THE EXPRESS—NOVEMBER 2012 1 WWW.AISA.SCH.AE

By Latifa Al Mazuri

You might be wondering, what is the Virtual Enterprise Program? Well, it’s an online businesses world where hundreds of schools

participate to create their own business online. The businesses purchase and sell their goods to one another and compete for the

biggest marketplace on the website. This is the first time Virtual Enterprise has been introduced to the Middle East. AISA students

competed with each other to see which business would be a part of the program. There were two teams: the boys’ economics class,

and the girls’ economics class paired with the boys advanced business class. Teams worked to create the best business proposal to

win the competition. Each class presented their business proposal to their teachers, Mr. Newbold and Mr. Thomas. The presentation

was put on the school website for the students to vote on, and the second team won by 44% more votes. The next step is to edit the

business proposal as one united team and to launch it online.

I asked Alia Youssef, who is in the girl’s economics class, about her experience throughout the competition. She replied, ‘The compe-

tition concept was very new for me, because it’s not something we’re doing outside of class, but rather, we’re being graded on it.”

I wanted to know how she contributed within her group to make their business proposal win: “I was the leader of my group so I had

to make sure everyone was on task, and that deadlines were being met. I found it really challenging at

first because I had to deal with a big number of members, and it was the classroom as one group, rather

than different separate small groups.”

Alia also added that “It feels GREAT to win; I feel like I’ve finally accomplished something, especially

since it’s so nerve wracking being in a class with 11 other boys’’.

It will be interesting to see how the AISA team does when the company is tested against the other virtual

enterprises. Good Luck!

THEEXPRESS Volume 3, Issue 2. November 2012 Express Yourself!

THECONTENT

Page 1,2 - AISA VOICE

Welcome Back Mr. Crown

Eco-Future Saadiyat Island

Economics Presentations

ACST Tunisia School

Local HCT Senior Trip

Canteen Food

Drama

Page 3 - What’s Up?

AD Film Festival

Hijra/New Year

Talent Show

Halloween @ AISA

Page 4 - The Scene

Innocence of Muslims

What’s Wrong with the

World?

Ask Bob

AISA’s Support Staff

Page 5 - Cosmopolitan

Video Games

Music Teachers

Publications Bios

Page 6 - We Are The Lions

Swim Season

Volleyball

THEEXPRESS

Our mission is to produce an up-to-

date, fun, fresh, and fierce newspaper

that will be liked by many, cussed by

some, but read by all! Enjoy!

Staff Advisor: Miss Sarah

Edited by Ms. Duffner and Ms. Hanson

AISA VOICE: Fahda Al Saud, Latifa Al Mazrui,

Meera Romanos, Mariam Jabrie, Tim John-

son, Alix Marionnet

WHAT’S UP?: Sasha Richard-Herbert, Jessi-

ca Smith, Sara Al Mahmoud, Ahmed Fardan

COSMOPOLITAN: Mohamed Al-Shaibani,

Ali Al Masaood

THE SCENE: Mohammed Al Mubarak, Sarah

SheikhAli, Danna Atrak

WE ARE THE LIONS!: AlHanoof, Hadeel

Dahlan

Welcome Back Mr. Crown In September, an aortic dissection nearly stole Mr. Crown away from his loving and pregnant wife, Melissa. One of the last things he remembers before being rolled into the operating room was Melissa holding his hand and saying, "I love you, and the baby and I will be waiting for you when you get out.” The following is an edited ac-count of Mr. Crown’s recollection of the night that changed his life: I was coaching and had an Aortic dissection (basically, my aortic route tore open spontaneously). I figured something was wrong while helping a player tie his skates. I had some stiffness and blurred vision, which ended up being the 'sign' that things were wrong. Luckily, some of my hockey teammates happened to be at the rink (Zayed Sports City) as I was coaching their kids, so I got a ride to the Al Noor hospital. They misdi-agnosed me with gastritis for over 12 hours. They finally listened to me and did the CT scan I requested, as I had a pre-diagnosed heart issue. My wife Melissa got ahold of a couple hockey friends who are surgeons, and they convinced the hospital to perform a risky transfer via ambulance to the Cleveland Clinic, managed by Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center. Instantly, the German cardiac team rolled me right into the operating room. Continued on page 6

Eco-Future Saadiyat Island

Virtual Enterprise At AISA

AISA students were featured in The National for their fine work

as ambassadors at the Eco-Future exhibition, held at Manarat Al

Saadiyat.

