March 2013Dispatch

The Anglo-American School of Moscow

PersonalizedLEARNING

Mr. Ryan Brown, MS math & science teacherPersonalized Learning interview this month with

Jon Zurfluh

Spring is almost upon us — finally!! Mother nature played a bit of an April Fool's joke on us yesterday with blizzards in the morning that gave way to rain by after-noon. So, the seasonal shift is upon us and with it, the entrance of spring activities that are in many ways, already in play. I noticed, for example, baseball players on the North field yesterday with gloves at the ready despite leftover snow patches on all sides.

photo from april 1!

FROM theDIRECTOR

Spring?!

april

Tues

As we meet today with the Core Planning Team of the Strategic Plan, we are marveling at the accom-plishments of each strategy this year and our continued work together. This annual look at our work is important for recommitting to it with the School Board in May. My thanks to the Core Planning Team members for their continued commitment to this process.

This is often the busiest season of the year with many things coming to a crescendo of activity in the final weeks of the school year. The drama of April and May culminates in graduation, now only a number of weeks away. College acceptances hit mailboxes for many of our seniors last week as the rest of the high school enjoyed Discovery Week. The journey of finding your path and explor-ing your options is never-ending at the top end. But, there's also some exploring going on in elementary as Exhibition kicks into full gear. All are moving in their own way through exploration and on to excellence through defining their contributions as glob-ally aware citizens – not just words in our mission, but actions in our classrooms and throughout the school.

Strategic Plan

Please see pages 4 & 5 of this edition of the Dispatch for an important letter from our Board Chair, Paul Chatt, affirming the work of the board alongside all of us in assuring the future of AAS. In addition to his summary of current board goals and the decision on tuition rates for 2013-2014, the board also took action on the ESOL fee structure going forward. I can report that the annual fee for ESOL will be replaced by a single fee for ESOL services upon entry. Returning children being served in Grades 1 upwards will no longer have annual ESOL fees applied to their contract. The Admissions Department will contact Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and new students with regards to the new fee structure as applicable.

Hold on for a wild ride in the weeks ahead!!! We're on track for a spectacular finish!!

Board Chair Letter

the weeks ahead...

6 HS Prom6 Family Splash

Libraries Open9-10 Used Book Swap9-11 HS Play10 ES Conferences12 End of quarter 315-19 Spring Break23 PTO Meeting23 Gr. 10 Parent Meeting23 ECO-Green Fair25 Gr 12 last day of classes

25-28 Cultural Arts Festival at AAS27 Family Splash

Libraries Open30 Director's Coffee

coming up

Board of Directors

Beregovaya Ulitsa 1 125367, Moscow, Russia

Tel: +7 (495) 231-4481

Fax: +7 (495) 231-4471 Email: director@aas.ru

website: www.aas.ru

1 April 2013 Dear AAS Community, Important News on School Fees for the School Year 2013/14 As Chair of the Board of Directors for this current school year, it is my great pleasure and honour to write to you on behalf of the entire Board with our annual letter informing you of our strategic and financial path for the School. In so doing, and having only arrived in Moscow in July last year, I am indebted to my predecessor as Chair, Michael Hoza, and the other wise and experienced members of a talented group of leaders dedicated to the mission and vision of this flourishing school. First, let me take this opportunity to thank the parents who have volunteered their time and expertise to serve on the Finance and Facilities Committee with such effectiveness and collegiality. Last year, with their guidance, the Board voted to increase the compensation packages for both faculty and support staff over a two-year period. The compensation increase was needed to attract and retain the very best teachers and administrators, who are the key to educational quality at AAS. By this action, we have successfully increased our retention rate and have improved our competitiveness in international recruiting. During this time, AAS has also demonstrated that it remains on a sound financial footing and, as a not-for-profit institution, retains revenue solely for meeting the future operational, emergency, and capital requirements of AAS. The school’s most recent financial statements and outside audit confirmed the financial health of the school and that prudent long-term planning is evident. However, in the last two school years, the Board acknowledged the continued burden on families and institutions to meet increasing financial demands in an economically complicated environment. Consequently, the Board voted for a zero percent (0%) and three percent (3%) increase to school fees for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years respectively. These decisions were made despite local inflation rates in excess of 8% per year and a salary enhancement decision that added 3% each year to the total budget. While the school was able to support this with tighter operational budgeting and by using some unallocated reserves, it became clear that a more aligned increase would be required for the 2013-2014 school year to protect both emergency and capital reserves while supporting the operational budget. After implementing a “zero-based” approach to our financial planning to assure ourselves of a high degree of fiscal prudence, the Finance and Facilities Committee submitted a budget recommending an 8% increase to tuition rates for the school year 2013-2014. The Board acknowledged that this increase, taken in isolation, will appear high in a continued period of austerity for many. But the Board were persuaded of the recommendation, taking fully into account all of the factors above, including the two preceding years of little or no increases.

