses of any similar sized region in the world. What agreat excuse for a visit!
 What is your favorite place in the world?
It would have to be the Himalaya in Nepal. You feel like
you are on the roof of the world.
 Who would you like to meet if you had the chance
and why?
I think it would be Nelson Mandela. Everything I haveread or heard about him has been so positive it would
be amazing to have the chance to meet him in person.
Imagine spending almost thirty years of your life inprison and still having the compassion and hope that
he has for humanity.
 Do you have any special skills or talents?
For some reason, I don’t have any problems breathing
in thin air! When I go really high in the mountains I
don’t seem to feel different at all. The top of Mt. Fuji
was no different to the bottom!
 Please share a little known fact about yourself.
My arms are too long for my body! Seriously, I wasborn with one leg longer than the other. In fact, when I
was 14, the difference was 5 cm! However, thanks to
the wonders of medicine, I had an operation when I
was at high school which made them much more equal.
As a result, I think that doctors and people who work in
hospitals are some of the most important professionals
in the world.
 What is your most prized possession?
I have a calendar which my family in the UK sends meat the start of every year. It has the birthdays of all myrelatives overseas on it so I don’t forget to send
messages of congratulations. I would be lost without it!
 What words would you use to describe yourself?
Positive, enthusiastic, sociable.
 If you could live your life again, would you doanything differently?
I didn’t travel outside of Europe until I was 21. I shouldhave taken more advantage of overseas exchanges
and study programs when I was at high school anduniversity.
 Is there anything you are trying to learn/improveabout yourself at the moment?
I am trying to complete another university qualification
in international education in my spare time. This isproving tough to balance with a full time job at KIST.
Keep it quiet but I had to ask for an extension for one of
my assignments...
 Do you have any special message for your fans?
Be yourself and take advantage of the opportunities
that life will present you.

“The Comet”

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

Library News
Sakura Medal program

KIST Sakura Medal
Current most frequently borrowed titles

Until April 23

Students may now borrow books aspart of the Sakura Medal program run
by international school libraries inJapan. Students in participating
schools decide the most popular bookfrom a selection chosen by school
librarians from books published in the last three
years. For every five books read, students mayplace one vote, so they are encouraged to read as
many books as they can. More information about
the program, book reviews and comments from theauthors, all of which are updated daily, may beviewed at the website shown to the right.

Picture Book Chapter Book Middle School High School

http://www.sakuramedal.com

Database online trials
We are trialing the Britannica School Online program until the end of March, and the World Book Online programfrom March to April 4. The websites can be accessed from outside the school using the usernames and passwords
given below. The sites features up-to-date definitions and offers links to related websites, so please take advantageof the programs for the remaining period. After trying out the programs at home, please let us know if you have any
thoughts and opinions. We are also planning to trial the Grolier Online program from Scholastic in the near future.
Britannica: URL: http://school.eb.com | Username: kist | Password: m28uy9wp
World Book: URL: http://www.worldbookonline.com | Username: ibridge | Password: primrose

Book recommendation
What kind of organization is “Room to Read” which supports the Readathon? The
founder, John Wood, quit a key post at Microsoft’s international division and set out toimprove education in developing countries. What was his turning point, and what were
his reasons for establishing “Room to Read”? Two books that outline his experiences
are currently available for viewing in the Junior Library in both English and Japanese.
Satoko Yoshimoto
Librarians_yoshimoto@kist.ed.jp

Spring Welcome Party
The PTA Steering Committee
and KIST Parent Partners (Class
Parents) are joining forces to plan
the annual Spring Welcome Party
for families new to KIST, as well
as for current families and staff.
The event will take place on
Saturday, April 16 from 11:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and everyone
is encouraged to come and enjoya time of meeting friends andmaking new ones. So bring yourblankets for a picnic on the grass. Bento boxes may
be pre-ordered through the café, or you can bring yourown lunch. Drinks will be available to purchase. Moreinformation will be forthcoming about food orders, butplease mark your calendars now!
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011 (Date changed due topreparation for the Tokyo election on April 9)
Time: 11:00 − 2:00 p.m.
Venue: KIST on the GreenPTA Upcoming Dates
 Wednesday, March 16 (9:00 − 11:00 a.m.):
Spring Welcome Party planning Wednesday, April 6 (9:00 − 11:00 a.m.):- Spring Welcome Party planning- WASC accreditation with Dr Marilyn George
 Wednesday, April 27 (9:00 − 11:00 a.m.):
PTA officer nomination meeting Wednesday, May 11 (9:00 − 11:00 a.m.):
PTA officer nomination meeting Wednesday, May 18 (6:30 − 8:00 p.m.):
PTA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (for allparents)
KIST and PTA news, PTA
Constitution, election of
2011-2012 PTA officers

78

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

Office Updates
Student withdrawals



If you are planning to withdraw your child from KIST at
the end of March, please submit a Student Withdrawal
Form (available from the school website Contact >>Forms page) directly to the office as soon as possible.

