AAS Sofia
Weekly Newsletter
Volume 21, Issue 11
Nov. 7, 2014
Upcoming Events
5 Nov-8 Nov: HS
Boys Soccer
Skopje; HS Girls
Helsinki
11 Nov:
Remembrance
Day, Veteran’s
Day
From the Director’s Desk
Dear Anglo-American School Community / Уважаеми родители и приятели на ААУ,
Something to Ponder
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
Crescendo
Today, I had the pleasure of observing some of our grade three students extract strands of
DNA from strawberries (see accompanying photo). This is a great example of an inspiring
classroom lesson – I am guessing that very few of us as parents were conducting DNA
extractions when we were school, let alone grade three. Each week AAS is a hub of
learning in its many forms inside the classroom – the same holds true outside the classroom.
Next week we bring the hub of learning to a mid-November crescendo.
• Students from around Bulgaria come to participate in the World Scholars Cup @ AAS
• Teachers from around Europe come to AAS to engage in professional development
around literacy
• The First Trimester Middle School Arts Showcase takes place
• The CEESA region’s largest athletic event – cross country – is hosted at AAS
• All students and staff participate in the Terry Fox Run to raise support for cancer research
Numeric Palindrome
Today is seven eleven, in that it is the 7th day of the 11th month. This coming Tuesday is
eleven eleven, in that it is the 11th day of the 11th month. Mathematicians and poets alike
1. From the Director’s often like the rhyming sound and symmetry of dates like eleven eleven. The number 11 has
some unique characteristics. In language we are familiar with palindromes – words or
Desk
phrases that are spelled the same way forward and backwards. For example, “racecar” is a
2. From the Director
palindrome. Numbers, as magical as they are, also have palindromes, and the number 11 is
of Teaching and
particularly curious. For example,
Learning
•
Two (2)
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3. ES News
•
Six (6)
654,321
4. News from
•
Nine
(9)
987,654,321
Secondary Athletics/
Activities
Lest We Forget
5. PTO
This Tuesday, November 11th is Remembrance Day. Depending on your country of origin
6. Announcements
you may also know the day as Veteran’s Day, Armistice Day, or perhaps another name.
7. FAQ
Regardless of the name, on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month people take
8. Gallery of the
pause in memory of those who lost their lives in military service whilst serving their country.
Week
Red Poppies are a symbol of this homage. The poppy often accompanies the phrase “lest
we forget.” Remembrance Day ceremonies often include the poem, In Flanders Fields
(shared to the right). In recent years AAS has been an active participant in an annual
Poppy Appeal. On Vanya’s desk, as you enter the school, you may have noticed the signs
related to the poppy appeal – perhaps you have provided a small donation in order to get
a poppy of your own. Money received is converted to Pounds Sterling and forwarded to the
Royal British Legion who administers the Poppy Appeal Fund in support of ex-service people
in need of assistance around the world.
Inside the issue:
(continues on next page)
www.aas-sofia.org
Anglo-American School of Sofia, P.O. Box 31, Sofia 1784, Bulgaria Phone: (+359 2) 923 8810, 923 8812 Fax: (+359 2) 923 8859
AAS
Weekly
From the Director’s Desk, cont.
Over time, Remembrance Day has also become a day to remind us of the importance of peace
as well as service. Unfortunately, rarely does a day go by in which media does not remind us that
parts of the world (some very close to our AAS families around the world) are not at peace. For
those of us fortunate enough to live in wealthier countries, including here in Bulgaria, this day may
also remind us of the many wonderful things in our lives and opportunities our children have, for
they are fortunate not to be growing up in the immediate presence of conflict or war. This day is a
day to appreciate the wonders of our world and lives - to pay homage to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in hopes of making the world a better place for future generations – to think and
act on what we may do as individuals or groups in service to our classmates, colleagues and community, to make the world a better place.
