Dear Students and Parents,
Each semester we honor one student per grade level per discipline for exemplifying the totality of the Vision for an AISC Learner. Each department shared a brief introduction (shared below) followed by announcing the honorees during our assembly this week.
English Department:
In the movie Dead Poets Society, Professor Keating reminds us, “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. He reminds us that life has specific needs for continuing on - but it is literature that gives us the will and desire to give our existence meaning. He communicates that language has the power to create, to sustain, to inspire. So too do these four students we are privileged to honor with the recognition of the English Department Vision of a Learner award. Each has demonstrated versatility in the skills demanded by the study of language arts, frequently demonstrating leadership by offering innovative ideas, reflecting on the course concepts while still honoring the insights of others. Each has explored and embraced the essence of language arts, showing intuition in analysis and empathy in response. We consider each student’s interpretation of the English language to be that of a scholar, one who seeks to understand, seeks to create, and seeks to engage with language. We are proud to award the English Department Vision of an AISC Learner this semester to 9th grader Anjali Seshadri, 10th grader Daeun Jung, 11th grader Diya Reddy and 12th grader Celia Malone
Health and PE Department:
In constructing an HPE curriculum that is relevant and meaningful, it is our purpose to deliver a program that educates ‘in’, ‘through’ and ‘about’ movement and health. The students we have selected for the AISC vision of a learner award fully satisfy this in that they acknowledge that movement in itself is worthwhile and produces a joyful experience, have developed and utilised the required social and emotional skills that help themselves and others thrive in both a movement and also in a health-promoting environment; they also value learning about movement and health with others, seeing the purpose in creating lifelong healthy habits and positive relationships, thereby increasing one's own wellbeing. We, therefore, have great pleasure in announcing the HPE Vision of a Learner for semester one: Grade Nine- Joseph Lange, Grade Ten-Tsenguun Bataa, Grade Eleven- Sam Sankar and Grade Twelve - Anya Kumar
Math Department:
Why do we study math? For many, it is because there is a summative on Friday. But for the students being recognized today, the study of mathematics goes far beyond a school requirement. For some, math is a tool, used to crack new problems, solve difficult questions, and craft clever solutions. For others, mathematics is a language, used to describe the complex concepts in science, economics, and other related fields. And for many, mathematics is quite simply a pursuit, an art, an enjoyable and satisfying study in how a logical argument unfolds, just as the ancient Greeks believed, a philosophy. Philosophers of Mathematics, congratulations! Grade 9: Karan Chakravarthy, Grade 10: Byeongchan Kang, Grade 11: Vihaan Saharia and Grade 12: Vikram Naronha.
Science Department:
When completing college recommendation letters, teachers are frequently asked “what are the first words that come to mind to describe this student?” Here are some of the words that come to mind when thinking about the four recipients of the Vision of an AISC Learner award in science: Curious is certainly up there. These four students explore the world around them with palpable curiosity, always asking questions—the driving force behind science—and searching for explanations and solutions. Deep thinkers is another; they research, design innovative experiments to test ideas, analyse data, and learn from failures as well as successes. They exude a genuine sense of awe upon discovering new ideas and seeing how the pieces of science fit together. Reflective; they reflect not only on their own learning journey, but also on the crucial and complex role science plays in our world and on the ethical dilemmas that science and society face. Team players: they are generous collaborators who support their peers and push everyone’s thinking, and they are passionate about sharing their love of science with others in and outside the classroom. On behalf of the Science department, it is my pleasure and my honour to present the Vision of an AISC Learner Awards to the following students: Grade 9: Doyeon Kim, Grade 10: Seunghyoun (SH) Oh , Grade 11: Sungho Kim, Grade 12: Yoonjong Kang
Social Studies Department:
Compelling Question: To what extent can our school’s “Vision of a Learner” attributes be seen in the Social Studies classroom? Well, the students who have earned this award provide us with some answers. They are: Explorers who ask good questions, and pursue their inquiries with creativity, resilience, and vigor. They are Thinkers, who use disciplinary skills in history, geography, economics, civics, and psychology to critically examine their findings and understand them more deeply. They are Collaborators, who work effectively with their peers and demonstrate signs of leadership. They are Versatile, communicating their ideas equally well through writing, speaking, and multimedia forms of presentation. And they are Empathetic, showing concern for others and striving to understand a full range of viewpoints and a variety of perspectives. On behalf of all the teachers in our department, it’s my pleasure to recognize these exemplary students. The Social Studies “Vision of a Learner” award for Grade 9 goes to: Ahmet Deriner, for Grade 10: Shanmugam Ganesan, in Grade 11: Noa Daryn, and in Grade 12: Lucian Phillips
Performing Arts Department:
In the Performing Arts, the students we have chosen who live the vision of the learner demonstrates beyond technical ability. They are well rounded individuals with a strong sense of empathy, collaboration and creativity. Particularly in a virtual context, these students demonstrate outside of the box thinking and resilience when redefining what performing arts is in a virtual world. Congratulations grade 9: Clara Clausen, Grade 10: Shandaneh Penker, Grade 11: Oyin Aderibigbe, Grade 12: Seoyoung Ryu
Technology/Design Technology
The award-winning Design Thinkers and Computer Scientists see the world in terms of problems and needs, as challenges in finding the appropriate product solutions. Computer Scientists are problem solvers who manipulate many abstractions in computations. They use their strong analytical skills, systematic and logical ways to solve problems elegantly, efficiently and correctly. Designers have to use creativity, that is both functional and appealing to the user. Both Computer Scientists and design thinkers are always solution-focused. They investigate the problem in view of meeting the needs of the end-user. They try out different elements of design and code until they find the best possible solution, learning to be resilient, determined and humble in the face of multiple failures along the entire process. On behalf of the “DT and Technology Department, it is my pleasure to present the Vision of an AISC Learner
honors to Sinji Kim for Grade 9, Seojin Kim for Grade 10, Aditya Rangarajan for Grade 11 and Jihoon Kim for Grade 12.