letter from the school board chair

In addition to supporting Jon Zurfluh, to whom we are very grateful for his energetic and engaged direction of our school, the Board has been pursuing three major goals this year:

To the degree possible, to predict the implications of our developing definition of personalized learning under the strategic plan, to project the annual demographics of the AAS student population through 2022, and to create an action plan that addresses policies, facilities, and resource allocations as AAS transitions to meet this emerging student population.

To produce, approve, and adopt long-range financial forecasts to 2022 incorporating facilities, capital planning, maintenance planning, income streams, emergency reserves, banking, and investments.

To improve our communication with the community by employing online resources and personal interaction with the school’s international community and demonstrating transparency to our community by being inclusive, accessible, and purposeful.

The work of Board Committees has been vibrant in reviewing and taking these goals forward. Board deliberations would be difficult, if not impossible, without the support and active engagement of all Committee members in helping guide the way. Indeed, we are seeing clarity of future direction for the school and community in this respect. In addition to the Finance and Facilities Committee, my sincere thanks also go to the talented board, staff, students, and community members that serve on the Policy and Governance Committee, the Leadership By Metrics (LBM) Committee, and the Strategic Planning committees. Their efforts have yielded many results that are hard to capture in a single letter, but speak to the robust opportunities for involvement of all stakeholders at AAS. I applaud their efforts and diligence in our collaborative work toward achieving mission and vision. The educational program at AAS requires time, energy and commitment of teachers, students and parents. We must recommit ourselves to the plans we have drawn. Our goal, as always, is the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of our work with the children that we serve. In concluding, I wish everyone connected to the AAS Community a productive and positive run-in to the end of the school year. Yours sincerely, Paul Chatt Board Chair

Board of Directors

Beregovaya Ulitsa 1 125367, Moscow, Russia

Tel: +7 (495) 231-4481

Fax: +7 (495) 231-4471 Email: director@aas.ru

website: www.aas.ru

1 April 2013 Dear AAS Community, Important News on School Fees for the School Year 2013/14 As Chair of the Board of Directors for this current school year, it is my great pleasure and honour to write to you on behalf of the entire Board with our annual letter informing you of our strategic and financial path for the School. In so doing, and having only arrived in Moscow in July last year, I am indebted to my predecessor as Chair, Michael Hoza, and the other wise and experienced members of a talented group of leaders dedicated to the mission and vision of this flourishing school. First, let me take this opportunity to thank the parents who have volunteered their time and expertise to serve on the Finance and Facilities Committee with such effectiveness and collegiality. Last year, with their guidance, the Board voted to increase the compensation packages for both faculty and support staff over a two-year period. The compensation increase was needed to attract and retain the very best teachers and administrators, who are the key to educational quality at AAS. By this action, we have successfully increased our retention rate and have improved our competitiveness in international recruiting. During this time, AAS has also demonstrated that it remains on a sound financial footing and, as a not-for-profit institution, retains revenue solely for meeting the future operational, emergency, and capital requirements of AAS. The school’s most recent financial statements and outside audit confirmed the financial health of the school and that prudent long-term planning is evident. However, in the last two school years, the Board acknowledged the continued burden on families and institutions to meet increasing financial demands in an economically complicated environment. Consequently, the Board voted for a zero percent (0%) and three percent (3%) increase to school fees for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years respectively. These decisions were made despite local inflation rates in excess of 8% per year and a salary enhancement decision that added 3% each year to the total budget. While the school was able to support this with tighter operational budgeting and by using some unallocated reserves, it became clear that a more aligned increase would be required for the 2013-2014 school year to protect both emergency and capital reserves while supporting the operational budget. After implementing a “zero-based” approach to our financial planning to assure ourselves of a high degree of fiscal prudence, the Finance and Facilities Committee submitted a budget recommending an 8% increase to tuition rates for the school year 2013-2014. The Board acknowledged that this increase, taken in isolation, will appear high in a continued period of austerity for many. But the Board were persuaded of the recommendation, taking fully into account all of the factors above, including the two preceding years of little or no increases.

