Category: Newsflash

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

Dear Elementary Community,

Today has been a wonderful celebration of student learning community relationships. I feel very fortunate to be part of a wonderful community such as CIS. You and your families are truly special and it is at times of celebration such as today that the wonder of our community is really evident.

I am also continually impressed at the quality and caliber of our CIS teachers and support staff. They two are an essential part of what makes CIS work, as are our CIS students, the focus of each day at CIS.  As we go our various ways over the coming three weeks the elementary team at CIS wish you and your families very well. Have a very happy holiday season.

Elementary Art – The Slime Story

“The SLIME Story”

“Ms. Thea, can we make slime?,” asked Clare innocently. “Nah… I dunno, well, maybe next week, not right now Clare, ok? We’re still busy doing our Papier Mache Earth Project in connection with the Sharing the Planet Unit.”

Two of the other girls had also asked the same question, and recieved the same answer. “Besides,” I thought to myself, why do Slime? It’s gooey, and messy…and I’ve been studying it for about a month and I still can’t seem to get the recipe right.“ (Of course, I didn’t let the girls hear me say this to myself.)

I was personally discouraged with my Slime Recipe up until I tried using Contact Lens Solution. A friend of mine, organizing an Art Party for her daughter had requested me last November to design art activities for a kiddie party and the top of her list was Slime. “My daughter loves art and science, and she loves slime, you have to do slime.”

I went around CIS asking teachers like Ms Weng, and Ms Stefanny how they made Slime and they gave me good advice. Contact Lens solution was really an ingredient that I hadn’t tried. Later on I learned that this solution contains boric acid (this is the famous Borax on the Youtube Slime Recipes) and it really, made the solution gooey and sticky. Without this, it was just plain old glue, no matter how much dishwashing liquid or other stuff that I added. So I was determined to try Contact Lens Solution.

Back to the Grade 2 class. In comes Irene who says, “Ms. Thea you are so unfair!!!” “What? Why?”, I pleaded. “You told Clare and the Grade 2 Js that they would make slime.” “I did?”, I asked. “Uh-huh,” she replied, “Why didn’t you tell our section that we would do it also?”

I kept silent. Then in came the Grade 2 Js. Bella, Thea and Clare marched in, holding their jars and their cute little slime containers. “Oh. Did you girls think we were doing slime today? Because I really wanted you to work on the Earth project”, I said to them.  “WHAT?? Yes we’re doing slime! Yes you told us! Remember you said ‘We’ll do it next week’…And Ms Thea a promise is a promise!!!”, they all chimed.

So I was stuck. With my promise.

I had to act fast. I had all the ingredients that day, except for Baking Soda. Think, Thea, Think. I said to myself. Okay we have glue, we have contact lens solution, we have glitter… we just need some baking soda. Where could I find baking soda? “Ms Amarga!”, I thought to myself. I know Ms. Amarga has a lot of stocks of different stuff in her classroom and she’s always so kind to lend me things. I went over and asked for some, leaving the Grade 2 with Ms Eva. I hurried back with the baking soda. And our adventure was about to begin.

I had only to do a small demo of Slime and soon they were all crowding with their containers saying, “Me, Me, give me some glue!!!” “Okay calm down,” I told them, “So how do we make slime?”

 (This was our inquiry). A bit of glue… yes that’s it, hold out your containers—I poured glue into their containers one by one… a bit of contact lens solution… and a pinch of baking soda… and you can add some glitter…”They all obeyed perfectly, there was no need to motivate them on this lesson, because they had all already desired to do Slime. We all mixed our individual slimes, and some were successes instantly, while others hardened due to too much activator.

“Okay now you have to take it out of the container with your bare hands and massage it.” “What?!”, “that’s gross,” said some students. “It’s part of the process and it all washes off with water, don’t be afraid,” I reassured them.

It was like a big Science Art Experiment. “Oh no! Mine got all hard,” exclaimed some of them, they had added too much contact lens solution and too much baking soda, and this made their Slime solid. “Okay, try again…” Ms Eva and I said to those who wanted to make new ones after the first tries flopping…. They patiently remade their slime. Pretty soon, it was like no one wanted to leave the Art Room they were all so busy with their Slime! They kept adding and adding glue, I said, “Okay that’s enough sorry guys, time is up!”

In the end they all had big smiles, and their joy was a joy for me as well. The tables were coated with glue, I was so grateful to have maintenance workers that come in and clean the room. I was fulfilled and happy because my students experimented and succeeded with something new and artistic. They all left the Art Room happy that day. Why? Firstly, it was an activity of their choice that they prepared for. Secondly, we succeeded in achieving the Slime result. Thirdly, the process was so messy and gooey, and just simply kid-friendly.

I learned from this experience, that often as an educator we can be so serious and have our own goals for the children. But when we loosen up and try things that they themselves request, we give them responsibility over their own choices, we actually make ourselves vulnerable when we choose their idea over our own, and we humble ourselves to cooperate with what they want, not what we want. They also enjoy because it’s an activity they want. I’m not saying we will no longer do serious drawing and practice drawing skills, but Slime was a nice adventure and break from the more planned classes, wherein I as the educator I decide what to do. In this case, it was three Grade 2 girls who decided what they were going to do. They were determined to make Slime, they brought their containers to school with big smiles on their faces and they inspired me to take this up as an Art Activity for them. Their determination to do it inspired me to be determined also. Their joy upon making it made me joyful too.

“This is why I’m still an Art teacher,” I thought to myself, “to hear shrieks of joy and delight when kids are making something new, when they are excited about what they are making, and are enjoying the process, not too worried about the end result.”

It’s like how Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” I think all kids are artists, we educators, just have to step back and assist them sometimes, and not always insist on our own ideas, because they actually already have the idea of what they want, we can just be humble and help them achieve it.

Middle/High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Semester One of the 2019/20 academic year has now drawn to a close. It’s been a wonderful five months of building relationships, teaching/learning for relevance, and challenging our students with appropriate rigor to help them develop holistically.

This week we continue to highlight some of the unique and student-centered assessments our teachers have engineered over the past weeks to reinforce and deepen their students’ understanding and skills, develop ATL’s, and allow them to create quality performances and products of which they can be proud. As educators, few things bring us as much joy as watching our students shine and effectively perform challenging real-world tasks.

We hope all of our families enjoy a time to rest and be refreshed over the holiday, knowing that we will return to build on the foundation established during this first semester.

Grade 7 Science Project: Water Crisis in the Philippines

by Ms. Nice Uy, MS Science Teacher

On Monday, December 9th, 2019, the grade 7 Science class presented their research projects, The Water Crisis in the Philippines, as part of their summative assessment. This task allowed them to apply their knowledge and skills as to how to separate soluble and insoluble substances in light of our Mixtures Unit this second quarter. Their goal was to ultimately address an issue and propose solutions regarding the water crisis in the Philippines. Students were given a sample of dirty water – a mixture of saltwater, sand, gravel, charcoal and dried leaves. Their task was to create a method for cleaning water and make a model based on the design they had constructed. They were required to find ways to use different separation methods to produce clean water in the end. This culminated with students presenting their research project to the school administrators.

Dirty water sample- students were tasked with producing clean water as their output.

Student Reflections:

Our assessment was about separating mixtures. We did a filtration project by making a filter using natural items. This task connected to the statement of inquiry; ”Systems can be used to observe in order to develop a model to explain the function of humans and its consequences to impact society.” Yes, it was a bit challenging because there was so much going on. Also it was confusing when filtering. And we didn’t really know how to make it. We could have finished the project more easily by following what the teacher said and by listening and cooperating better instead of talking and interrupting. We could have improved the project if we had finished the filter earlier so we would have had much more time to finish the slides. – Rosie and Avery

Raising awareness about the water crisis in the Philippines is important because we see how water is needed for people’s basic daily necessities, especially for drinking and hygienic purposes. Many of the water sources Filipinos rely on are unsanitized. For this project, we had to use methods to purify contaminated water. We created a model that uses the filtration process for the contaminated water. Then, we then distilled the water we filtered using a distillation apparatus. We both did our part. One of us did the pounding for the charcoal for our filtration model, and one of us conducted the distillation process. We made sure that all our materials were in the right place during this project. We both made sure that we were able to address the water crisis in the Philippines by being intentional in finding ways on how to purify water using effective methods. One of the challenges we faced was communicating with each other. Another challenge was how we managed our time because we also had some other classwork and other upcoming summative tasks for different classes so it was a bit hard to balance, but we were able to resolve these issues. – Rasmus and Fiana

There are many countries that have a water crisis and the Philippines is one of them. According to water.org, out of 107 million Filipinos 7 million rely on undistilled water sources. We wanted to stop that, so we have made an effective and cheap filter that could be used by the locals. We found the project a bit difficult for we had to find materials that we usually don’t use like charcoal. Also, we had to find out how these materials helped us in filtering. We planned it specifically before we made our filter. We could have collaborated more to finish the report faster so we would finish the ppt before time. It would be better since we would have more time to revise it. – Lloyd and Jiyeon

Grade 12 Group 4 project

by  Ms. Jacqui Street, DP Biology Teacher
       Ms. Christine Enrile, DP Chemistry Teacher

On December 10 and 11, the grade 12 students conducted the Group 4 Project, an interdisciplinary activity in which all Diploma Program and IB Certificate science students must participate. The Group 4 Project aims to achieve the following goals:

• Introduce students to the idea that Science is a group activity performed by teams with a mixture of scientists from different disciplines
• Encourage understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching nature of the scientific method
• Develop and apply information and communication skills in the study of science technology
• Raise awareness of moral, ethical, social, economic, and environmental implications of using science

To realize these goals, the students analyzed a topic or problem which can be investigated using Biology, Chemistry and/or Physics. The students worked collaboratively across disciplines to explore a commonly believed myth using The Scientific Method. The research problems the groups explored included the dependence of pain tolerance on gender, possibility of abseiling down a mountain using duct tape, maximum weight capacity of geometric shapes, effect of salt in water on electrical conductivity, basic purification of water, how friction can save lives, static electricity, heat absorbance of different colors, and the effect of air pressure on the flight height of drones. Students culminated their activity through the video presentations which chronicled their hard work.