In Partnership,
Jim
Jim Urquhart Director - Anglo-American School of Sofia
From the Director of Teaching and Learning
Dear parents,
It was a sincere pleasure to meet and talk with many of you at our Grading and
Assessment Parent Coffee this past Monday, at which we discussed standardsbased grading as an alternative to traditional practices.
Research shows that traditional grades tend to be imprecise in communicating
student learning. One of the best ways to consider this is through the lens of two
students who earn a "B" in a traditional grading system.
One student might seldom complete homework, not pay attention in class, and
puts forth little effort. However, the content comes easy to him or her and they are
able to earn a "B" for the course.
A second student struggles, but tries very hard. He or she uses many strategies to
earn every possible point, including extra credit, which isn't necessarily tied to
content learning standards. This student also earns a "B".
We know very little from those "B"s about what was actually learned, or whether the
two students are indeed comparable in terms of their skills and knowledge.
With standards-based grading, both learning differences and the development of
strategies for improvement become much clearer.
You can see the entire presentation here.
Please join our next parent coffee on Monday, November 17 at 9:00 a.m. Math
expert Erma Anderson will be here to talk about math education.
I look forward to seeing you at a future coffee or parent talk!
Warm regards,
Shary, [email protected]
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From the Director of Teaching and Leaning
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ES Shares: Technology @ French
Continuation: Students Teaching Students - whole class coding
instruction 4,000 miles apart
Last Friday, we had our second “students teaching students” event. The whole
Grade 5 Intermediate French group had the
opportunity to teach peers in the USA to help our
foreign ‘students’ take their coding and
programming skills further. Once again our little
‘teachers’ transferred their knowledge that they
developed while creating interactive French
vocabulary games for our less advanced language
learners.
Along with gaining a plethora of technology skills,
the students have reached levels of independent
and self-directed learning not easily achievable by
traditional teaching and learning methods. Students have significantly
improved the use of French expressions. They can now use language learning
tools, such as dictionaries, purposefully and build more complex constructions
confidently.
The project will reach its culmination on the 22nd of November, when our
‘students-teachers’ will deliver a remote interactive workshop for the audience
at the ECIS Conference 2014 in Nice, France.
We would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Samantha, the Grade 5 teacher,
and Mr. Gagnon, the technology integration coach, at Stratham Memorial
School, NH, USA for the wonderful collaboration. We look forward to hear back
how the ‘students as technology leaders’ project develops in their school.
Enjoy our photo gallery!
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Technology @ French, cont.
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ES News, cont.
Kindergarten Students Visit Bulgaria in Miniature Exhibition
This past week Kindergarten students visited an exhibition with
models of famous buildings and landmarks in Bulgaria. The
Bulgaria in Miniature Project was initiated by Sunnie Sununski and
Stephanie Ratcheva in 2005 . The scale models were created by
a team of Bulgarian artists and were completed with small
human figures to add to the lifelike effect. The exhibition offers
an overview of Bulgaria’s cultural and historical heritage, a
journey through centuries and events - from the magnificent
Cape Kaliakra to the mysterious Rila monastery, from the
historical mount Shipka to the glorious Turnovgrad, and all the
way to the country’s capital Sofia. For the past years the
exhibition was displayed in several towns in Bulgaria
and throughout Europe.
This field trip was an opportunity for kindergarten
students to explore materials, their qualities, and various
uses as part of their science unit. Ms. Kate wanted to
draw their attention to the 3D models of houses in
Koprivshtitsa and Melnik as an introduction to an
upcoming BCS project on traditional houses.
The Bulgaria In Miniature is on display on the second
floor of the Central Department Store (ЦУМ) until Jan.
30th 2015. Free entrance.
Gr. 5 Taking a Glimpse at Contemporary Art
Next week Gr. 5 will have the opportunity to meet American contemporary artist Brian Dailey
whose work is currently on display at the National Art Gallery. He will visit
Ms. Mariangela’s art class for a short presentation and discussion with
students. Fifth graders also visited the gallery to look at his artwork.
