Newsflash: October 28, 2022

Principal’s Corner

by Mr. Andrew Powell, EY-G12 Principal

Thank you for sharing in what was an incredibly successful International Day. It was wonderful to be able to finally have a major community event on campus and fitting that it served to celebrate our diversity while recognizing the strong bonds that we share.

 The day was also a reminder of the power of performance. Our students, past and present showcased a range of talents with some impressive and memorable individual and class performances. Our Filipino staff were truly impressive and shared a variety of cultural dances. It was wonderful to share in their passion and pride.

 Our student volleyball teams also returned to ISAC competition for the first time since the pandemic started. They had an incredibly successful trip to Manila with the Girls claiming second place overall in a tight final while the Boys finished fourth. The student reflections below make clear just how powerful and important this experience is, not just from a sporting perspective but also from a social and emotional one too.

 We end this week with a colorful Book Character Parade. Throughout the week our teachers planned a variety of experiences that have served to enhance the importance of literacy and the enjoyment to be had from reading. Students have been exposed to the life stories of some of our alumni through the Living Library and inspired by Heather Adkins, our virtual guest author.

 I’m sure that many of you are looking forward to the long weekend ahead. While it’s a time to relax I recognise that many will be visiting family members and reliving the memories of departed loved ones. I wish you well!

Upcoming events of note

• Oct. 31-Nov. 2: School and Public holiday
• Nov. 25: School Production “Elf, The Musical” (6:30pm)
• Nov. 30: Public holiday
• Dec. 2: End of Sem1 ASAs / Clubs
• Dec. 3: CIS Tree of Giving

Please refer to the CIS Event Calendar for the complete calendar of school events.

Book Week 2022

by Book Week Committee

This week, the CIS community celebrated Book Week with the theme “Old Worlds, New Worlds, and Other Worlds.” This theme opened the door to the World of Books as each book brought our young readers to different worlds and time. We discovered the power of reading. We realize that books do not only impart knowledge; they connect us too – to people, to places, and to time.  Throughout the week, students engaged in various learning activities such as DEAR time, Book Talk, Buddy Reading which culminated with the Book Character Parade.  The students had the opportunity to interact and learn from published author Heather Adkins.  Buddy Reading provided a time for elementary and middle high school students to connect with each other.  The involvement of the community in this annual celebration of Book Week was noteworthy. Thank you, everyone for your participation!

This year, the students joined in two competitions- the Door Decoration Contest and the Extreme Reader.  Congratulations to our winners!

Door Decoration Contest

Extreme Reader Contest

D.E.A.R. Time

The CIS bookworms gladly stepped into the library to Drop Everything And Read! There was clear interest in picking up books from the counters. The library was quiet but full of students immersed in reading.

Buddy Reading

Reading is fun when shared with a buddy! Across the school, our students came together for the love of reading. More importantly, we connected with old friends and made new bonds.

Book Talk

Every book on our shelf is an author behind it. This year, the students got the chance to be inspired by Ms. Heather Adkins, author of “What do you see?” Our young writers wondered how her story came to be. They found that it took her 4 years to go through the whole writing process. Our future authors learned that writing takes grit!

Book Character Parade

The characters from our favorite books came alive today. Everyone dressed up and walked around the school. The parade was full of color and each costume had a story to tell!

Spanish ELO

by Mr. Antonio Melgar, MYP/IBDP Spanish Teacher

During our ELO reading session of Como Agua Para Chocolate, by Mexican author Laura Esquivel, our Spanish B High Level students, were requested to write a poem based on what the book inspires them, using vocabulary and ideas drawn from the book itself, and the results are simply amazing.

Please enjoy words of Katrina G. and Alessandra F.

Cuidar Las Flores
Por: Alessandra F.

