The Phoenix FlyerThe weekly news source for Korea International School

02 December 2011 - Issue 15

Upcoming Dates to Note:

December 3 MS Swimming @ SFS

8:00am – 2:30pm

December 3 Basketball @ KIS vs. DAHS

9:00am – 12:30pm

December 6 Basketball @ KIS vs. TCIS

3:30pm – 6:30pm

December 7 Basketball @ KIS vs. GSIS

3:30pm – 7:00pm

December 10 MS Swimming @ Chadwick IS8:00am – 2:30pm

December 10 Basketball @ DAHS

12pm – 1pm

December 16 Half Day of School

Think Green...Recycling one ton (about 2,000 pounds) of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for six months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of pollution.

Look Out!! We're Coming For You!

Auditions for the first-ever HS Musical, Little Shop of Horrors will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6th and 7th, from 3-5pm. Call-backs will be next Thursday, December 8th.! Please prepare a short (under 2 minutes) musical theatre or pop rock song selection.! Sign up for your audition time on the Phoenix Theatre bulletin board.!

For more information, please check out the musical wiki: http://mrscali.phoenix.wikispaces.net/HS+Musical+2011-2012, or see Mrs. Cali in MB102

KIS Habitat for Humanity trip to the Philippinesby John Jung (11), David Jeon (11), and Sean S. Kim (10)

The Habitat for Humanity club went to the Philippines from November 19th to 26th. The volunteer work took place at the Navotas site, just about an hour from the outskirts of Manila. The students helped building about 8 units of houses and finished building the walls. After two weeks, they say that there will be fully built houses by professionals. The local guide for the trip, Mr. Ving, also said how wonderful the work that students have done at the end of the trip. After getting back, we all seem to realize how lucky we are to be living a life like this. Through this memorable experience, we all learned a lesson that there are people that live in much worse conditions than us, so we shouldn’t complain about our daily lives.

Congratulations to Kevin Jaramillo who was appointed this week to replace Rich Nies as KIS Middle School Principal next year

From the Elementary School...Elementary School

Roving Reporter...

WOW! The Elementary PTO has done an amazing job preparing for our holiday party!!! They organized a magic show, games, arts & crafts, snacks, and even a visit from SANTA!!! We hope many families take part in this great community event. Thank you so much to all the parents who worked so hard to create this magical day!!!

Deck the halls, the concert season is here!!! Our PK-1 students were amazing in their concert. Thank you Ms. Scarlato and students for all your wonderful efforts. Over the next two weeks 2-5 grade students will have a turn to shine on stage. We hope to see you at the show!

At the beginning of the year, our school director, Mr. Cathers, shared important steps to follow when concerns or issues arise. We would like to remind you of the process and request that you follow the following steps. What to do if there is a problem: 1. Assume the best. 2. Talk to your child objectively without over-reacting. 3. Talk to the teacher to find out what happened. 4. Try to develop a joint plan to solve the problem. 5. If that does not work, discuss the problem with school administration.

If that does not work, discuss the problem with the director.

December 16th is a half day!!! Students will go home at 12:00 along with their report cards for the second quarter. This has been a very successful first semester.

Mrs. Gibson and a mixed 4th grade class working on a glacial erosion experiment on Thursday, Nov. 30

Photos courtesy of Mr. Cole

Elementary School - 3rd grade!

"RTM: Reusable Trash Monster"

Elementary classes from around the world collaborated in this standards based project. After choosing a Monster part, each class wrote a description of that part complete with exact measurements, spooky adjectives, and specific geometric shapes. After all descriptions were sent in, each class built its own MONSTER using everyone's descriptions. Students discovered that designing and building a monster together is a very big job. It is a major lesson in working together and learning to compromise in a group decision process. For example, the kid responsible for the head had to plan with the kids doing the eyes, nose, neck, mouth, ears and hair. Kids got deliberate practice in collaboration to construct their class MONSTER. The result is satisfying proof that a community of kids can accomplish anything!! 3A decided to use reusable trash to construct their giant monster thus giving him his name of RTM: Reusable Trash Monster! It is now located on the first floor of the ES building!