The Group 4 Project enabled our students to apply critical and creative thinking and have fun as they planned, designed, conducted, and documented their work.  

Here are some of their reflections:

In our Group 4 Project, we investigated how much weight different shapes can hold by folding paper into columns and stacking books on top of them. It’s a simple experiment but we were able to appreciate the physics behind architecture while trying to present it all creatively. It was a fun deviation from the academic reports that we’re used to doing for the IB! —Axelle

Our group looked into the myth that wearing black makes you feel hotter. Through collaboration and following the nature of the scientific method, we found out that it’s not a myth after all. The Group 4 project was enjoyable as it allowed us to step out of our usual classroom set-up of working individually and only within our Group 4 classes (Chemistry or Biology). The highlight of the two days was watching the hilarious videos that each group created. This was certainly a nice way to end the quarter. — Alya

The Group 4 Project is a significant aspect of every senior’s IB journey. This Tuesday and Wednesday, the senior class took part in this yearly tradition of investigating a “myth” through applying the scientific method. Our group decided to research the myth that you should not swim during a lightning storm. This experiment was memorable to me, as I believe we were able to successfully carry out the entire process in two days. In this span, I was able to overcome all difficulties with the experiment and group members. The days prior to the experiment was quite chaotic because we had no direction and inefficient communication, but when we met on the first day, everything fell into place. We were able to assign roles, finish our tasks, and wrap up the entire experiment on the first day. This was an unforgettable experience that helped me realize several things; my ability to work well and adapt to others, and how prominent the scientific method is in our daily lives. The Group 4 Project was genuinely the highlight of my senior year. – Katrina 

Grade 10 Business Advertising Unit Summative

by Emily Cornet

Over the past month, the students in the 10th grade Business course worked in small groups, creating videos to advertise CIS. During the course of the project, students had to storyboard their plans, prepare and conduct interviews of students and teachers/staff, and film scenes from across the campus. They then put together their advertisements using their technology skills, and last week they presented to an audience that included administrators, the Marketing Department, as well as a handful of other teachers and students.

Even though only students were our main highlight for the perspectives, we showed their different perspectives because they represented different parts of CIS. We also showed the different nationalities that are represented in this school. – Deandra

I learned about the different styles of making an advertisement. First, we have to thoroughly plan what we are going to focus things. We have to take into consideration on what people think so we can reach a higher number of individuals. Lastly, the video has to be visually pleasing and keep the audience wanting to see more. – Keenen

I learned about the different styles of making an advertisement. First, we have to thoroughly plan what we are going to focus things. We have to take into consideration on what people think so we can reach a higher number of individuals. Lastly, the video has to be visually pleasing and keep the audience wanting to see more. – Sean

This project taught me that advertising can be done in several different ways. It would be best to add voice overs or text to make it more interesting and informative.  – Elena

Tree of Giving

by Levi (Student Council President) & Deandra (Student Council Vice President)

On Saturday morning, December 7th, the MHS Student Council’s annual Tree of Giving took place. Along with the Student Council members, a group of students volunteered their time to help celebrate the Christmas spirit with the children from the Umapad dumpsite in Mandaue City. It was a meaningful event where our CIS students helped the Umapad children celebrate Christmas by playing with them and sharing the gifts our school was able to gather over the past fwe weeks. Our guests were children who don’t have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas, and it was heartwarming to see our students show care for others and give back to the community through this event. After sharing food and playing with the children, the event concluded by sharing nearly 400 gifts that our CIS community was able to gather.

We would like to thank all of the students, teachers, staff, and parents for their role in making this event possible! We could not have done it without all of you!

Alumni Spotlight

COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY VISITS for January – March 2020

by  Ms. Jennifer Basa, College/Careers Counselor Alumni Liaison

SAT Test Dates for School Year 2019 – 2020

For students who are planning to study in universities/colleges that require the SAT exam, below is the schedule of the SAT tests. Please take note of the test dates and registration deadlines.

To register for the SAT, you may log on to www.collegeboard.org.  If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph or call 261-0247 local 112 to set an appointment.  You may also visit her office from 7:15am to 3:30pm.

PTA News

by CIS PTA Board of Officers 

Dear CIS community,

CIS Anglers Club

by  Paul – G12 

Last Friday the CIS anglers club organized a fishing seminar. We had a special guest Mr. Hitoshi, who is from Palms fishing Japan to talk about shore casting to the anglers. This was the first ever event of its kind held in the Visayas. It was open to anglers all over the Philippines and we had people fly in from Manila, Bacolod, and other places to attend this seminar, we also have two alumni, Shoji Castillo and Timothy Cusi present. 

The seminar was a really great event and myself along with the other anglers were able to learn so much. Shore casting is a type of fishing that is just beginning to take off in the Philippines, so it was a great privilege to be able to be taught by a professional on the subject. We also had many giveaways for the people who attended, one of them was a new fishing rod! Our elementary students was also given the time to sit down and had a short basic fishing orientation. It was attended by the members of the Elementary Scouting Club. 

At the end of the seminar, Mr. Ace announced that I was gonna be a field tester for Palms products in the Philippines! This is an incredible opportunity for me and I owe a big thanks to Mr. Ace, and Palms Philippines for giving me the opportunity. Mr Ace is the current brand ambassador and sponsored by Palms Japan. 

I couldn’t get the smile off my face for the rest of the night! The seminar was such a great experience, and it was something I surely will never forget. The following day, my dad and I took Mr. Ace, Mr, Hitoshi, and the Palms distributor for the Philippines Mr. Jun to Badian to go fishing. We were able to catch a few fish by shore casting and jigging. Although we didn’t catch any big fish due to bad weather but it was still a great experience! Everyone had a great time and it was overall a great experience! Big thanks to Mr. Ace, Mr. Hitoshi, Mr. Jun and the school administration for making all of this happen!

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

Dear Elementary Community,

Today was a wonderful celebration of learning here at CIS. Ms. Natasha and Mr. Mike, our band teachers, arranged a small performance for the grade 4 and 5 bands. This was to be a short presentation to the grade 2 and 3 students, however once the lower elementary grades heard about this, everyone wanted to join. The result was a wonderful celebration assembly, joined by many of you from our parent community. As a school, we are so grateful for your constant support of us. Our class parents do so much to coordinate important class events in the school, and your willingness to be on campus so frequently builds the strength of our school community.

This weekend CIS will host our annual Tree of Giving Christmas sharing for the Umapad, Mandaue children. This community will visit the school on Saturday to take part in a range of games and enjoy some nice food. All children will leave with a gift from theTree of Giving, donated by you.

As we draw to the end of the first semester it is clear that a great deal of growth and learning has taken place across the school. The ATL (Approaches to Learning Skills and Attitudes) are highly evident within our students and it is exciting to see the level of personal ownership our students have over their learning. This can be attributed to the commitment and skill of our teachers who work very strategically to guide your children onto their next learning steps, and who care deeply for their social and emotional well being. I had a great deal of fun this week watching the EY 2 and 3 students build towers with the giant magnetic tiles, observing KG/G1 teachers conferring with individual students, and grade 4 students problem-solve to develop Lego Mindstorm projects in the Makerspace.

As we move into the final week for school, I encourage you to take part in our school events to the degree that you are able to. I trust you will all have a restful and enjoyable holiday season in the weeks ahead.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle & High School Principal

In last week’s Newsflash I shared about the MHS assessment approach and philosophy in relation to our end-of-semester summative tasks. As I mentioned then, our teachers are seeking to think innovatively and create assessment experiences for our students which combine a high level of critical thinking, creative thinking, and relevance, so that students may demonstrate mastery of course content and skills and can also recognize the importance of what they are doing in relation to their own personal lives and the broader world context. We are also intentionally seeking to develop our students’ ATL skills through these assessment tasks.

I am excited to highlight some of these summative tasks our students are engaged in so that you can see how our philosophy is being lived out across grade levels and subject areas within the tasks our students are performing in their respective classes. Not only are these project-based tasks fun (joyful), but they also promote deep learning as our students fully engage with content and apply their skills.

Grade 6 Individuals and Societies Projects

The presentations you see taking place in the photos below are the result of several weeks of preparation. Students first studied where fossil fuels come from, how they are made, what energy is, how electricity is collected and transferred, and the contrast between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Once the students developed a foundation for these concepts, they partook in a larger inquiry-based project.  They were required to find credible sources, use note-taking skills, paraphrase information, and use APA formatting for in-text citations and bibliographies. After writing scripts that incorporated their collected research, students created documentaries and board games to share what they had learned. On Wednesday morning several other classes visited this class in the cafeteria annex and were able to learn from these Grade 6 “student teachers”.

Grade 7 Drama Performance

For the culmination of this semester’s Grade 7 Drama class, students have been quite busy rehearsing over for the past two weeks in preparation for their final performance summative. This project was a student-led activity where students were given a chance to write the script and collaboratively direct one of the two plays entitled “Tangled” and “Cinderella” incorporating those melodramatic elements. They presented their summative presentations on Friday, the 6th of December, 2019 during ELO time where most of the elementary students were able to witness their magical performances. 