Furthermore, if you require documentation such asrecord of attendance statements, copies of school
reports and the like, please request these using theRequest for Documentation Form also available fromthe school website. Please note that the charges forthese documents have been reduced.

Winter wear
We would like to remind you thatduring winter, all accessories suchas scarves, knitted hats and gloves
must be plain black. These items
are available to purchase from theschool reception at a low cost.
Scarves/Knitted hats: 300 yen
Gloves:
200 yen

Parents are required to bring their parent ID cards
on every occasion when visiting the school andscan them at the gate.
Cards may not operate correctly if scanned on topof other cards (e.g. Pasmo, Suica). Please separate
the school ID cards from other cards before
scanning them.
Students or parents who have lost their cards are
asked to apply for a replacement at the school
office as soon as possible.

School support program (SSP)sign-up procedures
Both the sign-up sheets and rosters for
SSP duties are always distributed to allfamilies in the school community via the
E-Communications e-mail system in thefollowing months:
Sign-up sheets: February, May, November
Final rosters: March, June, December
If you are not receiving these e-mails, please be sure tocontact the office.

Lost and foundDuring the winter months, there has been an increasein the number of lost uniform items. If your child has lost
any items, please check the “Lost and Found” box
beside the school reception counter.
There has also been an increase in the number ofstudents taking uniform items belonging to otherchildren by mistake. Please check that all uniform items
are clearly marked with your child’s name so that they
can be returned.
Please be aware that all items remaining in the Lost
and Found box at the end of April will become
donations to the next KISTival bazaar.

Use of ID cards
We again remind all families that it is compulsory foral students from Grades 1 through 12 to scan theirschool ID cards at the entrance gate every morningwhen they arrive and every afternoon when theyleave, regardless of whether or not the gate has been
opened by someone else. In addition to reasons ofsafety, the records of scanned cards are used to double
check students who may have been marked absent by
their homeroom teachers.
Other reminders for using ID cards:
 School bus users are not required to use theircards; however, on days when they do not catchthe bus, they must scan their cards at the gate.
 Students in K1, K2 and K3 are not permitted to use
or carry school ID cards. Parents of students inthese grades are asked not to allow children to use
the cards due to the dangers involved in opening
the entrance gate and leaving the campus alone.

Smiles for Yeon Soo
Toward the end of 2010,
Yeon Soo (G10B)
participated in an
English speech contest
held at Daito Bunka
University. The theme of
the contest was“energy”. Based on thistheme, the title of Yeon
Soo’s speech was “TheTransparent Wall”. She
spoke about the energyof smiling and how it canmake the wall between
people transparent.
Due to her efforts,
Yeon Soo wasawarded…

FIRST PLACE
Congratulations
Yeon Soo on yourwonderfulachievement!

“The Comet”

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

Sunshine for the Children
My name is Karlee from Grade
10A. Last year I was able to visit
an orphanage in Pattaya, Thailandand volunteer to work for the
Habitat for Humanity Organization.
During my winter vacation, I went
to Thailand again with my mother.
We went to a unique kind oforphanage called SOS Children’s
Village Bangpoo, in Thailand(Bangpoo is just outside of
Bangkok). We visited for a few
days, and gave a donation of food.
The orphanage is a small village
with 12 houses for the 125 children
who live there. In each house,
there is a ‘Mother’ and 8 to 12
children. The Mother takes care of
the children as if
they are herown, and loves
and cares forher family. At
the Bangpoo
Village, there isa kindergarten,a small library,and smallplayground forthe children to enjoy. The
village is almost 40 years old,so many of the things they
have there are old and needreplacing.
This brings me to my Personal
Project. Every Grade 10
student do a Personal Projectin their final year of the MYP. I
dedicated my project to making
a website called Sunshine for
the Children, which will let our
KIST Community know about thechildren’s needs, and how we canhelp. In the future, I will continue to
use the website and plan
fundraisers to raise money for the
SOS Children’s Foundation. In the
future, I will also be advertising
fundraising events and offering
chances to earn C&S points or
CAS hours for the older students at
KIST.
I had a wonderful time visiting theChildren’s Village. I was able tosee the inside of a family’s house,and play with the children. I was
also able to play basketball withsome of the children.
My website is not yet fully
functional, but please take a look.
The URL is below.
Please feel free to contact me if
you have any questions. My e-mailaddress is on the website.
Karlee (G10A)