Una jardinera en su jardín bonito
Es su trabajo por un tiempo infinito   
Ella cuida a cada flor pausadamente
Pero la jardinera es impaciente
Ella está muy cansada 
Las flores son delicadas  
Actualmente, las flores comienzan a morir 
Esto no puede ocurrir 
La jardinera quiere flores mejores 
Porque ahora son las peores 
Últimamente las flores no tienen una cura 
Sin amor, las flores van a ser oscuras
Llega la noche y se va la jardinera 
El aire es dulce como una cañavera
Otra vez, nace una flor 
Y todas las flores crecen con valor

Como agua para chocolate
Por: Katrina G.

mi amor es como las rosas
para ti, mi cariño
como la sangre, roja
que está fluyendo en mi cuerpo
como los ingredientes 
de todas tus recetas
nos vemos bien juntos
como cosas perfectas
el azúcar granulada
un limón con sus gotas
el dulce aumenta
y mi amor no se agota
mis sentimientos están creciendo
son muy calientes
como la llama de un fuego
como agua para chocolate

Grade 7: Science

by Ms. Haydee Montero, MYP Science Teacher

“If change is inevitable, you ought to know how it is done!”

There are so many changes taking place across many things around us. Scientifically speaking, change is a process in which a substance becomes a different one from what it was before. Some of these changes are reversible, some are not. But one thing is for sure – change is inevitable. The Grade 7 students came up with their own design of inquiry on how the Particle Theory Model  helped them visualize the changes happening in matter.

Here are few examples of their works:

Sab is inquiring into, “An Investigation on  the Effect of Different Liquid Substances on  the Compressibility of Water”.

This experiment uses different liquids, namely: oil, vinegar, and water. This intends to find out how the different liquid substances affect the compressibility of water.

The Particle Theory helped me understand the properties of matter by putting the particle image in my brain. It helped me visualise the particles being compressed.

Miggy is inquiring on, “An Investigation on the Effect of Different Filtering Materials on Its Filtering Efficiency”.

In this experiment, the effect of different filtering materials on filtering efficiency (based on the quality of the water-filtrate)  was observed through nine different set-ups. Specifically, it will try to filter out water mixed with dirt.

My understanding of the Particle Theory has greatly helped in doing this experiment, as it has allowed me to visualize what is happening when you filter something on the particle level. The big particles get caught up in the filtering material, but the small ones don’t.

True life is lived when tiny changes occur, as said by Leo Tolstoy.

Indeed it is true! Likewise, change is much more appreciated when it is truly understood at the particulate level!

International School Athletics Conference (ISAC)

by Mr. Ace Pierra, Athletics Director

ISAC is Finally Back!

The International Schools Activities Conference (ISAC) Boys and Girls Volleyball was finally back after three years. It was held in Manila last October 22, 2022, and was hosted by The British School Manila. Cebu International School competes with other international schools around the country namely Brent International School Manila, Brent International Subic, Brent International School Baguio, Southville International School and the British School Manila. CIS placed 4th for Boys’ Volleyball and 2nd place for Girls’ Volleyball. Thanks to all the teachers, parents, staff, and students who supported this trip. Thanks too to Mr. John Devadoss and Ms. Jenny for being the chaperones of this trip. 

Let’s read what the participating athletes have to say about this trip.

My first ISAC was truly a one-of-a-kind experience. Though I understand that the training, preparations, and event itself were different from the ones before the pandemic; I was extremely thankful to have experienced one in my senior year. The biggest lesson I learned was the importance of perseverance and mental strength as there were a lot of challenges, especially with Covid restrictions and risks. I just always kept in mind that my goal – and along with my team – was to have fun and make memories despite the outcome (of winning) in the tournament. This mindset led to the highlights of the trip which were actually the fun we had together as one team (girls and boys), especially the bus rides, meals together, and the night after the ISAC tournament wherein we all played cards and cooked food for each other. I realized that night of just being kids and having fun was the kind of moment we’d been missing for two years. With that, I definitely would recommend ISAC to other students to complete their high school experience, despite the pause in sports and activities we had.

My experience in ISAC was something noteworthy, especially with this season being my first ISAC ever. Despite how physically challenging training could get, I would still often look forward to it. As the date of the tournament came closer, I’d grow more nervous since I honestly was still unsure of how well things would pan out. After some of the preparation, though, I was much more optimistic. A valuable lesson I learned from this experience was knowing how to not let emotions get the best of me. This stuck out to me because emotions play a big role in performing almost every type of physical activity. Besides the thrill of the tournament, a memorable part of the trip was the activities that we did together, such as eating together and overall fun interactions with each other. With all of this together, I would definitely recommend ISAC to other students. Especially when it is a sport that you personally enjoy, a majority of the time there is something to be enjoyed. ISAC is an experience that will remain one of the most outstanding events I’ve participated in, not just within school, but with all other events I have ever done.

