www .intschool-leipzig.com LIS OBSERVER 1

LISJanuary 2013

Welcome to LIS

Mrs. Kjersti Nichols-Kraus has

been appointed to the position of

Hort Leader from 2 January 2013

onwards. Kjersti joins us from Halle

where she co-founded and directed a bilingual

Early Education Center. She holds a Master's

Degree in Social Work and has also earned the

German state educator certificate ("anerkannte

Erzieherin"). She is originally from the state of

New York in the USA but has been living and

working in Germany for many years.

LIS welcomes James Kotzsch. James joined the

Hort team from January 2013. He is originally

from Leipzig but joins us after having spent the

past 9 years doing and coordinating

development work in Uganda, most recently as

country director there for the German Foundation

for World Population (DSW). For the last twenty

Here’s a recipe for an incredible Christmas experience: You take a highly

motivated and extremely talented student group of singers, brass, wind and

string players and percussionists from the secondary and primary schools, mix

them with a willing and committed group of parents and teachers and add a

music teacher, whose energy, dedication and creativity is boundless. The result

is a two hour musical bonanza, a veritable feast for the ears.

This is fast becoming a tradition and after the barnstorming performance last

year there might have been a few who wondered how Mr. Paul Foulkes planned

to top it this year. The fact that all three performances sold out in record time

suggested that there were plenty of people who expected nothing less this

time round. They weren’t disappointed. Continued on page 2

Welcome to LIS!

OBSERVER

years James has been working with children and

youth in Germany and Uganda using outdoor

education, games and sports. He will enrol two

children at LIS: Barlow (grade 9) and Julius Jua

(grade 2).

We are pleased to welcome Sarah Brackenreg.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree of International

Studies, and completed her Masters of Teaching

(Primary). Sarah worked as a Primary School

teacher in Sydney, Australia. Along with teaching

she enjoys playing the flute and taking bushwalks

through the national parks around Sydney. She is

looking forward to working at LIS and becoming

part of the international community.

Genevieve Audley joins LIS in the role of a full

time Primary teacher to take over from Bryony

Galligan (maternity leave). Genevieve is

originally from Melbourne, Australia and has

been teaching for 6 years. She has taught Grade

1, 3 and 4. Genevieve has just finished studying

her Masters in Education this year. She is really

looking forward to living and working in

Germany and meeting her Grade 1 class in the

New Year.

Kjersti Nichols-Kraus James Kotzsch Sarah Backenreg

Photo: Anna Katharina Hammer

Genevieve Audley

HAPPY

May your year

be full of things

that bring you

the most joy

and happiness.

We wish you a very

prosperous and

happy new year.

JJJaaannnuuuaaarrryyy 22222000111333JJJJJJaaannnuuuaaarrryyy 22222000111333

Newsletter of the Leipzig International School e. V. · IB World SchoolNewsletter of the Leipzig International School e. V. · IB World School

Content

2 From the Headmaster

3 Letter from the Board

4 New Year’s Greetings

Celebrating Diwali

5 Special Activities in EC

6/7 The Year of the Lion

8 More than one Language

9 The 5th season

10 PAMUN 2012i

11 LIS Photography Club

12 Living in Leipzig

REVRVRESBSOS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESBOSILIS OBSERVER REVRVRESSBSOOS OS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESSBOOSSILIS OBSERVERLetter from the Board

Hort Security

From the Headmaster

www .intschool-leipzig.com LIS OBSERVER 3

The end of the old year and the beginning of

the new is a good time to look back at what

has been achieved, and forward to where we

are heading. In 2012 we received the

accreditation by CIS and NEASC, and indeed

our first report back to CIS has already been

approved. Significant improvements have been

made to the amount of time and resources

being made available to our teachers to enable

them to coordinate and plan the curriculum

and to manage school activities. Student

support services have been further upgraded.

And whilst all our subject areas continue to be

strong, we have made particularly large strides

forward in both Music and Sport during the

year, thanks to the tireless efforts of the

teachers concerned.

Growth in student numbers and in the scope of

activities have of course put a further strain on

the occupancy of our premises, and this has

indeed been the single biggest disappointment

of the year. We had hopes to have already

finished the shell of our new Early Childhood

Centre by now. Instead, the city was still

We want to make 2013 a year that is all about

learning. If there is one paradigm shift that has

occurred in education during my generation, it must

surely be the shift in focus from teaching to learning.

While international schools are probably a little

ahead of state schools in this respect, what we see

happening in all schools is an acknowledgement

that students do not automatically learn when

teachers teach. The consequence of this is a switch

in focus from teaching to learning.

We have seen the beginnings of a great collaboration

between Primary School and Early Childhood, with

colleagues talking to each other about the best age

to learn different skills. We are reviewing the Social

Studies curriculum in Primary to make sure it is

relevant to students. In Secondary School, the Heads

of Department are strengthening their focus on

looking at learning outcomes of students in order to

learn from these about the effectiveness of our own

teaching. We are all helping each other ask the best

questions to engage students’ minds.

Looking back to December: On Monday 17

December we said goodbye to our Hort Leader

holding us up with the fine print of the

agreement to purchase the land. The good news

is, however, that all the approvals have now

been received so that we will be ready to start

building before the summer of 2013. The delay

has also given us the opportunity to refine our

plans and our proposed management structures.