http://www.sunshine4thechildren.weebly.com

Grade 5 UNHCR Excursion
In December, as a part of our Where We Are in Placeand Time unit, Grade 5 went on an excursion to the
UNHCR, which stands for United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees. KIST was the firstinternational school to visit the UNHCR. Mrs Shimada
showed us a DVD called “Working with Refugees –Activities of the UN Refugee Agency” which was inEnglish. After that, another bilingual commissioner did aquestion-and-answer session with us. We had so manyquestions that we ran out of time!

with educationand skills
needed for
future jobs intheir new homes
or when they
return to theirhome country.
UNHCR helps
all types of refugees such as asylum-seekers, statelesspeople and returnees.

Below is some of what we learned at the UNHCR. We
We learned so much at the UNHCR. If you would like tolearned a lot of things, and as a result we all thought welearn more about refugees and the UNHCR pleasewant to help the refugees. Some ways that we can help
speak with any of the Grade 5 students or visit
is donate money to the UNHCR who will give it
the websites below.
to refugees in need in the form of practicalitems for them to use. Just 500 yen can buy a
The UNHCR also donated a copy of the DVD weblanket or 3 buckets of water or 10,000 yen
were shown to the school so all KIST students
could build a house for a family. The UNHCR
can learn more about refugees.
also gives clothes to refugees. Other
companies such as the famous clothes store
Ibuki (G5A)"Uniqlo" also helps the UNHCR by providing
recycled Uniqlo
clothing to the
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home (English site)
refugees. UNHCR
http://www.unhcr.or.jp/protect/index_e.html (Japanese site)
helps refugee children

910Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

KIST Community Helps Fund Cure for Cancer
Pietro is twelve years old, thechampion of a maths competitionin Washington in the USA. Thisboy is remarkable because heparticipated in the competition justfive days after he had brain
surgery for medulloblastoma, atumour in his brain. While keeping
up with chemotherapy andfrequent MRIs, he continues towork hard at school and loves toski. Every night, he prays forchildren who don’t have supportive
family and friends like him. Pietro,
this remarkable boy with amazing
potential, deserves to live a full life.
Yet, one in five children diagnosed
with cancer don’t survive. It is for
Pietro and children like him that webegan our latest SRC project, toraise funds for St Baldrick’s
Foundation, which sponsors
research for cures to children’s
cancer. It is for them that the SRC
Executive Council: PPO, Matt,
Ryosuke and Shreya, have agreed
to shave their heads if we raise
300,000 yen.
The incredible generosity ofteachers and staff, students andtheir families and friends, havehelped us raise 150,000 yen
already. PPO and Matt are,therefore, already scheduled toshave their heads! If we raise
300,000 yen, all four of us will gobald.

New looks for Shreya,
Matt, PPO and Ryosuke?

What convinced us to let go of ourhair for this cause? PPO’s cousindied of cancer at the age of
sixteen. He wants to help others
live a full life. Matt believes it’s theright thing to do. Ryosuke went
through some turmoil before
making a decision, but he also saw
that a child with cancer would
value a life-saving cure more thanher hair. Shreya thinks it’s the least
she can do, if it will inspire others
to contribute to cancer research.
All four of us, whether male orfemale, are not going to use wigs
or hats to cover the shiny, bald
result of this inspiring project.

funds for this project, and theshaving of the four SRC Executives
will take place then – please comeand see! Ms Erin’s shaving will takeplace at the Elementary School
assembly. But, it is in your hands
whether we shave or not! Please
help to make this dream a reality.
Thank you!
Shreya (G12)SRC President, on behalf of SRC
and Ms Hoover

Ms Erin Hoover, the Lower School
Coordinator and Elementary musicteacher, has taken the same bravedecision. A donation race, with one
donation box for her to shave, andthe other for her to not shave, will
decide whether she takes theshaver to her head or not.
We thank everyone who has
helped us already, and encourage
you to spread the word to yourfriends and organisations – we are
accepting donations from anyone.
They can be sent directly to our
account on the St Baldrick’s
website, or put in one of ourdonation boxes at school, or sent
to the office. We are going toorganise a dance party to raise

The current and possible
future face of Ms Hoover

“The Comet”

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

KIST in the News

Live @ Edu

On Monday, February 21, “The Nikkei” newspaper(Nihon Keizai Shimbun) published an article on theincrease in the number of Japanese students studying
at overseas universities. The article, which appeared on
the front page, included reference to international
schools in Japan, and in particular, KIST was
mentioned and a photograph featuring a number of ourSecondary students in a mathematics class was also
included. An outline of the main points from the article
is provided below.