Grade 8 Design Mural Project

by Ms. Gerri Jumao-as, IB Art / Design Technology Teacher

A few weeks ago, we shared an article about our new Design courses and the design process, and we focused specifically on the Grade 8 mural project to demonstrate student learning in this subject. A few weeks later the murals are now nearly complete. Basing their murals on the key concept of communities, students looked into the ideas of fairness and sustainable development. The Mural Painting unit looked at morals and shared responsibility which is a central aspect of being a member of any community.  Using the elements/principles of art, students designed and painted a mural in the school’s parking lot to show form and delve into expression while at the same time considering different perspectives.

Mural paintings are relevant as they bring art into the community as well as promote awareness of specific issues. Through these images the Grade 8 students are highlighting 6 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which the UN has established as the blueprint to achieving a better and more sustainable future.  Our student murals this year addressed global challenges such as poverty, climate change, inequality, environmental concerns, peace, and justice.

The students have worked hard on their murals and are now in the finishing stages.  Below are some of the students’ reflections.

Student Reflections:

We feel our mural turned out pretty well. This is because of the tonal values applied in the forms which were applied well and made the painting more interesting. We have heard others say they liked our mural a lot. Though we are not finished, it looks well done.  My group and I have faced many struggles during the mural painting. A challenge that we faced was the countless arguments we had with some members misinterpreting instructions, which led to more problems. We were also taking too long to finish some parts as others took long to accomplish their parts. We overcame this by communicating with each other, and the pressure of the deadline made us work better.  We, however, did not finish on time and had to work outside of class time. –Sofia, Jack, Maki and Zhandy

The goal that my group has chosen is Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. This goal is mainly about promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development to provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. Specifically, this includes number  of issues ranging from drug problems to corruption within high authorities in government. These controversial issues would lead the whole world toward negative consequences. So, we want to remind others of the importance of peace and justice which can be sustained through strong institutions. We decided to add symbols that represent peace within our mural- for example, the dove with an olive branch in its beak, rainbow around the Earth, and the justice sign to represent peace.  –Ami, Rebecca, Sam and Ryan

The mural is coming together pretty well. Although we faced a few challenges when making the mural, we managed to work through them and believe we have done a good job.  We struggled in applying tonal values and in mixing the colors to find the right shades. We often got the wrong shade and had to restart all the painting of a particular part.  We also struggled in writing the catchphrase “Earth Year: 2050”, as the writing would either be slanted or the font was not good enough. We have overcome these challenges by trial and error; we had to restart and try again so many times. This is also one of the reasons why we took so long with our mural and struggled with finishing it.  –Liam, Mahati, Minseong and Vincent

Grade 10 History Harkness Discussion

Last year we implemented the Harkness discussion model as an inquiry-based classroom strategy in MHS. This is a student-directed discussion model (with the teacher as observer who then provides feedback on the quality of the content and style of the discussion) which lends itself particularly well to the IB framework as students are asked to collaborate, communicate, evaluate, and apply their knowledge. Our Grade 10 History students used the Harkness method to demonstrate their understanding of events surrounding the Second World War, using prepared notes from their research to engage in addressing and answering complex questions related to this historical time period.

Grade 10 Physical & Health Education 

For this unit, our grade 10 class is learning the sport of badminton. Badminton is a racquet sport played using rackets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. We usually play with pairs, also known as doubles. Through this sport, we learn many things such as the following: teamwork, communication, focus, and determination. First, badminton teaches you how to focus through having to pay attention to the game and the shuttlecock. Second, playing with a partner teaches you how to communicate and work together as a team to win. Lastly, you learn determination through continuing to stay motivated throughout the whole game, whether you are losing or winning. I am enjoying this unit very much, and have learned a lot through the games we’ve played in class. – Bianca, Grade 10

Grade 11 TOK Harkness Discussion

A couple of weeks ago, we featured the Grade 12 TOK Presentations in the Newsflash. Of course to get to the stage where students are able to do this effectively they need training in order to develop their skills. Harkness Discussions are a very useful method to address key TOK topics and help students engage cognitively as well as consider their classmates’ alternate points of view. For this particular discussion students had prepared notes in relation to two areas of knowing: Natural Sciences and Human Sciences. For example, students discussed the scope of knowledge within the natural sciences as well as the limits of that knowledge, ethical considerations, the relation between faith and science, the difference between scientific theory and fact, the nature of scientific theory (as opposed to other types of theories), etc. 

It is a genuine pleasure listening to our students discuss, debate, and grapple with topics at a level we would expect to encounter at university level. As I mentioned previously, TOK is a unique course in the IB curriculum as it guides and challenges our students to investigate what they know and how they know it, and helps them develop critical thinking skills which are relevant for analysis across their other courses. High School students are, by nature, curious and often struggle to find their own beliefs, identity, and voice, and TOK actually creates a framework where they can explore and develop these areas.

The Internal Assessment in the IB Business Management course

by Choco Laplana, MHS Assistant Principal & IB DP Coordinator and Emily Cornet, IB DP Business Management

A key component of the IB Business Management course is the Internal Assessment (IA), which students work on from April of 11th grade until November of 12th grade. For the IA in Business Management HL, students must choose a business to work with, and then identify a problem that exists. Students come up with the underlying causes for the problem, and then propose solutions that the real-life business could make.

Throughout the research process, students are engaged in interviewing employees at a number of levels of the business, surveying workers and customers, and analyzing data that they are able to access.

IA TITLES

PTA News

Dear parents,

Once again, we thank everyone who helped make the PTA Christmas Bazaar such a success! We were very proud of how our students conducted themselves, whether performing, fundraising or being ambassadors for the school.

We also want to express sincere thanks to the teachers and school staff who volunteered time at the bazaar, and to our amazing facilities and marketing teams. We couldn’t have run the event without you!

We will discuss more specific results from the bazaar at next week’s PTA Coffee Morning on December 11 at 7:30am in the Canteen Annex, where we will also assemble and distribute Christmas gift bags for the security and maintenance staff. Many hands make light work, so we hope to see you all there!

Elementary News

Dear Elementary Community,

The big event this week was the arrival of the new classroom carpets. Each of the elementary homeroom classes had their carpets replaced with soft new carpets and these have been thoroughly appreciated by students. I approached several of these student experts for their thoughts on the new carpets, and this is what they said.

• “Very very nice, it feels so soft!” (Grade 5 student)
• “It’s so soft and comfy.” (Grage 2 student)
• “It’s soft and sometimes in the morning we like to do cartwheels on it.” (Grade 1 student)
• “It’s very big!” (EY4 student)
• “It’s so soft, like a sleeping mat.” (G Student)

Thanks must go out to our CIS purchasing department for arranging the purchase of our new carpets.

Mr. Glenn Davies

ES Lap-a-Thon

Date Change – Thursday 12th December
You and your child will have received a letter and sponsorship form for the elementary Lap-a-thon. Due to the senior exams, the date has been changed to Thursday, 12th December. Further information will come from your child’s homeroom teacher about the Lap-a-thon schedule. I have included the Lap-a-thon video again, made by the elementary student council.

Adlawon Farm Field Trip

The Grade 4 and 5 students recently went on a field trip to Adlawon Vacation Farm, it was pretty fun. The food there was amazing, and so were the plants and animals. My favorite flowers personally were the purple and magenta ones. Some plants were shade-loving, and others were sun-loving. I loved planting the corn and lettuce during the field trip, because it was really fun. With the corn seed we planted it right away in the soil, but the lettuce seeds are so small that they have to be planted in trays to grow little seedlings first, then we plant them into the soil. I learned a lot from that trip and I’m really looking forward to our 3 day 2 night camp later on in February when we will visit Adlawon Farm again.

By Monica, Grade 5

Middle & High School News

End-of-Semester Assessments

by Dale M. Wood, MHS Principal

For many of us words like exam and test may stir up unpleasant memories of stress, anxiety, and all-night cram sessions. While it is important to have a mastery of subject content knowledge, there are various and multiple ways students may demonstrate their knowledge and skills more effectively and in ways that mirror how people manifest and apply these things in the real world. Rarely in life are we asked to sit in silence and write for two hours about our knowledge on a topic. By contrast, 21st century jobs frequently require employees to work on projects individually or collaboratively, create products, make presentations, perform skills, evaluate data, solve problems, and reflect on the quality of their performance. More and more our schools are recognizing this and adjusting their assessment strategies to incorporate important skills (such as ATL’s) and create greater relevance by matching tasks to real-world expectations.

The word assessment comes from the Latin verb assidere, which means to sit beside. The implication in this etymology is that an assessment is not something we do to students, but rather, something we do with them and for them. The image suggested is that of an instructor sitting beside the students and working with them to ensure that they understand a concept and/or can perform a skill. With this description in mind, assessments should not be scary, but rather, are opportunities for our students to demonstrate (even show off) their abilities, that is, provided they have developed the skills and knowledge along the way to allow them to be successful on the assessment tasks we ask them to perform.

With this in mind, and to distance ourselves from the negative connotations of the word “exam,” we are simply referring to our Grade 6-10 end-of-semester summative tasks as “assessments.” Grade 6-10 teachers have a two-week window from November 29 through December 11 to set these assessment tasks within their regular class blocks so students do not have all of their end-of-semester assessments in the final days before break. Teachers have worked collaboratively to plot the dates of these assessments, conscious that we do not want to overload our students; during this window the maximum for each student is two summative tasks per day. While some assessments may look more traditional, even these will reflect the holistic nature of the learner and intentionally provide opportunities for students to apply the content and ATL skills we are cultivating within them. Our teachers are encouraged to write assessments which aim to assess various course criteria, and assessment content may be cumulative, building on quarter 1 content and skills.