Eco-Future is an educational exhibition that gives visitors a

glimpse into sustainable lifestyles. The exhibition is used to

raise awareness of climate change, over-consumption, depleting

of global resources, and sustainability options for the future.

Each visitor is given an ‘Eco Tag’, which they use to explore the

interactive games and graphics. Its objective is to resolve envi-

ronmental and health issues that affect our lives, and help us

make conscious choices to create an environmentally sustaina-

ble virtual future city. Designed with children in mind, the activi-

ty is guided by four interactive characters, called Ali, Moza, Yas and Sarah.

AISA was selected to send ambassadors to the event’s opening to demonstrate how

the exhibit works for the press. Students that were sent were fascinated by the in-

teractive activities. They were able to articulate to the Press in Arabic and English

their experiences in the exhibit in a significant and memorable way. Surely, these

young people will not forget the event and the experiences that they had during the

exhibition. Mr. Seith Lewis said, “All of the students had an awesome time and rep-

resented AISA with pride. “

By Fahda Al Saud

THE EXPRESS—NOVEMBER 2012 2 WWW.AISA.SCH.AE

Time For Change Timothy Johnson

Am I the only student that believes the canteen food is

sub par? How are we supposed to become inspired and

enlightened students when we face depressingly average

canteen food? If we are supposed to believe ‘You are

what you eat,’ what is AISA?

The food in the canteen has remained the same since I

have been at AISA: average quality and over-priced. I

decided to talk to other students at AISA and get their

opinions on the state of our canteen food, and then com-

pare it to what is offered at other schools in the region.

The first person I asked, who happened to be a teacher

said, “The canteen food makes it easy for one to go on a

diet.” I decided to do a little research to determine the

retail price of the tasteless items on the AISA menu. My

comparative study revealed some interesting findings. At

the Lulu bakery, a sausage roll sells for 3 dirhams each

and is baked fresh daily. The canteen sells mediocre sau-

sage rolls for 7 dirhams each. Again, when I compared the

price of zatar bread at Lulu’s (3 dirhams), the school can-

teen sells the equivalent for 7 dirhams. That means the

canteen is selling the items for more than 50% their retail

value. I understand that the canteen is a business, but

they have a digestive monopoly at AISA. If they are to

remain the only option to purchase food at the school,

they should take pity on our taste buds and feed us some-

thing yummy?

ACST TUNISIA SCHOOL BURNED DOWN

Meera Romanos

On Friday, September 14th ,the American Cooperative School of Tunis campus was attacked, along with the

U.S embassy, which is located on the opposite side of the school. Both of these places were burned and badly

damaged, and will take quite a long time to repair. The ACST elementary building and library were burned and

everything was damaged or looted. Fortunately, they had advance notice about the situation, and sent

students and staff home early that day. Thankfully no one was hurt. The estimated damages are

approximately 5.5 million US dollars.

Everybody returned to work on September 17th to help clean up the school. People from the community and

some students also tried to help clean and fix everything that was damaged, but they still need a lot more help

to replace the stolen and burnt items, such as computers, furniture and library books.

Our school director Mr. Jones, was very unhappy when he heard that this had happened. He said, “I can understand

people getting mad about the video posted on the Internet. But, to go to that level and assume that firstly, the Amer-

ican government is responsible and attacking the embassy, and secondly, attacking the school, is very unacceptable.

This is very sad behavior, and to go into the school and steal all the computers and everything else was just very bad”.

