1 2 Doshisha International School, Kyoto THE DISK INQUIRER Oct - Nov 2014 From the Desk of the Principal Robert Hagenbucher Its hard to believe its already October and we are just on the heels of the Fall break. In the following pages you will see many of the programs and activities DISK teachers and students have been involved in. Camp has concluded for Elementary School and the Secondary School trip will be be in November. We continue to expand our Web presence with the development of class websites, our aim is to provide students and parents with comprehensive curricular and scheduling information down to the class level. We feel very fortunate to have such a dedicated group of educators join our team this school year. As we wrap up our first MAP testing session and teachers have begun to look carefully at the results in order to provide a program that closely matches individual needs. Teachers are just beginning to understand the information the MAP program provides and will be sharing this information during parent conference week. It seems like every week that goes by we are welcoming new students to DISK! We are excited to see the school grow and in turn are planning how best meet the needs of our growing population. This year’s grade nine students are taking part in surveys and discussion regarding future Diploma Program offerings that meet their needs and desires; we expect a parent meeting to follow soon. The IB Middle Years Program is now being examined by Department Heads with some areas taking on the new program; MYP, The Next Chapter. As the year progresses we expect to see this program grow with an eye on MYP candidacy in the coming year! Thanks to the Parent Network! We are so fortunate to have such a dedicated group of parents supporting the school. Whether it is supporting new families, helping with the Diamondback Café, or representing DISK at Doshisha events, the Network association is a vital part of our school’s success. 1 Diploma Program at DISK October 2014 Scott Bailey DP Coordinator This fall we are excited to be running the full Diploma Program at DISK, in both grades 11 and 12. Our DP students are currently taking English Literature, Japanese (both as a first and as a second language), World History, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, and Visual Arts. The grade 12 cohort will spend much of the rest of the year preparing for their IB Exams, which will take place in May 2015. Between now and then, they are also busy fulfilling service requirements, doing internal assessments for their courses, and preparing extended essay. They are also preparing their university applications and finishing taking the standardized exams that they will need to finish for their university applications. Our grade 11 cohort are excited to be learning about their new courses, and are busy adjusting to the demands of the DP program. We are also excited to welcome 3 new teachers to our DP program this year—Mr. Loch is teaching Physics, Mr. Versluys is teaching Biology, and Ms. Nishimoto is teaching Japanese Literature. They are bringing some exciting creative energy to their DP classes, and we are very excited to have them here. Message from the PYP Coordinator Suzan Loafman What is Happening in Elementary? Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year and the fourth year of DISK. We are excited about the various educational opportunities for the 2014-2015 academic school year; it looks to be an exciting, enjoyable and learning-filled year! As an IB-PYP school, the elementary team will be focusing on the development of the whole child, using a framework that can meet a child’s academic, social, physical, emotional and cultural needs. Our elementary program is inquiry based and lends itself to being integrated across the disciplines. Students take ownership of their learning and develop skills and attitudes to help prepare them for life in a global world. One of the goals of the elementary team this year is to ensure there are more educational excursions and guest speakers being a part of the units of inquiry and also across the disciplines. If you know anyone or locations that you feel would be a great learning opportunity for DISK students, please let us know. October and November look to be very busy: • • • October 2nd and 3rd – Elementary Camp October 6th - New Google class websites October 7th – ½ Day for Students 2 • • • • • • • • October 8th to 10th – Fall Break October 15th – PSAT Testing October 25th – Elementary Sports Day October 28th to 30th – Open Classes October 31st – Halloween Party November 13 and 14 – Secondary Camp November 17th to 21st - Culture Week November 28th - Christmas Tree Lighting Service Neighborhood Garbage Collection Paul Bosley As part of our service program, DISK students and staff strive to act locally and build a strong community with our neighbors. On Friday, September 19th, all grades armed themselves with trash bags, gloves, and tongs, and spent 6th period scouring the neighborhood for litter. The event was a big success. Students felt proud to be able to lend a helping hand and various neighbors expressed their thanks. Pictures from the event are displayed on the service bulletin board in the hallway. Support School Visit On Thursday, September 25th, grades 6-10 visited the neighboring Minamiyamashiro Special Needs school to support them in their school festival performance practice. Various homerooms shared their talents by playing music, singing, and even cheerleading. DISK students will be happy to hear that the good luck poster they made was much appreciated. The next visit will be for a book reading in November. Welcome Our New Teachers Mark Krabousanos Grade 4/5 Teacher Hello everyone! My name is Mark Krabousanos. I am the new Grade 4/5 homeroom teacher at DISK. I am originally from the United States. I have been teaching in Kyoto for the past six years and am pleased to join the DISK team. In Grade 4/5 we have been spending the first few months getting to know more about ourselves and each other. Our UOI is under the theme of Who We Are and focuses on setting goals to help ourselves and others. We have been exploring new places and ideas (MOMAK trip & Yoga class) and familiar places (KidZania) to help us with our inquiries and apply our new learning. Please visit our class webpage to learn more about our learning. Google Sites Link: https://sites.google.com/site/diskgr45/ Or visit the DISK main site under information and forms. 3 Gregory Laidler Hello, my name is Gregory Laidler. I am originally from Preston, Lancashire in England. I am 40 years old. I have been married for 15 years to Satoko a Japanese native from Miyazaki. We have two children, Mida (9) and Koju (7). My wife and I taught in Hiroshima for five years before we moved to Kyoto recently. We now live in Hosono. I am very happy to be working for Doshisha Univeristy at DISK. At DISK, I am the homeroom teacher for grade 8 and teach design and physical education from grade 6 to 10. I studied information technology at university and have a professional player coach background in sport. I love technology, sport and travel, and enjoy an active lifestyle. Jesse Versluys Science Teacher I grew up in Ontario, Canada and studied Zoology and Wildlife Management in University. Since then, I have taught Science in Japan, India, and China, and am happy to be back in Japan once again. I am interested in gardening, fishing, cycling, cooking, and playing bass guitar. I would also like to work on my Japanese! Jun Nishimoto 西元淳子こんにちは！ After living abroad more than a decade, studying and teaching, I moved back to my home country. I have been renewing my "Japanese-ness" and enjoying learning it so far. Kyoto is such a lovely place to do so. I have many hobbies. I enjoy outdoor activities, cycling, running, and hiking, as well as indoor activities like reading and listening to music. Please stop me anytime for chatting about music, cats, and Hiroshima Carp. よろしくお願いします！ Sherryl Mannerheim On Friday, October 3, the Art Department was fortunate to have a visit from SAIC - School of the Arts Institute, Chicago, which is ranked No 2 in the USA. The Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions, Ms. Becky Borowicz gave students in grade 8 -12, an informative PowerPoint presentation outlining the myriad of courses available for prospective art students. To name a few - architectural design, fine arts, fashion, multi-media, including animation and film. The school has an illustrious alumni including and to name just a few: Claes Oldenburg, Tatsu Aoki, Geant Wood, Jeff Koons, Georgia O'Keefe, Elizabeth Murray, Orson Wells, Walt Disney and Mark Tobey. Ms. Mannerheim has also had numerous past art students from around the world who have been granted full scholarships to SAIC. If it is your aim to go to art school please see Ms. Mannerheim for more information about reaching how to reach your goal. 4 Upper School News Freya Vaughn We at DISK are so proud of how much has happened this 2014-2015 school year, and we are only greeting October! There is a positive feeling both towards socializing, but also in approaches to learning, goal setting and group and individual reflection. Concepts such as trust, faith, and harmony are tough. Through the homeroom and elective times, we have been roleplaying, looking at artistic intention, and considering current events and issues in order to increase our emotion intelligence and deepen our engagement with the learner profile. We've had a great many school tours, day visits, and new students. These challenge us to be aware, helpful, and inviting. They encourage open communication and trust building. We really appreciate what our new students add, and look forward to growing together as a DISK learning team. The Diamondback Cafe is up and thriving thanks to Kaisei, Kenji, and Josh and supported by the SOC students, Ms. Denise and Ms. Loafmann. You may see our store or its catering branch when you come for events at the school. The Sakura Medal reading program is in its third year at DISK. There are some excellent looking titles in every category in both English and Japanese. The two departments are working closer than ever and it is wonderful to provide this opportunity to challenge students to read current books in both languages. Students will have the option of participating in many Sakura-related activities such as art contests, book trailers, book reports, and voting to name a few. Parents, teachers, and members of the administration are invited to join us in reading! 5 We have had two very inspirational visitors already this year. One was a University of California at Irvine representative who also covered university options in general as well as the UC system. Just this past week we hosted a presenter from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Both talks were utterly inspirational and clearly got DISK thinking about the world of options available to them in a few short years. The upper school's overnighter to Doshisha's retreat center at Lake Biwa has been rescheduled for November 13-14. We hope to study the lake itself and weather permitting actually get out on it as we compete in dragon boat races. Students will also be planning and cooking their own dinners. We can always be assured that the next day's breakfast is a delicious, huge and varied buffet. Lastly, to support a deepening in our understanding and engagement with global issues, we are introducing two new opportunities. Grades 6-8 will be joining GIN, Global Issues Network, where more than 500 schools worldwide work together to find solutions to global problems. We have been invited to participate in the ImaGINation conference in Singapore in March. Grades 9-12 will be joining MUN or Model United Nations and will be working on four topics: Fracking, Palestinian Statehood, Modern Slavery and Plastic Pollution in Oceans in general and then be considering them from an individually assigned country's perspective in preparation for the conference to be held February 25-27 in Kansai. 6 Student's Perspective Emily Grade12 TEDxKyoto Reflection Last weekend, on September 28, Ms. Vaughn’s prospective and current Theory of Knowledge students under the supervision of Mr. Bosley and the lady herself, departed on a wonderful daylong adventure to the annual TEDxKyoto event (along with two of our lovely parents). For those who are unfamiliar with TED, it is a nonprofit organization devoted to the spreading of ideas. The “x” means that a team of local knowledge seekers independently organizes the event, with accreditation from the TED organization. This year’s theme was “onkochishin”, or, “examine the past; discover the future”. Since three is a magical number, the three most memorable images that continue to playback in my mind are Ms. Vaughn flying by the means of acro-yoga in front of an audience of friendly strangers; a BMX world champion dancing around quite gracefully on a miniature bike; a modern Kabuki actor whipping his long fluffy mane at helpless audience members (including my own mother). As for the actual speakers, they were mostly all individuals with much to share. The three talks that I found to be the most relevant to myself were the positive statistics of the Japan optimist who enthusiastically conveyed to the audience the fantastic future that awaits us despite the general negativity felt by most; the heart warming footage of Japanese school children nurtured in an architectural masterpiece that emphasizes creativity, individuality, and community en plein air; and finally, the eight minute long electric guitar performance by Miss Kumi Adachi. Overall, I enjoyed the day to the fullest, especially the gorging on endless platters of snacks and appetizers during breaks and the dinner time after-party. If any parents or students are even minutely interested in any of the above activities, please go! Talk to Ms. Vaughn, or anybody else that went, and they’ll be sure to give you a mind blowing description of their experience. Even so, this event is too large for words, and I am generally finding my own account to be highly inadequate. Hence, I beseech you; talk to Ms. Vaughn next September, buy a ticket, and go! 7