Exams, since they reflect current practice in academia, are still an integral component to the DP program and therefore continue to be part of our paradigm at Grade 11. Grade 11 students will have scheduled assessment times during the morning on December 9-11, 2019 according to the schedule below.

Grade 12 students will be participating in the IB Group 4 Project on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 10-11 (these students will not have regular classes as they will be with their Science teachers). The regular class schedule will be followed by Grade 12 students prior to Dec 10-11.

On a final note, December 12 will have a regular class schedule with shortened period to enable all C and D day classes to meet. Classes in January, as the beginning of a new semester, will start with Day A.

Grade 11 Exam Schedule

(Venue: Studio) Exams for grade 11 courses will last 2 hours.

Thinking Skills in Action across Grades 6-10!

by Maria Socorro Laplana, Assistant MHS Principal

The focus of approaches to learning (ATL’s) is to help students develop their self-knowledge and the skills they need to enjoy a lifetime of learning. ATL skills empower students to succeed in meeting the challenging objectives of the MYP and DP subject groups. Ultimately, ATL skills help to prepare students for responsible participation in local and global communities.

Our ATL focus for November is Thinking Skills. The Thinking Skills Category, includes critical thinking, creative thinking, and transfer. Thinking skills allow students to look at information objectively and also enable them to analyze thoroughly in order to prepare to express a judgment. By learning to use a wide range of thinking skills, students will be able to conceive different ways of looking at things; think of ways of solving problems that they hadn’t imagined before; will develop creative ways to make and propose solutions; and above all, will be integrating the understandings and knowledge obtained in all the subjects studied.

Enjoy this collection of photos of our students working on tangrams to stretch their “thinking” muscles at ELO last Monday!

PTA Christmas Bazaar Music Performances

by Michael Swank, Music Teacher

As visitors enjoyed last weekend’s PTA Bazaar, CIS music students helped enhance the festive atmosphere by performing a set of Christmas music. The program began with a solo violin performance by Axelle (Grade 12) who performed a medley of holiday favorites. The program continued with a performance of traditional Christmas songs by the MHS band students. Special guests included Mrs. Natasha Arnsby (tenor saxophone), Jiwoo, and Seoyeon (clarinet).

Grade 8 Class Production

Hello! In behalf of Grade 8 Drama class, we (Bella, Sofia, Jack & Zeke) are proud to present our class production “Gnomeo & Juliet”! Based upon William Shakespeare’s melodramatic work, “Romeo & Juliet”, our class production is a play adaptation of a movie meant to present “Romeo & Juliet” in a child friendly light. As our unit is on melodrama, which are emotional, plot driven, and cliche stage plays, we needed to find a way to present something like that in a school appropriate setting, and though the difference may be great, “Gnomeo & Juliet” is as melodramatic and plot driven as “Romeo & Juliet”. To a degree, of course. We will be presenting on the 6th of December, and we invite you to come and watch in Room 314/Drama room. We hope to see you there!

Play Director: Jack B
Assistant Director: Bella F
Props/Costume Manager: Sofia J
Lights & Sound/Marketing: Zeke S

Dragon’s Print

Dragon’s Print officially welcomes the holiday season with some poems by Lea F. and Jandra R.! Get into the cheery spirit with three festive acrostics that you can read on https://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

Dear Elementary Community,

This has been another wonderful week on learning at CIS. It was wonderful to see so many parents in our classroom this morning during our parent drop-in time. Sometimes we take for granted all that we have here, but while showing a visitor around this school this morning I was reminded just how talented and dedicated our amazing teachers here at CIS are. In every classroom is was able to show examples of how the skills that are preparing our learners for the second half of the 21st century, are being taught. I was also able to give our visitor examples of how our learners have been empowered to accurately assess themselves, and then decide on their next steps for learning.

Lap-a-Thon

February 18th – 21st, 2020 is the week of the CIS Week Without Walls. During this week our elementary student are involved in a number of service activities.  The week is designed around the themes of Fun, Adventure, Curriculum and Service. The service element requires some fundraising as CIS students are involved in supporting schools and organizations that are less fortunate than us, within the community.  Last year the KG/G1 students worked with local schools and donated some classroom furniture and learning supplies. The grade 2 students were heavily involved in supporting the Cebu mangrove initiatives, while the grade 3 and 4 students worked with and an organization called Light of Hope to supply a local village with solar-powered lighting. The majority of the fundraising for these service projects came from the elementary  Lap-a-Thon.  This year the Lap-a-Thon will be held on the morning of Wednesday 11th December. Students will have the option of choosing from 4 different types of laps, these are being designed by the elementary student council. Each student will be seeking some sponsorship for their participation. This is a very fun-filled event and we encourage parents to come and support, and even to take part.

Student Article – Band

When I became a Grade 4 student, I started band. I chose clarinet for my instrument. Four of my friends also chose clarinet for their instrument. We are learning a song called Jingle Bells. Maybe we will perform this in the Christmas assembly. I feel kind of nervous but also I feel kind of excited.

I like our band teachers, Ms. Arnsby and Mr. Swank. Ms. Arnsby teaches woodwind and Mr. Swank teaches brass. I like them because they’re really kind, and they know so much about music! Band is such fun!!-Jiwoo, Grade 4

Middle & High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle & High School Principal

Getting excited about this year’s Week Without Walls

Our Week Without Walls experience is not until late February, but most of our planning for this event is already in place as teachers are working on the finishing touches on their respective courses.

This year we are excited about the courses we have planned for our students. We have expanded our focus somewhat this year and are offering some overnight travel experiences and incorporating outdoor education as we seek to include all aspects of CAS (creativity, activity, and service) in our experiences, as well as include international-mindedness and interdisciplinary learning touchpoints. We want to continue offering great service learning opportunities for CIS students, but also work on developing important life skills, develop cultural appreciation, and foster awareness of and interaction with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals through experiential learning.

The AMT, under Dr. Underwood’s leadership, have drafted a philosophy undergirding our Week Without Walls efforts, as follows:

• Cebu International School’s Guiding Statements highlight our belief in the importance of experiential, constructivist learning, and the explicit development of a wide range of skills and attributes identified as Approaches to Learning (ATL) and Learner Profile (LP) attributes. 
• We believe providing an extended period of time outside the classroom to engage in purposefully planned activities enables our students to develop many of these skills and attributes in ways that are not possible, or are more difficult, in a classroom setting.
• All of our WWW activities are designed around the promotion of one or more of the following areas: creativity, activity, service learning and/or intercultural mindedness. In addition, interdisciplinary/curriculum links are encouraged when opportunity presents, but these should not be forced.
• As a school CIS has identified service learning as a particular focus, and therefore aspects of Service Learning will be included in all WWW activities (unless there is approval not to do so for a specific reason), and activities will therefore follow the objectives of Service Learning at CIS.

This year’s WWW courses are divided by grade level into grades 6-8 courses and grades 9-11 courses. The exception to this is the 4X4 (Life Below Water course), which will be open to grade 9-11 student leaders and to all 6-8 students.

Grades 6-8 will have three options this year: Bohol Adventure, RAFI Kool Adventure Camp (in Balamban), and the 4×4 2.0 which is focused on UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water). All three courses include a combination of physical activity and skill development, outdoor education, and service learning.

Several of our Grade 9-11 courses are carrying on with the service learning partnerships we have already developed with local community groups, including Paknaan, Pit-os National High School, and Gawad Kalinga. Several of our HS students are also committed to conservation and community service efforts carried over into the 4X4 course (which focuses on Sustainable Goal 14- Life Below Water). In addition, we are offering a cultural/historical/ecological experiential course which will explore both the Masungi Georeserve and Corregidor Island in Luzon.

We will be sharing more details about each of these courses next week so that parents and students will be able to make their choices for which one is best for them. We will be sharing a Google Form with students and they will have a week to respond, indicating their first, second, and third choices. Selection will be made according to seniority (according to grade level in their respective grade range courses) and then by promptness of response. We will do our best to place students in their preferred courses. Rest assured that our teachers are carefully planning these courses in order to anticipate and mitigate any risks that may be present.

IB Internal Assessments or the IAs

For the past months and the current one, our IBDP Grade 12 students have been working to complete their IA assignments for their IB courses. IBDP Assessments are composed of both external and internal assessments. External assessments are the exams which students take at the end of their 2-year journey of the DP. Written exams form the basis of the assessment for most courses. On the other hand, internal assessments, or the IA’s as your hear most often from your children, are assessment tasks unique to each subject that complements your children’s demonstration of their knowledge for such a subject. This includes activities such as:

• oral work in Languages
• replication of an experiment for Psychology
• research project for Business
• laboratory work in the Sciences
• investigations in Mathematics
• artistic performances

Rather than being a purely exam-based curriculum, IB has built in these great opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding and skills in each subject area through a more individualized and project-based approach, and these assessments figure into each child’s final grade in the respective subject.

A few weeks back we shared about the Psychology IA presentations where students presented the findings from their experiments. In today’s newsflash we are showcasing the IA for Math Studies SL. Several of our students visited the Maths SL course to learn a challenging concept which will help them improve their IA results. Having learned this concept from the SL students, they brought it back to the Math Studies class to teach their classmates.