We asked Mr. Jones if he would like the idea of helping raise money for the school in Tunis, and he loved the idea. We

still don’t know what we are going to do but maybe a couple of bake sales and free dress days. These people were

attacked for no reason, and everything was

All local seniors enrolled in private schools

in Abu Dhabi were invited to attend a

meeting hosted by the Higher Colleges of

Technology (AD campus). The purpose of

the event was to help senior students pre-

pare for their future universities. The

meeting focused on several important

points for the graduates, such as college

applications procedures, academic expecta-

tions, and the different local universities

available, and the programs they offer.

For our seniors, the trip was both useful and

distressing. It gave them the information they needed to guide them through the year,

and gave them also a glimpse of life outside AISA and inside the universities. Senior Reem

Luqman said, “ The meeting helped us as seniors to know what we should do and what we

should avoid. It also gave us an idea of the universities available for us as locals”.

Although the trip was helpful, the seniors now feel the pressure in facing their future as

university students. Some said they feel more aware of the responsibilities and are deter-

mined to work harder in order to attend the best universities. The event stressed the

importance of working hard to get the best grades possible so that students can present a

competitive application to the university of our choice. “Exams, deadlines, IELTS, TOEFL

and more all motivate us as seniors to work harder!” says senior student Sara Al

Mahmoud.

Reem Luqman expressed her sorrow after going to this event. “Going to the meeting

made me realize that we’re really graduating and leaving our beloved school. This makes

me sad because I’ve been at AISA since KG1, and just the idea of leaving it makes me want

to cry!”

Mariam Jabrie

Seniors Take a Glimpse of the Outside World

Mr. Gallichan has been working on a play with his grade 11 and 12 drama class. He chose a

play written by Don Zolidis, who writes a lot of fun and exciting plays for schools in America.

This one is called, “Employees Must Wash Their Hands… Before Murder”. “It’s very silly real-

ly, but it’s fun,” say Mr. Gallichan. The setting of the play is a burger restaurant. It’s about

how a burger restaurant is faced with a health inspection, and then strangely, the boss gets

murdered. The play features odd characters such as:

-‘Squirmy’, the singing tapeworm.

-‘Scabby’, a strange hunchbacked creature who lives under the restaurant,

-‘Samantha, Debbie and Ashley‘, who are waitresses at the restaurant,

- ‘Torok’, the boss of the restaurant

-‘Steve’, the manager

-‘Jenekins’, the inspector with his gangster intern,

-‘Birdie’ the cartoon bird,

and more other crazy, neurotic, power mad employees of the restaurant.

Senior Lisa Saman plays ‘Samantha’, one of the restaurants waitresses. Lisa says, “It’s really

fun working together with a few of the other seniors and juniors. We have fun in practice

and work well together as a team. From the first time I read it, I was laughing, and I still do

every time I read it.

Mr.Gallichan says, “Most seniors haven’t got a huge amount of time because they have to

get on with their studies, so I’m mak-

ing it short and lighthearted. That’s

something manageable, but great

fun, something that they will remem-

ber doing”.

It sounds like Mr. G and his students

have a wonderfully silly production in

store. Set aside the 21st of November

for a burger flipping, murdering good

time.

Alix Marionnet

“Employees Must Wash Their

Hands…

Before Murder”

http://www.acst.net/

THE EXPRESS—NOVEMBER 2012 3 WWW.AISA.SCH.AE

WHAT’S UP? AISA News Film Festival Lights up Abu Dhabi

Sasha Richard Herbert

Many students from the American International School volunteered for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, located at the Emirates Palace and Marina Mall. We all had differ-ent experiences working with the volunteer team; some of us enjoyed the event, and others, not so much. In my opinion, the Film Festival was an interesting event to attend, but not as a volunteer. A friend of mine and I decided to volunteer for one night to see how the night would turn out and if it would be any fun. It turned out to be 3 hours of standing and waiting and trying to help those who were in need. Most of the film festival staff took little interest in us.