"I made the head of our RTM. I learned that teamwork is important. This project was useful by learning many ways of measuring every reusable trash. I thought our class did not do math but I see that we did. Even though we did not win, it was a important class work, not homework! I think it made our teamwork better,our math better, our friendship better."--Andrew Woo, 3A-

Photos courtesy of Ms. Stoolman

"My classmates and I worked on Reusable Trash Monster. I worked with a partner and sometimes we fought. I learned about friendship because we fought a lot and we made a wonderful monster. I am thankful for friends who brought reusable trash and to me because I brought trash too. It was hard but fun. Our class learned math while making a monster. Ms.Stoolman is an awesome because she let us make a monster!" ! -Yoonseo Choi, 3A-

Gaepo Campus

VOLUNTEER THANKSRecently we took several school wide field trips. Both of which were extremely successful and well planned by teachers and TA’s. What often gets overlooked is the importance of ALL parent volunteers! Each event was attended by 20+ moms who were all part of the coordination of the lunches and the events taking place during the Olympic Park trips. From our Gaepo family to yours we would like to recognize the outstanding support that we are given for all events and daily activities within our school by countless volunteers. Thank you for supporting our school and always working to improve our offerings and support around the campus. We are a GREAT school largely in part to each of our parents’ dedication!

DECEMBER CONCERTMark your calendars for the December 5th concert. All students will be sharing their work, within their music class, and we are looking forward to seeing parent support for our student musicians. The days events will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a PTO sponsored luncheon for all attending Gaepo families. The entertainment will be the Gaepo Students who will be performing various songs written by them and a special presentation from our Ensemble Club. The afternoon will conclude with a visit from one VIP from the North Pole! We hope all of you can attend and share in the celebration hosted by Dr. K and her eighty-one students. For further details you can contact our Admissions Office, Dr. K or your child’s class room mom.

PTO CONTACT INFORMATIONWe have a KIS email account for the Gaepo PTO. Please use this account with any questions you have pertaining to school activities, functions or to simply offer support. Our PTO Secretary will review this account often and we hope that you find it useful in keeping in touch with the PTO and Gaepo Campus. The address is: gaepopto@kis.or.krWe hope to hear from you with your comments, suggestions or positive news that can help us focus on continuous school improvement!

If you missed the PTO General Meeting on Wednesday then you can review the Minutes and Agenda , which will be posted on the Gaepo Web Site soon. Minutes and other important details, pertaining to the PTO, can be found under the About KIS tab and then select the Parent Involvement link on the left side of the page.

Happy December!

Middle School

December 7Middle School Art Sale in thePAC Foyer

Art will be sold Wednesday, Dec 7 during lunch; from 3:30 until MS Winter Showcase at 4:30; AND during intermissions of concert.

Roving Reporter...

Middle School Cheer Club at their MS assembly performance on Friday, Nov. 18th.

Photos courtesy of Mrs. Wolf

Middle School Art students took turns as live models while their classmates drew "blind contours."After the drawings were complete, students worked with markers using pattern and color inside the figures.If you're not sure what a blind contour drawing is, ask a MS art student!Enjoy and come buy something for your office, classroom and apartment!

All sales money will be donated to the Mannam Volunteer Organization: http://mannam.org

They grow up so quickly!

Photo courtesy of Mr. Cole

Mr. Day’s 4th grade class...

Secondary Library

If you are looking for a great novel to read over Winter Break then try one of the Battle of the Books titles. They are all excellent!!! Click on the links to order forms which are one the Secondary Library wiki: http://secondarylibrary.phoenix.wikispaces.net/!

You can either fill out the order and bring the money to the library, or just stop by with no order form and pick from any remaining available titles. Many of the High School books are good choices for Middle School readers as well; and the Middle School books can be good short reads for High School students, so feel free to browse either list. Happy Reading!

- Mrs. Feller

Counselor’s Cornerwith Mr Webster...Part IILast week I discussed how spending time with students is the best way to support them. That ended up being quite timely as days after submission for the Phoenix Flyer I was sent an article written by New York Times writer Thomas Friedman titled "How About Better Parents". The discusses many of the points that I brought, stating that "Parents more focused on their children’s education can also make a huge difference in a student’s achievement". Friedman goes further citing research that suggests that the type of involvement parents engage in may have greater effect than others. Reading books with your child, discussing their school day and helping them with their homework are all cited as having a positive effect on academic success. To read this article and related articles please check in the parents section of my wikispace.

*** No MSG! ***We use seasonings that we make ourselves by blending natural ingredients.

*** No Trans Fat! ***We don't use trans fat.We provide a minimal amount of fried food. We use a variety of food to help students consume less trans fat. (ex. apple, tomato, broccoli, mushroom)

*** No Fast Food! ***We limit using processed food.We do not sell carbonated beverages or simple sugar cookies. Healthy Food Education We provide a variety of Information on menu items. We also issue wall charts and pamphlets containing nutritional information.Healthy Food Experience We provide a variety of events that can help students learn healthier living habits, like hand washing and body fat measuring.

Experience

Hello from the Cafeteria! We provide homemade-style food, so students can feel at home.

School cafeteria is another classroom