Dolphin Dispatch
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF PANAMA
MARCH 20, 2015
ISSUE 28
“We will
and
educate
inspire
our
students to reach
their full potential
and contribute to
the world by providing an exemplary
English
language
education enriched
by our multicultural
community.”
In This Issue

Family Fun Fair

Announcements

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

PAIS Conference

Athletics updates (Go
Dolphins?

Technology
Showcase Flyer

ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
March Calendar
Issue 28
MARCH 20, 2015
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
ISSUE 28
Summit of the Americas/ Cumbre de las Americas in Panama:
During the week we received several questions regarding the possible closure of school
during the dates of this event in Panama. Our administration team is monitoring the
situation and confirming the information being shared by the media and government
officials. Based on the information available, ISP will remain open April 10, 2015 until
otherwise notified. We will keep you informed of the situation as it develops.
REMINDER REGARDING TUITION
Please disregard if you are under the Institutional category or payment has already been made.
If payment has been made by wire transfer or direct deposit to our accounts, please send us
bank confirmation via e-mail to be able to process it.
Dear ISP Parents:
Please remember that tuition corresponding to the fourth quarter is due on Monday March 30, 2015.
For your reference, please find below fees corresponding to the 3 rd quarter:
Due Date
March 30
PK-3**
US $ 1,660.00
PK4-5
US $ 2,660.00
6-8
US $ 2,930.00
9-12
US $ 3,310.00
** The fee for the Full Day PK-3 Program is the same as PK4-5 ($2,660.00)
According to policy, an administrative charge will be levied on all payments not settled by the due date.
For more details, please find the Tuition & Fee Payment schedule on the ISP website.
We encourage you to keep your account up to date to avoid penalties.
Please remember that EAL & Learning Resource Programs payments for the 1 st & 2nd Sem
SY2014-2015 should also be cancelled
Re-inscription for next school year 2015-2016 is coming up and all outstanding balances
corresponding to this school year must be settled before this process can be completed.
For questions regarding the tuition and fees please contact:
Brenda Vega
Business Office
[email protected]
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 27
Elementary School
Becky Jobes, PhD—Elementary Assistant Principal—[email protected]
ISP Elementary Participates in International Good Deeds Day—
School Supplies for our Sister School, Escuela Gabriel Lewis Galindo
During the first two weeks of March our families were generous enough to contribute to our
sister school supply drive. On Monday, March 16th a group of administrators and some of our
Student Representative Council students made the short 5 minute drive to our sister school to
deliver the supplies. A staff member from the school gave us all a tour and we got to see
directly how our supplies will support the students in the school.
Many thanks to all of you who supported this cause and ISP Elementary school’s participation
in International Good Deed Day.
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Elementary School
Becky Jobes, PhD—Elementary Assistant Principal—[email protected]
Geocaching with the Talent Development Program
The Talent Development Program’s Exploration class has been exploring
the adventurous world of geocaching. Using satellite coordinates, GPS
receivers, and cache specific hints, geocaching resembles a global game
of “hide & seek”. With over 2 million geocaches hidden worldwide, anyone
can geocache!
The grade 4 & 5 students participating in the program put their geotreasure hunting skills to the test at the Amador Causeway.
Select the link to watch their experience and learn more about Geocaching.
Geocaching with the TDP
A message from our Student Representative Council (SRC)
Our SRC is hosting a lunch for all of the Dolphin staff at ISP. These staff do
a tremendous job of taking care of our school. The SRC is asking each
student to bring in $3 to donate towards a lunch for the Dolphin staff. The
money will be collected by homeroom teachers through Friday, March 27th.
(poster created by Jorge)
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Elementary School
Becky Jobes, PhD—Elementary Assistant Principal—[email protected]
Bring Your Own Reusable Water Bottle to ISP!!!