PersonalizedLEARNINGMr. Ryan Brown

Mr. Ryan Brown teaches science in Grades 6 and 7 and math in Grade 6. This is his 9th year of teaching and his second year at AAS. He has always loved math and has “always been a nerd.” While working on his teach-ing degree, Mr. Brown was originally told that he could only focus on history and science, but when he found out that he could add math to his program, he took 24 class credits in one semester so that he could also be a math teacher. Mr. Brown taught in Virginia at a middle school for two years, and then taught 6th grade in an elemen-tary school for five years before coming to Moscow.

an interview with...

What does Personalized learning is seeing where the students’ skills, knowledge, and confidence are right now, and building from there to reach or go beyond the academic standards that we’ve set for them. So many people believe that they’re not good at math, and you have to break that stereotype to help make math real for students.

Since I teach Grade 6 students for both math and science, what’s really cool about my position is seeing the connec-tions students are making to science class from what they’re doing in math this year, and vice versa. Many middle school teachers don’t get a chance to see that.

How do your benefit from personalized learning?studentsI think one of the ways that students benefit is through building their self-satisfaction and confi-dence. They realize that “I was able to do this, I can understand this topic.” They benefit because each student learns in different ways and at differ-ent rates. Johnny might understand a lesson in two seconds, and Greg might take two days to get to the same point, but both students can develop a strong understanding of the subject at their own pace.

Especially in mathematics, there are many different roads to get to the same answer. For example, we just finished a unit on dividing fractions. Some stu-dents drew pictures, some multiplied by the recipro-cal of the fraction, and some used common denomi-nators to aid in visualization of the answer, but all of the students ended up understanding fractions.

personalized learningmean to you?

MS math & science teacher

from personalized learning?

We often use pretests so that both teachers and students can get a sense of where students are and where they need to go.

How personalized

usedis

in MS math & science?learning

I asked my students what they thought about this question, and here’s what they said:

■ “You helped me by asking me how to find out the answer, but at the same time, you helped me to see that I actually know how to find the answer, even though I do it in a dif-ferent way.”

■ “Mr. Brown, you have really helped me not be so afraid of math….You’re helping me understand the concepts and know that I can do it.”

■ “You have helped me in my learning because you are so funny and make a boring subject fun.”

■ “You help us by asking “What does that mean?” instead of just letting us get the right answer.”

■ “Math is my favorite subject with my favorite teacher teaching. You’re helping me just as much as it is needed. You force me to not just do things, but to think through them and be challenged.”

Do you have a story about how personalized learning helped a particular student?

Sometimes students are asked to work on a separate project, or they might be able to try additional things based on their interests and knowledge. Students take ownership of their learning. As they go beyond things we expect them to do, they are able to say “I actually learned something!” They can create their own examples and go more in-depth for any lesson.

When students want to try something new or research something that’s in-teresting to them, I’ve found in talking with other teachers that sometimes we become the learners. We may read a student’s project and realize that we’ve learned something new from them. Or in a math problem, the student might explain their math techniques in a different way which still works mathemati-cally, and then I can learn from that. So, not only are the students getting personalized learning, but I think teachers are learning from the students’ personalized learning. That is one cool thing about not being just a lecturer: when students are researching on their own, they become the teachers and I find out lots of new things.

How doespersonalized

learningprepare

your studentsas they move up to high school?

own work. In middle school we do a lot of collaborating, which helps students get ready for high school as well as day-to-

When I was thinking about this question, I thought of a quote by Christine Gregoire: “Education is the foundation upon which we build our future.” That’s exactly what we’re doing here at AAS. We’re not just teaching aca-demic skills, but also helping to make real-world connections and achieve personal learning goals. We do a lot of reflection on the learning process: for example, why did you make these particular mistakes? What were your misunderstandings about this? Do you understand this topic now?

day life and the business world.