An Insight on the Math SL Experience

by Katrina R., Grade 12

In our Math Studies class, we have been diligently working on our Internal Assessments (IAs). The IA is a required internal part of the Math curriculum for the IB Diploma, where the student must conduct an investigation and assess their data using mathematical and/or statistical analyses. A few students from our class and I, journeyed to the Standard Level Mathematics class to learn more about the technological aspect of the IA such as graphs for linear regression and exponential decay linearisation. We spent three sessions sitting in the SL class and in the end, taught everything we learned to our classmates in Studies. The experience was very eye-opening because it showed me how different yet similar the topics we were learning are. For example, there were certain things we covered in class but the approaches were very different. We also had to adjust to the classroom environment and learning of the content itself, which was very different indeed. In the end, I can say that this was a very interesting and insightful experience, because I got a sneak-peak into the lives of the SL students. I can also confidently say that the Studies class now know most that there is to know about the technological aspects of our IAs, and we are all, excited and ready to apply it to our reports!

ISAC 1 (Southville International School and Colleges)

by Ace Pierra, Sports and Activities Director

We congratulate our ISAC teams for a successful first season of ISAC. Our boys volleyball team bagged the first runner up trophy and girls got the second runner up trophy. Go dragons!

Here are some blurbs from the players

Throughout my five years as an ISAC volleyball player, I have not only grown as an athlete, but also as a person. From my little 8th grade self who started out as a shy and nervous setter, to becoming the captain of the team in grade 11-12, it has been an irreplaceably rewarding experience.

It was a great honor to be the captain of an incredible team that got us 2nd place last year, and 3rd this year. From this precious adventure, I believe that I had learned about responsibility, leadership, friendship, and of course, teamwork. In my last year of ISAC, I am very proud of the result that my teammates and I had achieved. Although the games were often pressuring and stressful, our team stood steady and was able to overcome thanks to our close bond. Whenever someone made a mistake, we always pull each other up and try to motivate. I am extremely thankful that I had the opportunity to play with such sweet and caring teammates.

As I near my last year in CIS, I would like to give some advice to the future ISAC volleyball players. Firstly: never give up until the game is officially over because there’s always hope and chance; no matter the score, we can always catch up. Secondly: focusing on how the team performed as a whole in the game is more important than focusing on winning. Every player should have put in all of their effort and hard work during the game instead of relying only on their teammates. Thirdly, losing and making mistakes happens. We should learn from them and try to not repeat the same mistake rather than blaming ourselves and stressing out. Lastly, I would also like to encourage everyone to frequently practice regardless of how good they think they are because everyone has a room for improvement and this can only be fulfilled with continuous practice. Being part of ISAC volleyball is the thing I will surely miss the most after I leave CIS. I am grateful for the 5 years. – Sally

On October 23, the girls and boys volleyball teams flew to Manila to compete in ISAC Season 1 in Southville International School. This was my first ever ISAC experience. In the competition, we competed against 6 other international schools around the Philippines: Brent Baguio, Brent Subic, Brent Manila, British School Manila, Southville International School and Faith Academy. The girls got into the semis round and placed third, while the boys reached the finals and placed second. 

ISAC is a very fun and unique experience. You get to compete against good athletes, and at the same time become friends with these opponents. Traveling with your team also gives you time to bond with one another outside of school. -Bianca

ISAC volleyball was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had in my 9 years of being in CIS. I got to play the sport that I love and also got to represent CIS at the same time which was an honor. ISAC gives you an opportunity to meet and socialize with other schools as well. This event also helps people show off their skills that they have been practicing for a long time and also get the chance to be recognized for it. Even though we didn’t get the result that we wanted this year, we were still able to make the most out of this ISAC and that’s what I love most about our team. This was my first time in ISAC volleyball and I really can’t wait until next years ISAC. – Natalie

Tree of Giving

by Katrina R., MHS Student Council, 12B Homeroom Representative

To commemorate the Christmas Season, the Student Council is hosting its annual “Tree of Giving” event, this December 7th. Children from more impoverished areas in Cebu, will be invited to our campus, and spend a day with our students enjoying a range of activities, such as games, eating, and sports. At the end of the event, the children are given gift boxes, that were donated by students, staff, parents, and more. These boxes are filled with a number of necessary goods to help these children better their education and daily life, and give donors the opportunity to spread the joy of the season. Student Council invites all members of the CIS community to donate gifts for these children, and hopefully, give them a memorable Christmas!

If you wish to donate to the Tree of Giving, the gift checklist is available below. After wrapping your gift, please drop it in the lobby of the main building. Student Council is accepting donations until December 6th.

Dragon’s Print

A teacher’s job is often busy and serious, but it also allows them to see and hear some of the silliest things when interacting with students! As schoolwork gets more demanding this time of the year, here’s a light interview with some faculty on the most ridiculous excuses and statements students have told them. Read their responses on http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/.

Grade 8 Museum

by Joy Pierra, Individuals and Societies Teacher

As part of their final requirements this semester, the Grade 8 students created a mini-museum of the ancient civilizations. The museum highlighted the four river valley civilizations named Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, and ancient China. This activity allowed our Grade 8 students to show their understanding of the significance of systems and how it’s driven by resources to create civilizations. The museum was opened last November 14 for our upper elementary students.

Here are some of the students’ reflection on the activity:

The first thing we did for our Mini-Museum was to get into our groups. My group members are Rebecca and Soowan and we were tasked to work on Mesopotamian civilization. In our research, we learned about so many things; the Mesopotamian government, art, language, religion, etc. After doing our research we started to think about what to put into our presentation. We used the action plan that Ms. Pierra had assigned us to do. We added in the questions, the answers, and the examples that we want to include in our presentation. After doing that, we created our artifacts. Overall, preparing for the mini-museum was really stressful. It was hard to get everything ready on time, getting the information, making the artifacts, and studying our topic, it was a challenge. However, working with my group was fun though sometimes we need to improve our time management. We worked hard to prepare our posters for the mini-museum and it turned out really well. Our artifacts were really nice and interesting and we presented well. My group really enjoyed doing this mini-museum and we hope that the 2nd graders enjoyed our presentation. Thank you to Ms. Pierra, Ms. Cornet, Ms. Aimee, and Ms. Maureen! – Zhandy

In our Social Studies classes, we were divided into different groups and we had to do research on different ancient civilizations. We studied the art, government, stable food, religion, writing, technology, cities, and social class of each civilization. Additionally, we had to create at least 3 artifacts that represented some of the topics. Today the 3rd and 4th graders visited our classrooms where we were able to share our findings and teach the kids about ancient civilizations. It was a very fun and interesting experience that we all enjoyed. – Bella 

The Grade 8B class held a mini-exhibition. My group made our own little exhibit of ancient Egypt. We presented these to a few upper elementary classes. I think this would have been a very enriching experience for them. We explained all the artifacts we made in detail, such as Egyptian art, technology, and food.- Mahati

Dear parents,

We are very excited for this year’s PTA Christmas Bazaar at Oakridge Pavilion! Besides the high quality vendors of home goods, beauty products, toys, yummy foods and more, we are also excited to have the following special events at the Bazaar:

• A Car Wash and Nail Salon put on by students raising funds to attend the Global Issues Network Conference
• Performances by the cast of this year’s musical production, The Music Man
• A performance by a special Chambers ensemble of CIS band students
• A Children’s storytime and activity put on by Crafts2Go.

See the Facebook page for the CIS PTA Christmas Bazaar to get schedules and sneak peeks from vendors!  See you there, Nov. 23 and 24.

Elementary News

by Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

Dear Elementary Community,

Over the past 12 months with the ongoing assistance and support of the PTA, we have been able to add to the quality of the indoor and outdoor learning spaces in elementary school. This began with the building of the large sandbox in the main elementary playground, followed by the up upgrade to the sandbox in the lower elementary playground. Over the summer the school maintenance team developed and opened the lower elementary garden area, and then we moved on to laying of the artificial grass. In addition to this, the PTA has helped subsidize the creation of the elementary Makerspace, as well as additions of rich literature to the classroom libraries. This week the lower elementary playground has been supplied with four new high-quality tricycles, subsidized by the PTA.  When they were delivered this week the students were instantly excited about the addition to their outdoor learning space.

Book Week and the Living Library

Last week was Book Week and all classes worked on their door decoration. The grade 4 door was about a book called The Wild Robot. We read it in Grade 3. First, we covered the door with newspaper and we stuck real leaves to the newspaper because we’re not allowed to stick anything on the glass. We also made the main character, Roz, out of cardboard and recycled cups. It was very fun!

During book we also had the living library. Several visitors came to our school to talk about the challenges and successes they have had. Arnold Balais and his story of the challenges he has had to overcome were particularly inspiring to us.

By the Grade 4 and Grade 5 Students

Dragon’s Print

Have you ever heard of TOK? Just a mention of this acronym is enough to make many IBDP students’ stress levels spike, but its purpose is still relatively obscure to those who don’t take the DP. In truth, TOK is one of the three components of the IB Core and is supposed to complement and enhance the overall academic experience. As this year’s seniors begin their TOK presentations next week, Axelle M. demystifies TOK and tells us why it gets such a bad rap, but also why we shouldn’t fear it. Read about her experience on our website, http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/!

PTA News

by PTA Board of Officers

Dear parents,

Thank you for all of your donations to the Pre-Loved Book Sale. We made over 8,000 pesos last week! A big thank you to the parents who volunteered their time to sit at the booth. You can bring pre-loved books in all year long, and we will make these book sales happen regularly!