“Brian Dailey has been part of the US government responsible for the
Space program. His art is conceptual and makes people think about
important human values. I believe his exhibition was an unique occasion
to have a closer look at contemporary art and to reflect on it at a very
high level. He surprised us with his ‘tableaux vivants’ and dreams. Although
he doesn't draw or paint, he makes his viewers perceive his ideas through
a deep emotional experience,” said Ms. Mariangela. Special thanks goes
to Ms. Desislava Moneva, member of the parent community, for the
opportunity to host a meeting with Mr. Dailey at AAS.
Learning about Cooperation
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Students in grade 5 developed their understanding of cooperation by first
looking at how early man worked together to be successful.
Students used this illustrative content to identify the concepts,
values, attitudes and beliefs important to a successful
cooperative group. Afterwards, they developed a
cooperation checklist that was later used for self-reflection. In
order to deeply understand the complexities of cooperation,
students were immersed in cooperative activities. After each
activity, they evaluated their cooperative strengths and areas
for improvement by using the cooperation checklist, then they
added and revised the checklist. As a summative task,
students were asked to develop an event for "The Cooperation
Olympics" that taught the participants something new and
important about cooperation.
Students Share
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Weekly
The MS Girls' Soccer team traveled to
Belgrade, Serbia on October 30 to compete in
the CEESA tournament. Overall, their record
was four wins and two losses, earning 5th
place out of 8 teams. The girls played
Fantastic, and their placement in the
tournament does not do them justice. The
team received many compliments from the
Athletic Director in Belgrade, as well as other
coaches, telling them how well they played as
a team, and how much they hustled.
The girls placed second in their pool after
Friday's games. On Saturday, they played
Helsinki and lost a heartbreaking game to
penalty kicks. Because of this, the team was
placed into the second bracket, where they
beat Belgrade B and Latvia.
Throughout the tournament, the team had
seven different players score - Olivia , Sophia,
Hannahs, Andi, Kristin , Anastasiia, and Lili.
Captain Julie helped lead and control the
defense, while Co-Captain Petya saved
many shots as a first time goalie. Abby and
Shivani controlled the ball on defense and in
the midfield, setting up key opportunities for
the team. All of the girls played well and
showed great improvement over the two day
tournament.
Gallery on the following page
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Students Share, cont.
Students Share, cont.
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Students Share, cont./Announcements
Tutors needed for AAS students
Are you interested in maths? Are you a good writer? Are your physics
skills gathering dust when they could be put to good use?
If you have an academic strength and like the idea of working with
young people (ES through HS), please consider becoming a tutor to
AAS students. You will be doing a deed by benefiting our community.
And while you won't get rich, you will put a little jingle in your pocket.
Tutoring has been done at school, at the student's home or at the
home of the tutor. The location and details will be worked out between the student and the tutor.
If interested, please contact David Stephenson, HS counselor, at [email protected].
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Secondary Athletics/Activities
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HOUSING IS COMPLETE — Благодаря! I would like to take this opportunity to publically
THANK the families who have agreed to open up their homes to secondary school
students from around the Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA)
coming to Sofia to participate in the CEESA Cross-Country Competition on November 13
-16, 2014. Without your support, kindness and willingness to help, this event would not be
possible. благодаря from the bottom of my heart! I feel proud to be part of a
community that joins together in making an event this enormous happen. The Athletics
department will be emailing families the host package with details of needs. I will also
distribute hard copies of this hosting package on Monday, November 10.
CEESA CROSS COUNTRY EVENT @ AAS: Please come out and join us for the first ever cross
-country competition held at AAS. There are over 160 participants coming from 12
different schools around the region. Since we will be having a community Terry Fox Run
on Thursday November 13 at 14:30, we have decided to cancel the community race
scheduled for Saturday November 15. You can find out more details regarding the
schedule here.