In order to secure a closer integration between

Early Childhood and Primary, it is now proposed

that Primary and Early Childhood will be under

the leadership of Sarah Brannon. Sarah’s

deputy will be responsible for all the operations

in the new building. After the current leader of

Early Childhood has announced his decision to

return to the United Sates, we are now

recruiting to fill that deputy position. From

2014, the new building will create a lot more

space in the Könneritzstraße for the rest of the

school, and we will then all be able to breathe

out. But until such time, we are unfortunately

all going to have to breathe in even further.

These are the pains of a growing school.

Your Board has been making efforts to improve

the flow of communication between itself and

2 LIS OBSERVER www .intschool-leipzig.com

A first-class big

band reprised some of the greats from last year,

opening both halves of the show with

arrangements of Angels From The Realms and

Hark! The Herald Angels Rock, and accompanied

singers and choir throughout the concert. The

string ensemble gave a beautiful rendition of

Christmas Time Is Here. A very talented and

enthusiastic primary choir told us to better watch

out because Santa Claus was coming to town,

and how better to celebrate the season than to

SHOUT? Not content with their solos the primary

choir also joined in many other numbers as

backing singers.

Apropos solos: there were some very moving solos

from Grade 9 and Grade 10 students with voices

that could best be described as angelic but it is

the humble opinion of this author that the jewel

in the crowd was Maria Thiemann (Grade 9)

singing Grown Up Christmas List. That same night

an unspeakable tragedy occurred in Newtown,

Connecticut and as we came home from the

concert we realized that there were 20 innocent

children and 6 very brave adults who would never

ever compose another Christmas list. It was a

particularly poignant and very gracious act for

Maria to dedicate her song to the victims

of Newton and I don’t think she sang

more beautifully than she did on that

Saturday night.

The male vocal choir had a Blue

Christmas (with a special guest

appearance from the King himself)

but otherwise were Dreaming of

A White Christmas and felt

Christmas in their fingers (and

in their toes). The enchanting

ladies of the Female Vocal

Group went skating with their baby and their

need for Santa was so great that their singing

brought on full Latin percussion groups that blew

the doors off the place.

But one of the biggest highlights (perhaps the

highlight) of the concert was Matthew and Lindsay

Raggett singing the duet, A Fairytale of New York.

The choir, as well as accompanying the

soloists, wanted us to have ourselves a merry

little Christmas, reminded us that it was the

most wonderful time of the year and took us

on a sleigh ride through a winter wonderland.

It was a festival of superlatives, of

wonderful music, of incredible

talent, of hard work and of the

vision of passionate music

teachers. Who else can hardly

wait for next year’s Christmas

concert? Justin Sands

Continued from page 1

Janka Krasselt. Just as the

Primary School children sang in

their goodbye song, Janka made a big difference

and built up our After School Programme from

virtually nothing to the professional organization it

is today. In Janka we lose a systematic thinker, a

strong organizer and a caring human being. We

wish her all the best for her new life in Switzerland!

We are welcoming four new colleagues in January

who have been introduced in this Observer: Kjersti

Nichols-Kraus, James Kotzsch, Gen Audley and

Sarah Brackenreg. Amy Goodwin returns from

maternity leave in January 2013 and Tommy Clarke

goes back to being IT integration leader. Our thanks

go to him for agreeing to step in and be a classroom

teacher again temporarily when we badly needed

one.

Leipzig is booming as a centre of economic activity

and we are noticing this in our enrolment. In January

2013 we welcomed 9 new students coming to us

directly from other international schools in Uganda,

Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Shanghai and Bahrain – as

well as from other international schools in Germany

itself. Furthermore, the acquisition of the solar

energy company Q.Cells by the Korean company

Hanwha will lead to at least 7 new students arriving

from Korea from February 2013. In spite of the fact

that the school is very full, we are doing the best we

can to accommodate for these international arrivals.

It is our core responsibility to provide an education

for those families that come to Leipzig from abroad.

Thank you in advance for your understanding that

some classes will have be over 20 until the end of

this school year. With natural movement of families

who are changing jobs, we expect to be back at no

more than 20 in each class by August 2013.

There is much more to report on. The Board reports

on some developments in its piece that I encourage

you to read and also I have not said anything about

the many wonderful Christmas celebrations that

took place in December, and of which you will read

colourful reports in this Observer!

Roel Scheepens, Headmaster

»I have always enjoyed learning. I haven’t always

enjoyed being taught.«Winston Churchill

mas list. It was a

gracious act for

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Raggett singing the

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Photo: Anna Katharina Hammer Photo: Peter Breuer Photo: Peter Breuer

Photo: Peter Breuer

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2 LIS2

parents and staff. We feel that some

improvements have been achieved. However, in

particular the parent representatives often

regret the low level of parent involvement in the

activities of the school. This may be natural in

the environment in which we find ourselves;

nevertheless it remains one of our aims to

strengthen the parent community because we

feel that a strong parent community would be

an asset to the local and regional community as

a whole.

As we write, Christmas is nearly upon us. And

as you read, the goose has been cooked and

eaten, the fireworks let off and the New Year’s

resolutions already forgotten. That being the

case, you now have space for a new resolution:

to participate even more in the activities of the

school and thereby to contribute to creating a

vibrant international community within this

city. We wish you, and we wish our school, all

the best for the coming year!