It wasn’t a horrible experience. We had the opportunity to communicate with different people, different volun-teers, and others who were attending the production. Sara Al Mahmoud, senior student at AISA, volunteered as well and enjoyed it very much. In her opinion it was a lot of fun even though the job required a lot of unexpected work and a whole lot of standing. Her involvement this year motivated her to strike for a higher position next year. She met many important people in the movie mak-ing industry, which was the highlight of her experience. She said, “With all the stress caused from school, ADFF was my way out of it. Overall, it was a good experience.” The only negative comment Sara had was that she heard many complaints coming from local producers com-menting on how unorganized the opening night was. In’shallah, next year, more organization will be in place so that everyone, even the volunteers, can enjoy the film festival.

No, not January 1, but November 15th is the beginning of a new year, according to the Islamic calendar. The main differ-ence between the universal calendar and the Islamic calendar is that the Islamic calendar is open to change because it relies on the moon. Unlike the usual 365 days in a year, the Islamic year usually has an approximation of 354 days in-stead. 1434 years ago, most Arab men followed a calendar that did not have a stable beginning or an end. Instead, men used to change the date whenever it seemed applicable and beneficial. This also meant that there was literally no "new year". It was during the Proph-et Muhammad PBUH travel from Mak-kah to Al-Madina, currently in Saudi Ara-bia, that started a new year for the Ar-abs. These travels are called "Hijra's" in Arabic. Looking at the beginning movement of Islam, the Prophet and his influential followers traveled to many locations in order to spread the word of Allah, which is Islam. The Prophet's Hijra from Makkah to Al-Madina took time and patience, but when he arrived, it was purely a coincidence that it was the first day of a new month, Muhram. With the Prophet's arrival, the Muslim people of Al-Madina, as well as the Muslims around that area, agreed to make that the start of every new year.

To celebrate this day, some Muslims gather and have a simple lunch gathering, while others live their lives just like any ordinary day. Happy Hijra!

Back to the Future,

A Jessica Smith

The Student Council organized a Halloween event for the students of AISA on Wednesday, Octo-ber 17. The Halloween event featured a haunted house, candy, food, music, and a horror movie. In front of the entrance of the haunted house, there were many impatient people who couldn’t wait to get a taste of the AISA haunted house. Once the people were finally able to enter the haunted house, they had to go through a maze, take right turns and left turns, and go under a table. Behind every obstacle, there was something scary waiting for them. By the time people got out of the maze, they ran straight back in line to try it again!

In front of the haunted house, there were people selling candies and glow sticks, and the money went straight to charity. Outside, near the basketball court, Youssef Chehab was working as the event’s D.J. He played everything from Justin Bieber, to Gangam style, and he got the crowd cheering and dancing all around the court.

I talked with Ahmed Khimiri, and when I asked him what he thought about the Halloween party. He said, “It was better than I expected it to be.”

AISA Gets Down and Spooky Ahmed Fardan

Back to the Future, A Hijra New Year

Sarah Al Mahmoud

AISA’s Got

Jessica Smith

AISA held its annual Talent Show on Monday, October 22nd this year in the old “Tim Gym”. Eleven different acts were performed, including from, singing, dancing, rapping and standup comedy. The turn out was fantastic; more than 150 people turned out to see the show. Thus, making tons of money for the student coun-cil this year. Everyone who showed up and performed had a fan-tastic time. Eighth grader, Gabby, sang a beautiful song in the Talent Show. She said, “ I enjoyed this experience, I did some-thing that I was uncomfortable with and it made me more com-fortable. I would definitely do it next year.” During the show, the student council was also selling raffle tickets to help raise money for charity. The winner of the raffle ticket would win the newest Blackberry Bold. Almost everyone who was there bought a raffle ticket hoping to win the Blackberry. This helped the student council raise a ton of money for charity. Hopefully, next year AISA will hold another talent show, because it turned out so well this year.