WORLD SCHOLAR’S CUP: Good luck to the students
who will be participating in the prestigious World
Scholar’s Cup event this weekend. Thank you to
Coaches Ms. Quinn, Ms. Pabalate and Ms.
O’Leary.
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FOOTBALL (HELSINKI) & BOYS (MACEDONIA): We are sending
positive vibes to our Mighty wolves as they
compete this weekend in the CEESA football
tournaments. Go Wolves! Thank you to Coaches Mr.
Tremblay, Mr. Marquis, Ms. Khambalia and Mr. Merrick for
your commitment, time and energy that you have dedicated to our football teams.
BASKETBALL SEASON IS BEGINNING ON NOVEMBER 17 & 18:
Students are encouraged to sign up at the Athletics white
board. Practices will be Tuesday and Thursday for middle
school and Monday and Wednesday for high school.
BASKETBALL CLINIC: Saturday, November 15 for
Upper Elementary and MS students.)
SECONDARY SCHOOL SWIM TEAM: Swimming began on November 3. Classes are on
Monday and Thursday. There will be no charge for the Monday and Thursday classes.
Students leave AAS at 3:40 pm and we will provide transportation to the Diana Bad
pool. Students will swim for one hour. Transportation will be provided home after the
lesson. There will be an additional optional class on Wednesdays. Although we will
provide free transportation, classes will be 10 leva, paid directly to the instructor.
Regards,
Andie Urquhart
Athletic Director
[email protected]
CEESA
champions!
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PTO/Announcements
Halloween photos available now!
Parents and students who took photos at the Photo Boot during the PTO Halloween
Event can view and download the photos using the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ninfyoiej1ximyy/AADIbC4EeGEQ_dODlQMwq7WFa?
dl=0
Photos are maximum size (10MB) and the link will be available for a month.
For any questions you can contact the photographer , Katarzyna Lason, at
[email protected]
Thank you very much, Katarzyna, for your support !
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PTO, continued
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Frequently Asked Questions
Important contact information:
Reception: Ivanka Papazova (Miss Vanya)
Tel: (+359 2) 923 88 10; mobile: 0889 428 324
[email protected]
Director: Jim Urquhart
[email protected]
Director’s Secretary: Elise Staevska
Tel: (+359 2) 923 88 12, Fax: (+359 2) 923 88 59
[email protected]
Director of Teaching and Learning: Shary Marshall
[email protected]
ES Principal: Tim Fries
[email protected]
Nurses: Diana Docheva, Valentine Ivanov
[email protected], [email protected]
MS/HS Principal: Jeff Marquis
[email protected]
Communications: Svetla Stoyanova
[email protected]
IB Coordinator: Kaylene Connell
Gavrilov
[email protected]
AAS Cafe (LFS Catering): Manager Peter
HS Counselor & College Advising:
David Stephenson
[email protected]
ES Counselor: Laura Giosh-Markov
[email protected]
Athletics Director, MS Counselor:
Andie Urquhart
[email protected]
Facilities / Operations: Todor Todorov
[email protected]
Registrar: Dola Kay
[email protected]
Admissions / Alumni: Maria Mihailova
[email protected]
Security: Tzvetan Bashev 0885 146 863
[email protected]
[email protected] 0884-668104
Transportation Coordinator: Zhivko Vichkov
[email protected] 0889 901 916
Note:
To contact a member of staff by telephone, please call the reception number. Staff emails are
available from our website: www.aas-sofia.org/contact
Please visit our website on www.aas-sofia.org to find the latest information about our school.
Become a fan of the Anglo-American School of Sofia on Facebook or follow @AAS_Sofia
on Twitter.
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The School Week Gallery
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"Remembering a friend" - a group of students planted
flowers in Lia's garden in honour of Lia– beloved friend
and former AAS student who passed away from cancer.
Grade 3 Science Class: Extracting Strawberry DNA! Go, ES Scientists!
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