Yours sincerely,

Christopher Smith, Dr Nikolaus Petersen,

Jana Näther, Dr Skadi Beblo

P

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ational School

Könneritzstraße

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Internationn l School (Multi Purpose B

bicycle racks

bicycle racks

We have taken the opportunity to

further enhance security during our

afternoon Hort. The school has

installed a new security gate 1

which will be kept closed during Hort.

The door 2 – as marked on the map

– under the bridge from the old to the

new building will be locked during

Hort times. Parents and students

should only use the glass double door

3 to exit and enter. This also means

that students are passing the Hort

sign-out table and therefore all

students are registered when leaving.

Thank you for your cooperation.1

23

4 LIS OBSERVER www .intschool-leipzig.com

REVRVRESSBSOOS OS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESSBOOSSILIS OBSERVER REVRVRESSBSOOS OS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESSBOOSSILIS OBSERVER

www.intschool-leipzig.com LIS OBSERVER 5

Special Activities in the Firefl ies’ Classroom

We are fast approaching

the middle of this school

year and a lot has been

done whilst many

challenges lay in front of

us. We are trying to do

our best to implement

what we believe is in the

best interest of the pupils and

to be responsive to problems rose by that

parents.

Our scope is to be your liaison mean with the

school management and everything we are told

is treated with the maximum confidentiality. For

the New Year one of our goal is to make

understandable to everyone how important it is

to register and properly use the LIS Parent

Portal. The number of users is still very low and

we must reach as many parents as possible,

striving for all of the parents to use it.

What we wish is to soon be able to use this

Portal as the main system of all communication,

The first one is a cooking activity which we do

once a month. Here a parent comes in and

cooks lunch with five Fireflies for the whole

class. The kids chop, grate, taste, stir, knead and

taste again – and amazingly no fingers have

been chopped off yet! ;) –There is just enough

time left to set the table before 12 very hungry

Fireflies fly into the hort kitchen.

THANK YOU Firefly parents for taking part in this special activity.

The second – and favourite – activity of the

Fireflies is meeting their reading buddies each

Monday. We were very lucky to have found

2UM – they always seem just as excited as we

are when we meet. The children will read books

together in the classroom, or, even better, the

hallway and you can see how proud the Grade

2 kids are when they read to their little buddies.

High fives and a BIG hug to 2UM!!!

Here’s what we did on one afternoon together:

All the best for the New Year

Celebrating Diwali – the Festival of Lights

In this issue the Fireflies would like to introduce themselves. We are the mixed-age group of 17

three to five year olds and you will usually find us buzzing on the ground floor of the main school building.

This year the Fireflies have taken on two new projects besides their curriculum activities.

Throughout autumn ECFE infant and toddler

discussion groups met in the multi-purpose room

until our holiday break. Some of the discussion

topics chosen by the parents included feeding &

nutrition, sleep issues, setting limits, sibling rivalry,

traveling with children and family holiday

traditions. These classes, which meet on Monday

and Wednesday afternoons at 15:15 to 16:45, will

continue for a winter session starting mid- January.

There is still space available for new members.

Also for winter session, we will be adding a new

infant (ages 0 – 12 months) parent-child class

and preschool (ages 4 – 5yrs) parent discussion

groups in the mornings 9:00 – 10:30. (Days are

yet to be determined).

These parent discussion groups are facilitated by

a certificated parent educator and are a great

way to meet other parents; share parenting ideas

and learn about current parenting information.

Watch for class information and registration

forms after our holiday break.

Debbie Brancale Zilka

After an exciting autumn time, Early Childhood

and Primary students are looking forward to

enjoy the winter with the Playground Buddies.

“Popcorn” and “Fire, water, storm” are very

popular to brave the cold and to keep on moving.

But the most admired activity on the playground

is “skipping rope”: Every break time you can see

many children waiting in line to get a turn to

jump “Stuck on the island” or to achieve a new

jumping record.

Feel free to join in to warm you up in your break

time!!!

Ms KrisTina, Playground Buddy Coordinator

This year’s St Martins walk got off to a wet but

bright and cheery start. Due to the weather it

was decided to skip the bonfire at the AOK

playground and instead take advantage of the

facilities at the school.

To start the evening off, the teachers used the

stairs in front of the canteen as a small

amphitheatre to perform the story of St Martin.

This was followed by a good old sing song inside

the canteen that the parent volunteers had

made festive with decorations, candles and

sweets for the delighted kiddies.

The highlight of the evening was heralded by

the arrival of St Martin on his horse. Lightning

Diwali, or Deepavali, is the most popular festival

celebrated in India and it is often termed the

"festival of lights". The festival takes place on the

fifteenth day in the month of Kartik when the

winter season begins. Celebrations and

festivals include themes of light over

darkness and good over evil. Traditional

gifts and symbols include lamps, sweets,

silver, flowers and fireworks.

Following the LIS tradition of celebrating

every festival with enthusiasm, Diwali was

also celebrated in the same spirit. Primary School

students and students of the Early Childhood

programme celebrated Diwali with devotion,

enthusiasm and excitement on 29 and 30

November.

With the help of their teachers and parents the

children made beautiful designs and patterns to

decorate the tables and the stage. The beautifully

decorated school auditorium added charm and a

festive atmosphere. Framed in vibrant hues; the

for formal (reports card, health data base) as

well as informal (every sort of activities and

events) issues. It should also be possible to book

personal appointments for parent teacher

conferences and much more. Please take some

time and familiarize with this system, if you

have not done it yet.