THE EXPRESS—NOVEMBER 2012 4 WWW.AISA.SCH.AE

The SCENE

ASK BOB Bob again, I received plenty of INTERESTING

questions. Here are your answers a la Bob.

The tallest teacher in the school is the second grade

teacher, Mr. Wolger. He is 6”8’! The shortest teacher

in the school is the high school English teacher Ms. Levi.

Mr. Morley is 50 years old.

Mr. Chalmers loves pizza. It's his favorite.

Why can’t everyone swim in the pool? Well, the pool is

used for the PE swim classes and for the after school

swim team. It is also used for adults, who rent it out for

a couple of hours after school. If all students were to

have access to the pool, the school would have to hire

another full time life-guard, which is quite expensive.

Now, I’m not sure why, but there seems to be a lot of

interest in me lately. Here are the answers to your Bob

questions. “How do I feel being Bob?” I have been Bob

all my life. I don't know how I feel being me. Weirdo. I

was also asked, “Who’s Bob?” I thought I made it clear

that I, “Bob,” would like to remain anonymous for obvi-

ous reasons. As far as who I am, that's something for

me to know and you not to. Finally, no I am not inter-

ested in any of you! And don't "wink" at me.

Most importantly, Ahmed Al Romaithi said that he will

cut his hair in 2015!!!

I'll be waiting for your next crazy questions! OVER AND

OUT!

Anonymous

The Innocence of Muslims

Mohammed Al Mubarak

The Spanish Inquisition, The Crusades, and the Taliban are but a few examples of religion used as a cover for a political movement. In the Spanish Inquisition, Jews and Muslims were burned at the stake for not converting to Christianity and refusing to leave Spain. This goes against the very principle of Christianity, of compassion and harmony with one another. The Crusades prompted decades of war and devastation to both sides, most notably during the massacre of Jerusalem where, according to Gesta Francorum (a witness and a priest) “[our men] were killing and slaying even to the Temple of Solomon, where the slaughter was so great that our men waded in blood up to their ankles..." Fast-forward several centuries and we are prompted with another issue, a movie by the name of “ The Innocence of Muslims.”

“The Innocence of Muslims,” a very low-budget movie trailer that attempts to not only mock the prophet but also to mock the director’s and the actors’ abilities to make an acceptable movie in the process. So, when a movie like this results in the death of fifty four people, we ask ourselves: how on earth did this cause all this destruction?

The Muslim world needs to understand that there is no possible way to stop these attacks on the prophet in the age of globalism and the internet. Instead, we should look at how the prophet dealt with these acts and follow his example. For instance, the Sunaa’ recalls a story where the prophet’s neighbor threw her garbage at the prophet’s yard. The prophet reacted very differently than we have. Instead of flipping cars and de-stroying embassies, he displayed his benevolence and grace.

So in the end, can’t we all just get along?

What’s Wrong With the World? Op –ED

Here’s whats been going on, in case the stress of school work, college applications, and maintaining a social life has been keeping you from keeping up with the news…

One Member of Russian Punk Band Goes Free (Oct. 10): A court in Moscow frees one of the three members of that Russian punk band. As we read in the previous “Express” article, the band, convicted of hoo-liganism, is doing a bit better. Yekaterina Samutsevich was released after judges accepted her new lawyer's argument that she played less of a role in the cathedral protest performance that landed her in jail with her band mates. I just don’t know what to say about this. Put this spray-painting, littering, partying criminal be-hind bars Russia! Forget about focusing on murders and robberies, it’s not like they pose a real problem. Down with hooliganism!

Hugo Chávez Wins Third Term (Oct. 7): Hugo Chavez won the presidential election in Venezuela. He received 54 percent of the vote. His opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, received 45 percent. This will be Chávez's third six-year term as president. Be honest, you don’t know what I’m talking about. This is why you need to keep up with current events!