Some students come in knowing a certain math “trick” from a tutor or a previous teacher: they might know that it works, but not understand how it works or know how to explain it to me. I try to get them away from the “tricks” and help them understand the mathematics behind it so they can solve problems on their own and understand the con-nections between different topics.

For high school, personalized learning helps students with better notetaking, conveying their ideas in a logical way, finding a way to organize their learning, and taking risks by getting up in front of the class to present and explain their

8

9

FAIRgreeneco-

april 23

Upcycling Yard Sale

what you need to do1. Bring in your broken electronics. Drop off in box in front of ES Office.2. Make your recycled art project for the competition. Drop off in Hall of Flags April 22 & 23.3. Bring in your items for the upcycling yard sale. Bring to Admin Office (to Zhenya). 4. Bring in small items we can give out to ES kids for raffle prizes. (matchbox cars, happy meal toys, party favors, keychains, bracelets/rings, etc.) Drop off in box in front of ES Office.

before the fair.

■ Buy 'herbs in pots' ES Eco-Club project ■ Organic Farm produce from the village of Prozorovo ■ Doll sale ■ Paper making workshop

■ Tetra Pack Note pads making workshop ■ Sphera Ecologgii Display■ Lavka-Lavka Groceries display

■ "Half a teaspoon" – body care from used coffee grains, etc.■ Plarus recycling factory display ■ School 222 (soil and water quality check)

■ Green City (garbage bags – 1 year decomposition) ■ 'Save the Sharks' stand

coolgreenstuff at theFAIR

12

M S Poetree

Broken Electronics Collection

Recycling Games

Upcycling Yard Sale

Assemblies

Recycling Art Competition

..join us at the Eco-Green Fair April 23. Hall of Flags.

Raffle

MS lego blocks out of reusable bottles

To reduce, reuse and recycle as many consumables in the school as possible. We aim to involve students, staff, faculty and parents as we strive to model envi-ronmental sustainability and to reduce our school’s carbon footprint.

our mission

Paper makingworkshop

Tetra Pack note pads making

workshop

lots of display booths!

■ I am curious about what will happen. It takes my mind somewhere else. Asya■ It takes me to the places I am reading about. Sasha■ I like stories. Jean■ It’s healthy. Isabelle■ I wonder what will happen to the characters. Fiona■ It takes me on adventures. Daekyung■ Non-fiction tells facts. David D.■ It tells you things and it gives you information. Aykham ■ It gives me feelings. Sarah■ I have curiosity. David C.■ I am curious. Chloe■ It takes me on adventures. Jessica■ It is fun. Varya■ It is fun and interesting. Nika■ It’s healthy for you. Ella

I love reading because...it takes me on new adventures

every day. Amelie

I love reading because...I learn more. Yakov

Students in 1LK

I love reading because...

love reading!

16

Used Book Swap April 9 -10, Malyy

Rea

ding

Tueday, April 9: 08.00-17.00, open to students only, maximum 10 books per child.Wednesday, April 10: 08.00-17.00, open to all! Students, staff, parents! No limits.

Volunteer to help! Contact Amanda Deasy: deasysathome@yahoo.com

AAS celebrates

Maslenitsa!

Library NEWS

14

Bob the Builder

The AAS libraries are pleased to announce that Curtis Jobling will

be visiting us April 29 - May 1. Mr. Jobling will be spending time with

our younger students in PK - Grade 3. Mr. Jobling is an English author, illustrator, and animator best known as the creator of 'Bob the Builder' and 'Raa Raa the Noisy Lion'. He has authored My Daddy, Cheeky Monkey, and Frankenstein's Cat.

As well, he has illustrated Dinosaurs after Dark and Skeleton in the Closet.