Another goal, partially connected to the Parent

Portal, is to further improve the communication

within our school. We think is tremendously

important to share information but also to

provide the rationales behind the decisions

taken, whenever possible. When we are fully

aware of our objective it is easier to achieve our

common target.

As new families joined LIS this year, we have

received renewed concerns about the traffic in

front of the school. We have forwarded this to

the school management; please be assured that

the school has the safety of the children at heart

and is continuously looking into solutions to

improve the situation in front of the building. In

the meantime we would really appreciate if the

parents who are adept of wild parking in front

of the school, especially on the side walk, could

make an effort to find proper parking places

and thus contribute to make the surroundings of

the school safer for children and passers-by.

Finally we would like to take this opportunity to

thank all parents who have participated in the

survey, the participation rate was about 25%.

The results will be analysed in January and

should be available in the following issue of the

LIS Observer.

We hope to hear from many of you next year, if

you have concerns or anything you would like to

contribute. We will be always available and are

happy to share information, your point of view

or present your suggestions and ideas to the

management team of the school.

Your elected parents representatives,

Alya Pender, Fabrizia Bergamini Curti,

Michael Hartwig, Wolf-Dieter Meier

Early Childhood

Family Education (ECFE)

Autumn and Winter with

the Playground Buddies

" …and we are singing and

swinging the lanterns high…"

auditorium had an ambience of joy and happiness.

Also the little ones dressed up in bright colours.

The kids were given a traditional welcome and were

informed about the significance of the festival.

Parents as well as students were excited and listened

quietly to Ms Susan McCullough who enlightened

the story of Diwali. This story of Rama and Sita

was followed by a student's stage show,

and the wonderful performance set the

festive mood of Diwali in everybody’s

heart. To keep alive the spirit of share

and care the children were also given

Indian food and sweets.

Mr Amitabh Ranjan, Minister of the Embassy

of India in Berlin followed our invitation. He and his

wife joined the Diwali celebrations on Thursday as

our special guests.

Seeing the entire school join hands we would like to

thank all parent volunteers, teachers and students.

Without your support we wouldn’t be able to

celebrate Diwali at LIS. Also, our appreciation goes

to Ms Swapnil Gupta who made this wonderful

celebration at all possible.

Liane Lindenlaub

the

was

h l

he sth

Mr

f di i

Photos: Katja Plagge

our lanterns children, parents and teachers

formed up and followed him through the park.

Our bobbing lanterns, happy voices and laughter

ringing through the woods of Clara Zetkin

woods put a smile on all the faces of the

homeward bound cyclists and walkers. After our

procession we returned to the school playground

where hot vegetable curry, sausages and

gluehwein waited to warm us up.

Big thanks go to all the staff and parents who

took the time out of their normal day to make

this evening the great success it was.

Andy Rothwell, Dragonfly parent

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REVRVRESBSOS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESBOSILIS OBSERVER REVRVRESBSOS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESBOSILIS OBSERVER2012 – The Year of ‘The Lion’

The year 2012 will be remembered for many reasons when it comes to sporting moments:

☞ The fantastic Olympic games put on by the city of London, and starring

household names such as Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Sir Chris Hoy and Jessica Ennis.

☞ Chelsea somehow going against most people’s predictions and winning

the Champions League.

☞ Europe’s ‘miracle’ comeback against America in golf’s Ryder Cup.

However, here in Leipzig, there is only one thing that everyone is talking about.

The new sensation known as the ‘LIS Lions’.

The next issue will be published in March 2013. Please send your articles and pictures by 27 February by e-mail:

18 January:18 January:

New Year's Ball for Secondary

Students, LIS auditorium

19 January, 10 am: 19 January, 10 am: A Potluck –

3rd LIS International Family Breakfast, Club International, Käthe-Kollwitz-Str. 115

20 – 25 January:20 – 25 January:

Celebration of Cultural

Differences in Early Childhood

20 – 25 January:20 – 25 January:

Science Week in Primary School

25 January: 25 January:

Early Childhood Report Cards

28 – 31 January: 28 – 31 January:

Early Childhood Parent-Educator

Conferences, in EC-classrooms

01 – 08 February: 01 – 08 February:

Early Childhood Parent-Educator

Conferences, in EC-classrooms

08 February: 08 February: Celebration of

Lunar/Chinese New Year, LIS auditorium

11 – 15 February: 11 – 15 February: Winter Break

27 February: 27 February:

Open Forum, hosted by the

Board of Governors, LIS auditorium

28 February: 28 February:

Secondary School Report Cards

28 February – 03 March: 28 February – 03 March:

Secondary School Drama

Performances, LIS auditorium

07 March: 07 March: Secondary School

Parent-Student-Teacher

Conferences, LIS auditorium

11 – 15 March: 11 – 15 March: Book Week

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Leipzig International School has always had sports

teams, and they have always been a tough school

to play against for other schools. However, giving

our student athletes an identity has propelled

them to form a spirit that few schools have

matched. Now, teams are not individual, they are

united and this gives them something extra to

fight for. This is ‘school pride’.