Visual Arts:
Learners show an understanding that ideas, feelings and experiences can be communicated through art. They recognize their own art practices and artwork and begin to reflect on and learn from their own stages of creating art. They analyse their own work and identify areas to revise to improve its quality. They go beyond the expectations of the visual arts program here at AISC, becoming independent thinkers and problem solvers by creating interesting artwork through original thoughts and ideas. Congratulations Grade 9: Kavya Krishan, Grade 10: Ava Tikekar, Grade 11: Abhim Mall and Grade 12: Camille Verany.
World Language:
In learning how to communicate different ideas for different audiences, orally and in writing, and in different formats and register, these students had to be versatile and excelled in being explorers, collaborators and thinkers. Congratulations from the WL department to Grade 9: Erin Sullivan, Grade 10: Katherine Kesavardhanan, Grade 11: Noor Cuvilliers and Grade 12: Nishtha Guha!
A Note from the Athletics and Activities Office
The Athletics & Activities Department is inquiring into the interests for timings and activities for the Virtual Winter Break Jump-Off Camp (January 4th- January 8th). Please fill out this form to help inform us how to structure a program that meets your family's interests: Winter Break Jump-Off Camp.
Since we’ve been learning online for so long, it’s time to get moving around and thinking about our fitness! We invite you to participate in our 2-day event, from December 7-8th, and ask that you engage in the activities we’ve come up with. We also encourage you to post activity suggestions or photos on this Padlet. Visit this link to know more about the event!
Final School Monitored Study Sessions Approaching - Repeat Announcement
As you know, Mr. Malone and I host school monitored study sessions on every Friday (or Saturday) to support students in completing assessments and completing missed deadlines. The final session of the semester is on Saturday, December 12th (9:00 - 11:00 am). Teachers have been asked to assign students these sessions if they have any work outstanding and/or have not met submissions deadlines for alternative final assessments. Teachers who assigned students to these sessions will inform parents.
As per our handbook, students must complete all summative assessments to be eligible for credit in their courses. The last two sessions represent the final opportunity for students to meet this benchmark as assessments submitted after the 12th will not be accepted.
Module 9 and Exams - Repeat Announcement
The week of December 7-11 will be used for review for traditional 2-hour paper/pen assessments or for the presentation/submission of alternative cumulative assessments. This week will be called Module 9 and last for only one week. On Friday, December 11th, we will have a special schedule where all courses can avail of a 45 minute last class of the semester.
December 14-18 will be the traditional final exam week. Students need only attend when their final exam is scheduled. Like last semester, the final exams will be by subject, with a proctor supervising each class. Instructions for virtual examinations can be found here. There will be no module posted for students this exam week.
Report Cards and Documentation Availability - Repeat Announcement
Please note that while the semester comes to a close on December 18th, teachers have the winter vacation to complete their exam marking and prepare report cards.
While any changes to PowerSchool can be viewed live as teacher work, we do suggest that families ignore any changes to scores and comments in PowerSchool between December 14 and January 11. Teachers will need time to make final adjustments before sharing results with students in January.
As such, we ask that students hold their questions about exam performance and/or final semester schools until school resumes on January 11th. Final scores are not due for teachers until January 18th to allow time for students to reflect on their performance and self-assess and for teachers to consider student input on academic achievement.
Report cards will be available at 4:00 pm on January 22nd and will be emailed home as a pdf that day. Students who would like a paper copy can contact the office on or after that date to make arrangements.
Families who may need report cards, transcripts or other documentation may also contact the office on January 22nd to make arrangements.
Regards
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