Check out his website at www.curtisjobling.com

Upcoming Author Visit

Curtis JoblingApril 29-May 1

NEWS

100 booksMax Tucker KFR

Robert Rezek 1DCKylie Hicks 3JC

Alexes Tyagachev 2NDBella Sorgie 1WL

Amy Martirosova KHFOlivia Dunson 3JCAlex Brundrett 1DCHanna Crouse 1FJClaire Walsh 3AA

Sasha Surikova 2NDAlejandra Ardaya Robertson KZE

Mateo Ardaya Robertson 2HMViktor Choukchoukov 2MH

Audrey Alzamora 2HMHeeje Choi KHF

Olga Moiseeva 1DCLukas Wallenstein PKBE

Mia Sorgie 3HSAnastacia Wilbeck 2LKIsabella Murphy 2HM

Dimitri Volcic 2NDZahra Pringgadahi PKBE

150 booksRuby Carlon KFR

Chris Oh 1HMJimmy Hong 1DCMila Huaco KHF

Andrey Teslenko PKBETommy Simonini KFR

200 booksNicky Burgess KRLDefne Moons KFR

300 booksPeter Zakharov KRL

Katya Self KRFDasha Gracheva PKSS

Mitya Grachev 1DC

Books by Curtis Joblin

Passport to ReadingCurtis Jobling

BOOK SIGNINGHall of Flags April 29-30

Monday and Tuesday 15.15-16.00

Books for sale during book signing! (Titles of books available will be given soon!)

ES WINTER FIELD DAY!

PTO Spring Gala, May 4Tickets on sale in PTO Shop until April 5

www.aas.ru/gala

18

April 8Deadline

SPIRITSONGCONTEST

April 8Deadline

Embrace our Vision. Realize our Mission.

15

April 8Deadline

SPIRITSONGinformation

Embrace our Vision. Realize our Mission.

We’re introducing a school Spirit Song that includes the words of the AAS Vision and Mission - and we’re holding a contest for stu-dents and/or staff to write it! The idea behind this song is to bring another way of communicating the Mission and Vision to the school community. We’ll be singing the Spirit Song in assemblies, at opening and clos-ing ceremonies, in school videos...!! YOU could go down in history as our Spirit Song composer! Don’t worry – it doesn’t have to be perfect to submit! If your song is chosen as a finalist, we will help you polish it!

Entry Rules The Song may include any words from the AAS Mission but words in blue below must be included. When possible tie in the words from the AAS Vision.

A suggestion would be to have the Mission used in the main chorus of the song.

AAS MissionAAS empowers each student to

• Respect Self and Others • Love Learning, and • Contribute as a Globally Aware Citizen

in order to achieve individual academic and holistic excellence.

AAS Vision

We inspire student learning...

• Through a dynamic and caring environment • With innovative and effective instructional strategies • In collaborative relationships, and • By using current, relevant technologies, and the rich resources of our diverse community.

• Participants must be AAS Moscow students or staff.

• Can be done individually or as a group.

• We encourage teachers to get involved and support their classes in putting a song together.

• No inappropriate words or phrases shall be used within the song.

• The song should be up-beat and enjoyable for all ages!

• Good luck showing your talent! We look forward to your submissions!

Submit by April 8:By MP3 or video to: spirit.song@aas.ru

Questions? spirit.song@aas.ru

18

The weekend of February 28 through March 3, the Lady Penguin middle school basketball team traveled to Bucharest, Romania for the annual CEESA tournament. The girls started the tournament on Friday, playing three games. Game One was against the Budapest Blazers. The Penguins played really hard and over-came some nerves to earn a 19-8 victory. The second game of the day was much more relaxed and provided us a chance to get the girls some experience with our new offense. We beat the Lady Vampires of Bucharest, 32-2. Game Three proved to be another challenge, as we played a much improved Warriors team from Warsaw. We earned another hard fought victory, 26-19, and ended pool play on Day One undefeated and the #1 seed for the knock-out round.

By earning the #1 seed for the knock-out round, we played Istanbul in the Quarter-finals. We played really well and everyone was able to score, with the final tally being 38-6. In the Semifinals we had to face the Warsaw Warriors for a second time. The played another highly competitive game, but we were able to jump out to a quick lead in the first quarter and hold onto our advantage for a 31-21 win. In the Finals, we had another rematch, this time against Budapest. We started out slower in this game, but picked things up in the second quarter and built another lead that would last the rest of the game. With a 27-18 victory, we were crowned CEESA champions for the second year in a row.