Write your name on the bottle. Use permanent
marker or get a sticker that won’t come off so
you keep track of your bottle.
Look at the Label! Your bottle should be BPA
FREE to keep you chemical free.
Don't reuse disposable plastic water bottles! They
can't be cleaned properly and may leach
harmful chemicals after repeated use.
Make your bottle your new device, carry it
EVERYWHERE you go!
Spring Book Order Time
Dear Parents,
Great News! It’s our spring book order time! We are sending the Scholastic International School
Book Club leaflets home so that you and your child will have an opportunity to purchase some
new titles. Please place your order online at http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/internationa-schof-panama by March 27th, 2015. The link will take you directly to the ISP order page. All
you need to do is enter either the name of the book or the item number into the search field and
then add that item to your basket. Once once you have added all of the items you want to your
basket, you can then proceed to the checkout to confirm and pay for your order. Please do not
send cash orders to school. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at
[email protected] or Menitza Gonzalez at [email protected].
Stephanie Scoggin
Elementary School Librarian
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Elementary School
Becky Jobes, PhD—Elementary Assistant Principal—[email protected]
Conscious Discipline notes from 3/19
Key Notes and Reminders for Conscious Discipline Training: ASSERTIVENESS
Saying, “No!” and being heard: Setting limits respectfully
Power of Attention: What you focus on, you get more of
Skill: Assertiveness – setting limits respectfully
Purpose: Set limits and expectations
Structures used in the classroom: Time Machine and Instant Replay (Allow kids to try
to “re-do” a difficult situation so that they can choose a different outcome and see how it
works right away rather than waiting till “next time.”
Brain Smart Tip: Telling children what to do (and how to do it) aligns their bodies with
their willpower.
Emotional Development : Healthy Boundaries are essential for all relationships – kids start to learn
how to set limits with friends and others for the way that they want to be treated. Kids learn to use a
strong voice and standup for themselves. They are supported and encouraged through this process.
Key Phrase : Did you like it?
When you are upset you are always focused on what you don’t want.
Passivity invites aggression, aggression begets aggression and assertiveness dissipates aggression
Children must learn that they teach others how to treat them. They must learn to assertively deal with
the intrusive behaviors of others.
You have the right and responsibility to say “No.”
You-Me accusations leaved a child feeling attacked – “You think you can get away with ______. You
always ________.
Any statement about the other person, rather than statements about one’s own feelings or thoughts,
tends to have an attaching quality. Instead of saying “You made me sad because….” try to say “I
felt sad because……” This allows the person you are talking to, to be able to listen without
feeling attacked.
Assertiveness clearly tells that child what to do so that they can meet your expectations.
Assertiveness comes from the Power of Attention:
Focus on what you WANT to happen.
Join us on April 8th at 10:30AM for our next Conscious Discipline
meeting.
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Middle School
Diane Guevara, Middle School Principal—[email protected]
Sweet Melodies: Full House Finale to 2nd Annual ISP Music Fest 2015
The second annual ISP Musicfest closed last week with a well-attended special performance by student and
faculty participants from the American Nicaragua School, Balboa Academy, MET and ISP. In case you
missed the show you can click the link below to see a short video made by our very own Jada Owens and
Chloe Martindale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v90Q3LrEzEk
We also had the chance to speak to some of the organizers and participants, here is what they had to say:
“On behalf of ANS Visual and Performing Arts, I would like to thank the staff, students and administration of
ISP for inviting us to your school and your country and for providing an excellent learning experience for our
students. The event was very well organized and everyone we interacted with in Panama both in the school
and outside was extremely helpful and welcoming to us. You left us with a very good impression and we
hope we can come back and make music together again and see your performing arts center when it's
finished.”
– John Spiro, American Nicaragua School
“Events like MusicFest help remind us the importance of community. Not just the community of our school,
but also of our city and furthermore our region. By bringing together young musicians to create music
together, we strengthen our commitment to the arts as well as our community by building new friendships
and making connections that can last for years to come.”
–Adam Herzing Director of Visual and Performing Arts, ISP.
“When you combine groups of passionate, talented, and inspirational people, some amazing conductors, and
a big audience, what you get is a wonderful challenge—both mental and physical—that we call the fun and
unique learning experience named Music Fest!”
-MS Choir and Band
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Middle School (continued)
Diane Guevara, Middle School Principal—[email protected]
Making a Wish Come True Through our Community Leaders
Our Middle School Community Service Leaders and Make a Wish Panama recently collaborated to