Congratulations to Grades 5 and 6 for returning the most stamped passports at International Fair Day! They each won a pizza party sponsored by the PTA.

Please let your friends and family know about the upcoming CIS PTA Christmas Bazaar (see poster following this article). Tickets are only 50 pesos, and we have a lot of high-quality vendors that you will not find anywhere else but our bazaar! Let’s make our biggest fundraiser of the year the biggest one we’ve seen in years!

Thank you

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

A Focus on Design

One of our steps CIS has taken in our incremental implementation of the MYP this year is the creation and development of Design classes for our Middle Years grades. Inquiry and problem-solving are at the heart of MYP Design, a subject that challenges students to apply practical and creative-thinking skills to solve authentic problems and generate deeper understandings about concepts such as development and innovation. Design requires the use of the design cycle as a tool, which provides the methodology to structure the study.

The cycle may ask students to identify and justify a need for a product, this may involve working with a client. The student then needs to research and analyse the effectiveness of existing products, develop their ideas through detailed design specifications, drawings and plans. The cycle then asks students to create a solution, documenting and justifying changes made to their plan, this involves the application of different technical skills. The final stage of the cycle involves testing and evaluating their solution. In MYP design, a solution can be a model, prototype, product or system independently created and developed by students. MYP design enables students to develop not only practical skills but also strategies for creative and critical thinking.

These images show how Grade 8 student Kathleen U. developed her ideas about social classes and poverty for the Mural Project. Keep your eyes ready for the walls of the car park as her design becomes a mural.

Mr. DeVilla, one of our new CIS Design teachers, reflects that “the design cycle doesn’t follow a linear pattern, but rather, is always open to re-evaluation and re-imagining”. The cycle may continue even after a conclusion or solution has been reached. Although new to Design, it is one of his favorite courses because “each student comes with different ideas in relation to a theme and has the flexibility to explore them.”

Jessie Saclo, one of our CIS Design teachers describes this course as “encouraging students to think critically regarding aspects of design and be adaptive depending on the type of problem they encounter.”

If we review some of the key critical thinking skills (thinking is our ATL focus for November), such as Analysis, Communication, Creative thinking, Open-mindedness, Problem-solving, and Self-regulation, we will see that Design class serves to develop all of these. However, just as with other high-level skills, critical thinking does not just come naturally, even given a high IQ. You need practice to develop them and this takes time. Furthermore, it is not solely dependent on prior knowledge, but involves traits like inspiration, the synthesis of ideas, and experiences where design is applied to real-world situations.

At the moment our Grade 8 Design classes are in the middle of completing their wall murals for the parking lot area directly in front of our future dorm facility. These murals represent the culmination of a long process involving our students’ engagement with the design cycle.

Each group was presented with a Statement of Inquiry and was tasked with choosing one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (i.e. No Poverty). They also were invited to create and problem-solve to design a mural to represent that goal and specific issues related to it pictorially/symbolically. Each group actually had to generate two designs and evaluate which one better communicated their message about the global issue. Students collaborated with their teams, sought feedback from peers and teachers, and presented their products to administrators for final approval.

They are currently in the process of transferring and painting their designs on the walls as you can see in the pictures below.

Grade 8 Paintings and Reflections

The grade 8 mural painting project is going very well. My group’s mural is called Earth: Year 2050. The year 2050 is significant because it is the year when all the global goals should have been achieved. Using other murals as inspiration, we created an image we think will be the future if we do not complete all the global goals. We started creating the mural around 3 sessions ago. The first session was where we sketched out the whole mural with pencils. The second session is when we started painting. We started from the top of the mural, moving down every session. The mural painting project is something I have looked forward to for a long time, so this project is very fun for me. Every class we go out to walls in the parking lot and set out materials to start painting. I think this project is going very well for us and that future murals by other classes would be fun experiences for them as well.

– Mahati, Vincent, Liam and Minseong

Our sustainable development goal (SDG) is Life Below Water. This goal is meant to promote awareness for marine life and keep the ocean clean. We represent this in our mural by painting factories on top of clouds that are raining plastic and dirty water into the ocean. The struggles we have faced so far is working and communicating well together. Another challenge we had was being able to finish a lot of work because we need time to walk outside, get materials ready, mix paint, then clean up, and go back, it takes a lot of time out of painting. Working outside has been a pretty rough experience due to all the insects and heat we have to work with. – Sofia, Zhandy, Maki and Jack

We are drawing a scene with hands reaching for clean water to show a view of survival and people fighting for water. There is a drop of water coming out from the hose and everyone is trying to get that drop of water.  I think the mural painting it is going well because we have drawn the hands on the wall, the words and the hose. We have also painted half of the background.  Our group finds the size of the wall and colors challenging. The wall was bigger than what my group thought and it took lots of time to accomplish drawing the design. We also struggled with the mixing of colors.

We are working well as a group. At first, we had a small conflict but we were able to figure out the solution and build good teamwork. When someone is painting the background, others help them or work on the other parts. In the future sessions, we will apply gradient better in the background because it is not really obvious.

– Swan, Dennis, Bryan, and Natalie

To start off the project we had to choose a Sustainable Development Goal. Our group decided to choose Goal number 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. We chose this goal because it is something we are passionate about and it allows us to cover the most topics. We then had to create 2 sketches that we believe would portray our goal. In these sketches, we used symbols to represent different social issues relevant to the world today. For example, we used hands with labels (of different social issues) pulling the Earth apart to help the audience see what will happen if we continue to let these problems control us. After finalizing our designs and choosing one to work with, we presented our pitch to the principal and superintendent. In this presentation, we talked about our design specifications, what our designs represented and much more. We then made changes to our design based on their suggestions and we got them approved. Currently, we are on our 3rd session for painting our murals and we are following an action plan we have previously made. So far things are going to plan and we are trying our best to make our mural pleasing to the human eye. – Bella, Zeke, Max and Esther

Our first unit for Design this semester is the mural painting. We were formed into different groups and the first task was to choose a Sustainable Development Goal. My group chose SDG 1: No Poverty. To brainstorm, we researched different existing murals that have to do with spreading awareness about poverty. After all the research, each of the groups made two designs, picking a design that is preferred more. After presenting to the Administration Team, designs were finalized.

After making the final changes, it was time to proceed to the actual painting process. We first received the materials we needed. Each one of us started with sketching the final design onto the wall with a pencil. As we worked, we had to record a time-lapse of the whole working time span and take pictures in between so we could record the progress. My group luckily finished sketching in the first session, so we started painting the next day. The challenges my group dealt with were scaling up the design onto the wall and adding tonal values. We are working on a bigger space and we found it difficult because the final design we drew was on a smaller paper. We are working with a water-based medium; therefore it was difficult to blend different shades of a color. It was fun to see the group work together while spreading awareness through a mural painting. – Kathleen, Jandra, Eric and Dongmin

Grade 11 Field Trip

by Ma. Socorro Laplana, Asst. Middle & High School Principal/IBDP Coordinator

On November 6th, 2019, the 11th grade class went on a field trip in order to learn real life application of what they are learning in their classes. They visited three places: Cebu Doctors Hospital for Psychology, Cafe Georg for Business, and University of San Carlos for Biology. There, students explored and inquired. Here are some photos that were taken during the trip!

At the Cebu Doctors Hospital PET scanner room

At Cafe Georg- interview with the owner, Ms. Bunny Alcordo

Being a sole trader can be difficult when managing the business as they will have to think of new ideas and implement these by themselves compared to having a core group who can merge ideas and delegate tasks. I also learned that although opening up a store in malls are pricey, there’s more traffic/customers. -Amanda

I learned of how the many factors to consider when starting a business especially in malls with their high risk and high reward with the risks being high rental space price and also for them, not suitable facilities. However, the rewards that come with starting up in a mall is the amount of possible customers. Another thing I learned was the importance of word of mouth as this form of marketing ensures whoever is being told that the goods sold is of good quality.  -Miggs 

The business owner’s talk taught me the challenges one can face when starting a business. Being a sole trader can be difficult because there are no other people who can support you while making tough decisions for the business or organization. Lastly, the visit to Café Georg taught me about the need to keep pushing forward if you want to succeed and create your own business.   -Yoji 

At the University of San Carlos Entomology Lab

Entomology is disgustingly alluring: the study of insects requires both meticulous attention and morbid curiosity – Venise 

I saw how college research works and how they’re funded. I also saw how they conduct their research and how useful the application of their research is to our world – Justin 

Elementary News

by Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

Language Week Activity in Elementary

Leading up to International Fair Day, the Elementary Language classes celebrated World Language Week by exchanging activities between the Spanish and Mandarin classes. Students from each grade experienced different activities taught to them by their peers in the other language classes.

The Kinder and Grade 1 students played a Dance and Freeze game with number songs in Mandarin and Spanish. Students were able to count from 1 to 10 in both languages after the experience, and because the Mandarin writing system is different from other languages, Mandarin students taught some Mandarin Characters to the Spanish students.

The Grade 2 students practiced and sang songs in 4 different languages. The students gathered together to sing ‘Two Little Tigers’ in English, Mandarin, Spanish, and Cebuano. They were proud to share this song at the International Fair Day performance as well.

The grade 3 students learned about parts of the body and chose to sing the ‘body parts song’ to each other, and practiced how to greet each other in Spanish.

Grade 4 and 5 students worked diligently to develop a station exchange activity. The Spanish students made the Kahoot Game with fun facts about their Spanish speaking country, while the Mandarin students made a slide show to present to their Spanish guests. The students particularly enjoyed playing the Spanish Kahoot!