Being a ‘Lion’ is now a must for

students here at LIS. Record

numbers have been attending

training sessions, be it in established

sports such as Volleyball, Badminton and

Football, or in the newly formed Cross Country

teams. This enthusiasm has resulted in better

placings in our GISST tournaments. Already

we have had three runners up trophies,

one 3rd place and a 4th position, as

well as entering a record nine

GISST tournaments so far.

This year LIS has already

compiled 22 GISST

points, with Track

and Field, Tennis and Basketball tournaments still

to come. To put this into perspective – for the

whole of last year LIS scored 7 GISST points.

The success of the LIS Lions is down to several

factors, and all contribute equally. Firstly the

coaches deserve huge kudos for the time they

give to develop our student athletes. Many

hours on a weekly basis are given by these

people, as well as the weekends they give for

tournaments and friendly matches.

The players who train every week need

mentioning. Every student that trains for the

school team is part of a squad and should

celebrate the success. Even if these students do

not make the final GISST teams they have

contributed, as without the competition they

provide in training sessions – our programme

would not be as strong as it is.

Finally, the school administration needs mentioning

for the support, both financial and in other ways

they have provided. The athletics programme is

given a generous budget that helps subsidise travel

costs for students, pays tournament fees, supplies

equipment for our athletes to use and this year have

provided brand new kits for our athletes to wear.

In 2013, many people are still talking about

Andy Murray finally winning a Grand Slam in

tennis, Sebastian Vettel winning his third World

title in Formula 1. In Leipzig however, all we are

talking about is the ‘LIS Lions’ !! GO LIONS!!!!

Paul McTigue, Athletics Director

placings in our GISST tournaments. Already placings in our GISST

we have had three runners up trophies, ee

one 3rd place and a 4th position, as e

well as entering a record nine e

GISST tournaments so far.

This year LIS has already y

compiled 22 GISST c

points, with Track

LIS will be required to house 72 visiting

pupils from 25 to 27 April 2013. Over 30

beds are still needed. If you are able to help,

please contact Marianne Lange in the

School Office at

or at 0341-33755830.

Reply slip and housing

information can be found

on the Intranet page of the

school website.

Housing request for the

GISST Tennis Tournament

www.intschool-leipzig.com LIS OBSERVER 76 LIS OBSERVER www .intschool-leipzig.com

8 LIS OBSERVER www .intschool-leipzig.com

REVRVRESSBSOOS OS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESSBOOSSILIS OBSERVER RS OS OSLIS OBSERVERROSSILIS OBSERVERна одном языке – meer dan een taal – plus d'une langue – תחא הפשמ רתוי – 複数の言語 – more than one language – più di una lingua – более чем на одном языке – 複数の言語 – more than one language – più di una lingua –

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We were deeply moved

by the great atmosphere

and the warm welcome.

We also donated clothes

and surplus items your

kids didn’t wear

anymore – to these

children.

Thank you very much

for allowing us to

continue to help these

kids. With your

assistance we will do

our best to support

them.

Liane Lindenlaub

Ice and Snow Disco The School Garden Team does not hibernate!

Wish Tree at LIS – Children helping Children

What's Germany's biggest festival? Most people

would probably say the Munich “Oktoberfest”.

Wrong! There is one event that involves more

celebrating and merrymaking than ever seen in

Germany. It is Fasching or Karneval (Germany's

version of Mardi Gras).

Germans call the pre-Lenten Carnival season "the

fifth season". Except for Munich's Oktoberfest, it is

the one time of the year when many normally

uptight Germans loosen up and go a little crazy.

Fastnacht or Karneval is a "movable feast" that

depends on the date of Easter. In 2013 Fastnacht

falls on 12 Febuary (Faschingsdienstag). The official

start of the Fasching season is either January 7 (the

day after Ephiphany) or the 11th day of the 11th

month, depending on the region. That gives the

Carnival guilds three to four months to organize

each year's events (Carnival balls, parades etc.)

leading up to the big bash in the week before Ash

Wednesday, when the Lenten season begins.

Celebrations begin on Fat Thursday with

Weiberfastnacht (the day during carnival period

when women are in control). The women dress up in

On Monday 17 December over 100 students in the

upper Primary school gathered together to dance

and enjoy the music at the Ice and Snow Disco. The

Disco was organised by the Primary Student Council

and the aim was to give the students the opportunity

to socialise in a slightly different setting. It became

apparent that one thing the upper Primary students

love to do is dance! Whether it was Gangnam style,

pop or hip hop the students had

the moves. Thanks go to DJ

Tommy who played all the tunes

and to the staff who came along

to supervise and showed that

they could boogie just as well as

the students.

Sarah Brannon, Primary Principal

Despite winter break,

the members of the

school garden team

remain active: Every

Friday we use the hort

kitchen and work hard

on our craft projects.

Our self-made bird seed

bells (painted terracotta

pots filled with coconut

oil and bird seed

mixture) will help birds

find food in our school garden even during winter.

We also prepared colourful labels to identify our

staked beds and flower beds next spring. We really

enjoyed the holiday season when we baked cookies

It is with no doubt we can say that again the

‘Wishtree’ project was a big success this year. We

were able to offer help with your generous

support by creating a wish tree.

Following this tradition, we invited you to help

collect presents for handicapped children

living in a children’s home in Leipzig. The

project was a big success! More than 200

presents were collected for the children, all

nicely wrapped and decorated.