Meningitis Outbreak Spreads throughout the U. S. (Oct. 12): An outbreak of meningitis has killed 15 people in the United States. Also, 97 people have meningitis in 23 states. The outbreak has been linked to a contaminated steroid drug. The drug had been given to patients as a spinal injection for back pain. The British Pharmaceutical company responsible for this drug has recalled all of their meds. For those of you who don’t know, meningitis is this terrible illness where the membrane covering your brain gets an infection. So, your brain feels like it’s on fire.

Felix Flies! [see image] (Oct. 15.): Felix Baum-gartner breaks countless records as he sky dives from space to Earth. He holds the rec-ord for the highest sky dive ever by jumping out of a balloon 39 km above New Mexico. This man is truly a boss. You can see the actu-al footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBvdDx6aQIU

See Felix in the photo to the right.

Sarah Shekhali

Trick or Treat AISA Halloween Parade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBvdDx6aQIUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBvdDx6aQIU

THE EXPRESS—NOVEMBER 2012 5 WWW.AISA.SCH.AE

Cosmopolitan

Mrs. Jana Van Rensburg, the music teacher, has left AISA and has been replaced by Dr. David Knapp.

Ms. Jana has been at AISA since the 2010-2011 school year. She was loved by all of her students for her

teaching style. Adam Yousif, an advanced music student, says, "Ms. Jana's class was always a class to

look forward to. She ensured we understood the musical components, but we also always had fun with

the practical work." Many of her students share this point of view.

As of October 7th, Dr. David Knapp is the new music teacher. Dr. Knapp has a Ph.D. in music education

and is excited to take over the school's music department. Dr. Knapp said, "The students are smart and

good spirited." Dr. David is from the USA and says, "It's an American school and it's a lot like America."

He has enjoyed Abu Dhabi and teaching at AISA so far. However, he does face the challenge of taking

over a class in the middle of a school year. He recognizes that changing the students' expectations will

be difficult, but he is very excited about taking on the challenge.

Goodbye Ms. Jana! You will be missed! Welcome to AISA, Dr. David!

Video Games

Are Good For the Soul

Ali Al Masaood

With games like Fifa 13, Black Ops 2, Far Cry 3, Borderlands 2,

Assassins Creed 3, Halo 4, Bioshock Infinite, and many others

coming out this year, it seems that gamers have their hands

full. Inevitably, this brings up the common belief that video

games have a negative effect on students. Some believe the

massive influx of games will cause students to stop studying,

become less social, and literally lose intelligence. In my opin-

ion, this could not be farther from the truth. There have been

numerous studies disproving the statement that, video games

have a negative effect. Video games may take time from stud-

ies and homework, but they have many positive effects. A pop-

ular game that was recently under fire for being “too violent”

was Call of Duty. Call of Duty is a franchise game that blew up

the second it was released. It puts players into a virtual first

person shooter simulation, as they complete a set campaign

created by the developers. With the multiplayer option, you

are able to select a team, weapons and play online with peo-

ple from around the world. Studies have shown that 79% of

players learned more about history from games like World

War 1 and World War 2 than they did from history class. The

game also runs on a number point scheme that could be com-

plex, depending on your level of play. Studies have shown that

players gain number comprehension skills after a period of

time. Hand-eye coordination and physical comprehension sur-

prisingly improved drastically as well. The game’s multiplayer

section also caused antisocial people to blossom into pro-

social butterflies. In conclusion, video games are not all nega-

tive; in fact, video games can be a positive factor in people’s

lives. So, teachers and parents, calm down and play a video

game. You might like it!

PUBLICATION BIOS

Below you can read about some of the publications students who are creating your newsletter

and yearbook. If you have any ideas for an article in the newspaper or have an excellent pho-

tograph you would like published in the yearbook, find one of these students and let them

know.