Book Week Character Parade

by Aimee Sesbreño, Early Years 2/3 Homeroom Teacher

One of the highlights for our book week celebration is our “Book Character Parade” held this morning. Students came to school with their favorite book character costumes on. Parents were also very supportive in helping prepare their children’s clothes and props. Some wore fancy clothes and dresses and some even made their costumes using recycled materials. The elementary classes went around the MHS building while the MHS students, teachers and parents stayed in designated areas to watch and support our young learners. We ended our parade with DEAR (Drop everything and read) time in the media center while the rest went back to their Homeroom classes for their culture talks/story time. It was indeed a successful parade. Thank you all for taking the time to dress up and showcase your favorite book character. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Middle High School News

Living Library

On Wednesday, our Middle & High School students, together with a few students from Grade 4 & 5, attended the Living Library where they listened to stories from our different guests. They were able to hear and know more about being a filmmaker or producer, a marketing manager of one of Cebu’s community malls, a para-athlete, and an entrepreneur of an eco-friendly store!

Grade 12 Character Parade

The seniors put a little flavor into their Book Week Character Parade by dressing up as the same characters.

For Book character day the senior class dressed up as Handmaids from “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. We studied this book in English HL last year, and we wanted to use a book that we learned about. The Handmaid’s Tale is actually a controversial novel about an oppressive dystopian future wherein women are indoctrinated into reproductive servitude, but our dressing up was not meant to poke fun at this depiction of females. Instead we hoped to demonstrate an awareness of how the issues raised in the book still apply today and express our intention of keeping such foreboding conditions in fiction.

– Axelle, Grade 12

Dragon’s Print

Dragon’s Print published four articles this week to celebrate Halloween in conjunction with the annual Book Week. First, we rounded up some of the costumes that stood out in yesterday’s Character Parade and compiled them in one place. Want to get into horror literature? Take our quiz to find out which author you’re most likely to enjoy reading, and then once you’re done, test your strategy skills and see if you can survive our haunted house quiz!

Lastly, if you enjoy dark stories that take a turn for the twisted, you will surely delight in our two-sentence horror stories. These quick two-liners will surely leave a chill down your spine!

Visit http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/ to read all our write-ups!

Elementary News

by Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

Dear Elementary Community,

The CIS Guiding Statements can be seen on display in various places around the school. I have one in my office that I refer to regularly. The CIS Guiding Statements consist of the CIS Vision, Mission, and Core Beliefs. Although I value and agree with all the CIS Guiding Statements, as an elementary principal, it is the first two Core Beliefs that resonate most strongly with me.

1. Learning is a joyful, creative and open-ended exploration.
2. Each child’s curiosity needs to be identified and nurtured (morally, socially, physically and academically) to reach their potential.

On Friday 25th October, following the elementary assembly, a group of parents spent some time exploring the PYP approach to learning mathematics. Currently CIS is transitioning from teaching the Common Core (American) math standards toward adopting the ACARA (Australian) standards. This is where our math content comes from and is similar to other schools all over the world. What is different however is our How, the way we teach mathematics. Mathematics is a joyful, creative, open-ended exploration where each child’s curiosity is nurtured in order to reach their potential.

I encourage you to join us for our PYP learning sessions to understand more about your child’s learning here at CIS. Our next PYP Learning session will be Friday 29th November, 2019.

Grade 4 Book Week Preparations

by the Grade 4 Students

Next week is Book Week so we started doing our door decoration this week. It’s about a book called The Wild Robot. We read it in Grade 3.
First, we covered the door with newspaper and we stuck real leaves to the newspaper because we’re not allowed to stick anything on the glass. We also made the main character, Roz, out of cardboard and recycled cups. It was very fun!

International Fair Day 2019

Student Reflections

Chloe – Grade 5

Last October 19, 2019, CIS celebrated the International Day. I was chosen as one of the emcees of the Parade of Nations and the experience was great. Students from different countries were acknowledged and they’re given the opportunity to welcome everyone in the event using their mother tongue. It was actually my first time speaking on stage like that and it really helped me be more confident when talking in front of many people. Being an emcee is a great opportunity to boost your confidence and bond with higher grades! Other than being an emcee, I also had the chance to perform with other elementary students and some middle-high schoolers. We showed a little teaser of this year’s production called The Music Man. We danced while everyone was eating lunch, so we had the chance to show everyone our fun performance.

Lea – Grade 9

This year’s International day was so fun! Students prepared different activities which celebrate the school’s international mindedness. Variety of foods from different countries were displayed in the dome and I was able to enjoy them right before performing on stage. It was actually my second time dancing in this event, I danced for Mandarin class last year, but this time was very meaningful to me. It was an exhilarating feeling.  It was my first time doing a proper dance on stage. The dance was a little teaser from this year’s production of “The Music Man,” that will be shown this February.

Grade 12 Psychology IA Presentation

by Ms. Choco Laplana – IB DP Psychology

The grade 12 Psychology students presented their findings last Tuesday from their replication of an experiment. This is the Internal Assessment requirement for the Diploma Programme for Psychology Higher and Standard level.

We are proud of the work of our young researchers! Thank you to the parents who attended to watch their children present their findings.

Here are some reflections from the students on the IA experience:

When assessing the internal assessment as a whole, one must be principled by being honest about their findings as the analysis and evaluation both rely on the facts regarding the process and data collected from the experiment. I was principled in using data that aligned with my group’s and refraining from discarding or altering data values. In the evaluation section, I remained principled by providing statements, which were all true, to help support an advantage or disadvantage of either the procedure, design, and/or sample. –Dean

I think I was principled in how I analysed and presented the results of my experiment. I tried to interpret the data in an honest way and to not alter it to my own advantage. –Andrea

I believe I was principled because I was analytical, and I tried my best to recognize what is right or wrong in my IA. –Lei Sitrij

ISAC Season 1 – Volleyball

ISAC is officially in season! Our boys and girls volleyball teams are off to Southville International School in Manila to compete with 6 other international schools for the volleyball win. Let’s wish them all good luck and good health as they represent the school. Go, Dragons!!

College Counseling News

College / University Visits for October & November

SAT Test Dates for School Year 2019 – 2020

To register for the SAT, you may log on to www.collegeboard.org.  If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph or call 261-0247 local 112 to set an appointment.  You may also visit her office from 7:15am to 3:30pm. 

PTA News

Dear parents,

We’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped during last Saturday’s International Fair! Whether you ran or helped at a booth, contributed cash donations, or bought lots of food, the day was a great success in large part because of your involvement.

If you’d like to find out more about how much money we earned and how it might be spent, please come to the PTA Coffee Morning next Wednesday, October 30, at 7:30am in the Canteen Annex.

Next week is Book Week, and we will be holding our pre-loved book sale the whole week! Come take a look and refresh your home libraries before and after school all next week in the canteen annex.

See you next week for all the fun!

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Managing Homework in MHS

It’s been a great first quarter getting back into the flow and rhythm of the school year. Along the way we have had several small breaks and long weekends which have allowed extra time for students to master content and complete assignments. Having said that, we now enter the second quarter and the pace, as well as the workload, can be expected to increase a bit.

You may recall my writing about this topic in last year’s newsflash, but I think that we, as parents, often do see the same concerns emerging year after year with our children. One of the inevitables in school life is homework, but it doesn’t have to consume all of our family time or make our children miserable. I want to offer a couple of thoughts to help ease some of the pressure and to help with conversations you might have with your children at home. There is actually some research right now claiming that homework has no benefit; however, alternate studies show that students who do their homework enjoy many benefits. I think the crucial variables here are the nature and quality of the work students are doing at home.Here are some thoughts to share with your children as to how they might better cope with the workload and pressure to perform:

1. The focus should be on learning rather than on grades (though strong grades will be a natural by-product of that learning). Students should be, first and foremost, building their personal cognitive library and a toolkit of skills which they will take with them to whatever path lies beyond high school. Students should remember that it is the quality of your work and the quality of the thinking that matters rather than the quantity.

2. Be a proactive learner in class. Take notes, pay attention, and ask questions- these things can help you comprehend the material better in class which will make your homework both easier and less time consuming.

3. Know when good enough is truly “good enough”. Perfectionism can be a killer and usually is unsustainable. Do what you need to do to effectively complete the assignment… and then… move on. Get to your next assignment. Most importantly, be good to yourself. Eat well. Get some exercise. Get enough sleep.

4. Prioritize your assignments. Our 4-day rotation is a blessing since we only have a maximum of 4 assignments due each day. However, if there is a big assignment coming up, don’t wait until the night before to begin. The summative assignments are the tasks where you demonstrate mastery of important knowledge and skills. Whereas your formative assignments are critical for practicing and developing your skills, the summative assignments need to take priority- if you must choose.

5. Manage yourself and manage your time at home. Try to plan out how much time you will need for each assignment. Set a schedule and stick to it. If you are struggling with a question, don’t be afraid or too proud to ask for help. Reach out to your teacher and see them the next day if possible.

6. Start your homework as soon as you get home. Take breaks in between your tasks and reward yourself for devoting yourself to periods of quality work time; the brain really loves to be rewarded for accomplishing goals.

7. Finally, remove distractions so you can work more productively.
When we are distracted, it is easy to make mistakes and squander time completing even the simplest tasks. It is also important to know yourself as a learner. If listening to music is a distraction, have the self-discipline to turn it off. Find a quiet place, concentrate, and focus on learning.