Thursday, 20 December Primary parents and two

children (Marius Gr. 1 and Ferdinand Gr. 5) went

to the children’s home in Grünau to hand over

these presents. We were given a warm welcome.

All the presents were decorated under the

Christmas tree to be unwrapped at Christmas.

I due show programmati originariamente per

il giorno 16 dicembre sono andati

completamente esauriti, riscontrando un

successo tale da organizzare addirittura una

replica il giorno 17 per soddisfare tutte le

richieste ricevute. Attori professionisti hanno

recitato insieme ai ballerini dello

Internationalen Choreografischen Zentrum, la

scuola di balletto classico sita all'interno della

Spinnerei. Selina Curti, studentessa della

A tree full of wishes

Selina Curti performing the magic doll in the show.

www.intschool-leipzig.com LIS OBSERVER 9

nostra scuola, ha ballato

interrpretando la parte della

bambola magica, con grandissima

gioia.

L' Internationalen Choreografischen

Zentrum e' la scuola fondata a

Lipsia da Montserrat Leon, ballerina

professionista nata a Las Palmas de

Gran Canaria (isole delle Canarie),

in Spagna. Ha incominciato la sua

preparazione artistica con Anatol

Yanowsky e Carmen Robles e ha

rappresentato la Spagna nel 1987

nella "International Youth

Competition" tenutasi a Heidelberg.

Nello stesso anno ha vinto una

borsa di studio del Ministero della

Cultura spagnola per poter

frequentare la "Escuela Nacional de Danza" in

Havana. Dal 1989 al 1991 e' stata menbro della

"Compañía Ballett del Atlantico" di Anatol

Yanowsky in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Nel

1991 riceve una borsa di studio dal Ministero

della Cultura francese per proseguire il suo

sviluppo artistico al "Théatre Contemporain" di

Parigi. Dal 1993 e' stata un menbro della

compagnia di Ballo dell' Opera di Leipzig sotto la

direzione di Uwe Scholz.

Selina e' entrata a fare parte della scuola di

Montserrat circa 18 mesi fa. E' stata una

grandissima soddisfazione per noi genitori

scoprire quanto sia migliorata tecnicamente.

Durante il processo di selezione della scuola

alcune persone ci avevano avvisato che era

troppo severa; non ce ne siamo mai preoccupati

troppo e Selina e le sua compagne hanno

trascorso questo meraviglioso anno e mezzo

lavorando con Montserrat: la sua passione e la

sua abilitá sono servite a sfidarle, spingerle,

renderle partecipi del suo amore per il balletto

e la musica.

I risultati raggiunti dalle sue allieve sono stati

decisamente positivi e noi ci siamo deliziati

nel vedere Selina e le sue amiche danzare con

tanta passione; la cosa che noi pensiamo sia

piu' importante e' il fatto che nostra figlia

spenda tutt'ora il suo tempo libero imparando

balletto classico, musica, recitazione e molto

altro in un ambiente ricco e stimolante.

Noi pensiamo che questa sia la prova che ogni

qualvolta un' insegnante professionista e

professionale lavora duramente con i suoi

studenti, con impegno e grandissima passione,

i risulati sono di norma decisamente fantastici.

Fabrizia Curti

This article tells us about the performance of “The Nutcracker” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at Spinnwerk theatre last December. Professional actors

performed this piece together with dancers of the Internationalen Choreografischen Zentrum, Leipzig’s classical ballet school. This school was founded by

Montserrat Leon, a professional dancer, who has been a member of the Leipzig Ballet since 1993. Selina Curti, student of LIS, joined this school 18

months ago, and performed the magic doll in the show with great joy. It has been a pleasure for her parents to see how Selina and her classmates

immensely enjoy working with Montserrat and being challenged by her ability and her passion.

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Lo Schiaccianoci alla Spinnerei di LipsiaIl 16 e il 17 dicembre, al teatro Spinnwerk, molte persone hanno potuto ammirare un incredibile

gruppo di ballerini, che hanno rapppresentato "Lo Schiaccianoci" di Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

and made Christmas decorations. We will be

continuing with these creative craft workshops and

will get ready for the gardening season in spring.

Ms KrisTina

colourful costumes and walk from door to door

pulling jokes on people, especially local politicians.

It is a tradition for the women to "capture" the local

Rathaus (city hall) and take over the city’s key from

the mayor. On Fat Thursday, it is customary for the

ladies to walk around town and cut off men's ties

with scissors. The safest thing is probably not to

wear one that day.

Carnival goes by many names in German, depending

on the region and dialect: Karneval (Rhineland,

former Roman settlements), Fasching (Bavaria,

Berlin), Fastnacht (Baden), Fosnat

(Franconia) or Fasnet (Swabia). Some of

Germany's best known celebrations are

held in Cologne, Mainz and Munich.

But Cologne's Karneval is not really

the same as Munich's Fasching.

Germanic Carnival celebrations

vary from region to region,

sometimes even taking place at

different times! Whether it's

Fasching or Karneval, it is a

time to let off steam and live

it up before the Lenten period that traditionally calls

for fasting. It is this fasting tradition that gave the

celebration its Fastnacht name ("night before

fasting").

Today there are elaborate parades in all the large

and small communities where Fasching is celebrated.

The Rhineland Rosenmontagumzug is an event

broadcast each year on German television, similar to

the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York. It

features colourful floats with caricatured figures

mocking local and national politicians and other

celebrities or events.