As part of KIST’s ongoing effort to support your childwith his or her studies and school life, KIST will
implement Live@Edu for the whole school community.

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












Dissatisfied with the Japanese education system,
more and more people are heading to universities
abroad.
A student who was accepted by both Tokyo andYale University, initially entered Tokyo-University,
but found that he had reservations on the structureof the lectures, and so decided to transfer to Yale.
At K. International School, 80 percent of theJapanese graduates who are able to go on to a
Japanese university end up going to a university
abroad.
There have been seven new international schools
established in Japan in the last 10 years.
In South Korea, over 50,000 elementary school
students studied abroad.
From this Spring, Panasonic and IHI will employ
more foreign graduates.
At a company which had 60,00 applicants, as little
as 60 of them had the fundamental skills that thecompany was looking for. In particular, there was a
decline in arithmetic ability.
To solve this problem Waseda University arereceiving guidance from a designated high schoolin China, and they no longer require applicants to
speak Japanese when taking entrance exams fortheir science and technology department. They
intend to increase the number of oversees students
from the present number of 3700, to 8000.
It is vital that Japan, too, has a strong universitythat can attract students from all over the world.

Live@Edu is a free, easy-to-use Microsoft Outlook
Live e-mail service that also includes access to otherprograms and services, including Windows LiveSkyDrive™ which provides a significant amount of
online storage. One of the main reasons this service
was chosen was the integration with the current KIST
IT infrastructure including Moodle and Office 2010. For
more details about these services please see theseparate supporting documents sent together with thisissue of The Comet (English only).
In order to roll out this service in the smoothest
manner possible, we will begin with three pilot
programs, one each for Secondary students,
Elementary students and parents. Our Secondary pilotgroup is G11 and G12; the Elementary pilot group is
Grade 5 and the parent’s pilot group will be our newly
formed PTA steering committee. Our goal is tounderstand the needs and demands of the schoolcommunity as we strive to keep everyone connected
and streamline communications.
As we gather feedback from our pilot groups, we plan
to roll out Live@Edu across the entire schoolcommunity in time for the start of the next school year.
We would like to inform the school community that weare also planning a major upgrade of our school
network in the next couple of months; in particular ourwireless network will be upgraded so that we will beable to provide wireless Internet access to all membersof the school community. More details will be released
at a later date.
For more details online about Live@Edu, please see
the links below.
Englishhttp://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/free-emailaccounts.aspx?locale=en-US&country=US
http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/software/
live-at-edu.aspx (English only)
Japanese
http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/free-emailaccounts.aspx?locale=ja-JP&country=JP
Robert Whittaker
IT Software/Hardware
Coordinator

Photograph taken from The Nikkei newspaper online
edition, February 21, 2011

11

12

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

Helping Children Discover Self-Discipline
Children’s misbehavior canbe frustrating and disturbing
for adults, but we also see it
as an opportunity to teach, achance to model selfdiscipline and character.
Emotional development, likeother learning, takes time and learning opportunities.
And children, being the excellent imitators that they are,will follow our example – for better or worse.
If we yell at children, they will yell; if we hit them, they
will hit. Or they will become perpetual victims of others’
aggression. We get better results when we discipline
calmly and teach our children to express their feelings inacceptable ways. When teachers share, children share;
when parents are courteous, children are morecooperative.

yourself, others, or things. For
example, to stop a child fromhitting another child, kneel andcalmly state, “You may not hit
Ben. People are not for hitting.”
Then add, “I know that you are
angry. Can you tell me why?...
OK, how can you let Ben know that you want to use theblue car?”
Offer choices: “Do you want to brush your teeth now, or
do you want to brush after we read a story?” “Whatwould you like, milk or juice with your snack?”
Ignore certain behavior, like cursing or stomping, if it is
not harmful. A child will quickly learn that he will gain
nothing by acting up. On the other hand, he will learn
that good behavior gets results and favorable reaction
from grown-ups.
No matter what we adults do, there are times whenchildren lose control. Aggressive acts may call for
removing the child from the action in a brief time-out.
However, a time-out period may backfire if used in thespirit of punishment (“Go to your room right now!”) The
point is to give the child a few minutes to cool down.
Those minutes come in handy, too, for helping afrustrated parent or teacher
cool down – and think ofwhat to do next!