Most of all, be proactive in communicating with your teachers. If you are struggling to complete your homework because you have a test the next day, reach out to your teacher to explain. Your teachers are in this profession because they care about you and your learning. It doesn’t mean that your teacher will always be able to give an extension, but he/she may very well do that. A teacher can’t say yes if you don’t ask.

Language Week

by Ma. Socorro Laplana, Asst. Middle & High School Principal, IBDP Coordinator and Elaine Jin, Mandarin Teacher

As part of International Week, the World Languages team launched the “language week” where each day students tried out a new language. Monday is Cebuano, Tuesday is Spanish, Wednesday is Mandarin, Thursday is Korean and Friday is Japanese. Students had to say aloud some sentences in these languages in front of a judge thereby earning a point for their homeroom class. The class with the highest number of points by the end of the week wins a free dress day. Check out some photos below.

Language Exchange in Mandarin and Spanish Class

by Elaine Jin, Mandarin Teacher

During the International Language Week, the ES and MHS Mandarin and Spanish class exchanged language classes. In the MHS, the Grade 10 students experienced how to be a language teacher. The Mandarin and Spanish students divided themselves into three groups, the number group, the color group and the greeting group. They designed a 10 minute mini lesson and taught classmates basic vocabulary about the numbers, colors and greetings. The Grade 10 students enjoyed playing games and learning new languages.

Elementary News

by Glenn Davies, Elementary Principal/PYP Coordinator

International Day Preparations

Dear Elementary Community,

Over the past week, elementary students have been working in vertical grade groups to prepare their international day games and activities. In past years each class decided on a country they would like to represent at the International Fair Day, this year however we asked students from KG to G5 to select a country they would like to learn more about. Students were then grouped according to their choices and have worked together to learn about their country and prepare games and activities to share with others in our community. This process has honored our belief in student choice and agency, while still providing a structure to ensure quality learning has taken place.

On Saturday 19th October students will be eager to share their learning with you. Each student will be scheduled to serve at their activity for a section of the morning. Following the activities, food, and clean-up, students will be able to leave International Day at 1.00 pm.

Grade 3 student Reflections on Wheels Day

Elementary School Events

Friday 24th October

• Elementary Assembly in the media center (7.30am – 8.00am)
• PYP Parent Education Session: Math Learning and Teaching in the PYP (8.00am – 9.00am)

College Counseling News

by Jennifer Basa, College/Careers Counselor/Alumni Liaison

SAT Test Dates for School Year 2019 – 2020

For students who are planning to study in universities/colleges that require the SAT exam, below is the schedule of the SAT tests. Please take note of the test dates and registration deadlines.

To register for the SAT, you may log on to www.collegeboard.org. If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph or call 261-0247 local 112 to set an appointment. You may also visit her office from 7:15am to 3:30pm.

CIS Book Week!

October 28 to 31, 2019

by Dan Monfre, eLearning Coordinator

BOOKMARKS AND POSTERS!

Create a bookmark or poster that answers the  question “Who do you read?” All posters or bookmarks should include a photo of an author that you love to read and some of their most famous books and quotes.

LIVING LIBRARY!

The media center will host a living library on Oct. 29, at 10:00 – 11:30.  Local professionals will come and share their stories. Students will have a chance to talk in small groups with the guests and ask questions. 

DROP EVERYTHING AND READ!

D.E.A.R. time will take place in all ELOs and HRs on Thursday, Oct. 31st at 9:15 to 10:00.

CHARACTER PARADE!

Everyone is invited to dress up as their favorite book character on Thursday, October 31. The parade will start at 7:30. Elementary students will parade through the MHS building, showing everyone their exciting and creative costumes.

BOOK DOOR DECORATING!

Homerooms should each choose a book, series, or genre and decorate one of the doors of their homeroom class. For complete rules click here. One MHS and one Elem HR will win a pizza party! Doors will be judged at 10 on Thursday, Oct. 25th.

STORYTIME!

MHS Students and Parent volunteers are invited to come read stories to the elementary classes. Students should use this form to sign up for times to read.

Who is reading?

Come by the media center to check out our board of disguised readers and see if you can determine which teachers are reading the books. There will be a box to submit your guesses and a raffle will be held with the students who get the most correct.

Dragon’s Print

by Russell Greene, English Teacher/EE Coordinator

Admin Note

As we finish up our first term, I would like to congratulate all of our students for focusing and making progress thus far this school year, and thank you as parents for the support you provide to our students on a daily basis.

Today happens to be World Teacher’s Day, so it is good timing to also thank our wonderful, caring teachers for all that they do.

Have a safe, rejuvenating October break, and see you all back on October 14. Keep in mind we then only have ONE WEEK before our much anticipated annual International Fair Day (Saturday Oct 19)!

Regards

Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

Language Week

by Elaine Jin, Mandarin Teacher

CIS prides itself on being a multicultural and multilingual school. To celebrate the different languages we use, we want to promote a language week full of activities. During the week of October 14-18, we will learn to speak a few words in different languages. To honor our host city and country, we will learn some Cebuano on Monday. That will be followed by Spanish on Tuesday, Mandarin on Wednesday, Korean on Thursday and Japanese on Friday.

This activity is open to Kindergarten to Grade 12 students. Each day, students are going to scan a QR code for one language (please see the sample attached QR code). They will look at the video and practice eight sentences. During the ES and MHS lunch times, the students will go to the canteen annex to say these sentences to our judges (please see the poster for the judges for each day). If the students are able to say the sentences correctly, they will win a stamp for their homeroom class. After five days, we will calculate and find the homerooms in ES and MHS which have the highest percentage of stamps.

The winning homeroom class will be awarded one uniform-free day! (Students still need to follow the dress code to be respectful!)
Please join our language week and let’s learn to speak in different languages.

World Language

Grade 10 PE Class

by Students of Grade 10

During PE class, we have been learning about a type of exercise called HIIT. It stands for High Interval Intensity Training. We, Chae Eun and Deandra, have taught the class an example of one. We had 10 types of exercises for this whole workout. We placed mats on the floor so that everyone would not get hurt when their classmates worked out. For each exercises, there are 3 reps. One rep would be done 5 times with a resting interval of 5 seconds. Between each exercise, there would be a 10-second interval. It started with exercises that focused on the glutes, then their thighs, then their core areas. We made this our work out because we did not want the class to be so exhausted since we are still starting this unit. We were supposed to make the class do 15 exercises for each rep, but we changed it to 5. We had to do this work out for two cycles, but there wasn’t enough time during class. We chose to focus on these areas of the body because we need that the most. We want to improve those parts of our body. After doing the HIIT, to make sure that no one would get muscle pain, we added a cool-down session. As seen in the picture, we let them stretch their muscles. This part was not intense as it is supposed to relax the stressed muscles.

Ask the Counselor

by Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor/Alumni Liaison

1) What is the Common App and which universities are linked to the Common App?

The Common Application (Common App) is a platform for an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to more than 800 member colleges and universities in 49 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, China, and many European countries. All applications are submitted electronically which includes document submissions like transcripts and recommendations.

2) What is the advantage of using the Common App, which universities are members and what are the Common App Essay Prompts?

The Common App saves time and effort in completing multiple college applications. It cuts down paperwork and cost of mailing application documents since all submissions are electronic.
The list of member universities globally are found in this link. You may access the CommonApp Essay Prompts here.

3) What is the difference between the IB Diploma, IB Certificates and the CIS HS Diploma?

The IB Diploma is a qualification awarded by the IB after studying the curriculum for 2 years and culminating in external examinations in May in the final year of high school. To earn the IB Diploma, one has to take 3 Higher level subjects and 3 Standard level subjects and fulfill the core requirements in Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Extended Essay (EE) and Creativity, Activity & Service (CAS).

Taking IB Certificates means a student takes the IB exams for specific subjects. They can choose a minimum of one subject (any level) up to 6 subjects. Most US universities do not require the IB Diploma for admission but students earn credit with their HL certificates if their marks range from 5 to 7. The IB credit scale for universities in the US is dependent on the institution.

The CIS HS Diploma is earned by all students who complete the school’s graduation requirements. This basically means studying 6 subjects (with the option to take all SL if desired) and sitting internal exams at the end of the year set by their subject teachers. Students also need to fulfill the TOK, EE and CAS requirements to earn this diploma. The CIS Diploma is equivalent to a North American HS Diploma. Due to our WASC (Western Association of Schools & Colleges) and CIS (Council of International Schools) accreditation, the CIS Diploma is recognized by major universities abroad. If a student is a graduate of an accredited school, they usually waive the English Proficiency requirement and a student is eligible to apply for admission.

Creativity Action Service (CAS)

This event has made me realize the intensity of the issue regarding waste disposal. I noticed that the residents living within Punta Engaño did not have a proper waste management system. There were no garbage bins present in site for the residents to properly dispose of their trash. As a result, much of the trash produced ended up scattered around the houses and on the beach. By participating in this event, I was able to provide a positive example to the residents of Punta Engaño about the importance of waste management. This event has allowed many organizations to spread awareness, especially to children, about how they can learn to keep their areas clean. – Denise

Dragon’s Print

Dragon’s Print is composed of members from different year levels and interests, but one thing we can all agree on is that we love food! Last Friday, some members visited Sugbo Mercado, an open-air food market in IT Park. We had a great time exploring Sugbo and getting to know each other, but did all the dishes live up to our standards? Read our review at http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/

House Activities Day

It has officially been one week since HAD 1! The first House Activities Day of the school year was met with positivity and excitement.

Students (and teachers too!) engaged in sports, indoor games, and various activities and the four houses competed for the overall first place—finally won by Molave. 100 points for school spirit!