In addition to the big parade there are even children

or neighbourhood parades that take place on

another day. In Leipzig, it has become a tradition to

have the big parade on Carnival Sunday throughout

the city of Leipzig. So Leipzig’s carnival

parade will be on 10 February

downtown in the centre of the

city.

Liane

Lindenlaub

LIS-International-

Family-Breakfast

Saturday, 19 January 2013, 10:00 am, Club International, Käthe-Kollwitz-Str. 115,

04109 Leipzig We warmly invite you and your family to our LIS

International-Family-Breakfast on the premises

of Club International. Following last year's

success we will start off the New Year with an

international potluck breakfast and welcome

our newly arrived families. That gives us all an

opportunity to enjoy international food, spend

some time together and make new friends.

We will have food from around the world, so we

kindly ask you to bring along one of your own

favourite breakfast dishes. Label each dish, and

include the country of origin. Traditional dishes

from your home country are most welcome!

Beverages are available from the bar of Club

International at reasonable prices. We are

looking forward to seeing you on Saturday, 19

January 2013.

For further details please contact: Liane Lindenlaub at

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pecially local politicianticians.

it up before the Lenten period that traditionally

fasting. It is this fasting tradition that gavefor fastin

act:

Special thanks and appreciation go to Blumenland Engler and the Engler family. They have once again provided our

school with Christmas trees for the festive season.

We also like to thank the primary room parents as well as primary and secondary representatives, Mr. and Mrs. Hampton and all students for organising all the different Christmas projects such as

the “wish tree” for the children’s home in Leipzig and “Christmas-in-a-Shoebox” for the children’s

home in Wurzen. Special thanks go to all the parents, families, teachers and students who

supported these projects by decorating, donating clothes, stuffed animals and other

gorgeous presents. Your generosity will directly benefit the children.

Thank you!

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10 LIS OBSERVER www .intschool-leipzig.com www.intschool-leipzig.com LIS OBSERVER 11

REVRVRESSBSOOS OS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESSBOOSSILIS OBSERVER REVRVRESSBSOOS OS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESSBOOSSILIS OBSERVER

With the help of Mr. Osthof, we organized

a charity event for World AIDS Day on 30

November. Throughout the day we sold

AIDS ribbons and during

lunch we organized a

bake sale. To make

the bake sale relevant

to World AIDS Day, we

decided to feature the

AIDS ribbon on many of

our cakes and muffins.

All of the money we

raised went to OEAS

(Orphans Education and

Agriculture Support), an

organization located in

Zimbabwe which supports

people suffering from AIDS.

During the day we raised a total of 253

dollars, which Mr. Osthof transferred to the

organization directly. Sister Fran from

OEAS emailed us a couple of days ago and

confirmed that she received the money and

that the raised money will help with food

relief. We were very pleased to hear this.

Thank you for all the support!

Kasia Dedio & Antonia Pietrus, 11RC

PAMUN 2012Paris, Unesco Building: a more exclusive location for this year´s MUN was hardly possible

Photography Club presents Leipzig Landscapes

World AIDS Day

at LIS

After a long journey we finally arrived in Paris.

We had a look at the most frequently visited

tourist hotspot: Eifel Tower, Arc de Triomphe

and the Champs Elysee. After a

delicious breakfast we made our

way to the UNESCO building, from

which you had an inspiring view

of the Eifel Tower. The UNESCO

building offered an atmosphere,

which made you feel just like a

real diplomat. This year our

delegation consisting of Nynke De

Vette, Sasha Curti, Anna-Kathrin Lindner,

Jordan Hampton, Albert Grafe and myself

represented Cuba. Being history students

Albert, Jordan and I were already very familiar

with Cuba, having studied Castro as part of

our syllabus. Therefore we had convinced the

others to represent Cuba. Having studied

Castro´s endless speeches and internalized

the anti-US attitude we were prepared to

postulate Cuba’s opinions.

As we rush around with our busy lives we don’t often get to

pause, take a breath and really look at our surroundings.

So this time photography club did just that and let Leipzig

be the inspiration for our latest competition. There were so

many ideas that even the school community was split

equally and this time we have 2 top photos.

1 Top photo: Diana Gerstenberger Grade 12

with a Leipzig cityscape.

1 Top photo: Lisanne Misfeld Grade 7

with a Leipzig sunset.2 Second place: Samuel Eder Grade 7

with a view of Leipzig’s parks.

3 Third place: Alex Staufenbiel Grade 12

with a view of Lake Cospuden.

Next time you are wondering around Leipzig take a pause,

look up, look out and capture the moment with the camera

in your head – we hope you find Leipzig as inspirational as

we do.

Photographer profile: “Photography is the capturing of a

moment, that cannot be produced a second time.” says

Diana Gerstenberger. She joined photography last year as

a way to get creativity hours for CAS in her IB course.

Diana has matured and refined her techniques to a point

where taking part in assignments & club competitions is an

enjoyable break from the rigors and numerous deadlines of

the IB course.

PAMUN (Paris Model United Nations hosted by

the American School of Paris) is one of the most

prestigious MUNs in Europe with over 900

students from 40 different schools taking

part. Meeting students from all over

the world was probably the most fun

thing about MUN. In our committees

we discussed different issues, always

trying to represent the ideas of Cuba

authentically.