Here are a few things that we do in the classroom; theyalso work for parents.

Erin Hoover
ECE Coordinatore_hoover@kist.ed.jp

Be clear and consistent. Set and discuss rules andconsequences. Rules should be clear, simple and few.
Some adults have only one basic rule: You may not hurt

Computer Programming in Grade 5
The Grade 5 students are currently working on a “Programmingand Math” unit in which they are learning how to create simple
computer programs which can calculate multiplication tables
and the area of geometric shapes.
Our ultimate goal is for the students to be able to program theirown “Janken Game” using the skills they are developing.
The students are using a freely available Microsoft program
called SmallBasic (www.smallbasic.com) which is designedwith beginning programmers in mind.
Who knows, one of our students could be the next Bill Gates!
Christian Thompson
Education Technologies Integrator

“The Comet”

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 201113

The Physics of Floods
Damien Igoe was a physics and mathematics teacher in the Secondary School from 2006 to
2010. After leaving KIST, he returned to his home country, Australia, and is currently living in
the Lockyer Valley area to the west of Brisbane. Below, he shares with us his account of thefloods that ravaged the south-eastern corner of Queensland earlier this year.
Hi everyone at KIST from Mr. Igoe
in the Lockyer Valley, Queensland!
I am now living in a town with lesspeople than a Tokyo train in rushhour!
It is amazing how fast time flies, it
has been about 8 months since I
said my farewells, left Japan andreturned to Australia. In that time, I
finished the Masters degree thatmany of you saw me doing, andmany helped me with. Also in thattime, alongside so many people inthis state, I faced nature's fury withthe devastating floods that you
may have heard of in the news.
This was no ordinary flood; there
was no warning as a wall of water
several metres high ripped throughmuch of the Lockyer Valley. The
town I live in is on a hill, so wewere not directly flooded, but wewere completely surrounded andhad local landslides (including
across the street from my home).
The main highway was cut due tothe flood waters washing away theroads, or flood waters completely
covering the roads or landslides
blocked the road. All other roads
suffered the same outcome. There
was a time when the supermarket
down the road ran out of things likemilk, bread and fresh fruit; thishappened all across the Valley.
Many people were stranded andcould not get home.
The skies here were filled with
Army helicopters as theyevacuated the entire population of
the next town to us, of 300 people.
The Army were amazing,alongside the Police, State
Emergency Services and so many
people—they were there for us.
These floods also affected the
major cities of Toowoomba andIpswich, and parts of the capital of
Queensland: Brisbane sufferedsome damage due to the flooding.
The flooding covered threequarters of the state ofQueensland. The cyclones
occurred further north, but also
caused considerable destruction toplaces like Townsville and eveninland to Mt Isa (find a map ofQueensland and look up theseplaces and you will see what Imean).
Thankfully, the waters subsided
and the roads started to open andsupplies came back to thesupermarket shelves. However,homes, businesses, schools andsuch were damaged, some werecompletely washed away, and somany people were in dire need ofhelp, just to get back on theirfeet—in some cases, to start allover again. But this is where awonderful thing happened:volunteers, possibly over a million,
went in and helped clean up. They
helped their family, friends,
neighbours and even strangers toclean up. It seemed that everyone
did their bit. I did my small bit: I
spent a day in a tractor workshopthat was flooded and helped
clean the mud and clear thedamage.
Then I went with some friends
to an evacuation centre in aplace called Helidon, thatalong with Grantham andMurphy's Creek, was utterly
destroyed, and donatedclothes, food, soap, towels,
and many other things. I
remember when this elderly

Although this immediate area was not flooded, we
still had a “sheet” of water rush over the backyard.