Sarah Sheikh Ali AKA Sarag (sàr-āĵ) is known for her quote, “What just happened for the past 5 minutes?” She is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She is from Syria and has been at AISA for 10 years! She speaks Arabic English, and Pig Latin. The best word to describe her is TRIPPIN. Since she was a child she has dreamed of being a mermaid, pilot, or Oprah. Her biggest accomplishment is raising her curfew up to 6:00 pm. She quotes, “It was very rewarding.” Some interesting facts about Sarah: Her favorite excuse for not turning in homework is “I I … didn’t do it J J J” She likes to spend her free time staring at walls, and stalking people. Her motto is “hakuuuna mataaata,” which gets her through most days, and if it doesn’t… Good luck staying alive that day. I encourage you to get to know Sarah, especially if you are depressed in life. She always comes up with the craziest and most random things to do, AND she gives amazing advice.

Timothy Johnson, also known as “Big Timmy,” is a senior from Australia who’s been in AISA for three years. He speaks Australian, which is the com-mon language where he comes from. What most teachers would be sur-prised to know about Tim is that he is originally from the Australian conti-nent. His favorite excuse for not turning in homework in on time is for him to pretend not to have it. He likes to spend his free time stroking his cats and listening to Adele. “I have no regrets,” Tim says when he was asked whether or not he had regrets. “I’m a real boy,” Tim quoted when asked what most adults don’t understand about him. The three words that Tim says describe him the best are, “Strawberries, economist, and enthusiastic.” Tim’s biggest change he would like to make in himself is the removal of his wings.

Danna Atrak (Dandoona) is a beautiful Lebanese senior who has been here for four years. She is outgoing, friendly and FUN! In her free time she likes to watch her favorite TV shows, like Gossip Girls, 90210 etc and spend time with all her friends! AISA wouldn’t be AISA without Danna Atrak. She is always willing to do whatever is fun and exciting. Dan-na is the type of person who will always help those who are in need. I can honestly say that Danna is one of the sweet-est girls I know. She is a very hardworking student who will do anything to get to her goals, even if its to fight with a teacher for a higher grade! SENIORRSS 13’ !

Mohammad Al-Shaibani, aka “Shaiba” is a senior from the U.A.E who has been at AISA for thirteen years. The languages that Shaiba speaks are Arabic, English and Hindi. Most people would be surprised to know that Shai-ba is a very good cook, which is one of his hobbies outside of school. When asked what fictional character Shaiba would like to meet, his response was “Batman,” as he is his idol. The biggest change Shaiba would like to make to himself would be that he could change his voice to that of Bane. Shaiba would also like to say, “I hope this is a great year at AISA and everyone has a blast!”.

A Change of Tune Mohammed Al-Shaibani

THE EXPRESS—NOVEMBER 2012 6 WWW.AISA.SCH.AE

Swim Season Update

By Al Hanoof Hameli

AISA is known for the quality and variety of sport teams that are offered. This year, the swim

team consists of 54 members, coached by Ms. Eileen Hempel, Mr. William Hempel , Ms Allison

Lackie, Ms Benedicte Mandy and Ms. Sabrina Sambola . The swim team practices focus on

cardiovascular endurance. The swimmers practice 2 days per week after school for an hour.

Ms. Sambola is happy to report, “The swimmers are working hard and it is paying off. There

has definitely been improvement since the first practice.” Ms. Sambola also pointed out that it

is only the second year of AISA‘s swim program, and she has already seen big improvement in

her swimmers’ skill levels.

AISA students are lucky to have a huge pool and hard working coaches who lead and help the

swimmers learn. From watching an AISA swim practice, you can see the determination and

serious attitude they have towards the sport. The coaches appear to be quite proud and hap-

py to see their swim team’s progress.

The swim team has not participated in any meets yet, but has two competitions coming up

against Al Raha International School and Al Muna School, and we wish them all the best. Ms.

Sambola said, “ We’re looking forward to this year and developing our swimmers. We have

started to do time trials in practice and it’s exciting for us and the swimmers to see their im-

provements each week!”