Good rhetoric and knowledge of the

country policies is essential in being a

worthy delegate. We had burnt to criticize the

USA in all aspects of their policies, were however

disappointed, as they were not represented in all

committees. After two days of hot debates we

were rather tired and longed for General

Assembly, which is a different to the routine

debating in the committees. The General

Assembly was held in the conference room of the

UNESCO, which gave it an amazing atmosphere.

PAMUN was very well organized and at a much

higher standard than BAMUN last year.

Everything about PAMUN was interesting,

exciting and electrifying. Only the journey back

proved to be tiresome. Due to snowfall and strikes

at German airports, we had to spend the night in

Munich and take a late flight on Monday. It was

Sasha’s and Jordan’s first MUN and on behalf of

our delegation we’d like to congratulate them on

their extremely good performance as Cuban

diplomats.

We would also like to deeply thank Mr. Osthof for

taking us to Paris, although he suffered from a

cold. Furthermore we would like to give praise to

our school for subsidizing the trip. As this being

my last MUN at LIS I can only encourage other

students to join and experience the challenges

that a diplomat faces.

Lena Huck, 12JS

This year’s delegation: Lena Huck, Jordan Hampton, Anna-Kathrin Lindner, Sasha Curti, Nynke De Vette and Albert

Grafe representing Cuba.

1 1

2

3

Wurzen Kinderheim Christmas Appeal

This year, ourselves and two of our daughters were

delighted to accept a long-standing invitation to the

Kinderheim Christmas Party, where we were given a

very warm welcome by the director, Herr Stephan,

and the twenty-seven children to whom Secondary

School students had given wrapped Christmas

boxes for the twelfth consecutive year.

After tea, there followed an entertaining

Christmas Programme prepared by the children,

and then of course the highlight of their

Christmas – the arrival of the Weihnachtsmann

to distribute what for many of them will be their

only gifts – one from the Kinderheim and one from

our students. It was very moving to witness the

children's genuine anticipation and excitement as

they each received their gifts, tearing open the paper

and jubilantly displaying the contents to each other

– their faces were a picture. So to all who thoughtfully

filled a Christmas shoebox for a child less fortunate

than themself, a huge 'thank you'.

Thank you to Jordan Hampton for co-ordinating the

collection this year, and to staff who encouraged and

supported their homeroom students in this annual

appeal. Liz and John Hampton

REVRVRESBSOS OSLIS OBSERVERRRVERVESBOSILIS OBSERVERLiving in LeipzigFrom January 2013 back at Asisi Panometer:

Everest Expedition between Experience and Tradition

administration boardboard parentsparents horthort

pre-school primary schoolprimary school secondary schoolsecondary school

eventsevents

Imprint

Published by

Leipzig International School

Editorial head: Liane Lindenlaub

Telephone: +49 (0)341 337 558-77

E-Mail:

Internet:

Design by

Westend. Public Relations GmbH

Internet: www.westend-pr.de

Photos by

LIS, LTM – A. Schmidt, © babimu, braverabbit, burak

çakmak, by-studio, Danussa, dedMazay, elnur, Genestro,

Marta, moleskostudio, Oksancia, sonne fleckl, Tom, Kurt

Tutschek, volyk, VRD/fotolia.com

Color scheme – every colour reperesents

a section of our school.

Yadegar Asisi’s 360°Panorama EVEREST in

Leipzig carries you away to the roof of the world.

Enjoy a breathtaking view of the mountain world

of the Himalayas from the viewing platform.

Mount Everest, 8848 metres high, towers above

us from the “Valley of Silence”, 6000 metres

above ground level. The impressive high mountain

range surrounding it glows majestically around

us, from pale blue to aquamarine, from snow

white to deep black.

With his EVEREST panorama, Yadegar Asisi

recreates the special spatial experience of high

mountains, seemingly infinite. A conscious

decision was made not to choose the summit as

the viewing point of the panorama, but rather the

high plateau which serves as the final base camp

for all Everest expeditions, before the final ascent.

In this way, Asisi creates distance, awakening a

feeling of deep reverence for the highest

mountain in the world.

In the accompanying exhibition, Yadegar Asisi

presents Mount Everest in the view of the “modern”

world and shows how it has been “conquered” in

various climbing expeditions. Newspaper reports

from the 20th and 21st centuries show the various

different types of expeditions undertaken.

Unfortunately, many of them were not quite as

successful as that of Edmund Hillary, who was the

first person to climb to the summit with his Tibetan

guide, Tenzing Norgay, in 1953. This gives us an

authentic impression of the various epochs in

which the “conquests” of the king of the mountains

were reported – along with a comment on the

hubris of mankind and its failures.

At the same time, Asisi gives visitors to the

panorama an insight into the Far Eastern view of

the “roof of the world”.

In 2002, Yadegar Asisi went to the Himalayas to

carry out research for the panorama project.

From sketches, drawings and a wealth of

photographs of the roof of the world, the

photorealistic 360° panorama was built up

piece by piece in a combination of painting,

photography, architectonic sketches and digital

image processing. The first version was exhibited

from 2003 to 2005 in the asisi Panometer

Leipzig. Following a further research trip to the

Himalayas, Yadegar Asisi has now produced a

reworked, completed version of the panorama,

which has been completely reprinted in

Lennestadt.

Photo: Andreas Schmidt

12 LIS OBSERVER www .intschool-leipzig.com

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