gentlemen
tried on oneof the shirts,
it fit him
perfectly, he
Mr Igoe without his beard
came up to
and moustache.
me and told
me what happened to him and his
wife: He was in Grantham, theworst hit town, about 30 km west ofwhere I live. He saw the wall ofwater shatter his home, and heand his wife just got out of their car
before it was washed into a river.
They arrived at the evacuation
centre only owning the clothes thatthey were wearing—and now, he
has a very nice shirt! There are somany true tales like this that havecome out of this disaster, mostly
tales of hope - where people,
instead of feeling sorry forthemselves, joined in as avolunteer to help someone else.
Over a month has passed since
the floods, and the damage, evento areas near here is still clear tosee, entire farmlands are still
covered in mud, debris still litterssome paddocks, Grantham is still
cut off. Many roads are still
wrecked, but are now passable. It
may take a while to fully recover,
but the people here are strong andresilient and will rebuild. Everyone
here has changed from this event,including me—I am closer to myfamily than ever before and am
more willing than I have ever been
to go and help a relative, friend ora stranger in need.
I sincerely hope all my friends andeveryone at KIST are well, and to
all you students, I hope you keepon doing your best; challenging
yourselves and being the best you
can be.
See you all around,
Damien Igoe
Secondary Teacher, 2006-2010

14

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

“The Comet”

Basketball Season 2010-2011
Basketball at KIST this term has
been very busy with all four teams
having plenty of games andtraining sessions.

Boys
The boys under 18 team, coached
by Mr Bates, had three warm-up
games before Christmas against
Lycee Francais Japonaise (LFJ),
the American School in Japan(ASIJ) and Aoba-Japan
International School. With two wins
and one loss heading into theregular season, the boys were fullof confidence.
The first game of the season wasagainst Columbia International
School. Despite missing several
key players, the team put in a
spirited performance, eventually
going down by 12 points. Afterbeating the British School in Tokyo
comfortably in the next hit-out, wewere ready to attend the annual
Yokohama Invitational Tournament
hosted by St Maur International
School and YokohamaInternational School. Again missing
five key players, we put up very
good performances against
Yokohama International School,
Osaka
International
School andInternational
Secondary School(ISS), eventuallyfinishing in fifth
place. After a weekwith no games, wewere ready for ourdouble header
home games
against CanadianInternational School and KAIS,
winning both games very
comfortably. After another win
against ISS we were ready to face
the might of Columbia again on

their home court. After a very
impressive game where all players
played their part, we eventually lostby eight points. With one gamebefore the play-offs, we are
currently sitting on second placeon the table and are positioned
very nicely to make an assault on
the ISTAA Basketball Title.
The team has been well led bycaptain Maung Pyay Phyo (G12)with Brandon (G11) grabbing many
excellent rebounds and scoring
impressively in tight situations.
Tyson (G7A) and Salam (G8B)
have shown that KIST basketball isin safe hands in the years to come,and Adam (G9B) has provided
valuable support scoring many
scintillating baskets.

GirlsThe girls under 18 basketball team,coached by Mrs Spring, began
their season with a warm-up gameagainst the American School inJapan (ASIJ) before Christmas.
The girls showed some good signs
for the season ahead but were
outplayed against an older moreexperienced team. The girls’
season opener was against
Columbia International School at
home. The girls again showedsome very good signs anddisplayed some excellent
teamwork, eventually going down
narrowly. The girls showed great
dedication attending training
sessions two or three times a week
including many morning practices.
We ventured over to Yokohama toplay in the Yokohama Invitational
Tournament hosted by St Maur
International School andYokohama International School.
We played three games against
the Yokohama International
School, St Maur International
School and the CanadianAcademyKobe; all of thegames were
well fought out
with the girls
displaying abrilliant performance against the
Kobe side going down by one point
in a nail biting finale. After a narrowloss to Canadian International
School, the girls recorded their first
win of the season against
International Secondary School(ISS). The girls have been well led
by Shifa (G10B), Sara (G10B), Ria(G10B) and Mei (G10A). Monica(G10B) and Karlee’s (G10A)
rebounding and defensive efforts
have been excellent. The G9 girls
Michiru, Naishi, Erika, Gina, Nina
and Emma will ensure that KIST
remains a strong basketball force inthe years to come. Well done to all
girls who have played thus far thisseason and we wish them the bestof luck in the coming weeks for theplay-offs.
I would like to give a huge thankyou to Mr Bates and Mrs Spring fortheir efforts with the coaching thisyear. They have not only given up
countless hours before and after
school, but also on weekends.
Without your dedication andcommitment, the school basketballprogram would not be as successful
as it currently is. I would also like tothank all of the students led by Miku
(G9B), who have assisted with thescoring, shot-clock, time-clock andfouls for each of our home games
this season.
The under 14 boys and girls season
has just begun and there will be areport in the next newsletter.
Will Spring
Head ofPhysical
Education

Volume 14 | Issue 4 | February 2011

ArtScape 2011 Opening Party“The Comet”

15