Middle School

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Middle School

Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

ISSUE # 14 WEEK OF NOVEMBER 16 TO 20, 2009

From the Middle School Office Dear Parent/s: This week the PTA New Book Fair is being held in the FAT lobby. Please come in to browse the books when you have some time. During the MS Assembly on Wednesday we will have a guest speaker, Amado Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta (a.k.a. Sarge Lacuesta), who will talk to the students on the topic What Inspired Me to Be a Writer. Mr. Lacuesta is a Filipino writer and winner of several awards for his short stories, including the Philippine Graphic Award, the Palanca Memorial Award and the NVM Gonzalez Awards. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Lacuesta to ISM and thank the PTA for providing this opportunity to the students. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests have gotten underway for students in Grade 6 and Grade 8 and will continue during the next two weeks. Reports to parents will be available in December. On December 1 the thought provoking film The Age of Stupid will be shown to Grade 7 and Grade 8 students. The film focuses on climate change and encourages student empowerment, instilling hope for the future. There is a strong message that we really do have a chance to make a difference, and we have to start now. In preparation for the screening of the film, Middle School students will discuss the issue of climate change and what we can do about it in Science classes. There will then be a special showing of this documentary for Grades 7 and 8 on Tuesday December 1, from 1:15 to 3:00 P.M. in the FAT. This film is more age appropriate for Grade 7 and 8 and as a result, Grade 5 and 6 students will be discussing and learning about these issues through a series of excerpts of the film. From Dec 7th – 16th world leaders will be meeting for the UN framework Convention on Climate Change summit in Copenhagen. The goal after showing The Age of Stupid is to give Middle School students the opportunity to add their voice to the global petitions which will be presented as part of the summit in Copenhagen, also being referred to as ”Hopenhagen”. For more background information, see below. THE AGE OF STUPID Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? SYNOPSIS 'The Age of Stupid' is the new cinema documentary from the Director of 'McLibel' and the Producer of the Oscar-winning 'One Day in September'. This enormously ambitious drama-documentary-animation hybrid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching 'archive' footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance? The film probes the following questions: What has caused climate change? Has it occurred previously? Why has it occurred? Is it different now? Why is it different now? What is our responsibility in terms of addressing climate change? Who is able to take action against climate change? How can this be achieved? CREDITS Find out more about the film here: www.ageofstupid.net http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/02/the-age-of-stupid-documentary Copenhagen conference website http://en.cop15.dk/ There will be a second showing at 3:00 P.M. on December 1 for High School students, Faculty and any interested members of the ISM community. Sincerely, Danielle Fredericks Middle School Principal

Clarissa Sayson Middle School Assistant Principal

Upcoming Events November

16 to 20 21 27 30

PTA New Book Fair (FAT Lobby) K-12 Dance Recital (3:00 P.M., FAT) School Holiday School Holiday

PowerSchool Grade Update Nov. 27 - Grade Update Dec. 11 - MS Progress Reports

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Middle School Sports Day

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From the PTA Office NEW BOOK FAIR: DISCOUNTS AND DONATIONS! The PTA once again brings you the New Book Fair 2009 “BOOKS: A WORLD TO DISCOVER”, in partnership with National Book Store and Powerbooks from November 16-20, 2009 (7am-4pm), at the Fine Arts Theater Lobby! What’s in store for you? Coffee and Donuts Join us as we open this event with a coffee morning sponsored by National Book Store on November 16, 2009, Monday @ 730 am, at the FAT façade. Free Seminars Parents, teachers and staff are invited to attend the free seminars: • “Encouraging Reading” on November 16 @ 8am, FAT • Scrapbooking Workshops on Nov 16 (Mon) and Nov 19 (Thu), FAT Lobby from 1-2pm for adults, 215-315pm for kids • Balloon Twisting Seminars on Nov 17 (Tue), Nov 18 (Wed), Nov 20 (Fri), FAT Lobby from 230-330pm Discounts For every purchase that you make, you get either get a 10% discount for cash purchases or 5% discount for credit card purchases. Donations A portion of every sale will go to PTA-selected beneficiaries. Moreover, National Book Store is sponsoring “A Treasure Hunt: UNLOCK THE MYSTERY” for ES students during their class visits to the Book Fair, where they get a chance to win study kits that they can donate to children who were affected by the recent calamities, thru the ISM Disaster Relief efforts. MS and HS students are encouraged to participate as well. Freebies Premium items will be given away for every purchase during the book fair. MS and HS students may also join the “trivia of the day” contests with prizes, as well as get to join the raffle contest for free premiere tickets to the movie "Twilight Saga: NEW MOON" and so much more! Don’t miss this much-anticipated event, and find early stocking stuffers at the New Book Fair! We look forward to seeing you there! PTA NEW BOOK FAIR COMMITTEE Agnes Arambulo Yvonne Mutuc Nanie Narciso Lia Te Monica Boentaran