sponsor Elvis, a 7 year old Panamanian boy. The students planned and organized a Super Hero
party for him where he received his wish – an iPad, clothes, and toys. The best part of the
experience was meeting Elvis and sharing this special moment with a new friend.
Seeing Double in the Middle School
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Middle School (continued)
Diane Guevara, Middle School Principal—[email protected]
Developing 21st Century Skills
Excerpts from “Teaching Critical Thinking Skills Through Project Based Learning,” by John Margendoller
Critical thinking is a foundational skill for 21st century success, a reality recognized by P21 adherents and
educators everywhere. But how do we help students learn to do it? And what is critical thinking, anyway? Is
Project Based Learning (PBL) really the best way to help students become critical thinkers?
In Project Based Learning, in order for students to learn something,
they must do something. Projects that develop critical thinking
competencies are designed around cognitive tasks that require
deliberative thought – making judgments between alternatives, figuring
out the best way to create something, weighing evidence, reconsidering
initial ideas, creating a plan for solving a problem, and summarizing an
argument’s key points.
Critical thinking projects not only require students to think carefully and
deliberately, they provide models and scaffolding to show how such
cognitive tasks are carried out. Teachers can scaffold and guide
students by defining the specific competencies used in the project,
modeling them for students, giving students the practice and feedback
they need to develop the competencies, and finally, requiring students
to explain during the project’s public presentation how critical thinking
was used in the project.
Non-Googleable Driving Questions, deliberative cognitive tasks,
support and scaffolding – these all combine to create projects that help
students become critical thinkers. There is one more element, however,
that needs to be added to this mix – formative assessment and feedback. Students can learn to evaluate
their own thinking and they can learn to evaluate the arguments and reasoning of their peers. This ability to
think about the quality of their own and of others’ thinking is encouraged by timely, relevant, actionable
feedback from the teacher, from their peers and from their own self-assessments.
So does PBL teach critical thinking? Our answer is that it can, but a project has to be structured with critical
thinking as a goal. For critical thinking to occur, projects have to be structured to demand deliberate,
reflective thought, and students have to be shown examples of what critical thinking looks like, in addition to
being supported, assessed, encouraged, and given feedback as they try such thinking out with their peers
and on their own. Only then can PBL become “genuinely educative” for critical thinking.
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
High School
John Shea, High School Principal—[email protected]
IN PICTURES: IB ART SHOW OPENING
IN CASE YOU MISSED THE OPENING YOU CAN SEE SOME OF WHAT HAPPENED CLICKING
THE VIDEO LINK BELOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxRGnGH_0iM
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
High School (continued)
John Shea, High School Principal—[email protected]
GIN Student Leadership at the PAIS Conference
Five ISP 9th and 10th grade students - Isabel Pereira, Briney Choi, Nicolas Bran, Daniel Roldan and
Gaston Arguindegui - had the opportunity to lead a workshop for international educators from around
the nation as part of the Panama Association of Internationally Minded Schools (PAIS) Conference.
The workshop focused on their experiences as part of our growing Global Issues Network (GIN) program. The program currently consists of five service learning projects, incorporating more than thirty
students. They presented two of these projects: Read Me More, and Walks and Talks. More information can be found at their websites http://readmemore.wix.com/hdbp and http://
walksandtalks.tk/.
Students also created hands-on activities for participants to learn about the goals of service learning,
motivating students to complete these projects, and connecting local service to broader issues of
global importance. GIN students will continue honing their presentation skills in preparation for their
session leadership at the 2015 AASSA GIN Conference, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in October.
This was an impactful experience for students. Gaston reports that “it was really fun to turn the tables
and have the opportunity for us as students to teach teachers about the things that are most meaningful to us at ISP.” He was also proud to be among the only students presenting at the conference.
Nicolas added that it was valuable to be able to “spread the idea of GIN to other schools in the country and to watch our impact grow.”
QUE VIVA LA POESIA!
ISP’s Spanish Department and Spanish Club
continued their proud tradition and celebration of
World Poetry Day yesterday, Thursday, March 19.
Now in its 4th year, Mr. Moises Pascual and his Viva
Poetry event showcased Panamanian poets
Magdalena Camargo Lemieszek, Hector Collado
and Salvador Medina.
As Mr. Pascual, an
accomplished poet himself, describes --- these
lyrical voices representing the current Panamanian
poetry, will read their works, interact with students
and provide both an educational experience and
cultural exchange for all. The High School was very
pleased to host this event, continuing our
celebration of World Poetry Day. Many thanks to
the Spanish Department and the participants.
