Dear Parents,
Yesterday’s Co-Curricular
Activities Mela was a first for the high school. Representatives of 19 student
clubs and service organizations gathered in the foyer of the Fine Arts Center
at the end of the lunch period to let other students know what their purpose is
and when they meet. Many students signed up on the spot to join these
activities. It was well attended and we hope it will encourage more
students to get involved in co-curricular activities. Hats off to our Community
Service Coordinator, Mrs. Kala Ganeshan, for organizing this very successful
event!
Discover India update
This weekend Mr. McFarland, our Discover India Coordinator, will be sending out information regarding the departure and arrival times for the Discover India trips. The itineraries for the trips have been posted on the Discover India 2013-2014 Moodle page. All students should have received
A reminder – Discover India trips will leave Chennai on Saturday, October 12 or Sunday, October 13 and will return on Thursday, October 17. There will be no school for high school students on Friday, October 18.
Use of the iHub
We ask that parents be sensitive to learning and social spaces while in use by students before, during, and after school. During the school day, middle and high school students need a sense of ownership of these spaces, including the iHub, as places to gather, socialize, and collaborate. As such, we request that parents be sensitive to the use of the iHub during school hours, especially right before and right after school and during all breaks, which happen from 10:00-10:45 and 11:45-1:30. We encourage parents to use the Parent MC Café during these times.
NHS Diwali Food Drive
The National Honor Society is initiating an effort to help residents of an old-age home called “Little Sisters of Poor” during this Diwali season. NHS wants to support this home, where the elderly population lives without family support and necessary resources to take care of them in their last days.
To do this, the National Honor Society is initiating a food drive which requests that all students from grade K through 12 to donate at least 1kg of rice, dal, or vegetable oil in the containers that will be set up in the foyer. The event will run from 30th September to 11th October. Help us to help the elderly population.
High School Parent Coffee
We had a good turnout at the Parent Coffee on Tuesday. Counselor Mercy Jesudass explained the Freshman Seminar and our plans for developing a comprehensive counseling program and then I led a virtual tour of the AISC web resources to help parents understand where to find information about Discover India, our co-curricular program and much more. You can find the slides from the meeting in the High School Parent Information Moodle page.
Parent Curriculum Coffee
The Parent Curriculum Coffee on Thursday, October 3rd, will spotlight our EAL programming at AISC. Please join the EAL Team for an information session on how parents can partner with the school in supporting their children as they learn English, academics, and further develop their cognitive skills. The coffee will be held in the BBT from 8:45 - 9:45 on Thursday, Oct. 3rd. We hope you can join us.
PSAT reminder
Students who wish to take the PSAT will be able to do so on Saturday, October 19. There will be no charge for the test. Ms. Jesudass has explained the process for registration to the students, which they can do online. If you have any questions about the test, don’t hesitate to contact her or me.
Food for Thought – “Losing is Good for You”
This week the New York Times published an interesting article by Ashley Merryman titled “Losing is Good for You.” The argument, based on her research, is that giving awards to all participants can cause children to underachieve and may actually undermine a child’s problem-solving ability and his or her ability to cope with adversity. She states, “When children make mistakes, our job should not be to spin those losses into decorated victories. Instead, our job is to help kids overcome setbacks, to help them see that progress over time is more important than a particular win or loss, and to help them graciously congratulate the child who succeeded when they failed.”
This is an interesting perspective on motivation that coincides with the message the Daniel Pink gave in his book, “Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us,” in which he argues that extrinsic rewards such as trophies and grades have little effect on motivation. People are motivated by intrinsic factors - mastery, autonomy and purpose. (For a summary of Daniel Pink’s argument, have a look at this short video.) Our goal as a faculty is to help our students develop those attributes by making them courageous, creative, compassionate and confident lovers of learning.
More information
Please remember that there is a lot more information to be found in the sidebar links to communications from the Guidance Department, the IB-AP Coordinator and the Athletics Director. And don’t miss The Voice, our online student newspaper. In it you will find articles and interviews with new teachers, all written by our high school students.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or matters you would like to discuss.
Have a great weekend.
John McCandless
High School Principal
hsprincipal@aisch.org
A reminder – Discover India trips will leave Chennai on Saturday, October 12 or Sunday, October 13 and will return on Thursday, October 17. There will be no school for high school students on Friday, October 18.
Use of the iHub
We ask that parents be sensitive to learning and social spaces while in use by students before, during, and after school. During the school day, middle and high school students need a sense of ownership of these spaces, including the iHub, as places to gather, socialize, and collaborate. As such, we request that parents be sensitive to the use of the iHub during school hours, especially right before and right after school and during all breaks, which happen from 10:00-10:45 and 11:45-1:30. We encourage parents to use the Parent MC Café during these times.
NHS Diwali Food Drive
The National Honor Society is initiating an effort to help residents of an old-age home called “Little Sisters of Poor” during this Diwali season. NHS wants to support this home, where the elderly population lives without family support and necessary resources to take care of them in their last days.
To do this, the National Honor Society is initiating a food drive which requests that all students from grade K through 12 to donate at least 1kg of rice, dal, or vegetable oil in the containers that will be set up in the foyer. The event will run from 30th September to 11th October. Help us to help the elderly population.
High School Parent Coffee
We had a good turnout at the Parent Coffee on Tuesday. Counselor Mercy Jesudass explained the Freshman Seminar and our plans for developing a comprehensive counseling program and then I led a virtual tour of the AISC web resources to help parents understand where to find information about Discover India, our co-curricular program and much more. You can find the slides from the meeting in the High School Parent Information Moodle page.
Parent Curriculum Coffee
The Parent Curriculum Coffee on Thursday, October 3rd, will spotlight our EAL programming at AISC. Please join the EAL Team for an information session on how parents can partner with the school in supporting their children as they learn English, academics, and further develop their cognitive skills. The coffee will be held in the BBT from 8:45 - 9:45 on Thursday, Oct. 3rd. We hope you can join us.
PSAT reminder
Students who wish to take the PSAT will be able to do so on Saturday, October 19. There will be no charge for the test. Ms. Jesudass has explained the process for registration to the students, which they can do online. If you have any questions about the test, don’t hesitate to contact her or me.
Food for Thought – “Losing is Good for You”
This week the New York Times published an interesting article by Ashley Merryman titled “Losing is Good for You.” The argument, based on her research, is that giving awards to all participants can cause children to underachieve and may actually undermine a child’s problem-solving ability and his or her ability to cope with adversity. She states, “When children make mistakes, our job should not be to spin those losses into decorated victories. Instead, our job is to help kids overcome setbacks, to help them see that progress over time is more important than a particular win or loss, and to help them graciously congratulate the child who succeeded when they failed.”
This is an interesting perspective on motivation that coincides with the message the Daniel Pink gave in his book, “Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us,” in which he argues that extrinsic rewards such as trophies and grades have little effect on motivation. People are motivated by intrinsic factors - mastery, autonomy and purpose. (For a summary of Daniel Pink’s argument, have a look at this short video.) Our goal as a faculty is to help our students develop those attributes by making them courageous, creative, compassionate and confident lovers of learning.
More information
Please remember that there is a lot more information to be found in the sidebar links to communications from the Guidance Department, the IB-AP Coordinator and the Athletics Director. And don’t miss The Voice, our online student newspaper. In it you will find articles and interviews with new teachers, all written by our high school students.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or matters you would like to discuss.
Have a great weekend.
John McCandless
High School Principal
hsprincipal@aisch.org