110% from Our Lions Hadeel Dahlan

The first sport to start their tournaments this year was volleyball. This season, AISA played

many successful games and proved to other schools that AISA was ready for competition. The

volleyball season started September 4th, and ends on November 10th. Many schools participate

in the volleyball league, and most of the games against our school took place at UAS, ACS, Al

Nahda Girl School, GEMS, ASD, DAA, and CIS. AISA hosted an ISAC volleyball tournament on

October 10th through 14th. JV Volleyball (ASK) had a tournament from October 17th through

21st, where AISA won 2-0 in their first game. The girl’s JV volleyball team has many things to be

proud of this season. Winning games against GWA, AAG and UAS put them in 4th place before

the ECC tournament.

The varsity girls also gave ACS a challenge, nearly winning in the third set. All three sets were

very closely matched, ending with a two-point difference. The game took place at AISA, and

the lions finished in 2nd place at the ISAC tournament. Mr. Hornblower said, “Our girls made it

to the finals; the atmosphere in the gym was fantastic. There were tons of people. The girls

ended up playing ASK, who were unbeaten throughout the entire tournament. It was exciting

to see so many people cheering for the game.”

The coaches this year who supported and helped players were, Mr. Holloway, Mr. McTigue,

Mr. Armstrong.

We thank you all for your ability to teach our students new techniques, and skills. Together,

the girls were able to put AISA on top winning second place. Better luck next time for the boys,

who ended in 4th place. AISA players need AISA support, so everyone come down and watch

the games and continue cheering for our students.

the We Are

Mr. Crown’s story continued...

Once I was in the operating room, they told Melissa I had a 10-20% chance of survival. I, of course didn't know this. As it turned out, the man who saved my life was a former AISA parent, Dr. Norbert Augustin. My recollection of the night is VERY choppy because of the pain and being in and out of consciousness. They had to put me in "profound hypothermic circulatory arrest" (i.e. freeze my body, pause my heart/brain blood flow and put me on a heart and lung machine for 28 minutes). I was clinically considered dead. After performing a Bentall procedure, replacing the route and valve with a com-posite sleeve and stainless steel mechanical valve, they brought me back. Apparently, when I woke up, I freaked out and started reaching for all the tubes. I apparently lifted a Filipino nurse off the ground with one of my arms. They ended up restraining my arms, which was hard for Melissa to watch. Eventually they brought me a pencil and I wrote 'Brink' (my version of 'drink'). I was SO thirsty. One of my close friends, Tyson Ellerby was there with Melissa and ended up helping calm me down and fed me ice chips and water. In total, I spent 10 days or so in the ICU (intensive Care Unit) and the CCU (critical care unit).

The night I went in, my hockey team held a vigil and prayer and arranged steps to unite and support Melissa if things didn't come through as well as they did. Since 'making it', the hockey community, as well as our teaching friends at ADEC & AISA, have been amazing. Our friends bought us a new fridge filled with homemade meals, which has allowed Melissa and I to focus on the healing process. My surgeon friend, Michel Bus-sieres, arranged for a therapist to come to our flat to do acupuncture as well as stretch-ing to help rehab the main scar as well as promote mental wellness as I recover, before the hospital rehab kicks in.

The support from our friends here has been amazing. We are truly blessed. Before my Dad left, we went to the rink for one of the hockey nights. All of players stopped skating when I walked up the stairs to the seats and started tapping their sticks on the ice, hap-py to see me. It was definitely an emotional event. It's been an emotional couple of weeks, for that matter. It's been quite a journey, and I've got a long way to go. There are good days and bad, but it sure as hell beats the alternative.

With a grateful heart, Mr. Crown has a lot of healing to do. While the 15-inch zipper incision across his sternum heals, he is left with time to reflect on how close he came to not being around anymore. He says, “I’m definitely more thankful for every day that I'm given, but I also take more enjoyment in many small things that I might not have before. The sun seems to shine a little brighter each day.” Thank you for sharing your story, Mr. Crown. Welcome Back!

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