The Lady Penguins showed amazing sportsmanship and excellent behavior on and off the court.Coach Delane and Coach Kern

Click on the following link to view a video of the game. http://youtu.be/0qKaVXHy68g

The Lady Penguins had a great basketball season. We had many newcomers join our team this year. It was even some girls’ first year playing basketball. The girls worked hard throughout the season learning how to play the game, new skills, and most importantly how to work together as a team. We traveled to Istanbul for our CEESA tournament this year. The CEESA tournament was one of the closest tournaments we have been to in years. All of the games won and lost on the last day were decided by 1-3 points. All 6 teams were evenly matched and no one could predict what the outcome would be. Although we did not end the season where we wanted to, the girls had a fantastic tournament. The first day we finished 2-1, defeating Istanbul and Bucharest but losing to Kiev. Our toughest games were the following day versus Prague and Warsaw, where we lost both. On the last day, championship game day, the girls played some of their best basketball. After being down 11-2 against Istanbul, they dug themselves out a hole, outscoring Istanbul 12-5 in the second half but just out of reach of the win. In the consolation game against Kiev, we lost by 1 point after leading most of the game. The girls looked like a solid united team by the end of the tournament and with many of the girls returning next year, they will definitely continue with their success.

CEESACHAMPS!

MS Girls' Basketball

Varsity Girls' Basketball Season

1218

This year’s basketball season proved to be popular, with 48 boys coming out for the first practice. After several weeks of skills development, the boys were divided into two traveling teams and a development team. This was the first year for the development team, which was a program that allowed non-traveling boys to work on their basketball fundamentals. In January, 10 boys traveled to Helsinki, Finland, to participate in a tournament hosted by the International School of Helsinki. The boys played well and finished in third place. At the end of February, 10 boys traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, to participate in the end of sea-son CEESA tournament. The boys played great basketball all weekend, winning all of their round-robin games, before losing by two points to Prague in the semi-final game. The boys then played for third place and won that game. We want to thank all of the boys that partici-pated in the basketball season for all of their commitment and hard work.

MS

Boys

' Bas

ketb

all

The Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Team had a very successful season. The boys only lost one game all year, and that was very early on in the German International School Tourna-ment. The boys were one of the best all-around teams that I have coached in many years. They worked very hard during practice and were up for the task for all of Mr. Morgan’s tough workouts. The JV Boys were definitely the fit team in the CEESA Tournament and this helped them beat all of their opponents by an average of 25 points or more. The boys finished 5-0 to win the JV Boys Basketball CEESA Championship 2013! Congratulations to all of the boys for the dedication, team work and desire this year. Go Penguins!

JV B

oys'

Bas

ketb

all

12 15

AAS Moscow Middle and High school swim teams placed first at the 2013 CEESA Swimming Championship held in Budapest, Hungary on March 1.

Congratulations, Penguins!!

crowned CHAMPIONS

AAS MOSCOWSWIM TEAMS

The Varsity Boys Basketball season commenced in mid-November under new Head Coach Jim Stratton. Nearly 20 young men turned out to win one of 12 spots on the varsity team. Varsity team members were challenged both physically and mentally in a demanding varsity basketball program based upon a team-first concept, commitment, dedication, self-sacrifice, sportsmanship, competition--and learning a number of new, university-level offenses and defenses. Players learned the meaning of a “Champion Reminder”, Indiana Shooting and UCLA passing, playing defense “chest to chest”, run-ning “Gonzaga” and “Texas”, and going from “33-Red” to “Rambo” in the 4th quarter.

Our regular season produced 10 wins and 3 losses, and was highlighted by a second,place finish in the Penguin Invitational Basketball Tournament and two victories over our cross-town rival, Hinkson Academy.

The CEESA Boys Basketball Tournament effort resulted in 4 wins and 2 losses, includ-ing an exciting semi-final victory over the hosts from the American School of Warsaw, and a tough championship game loss to the International School of Prague. The boys played their hearts out and earned the admiration of the other teams and the crowd. Our Senior players did well to hand the torch of AAS Basketball to the underclassmen.