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Special guest: Panamanian poet Salvador
Medina shares one of his poems with the ISP
Community gathered to celebrate World Poetry
Day.
Issue 28
Towards Educational Excellence
Lauren Streifer, Curriculm Director—[email protected]
ISP Participates in Second Annual PAIS Conference
Wednesday afternoon marked the second annual Panama Association of Internationally Minded Schools
(PAIS) Teachers Teaching Teachers Conference. PAIS was started three years ago with the hopes of
building collaboration amongst the international schools in Panama as well as supporting education in
Panama.
This year the conference was held at The Metropolitan School and was attended by over 400 educators.
The focus of the conference was “Teaching Locally, Thinking Globally” and included sessions on community
service, service learning, imbedding real world problem solving in classes, classroom practices that increase
student engagement, assessing student learning, and many other topics tied to teaching and learning.
Twenty ISP teachers offered presentations and over 80 attended the conference!
Here is what some of our participating faculty had to say about participating in this years PAIS conference:
“Great collaboration and connections; ideas energize and can be implemented today. ISP teachers lead in
many ways and will continue to grow and share”
- Lori Lauscher IBDP Coordinator
“PAIS was the perfect example of how collaboration can make
school communities stronger and it was an outlet for teachers to
show their passion for their profession.”
- Christie Wilson 5.4 Teacher
“I loved being a presenter and a participant at PAIS because that's
the perfect way for collaboration as teachers are teaching teachers
and teachers are also learning from teachers. It was great to see
that every teacher you met is unique in his/her own way and
knows something that you don't and vice versa. It was an amazing
day to be a Dolphin.”
- Priyanka Jethani MS EAL Specialist Grade 7
“PAIS reminds us that we are part of a larger, international
community in Panama committed to continuously improving our
own teaching in order to provide a better education for our students.”
- Andrew B. Alfano Instructor of Chemistry
Featured above, Priyanka Jethani MS EAL Specialist
who was one of over 80 teachers representing ISP
at PAIS.
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE PARCIPANTS
FOR MAKING US DOLPHIN PROUD!!!
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Athletics
Peter Smyth, Athletic Director—[email protected]
CELEBRATING OUR DOLPHIN ATHLETS!!!!
Flag football
The girls stared their season off with an impressive 14-0 win on their home
field against Las Esclavas last weekend. A draw mid week has them set up
for an exciting game this upcoming weekend. If you can stop by the
Maracana at 11am you will be able to see he girls in action. Coaches
Gonzalez and Arauz where thrilled with the first games and looking forward
to the weekend.
Triathlon
Our MS athletes represented themselves exceptionally well last week in the
Tri Kids event held at Panama Pacifico.
In the 12-13 age group Jason Martindale came in 2nd place. In the 14-15
age group Nacho Molina placed first and Nicco Soto placed 4th. Fantastic
achievements by all, well done.
Please come and Support your teams !!!!
GO DOLPHINS.
WHEN A DOLPHIN WINS ALL THE DOLPHINS WIN !
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
Athletics
Peter Smyth, Athletic Director—[email protected]
Sub 10 soccer
Although ADECOP doesn't start for sports teams until after spring break ISP were able to play a
friendly in the sunshine against Balbo Academy. The sub 10 coaches Conzelman (boys), Bellido
and Janssens (girls) had a great afternoon on the main field with all the athletes getting playing
time and enjoying ‘the beautiful game’.
Senior Girls Soccer
The Dolphins were in action Tuesday night against
the travelling ‘Eagles’ team from Coste Del Este.
The match was played under the lights at the
Maracana. The girls played exceptionally well on
the big field and proved to be stiff competition for
the select side. Coach J. Smyth was very proud of
the girls and suspects a rematch may be arranged
soon.
Please come and Support your teams !!!!
GO DOLPHINS.
WHEN A DOLPHIN WINS ALL THE DOLPHINS WIN !
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28
M A RC H 2 0 1 5
SUN
1.
MON
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TUE
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WED
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THU
FRI
S AT
5.
6.
7.
ES Bringing Literature back to life
parade
Swim meet
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IB ART SHOW!—
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——————FAMILY FUN FAIR
22.
29.
23.
30
24. 8th grade
orientation to
High School
25. TECH
26.
27.
28.
31
1
2
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4
APRIL—–———
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SHOWCASE!
The Family Fun Fair is coming and it’s GOING GREEN!
In order to support ISP’s efforts towards becoming a “green school” this
year’s Fun Fair will have a Recycling Center. We are encouraging families
to bring recyclable materials from home to contribute towards our recycling
effort. Items that can be recycled are: newspaper, paper, plastic bottles, and
tin/aluminum. Please prepare your items before you come: paper should be
free of all staples and tape; all bottles and cans should be
thoroughly cleaned. The Recycling Center will be clearly marked
and near the entrance of the fair, so
come with your recyclables for this
day of fun!
ISP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Issue 28