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Upcoming Events

Service Learning Announcements There is a service learning trip to PCF on SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21ST. Please sign up with Ms. Pavic in room 2040 if you are interested. It will be a great day at a great organization and we will be delivering the ring pulls we have collected thus far! The PAWS trip for November 28th is now full, and sign up has begun for the January 16th trip. First come, first served. Go to room 2040 for the sign up sheet with Ms. Pavic.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PHOTO Orders can still be placed to purchase copies of your child’s photo taken last October. Photo envelopes are available in the Middle School Office.

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From the Fine and Performing Arts Office Congratulations to those who made it to AMIS and ISTA Festivals! AMIS International Asian Middle School Honor Band 27-31 January 2010 Shanghai American School Pudong Ji Min Park Jun Woo Jang Jin Young Lee Jim Kang Jae Woo Jang Chae Woon (Brian) Kim AMIS Asian Middle School Honor Girl's Choir Festival 7-11 April, 2010 Jakarta International School Eve Caudill Soraya Tavakol Roshni Bagli Malvika Subramaniam Camila Doherty Nicole (Seoyoung) Yoon Clara Shin Jae Youn Park Ysabel Capua Alternates: Isabel Quah Shareen Sethi Asia Peters ISTA Middle School Festival Presbyterian Ladies College, Perth Australia March 19th to 21st Allegra Cox John Du Kristin Eriksen Bianca Fuentes Harry Gaskin Jacob Hobbins Charlene Mamaril Zehn Mohammed Gaea Morales Martin Neumann Shivani Phadke Dominique Purdue Cristian Saguil

Robbi Sy Daniel Toze Valerie Toze Zoe Ferenc

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From the Athletics & Activities Office November 12-15th - ISM Golf team at Jakarta for IASAS Golf Exchange November 14 - Swim meet at ISM November 13 to 15 - ISM Varsity Touch team at Singapore for All Asian Touch Tournament November 18 to 22 - ISM MUN group to Bangkok for IASAS MUN November 27 to 28 - IASAS Basketball Exchange at ISM

ISM Basketball Exchange November 27-28 2009 Boys Draw

Venue: HS Gym

Girls Draw

Venue: MS Gym

Friday 4pm Friday 6pm

ISM vs, Jakarta Brent vs. Shanghai (This game may

Friday 4pm Friday 6pm

ISM vs. Jakarta UST vs. Brent

Saturday 8am Saturday 10:00am Saturday Noon Saturday 2pm Saturday 4pm

Jakarta vs. UST ISM vs. Brent Jakarta vs. Brent UST vs. ISM Final 1 vs. 2 after round robin play!

be played earlier at Brent.)

Saturday 8am Saturday 10:00am Saturday Noon Saturday 2:00pm Saturday 4:00pm

ISM vs. Shanghai Brent vs. Jakarta ISM vs. Brent Shanghai vs. Jakarta Final 1 vs. 2 after round robin play!

International Rugby at ISM next week: Those who were here last year may remember ISM hosted an IRB International U/20’s Rugby Test Match between Philippines v Guam. It was a great promotion for the start of our rugby season and we had a good crowd of interested students, faculty and ISM community members turn out for the twilight matches under lights on our HS field. Next week ISM will host two evenings of International Rugby as a part of this years series with four teams participating. This year four of our ISM varsity boys’ team have made it to the Philippine Eagles squad and will be playing in the games. This is a great achievement for them and will be a terrific experience for them to play international rugby at this level. I hope you are able to make it to some of the matches to watch and cheer for them. The four ISM HS reps are: Fergus Mitra, Shay Nielson, Brian Liston and Noriyuki Fukuyama Should be some great rugby on display next Tues and Thursday after school! PRFU/IRB International Rugby u/20’s Series: Round One: Tuesday, 17th November at ISM 5:00 P.M. - Philippines vs. Laos 6:40 P.M. - Pakistan vs. Iran Round Two: Thursday, 19th November at ISM 5:00 P.M. - Philippines vs. Iran 6:40 P.M. - Pakistan vs. Laos The third round of matches will be played Saturday afternoon, November 21 at Nomads Sports Club in Merville. Season Two Sports: All 2nd season sports have made a good start after tryouts; please consult the ATAC and or the school divisional web page for the games schedule to be up to date with the latest match fixtures. This schedule does change on a regular basis. We are seeking more MS girls from grades 5-8 to join our MS Girls’ tennis team. Please check the practice schedule and go to the rooftop courts to meet the coach if you are interested.