Team Accomplishments• OverallRecord:14wins-5losses• 2ndPlacePenguinInvitationalVarsityBoysBasketballTournament• 2ndPlace(Silver)CEESAVarsityBoysBasketballTournament

Vars

ity B

oys'

Bas

ketb

all

The Varsity Boys Basket-ball team will return four members for the 2013-14 season, and they will be joined by members of the Boys JV Basketball team, winners of the CEESA JV Boys Basketball Tourna-ment this year. The stage is set for AAS Boys Bas-ketball to make another championship run, with a strong combination of returning veterans, rising JV players, and potential new players joining AAS next year. My thanks and appreciation to the team parents for their support and encouragement this season, as well as to the players (especially Se-niors) for their dedication and commitment to AAS Boys Basketball.

Jim StrattonVarsity Boys Basketball Head Coach

crowned CHAMPIONS

AAS Moscow Middle and High school swim teams placed first at the 2013 CEESA Swimming Championship held in Budapest, Hungary on March 1.

Congratulations, Penguins!!

crowned CHAMPIONS

AAS MOSCOWSWIM TEAMS

Vars

ity G

irls

Bask

etba

ll

Vars

ity G

irls

Bask

etba

ll

From 21 to the 23 March 2013, seven of our finest AAS middle school students travelled to St. Petersburg to compete against 14 other teams from PSI Kyiv, AIS Bucharest, IS Krakow, IS Skopje, IS Estonia, AIS Vilinius and AAS St. Petersburg.

Team A, consisting of Henry (8th grade) Joo Na (6th grade), and Alex (7th grade), took first place. It was Henry’s third tournament and third place win! Team B, made up of In Young (6th grade), Sasha (7th grade) and Darius (7th grade), took 3rd place. One of our own, Rishith (7th grade), graciously accepted to play for the Vilnius Team as they were missing players.

The competition consisted of a team written round, individual round and numerous head-to-head matches. Students were asked questions on topics such as science, history, mathematics, and arts. It was not all work: students also had the opportunity to take a tour of the Hermit-age Museum as well as a little fun painting matry-oshka dolls.

Another terrific competition weekend for our marvel-ous and talented middle school students. All around, a great weekend!

Knowledge Bowl coaches: Patricia MacMillan and Donna Moreau

MIDDLE SCHOOLKNOWLEDGE

in St. PetersburgBOWL

A group of 15 committed High School student delegates led by Mr. Picker-ing and Ms. MacPherson traveled to Beijing on March 12 to participate in the BEIMUN conference sponsored by the International School of Beijing.

BEIMUN was a great success for all the students involved and the inte-gration of students from Grades 9, 10 and 11 provided an atmosphere in which all students were able to contribute to the group’s achievements. Each student had worked hard in the ten weeks of preparation for the conference and this hard work served them well when they entered into the process of lobbying resolutions, merging clauses and finally in the cut and thrust of debate in the noble attempt to reach consensus on the wide range of issues being dealt with in each committee.

We found the conference to be well hosted and run professionally. We were made to feel welcome and the students from AAS soon became fully involved in every aspect of the role of an MUN Delegate. The AAS stu-dents all performed well and had a very academically stimulating and very enjoyable time. Several students had their clauses included in resolutions that were then chosen for debate. All of the students expressed a desire to participate in future MUN conferences and several are eager to take on the role of student officers by chairing committees and other leadership roles.

MUN Director: Paul Pickering

BEIMUN CONFERENCEBeijing, China March 12-17

ModelUnitedNations

22

PTO INTERNATIONAL FAIRCOUNTRY BOOTH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

We are looking for volunteers to represent their country for our annual international fair on Sunday June 2nd.

This is a day for all families to get together and enjoy good food, entertainment and games. We have had more than 20 countries participate in the past years.

You will be expected to organize a team within the AAS community to represent your country. Each country team will provide local food dishes that represent their country.

To make this day a huge success we need you help and support.

Announcments

08.45 - NEW TIME! South CafeteriaThe topic of the coffee is Transition (TCK). Dr. Ken Dekleva is a guest speaker.

DIRECTOR'S COFFEE APRIL 30 - CHANGE OF TIME!

The Maria Collins Scholarship is awarded annually to a graduating AAS Senior who best exemplifies

the traits demonstrated by Maria Collins, the first director of AAS Moscow:

leadership, organisation, optimism, inquisitiveness and risk-taking.

The final date for applications is Friday, May 3.

All materials, including the letter of application, 1000 word statement and supporting letter of recommendation must

be delivered in a single envelope to the High School Principal by that date.

Reminder to Seniors! Maria Johanna Zubiller Collins Scholarship

ECO-GREEN FAIR: Used Toys Needed by April 12 Eco Green

Fair is collecting very small used toys (happy meal toys, matchbox cars, Sylvan dolls, keychains, tiny

stuffed animals, bracelets and rings, party favors, trading cards,

decorative pencils, etc.) to be given to elementary school chil-

dren as prizes for recycling games. Please place your donated toys

in the Eco Green Fair Box outside the Elementary School Office. This is a great chance to spring clean your children's bedrooms and get

in the spirit of recycling!

ECO-GREEN FAIRAPRIL 23

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AAS Ambassadors

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GIRL SCOUTS: GOLD AWARDHELP NEEDED

The AAS Ambassadors are a group of highly motivated high school students who want to make a difference in their com-munity and across the globe. Their current goal is to build a school for the children of Pandamatenga, in northwestern Bo-tswana. There is only one school in this area, and many children have to walk up to 6.7 kilometers to get there. Not only is this a very long distance for a small child to travel, especially in the extreme African temperatures, it is also an unsafe route. Lions and other wild animals have been seen crossing the same road the children take to school. Attendance suffers greatly and there have already been 10 drop outs this year. The community would like to build a preschool and primary school on the other side of the village so that the younger children will not have to walk so far. The AAS Ambassadors is partnering

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AASAMbassadors/

For sale : 98 Jetta. Only 85,000 Kilometers. New brakes, tires and clutch. $1000 usd. Comes with lots of winter accessories. Diplo-matic plates. Contact Rick:rick.smith@aas.ru

For Sale:

Are you a former Girl Scout who might like to help a 17 year old Russian-American girl complete her Gold Award? The Gold Award is the highest honor for a Girl Scout and involves a large community service project. She needs an advisor to help brainstorm appropriate projects for Moscow and en-couragement. Please contact kennedyas@yahoo.com if you can hep.

with Building Botswana to turn this dream into a reality. Please click the link below and donate what you can - every dollar donated will help us reach our building goal of $25,000.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ZKC7DRZU2Q69E

Calendar 2013-2014

Semester I 95 daysQuarter I: August 20 - October 25 47 days Quarter II: November 5 - January 31 48 daysSemester II 85 daysQuarter III: February 3 - April 11 43 daysQuarter IV: April 21 - June 19 42 days

AAS Campus is officially closed on November 4, December 31, January 1, January 7 and May 9.

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S M T W T F S

5-6 Admin Retreat7-13 New Faculty Orientation14-16 Faculty In-Service

17 New Family Orientation19 Open House20 First Day of School

3 Faculty In-Service, No School for Students4 No School25 End of Quarter I28-31 Autumn Break- No School

1 Autumn Break - No School4 National Day of Unity - No School

20-31 Winter Break - No School

17-21 February Break - No School

11 End of Quarter III14-18 Spring Break - No School

8 Faculty In-Service, No School for Students9 Victory Day - No School

19 End of Quarter IV & Semester II Last Day of School for Students20 Last Day of School for Faculty

1-10 Winter Break - No School31 End of Quarter II & Semester I

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6 Faculty In-Service, No School for Students7 International Women’s Day observed - No School

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April

May

June

Approved by the AAS Board of Directors, April 2012

Calendar 2014-2015

Semester I 96 daysQuarter I: August 19 - October 24 47 days Quarter II: November 3 - January 30 49 daysSemester II 84 daysQuarter III: February 2 - April 10 43 daysQuarter IV: April 20 - June 17 41 days

AAS Campus is officially closed on December 31, January 1, January 7, March 8 and May 9.

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13-15 Faculty In-Service16 New Family Orientation18 Open House19 First Day of School

2 Faculty In-Service, No School for Students3 No School24 End of Quarter I27-31 Autumn Break- No School

19-31 Winter Break - No School

23-27 February Break - No School

10 End of Quarter III13-17 Spring Break - No School

7 Faculty In-Service, No School for Students8 Victory Day observed - No School

17 End of Quarter IV & Semester II Last Day of School for Students18 Last Day of School for Faculty

1-9 Winter Break - No School30 End of Quarter II & Semester I

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October

February

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April

May

June

Approved by the AAS Board of Directors, March 27, 2013

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