This was my first and last volleyball ISAC, and wow was it an amazing experience. Despite it only lasting one day when it usually lasts 3-4 days in the previous years it was still worth it. The preparation for that day was more than just training for the sport. I also built a closer relationship with the students who took part. The biggest lesson I learned from this experience was the ability to cope with the pressure together with my team. Together we learned how to communicate and cope with different external pressure factors like the opposing team’s crowd. My favorite parts of this trip were of course competing against other teams and hanging out with my team. The bus rides going to BSM, bus rides going back, and all the team meals together were definitely some memories that I’ll look back to. ISAC is one of the things that keeps me looking forward to going to school and doing well at it. I would definitely recommend everyone who’s interested in ISAC to try it out as for me it’s the best CIS experience. Finally, I would like to give Sir. Ace recognition for coaching two teams all by himself. Both teams definitely had the potential in winning the whole tournament and without the coaching of Sir Ace that wouldn’t be the case.

This was my first ever volleyball ISAC, it was a really an amazing experience. Before the trip, we were training for only a month, so we were going to this tournament with only a month’s practice. It was a really one-of-a-kind moment being in Manila. Even if we were only there for 3 days, it was still an amazing experience being with everyone and having a good time. A valuable lesson I learned from the trip was that you perform better when just having fun rather than being serious and doing things that you didn’t learn just to show the audience that you are good. It is good to just play what you learned and not do extra things that you didn’t learn. I also learned to make friends with everyone on the team and even friends with people on other teams. It is good to communicate with your teammates and build stronger friendships with them. The main highlight was the game. It was a very good experience being with the team and playing against other teams. It was also nice going out and eating with the team and having fun outside the game. It is really nice playing games with the team. ISAC is a really good experience and I feel like every student should experience it at least once. It creates a lot of amazing memories and you will have a lot of fun there. It also helps people make new friends and helps them be social.

This was my second time playing volleyball in the ISAC. In all honesty, I can say that this was the first time I’ve ever felt confident in our team’s abilities. In addition to feeling like we were more unified as a team, I also felt like we were all more well-prepared thanks to our training. We were able to train the team in several areas throughout this whole process and although it was hard at times, we were all able to work together and help each other improve our skills. Last time, we concentrated more on stamina and less on the precise abilities we required, but this time, we accomplished all of that and much more. Being a team captain this year has also been one of the highlights of this whole experience for me since it has helped me become a more well-rounded teammate and leader. How to operate as a team is one important thing I took away from the entire process. Because of everyone’s attention to all the sessions and readiness to pick things up, our team this year was unquestionably among the best of the ISAC teams because of how much we worked together. I wholeheartedly recommend ISAC to all students since it is not only focused on athletics but also provides you the ability to collaborate with others, pick up new skills, utilize it to motivate your academic performance, make new friends and play against players from other international schools around the Philippines. I am so incredibly proud of both teams for the placements we got and we should all be very pleased with where we got even though we definitely could have done better. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Mr. Ace for not only organizing our entire trip but also for coaching the boys’ and girls’ teams to success all on his own and for always being accessible to us when we had questions or needed advice.

Dragon’s Print

As Book Week comes to an end, it is now time to reflect on why books are important and why we, as a CIS community, have a whole week dedicated to them. Through various interviews, listen to the CIS community answer diverse questions about their favorite literary works at http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/ or click the link in our bio!

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor Corner

Question of the Week

College Events (Virtual and Face to Face)

DATE

November 7-11
4:00 – 8:00 PM PHT
Link to register and choose the program of interest

EVENT

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology – Virtual Info Week
for International Students:
Nov. 7 – Interdisciplinary Programs
Nov. 8 – School of Science
Nov. 9 – School of Engineering
Nov. 10 – School of Business & Management
Nov. 11 – School of Humanities & Social Science

November 8
Tuesday
Link to register

Windesheim University of Applied Sciences – Learn more about their programs and studying in the Netherlands.

November 11
Friday
9:15 – 10:00am
Canteen Annex
Link to sign up

Jacobs University Bremen (Germany)  – Face to face info session with a student ambassador and learn about the programs, admissions,  scholarship opportunities and living/studying in Germany

November 10
Thursday
11:00am – 12:00 pm
Link to register
(a recording will be sent to those who register)

University of Auckland (New Zealand) – Learn about International Scholarships Opportunities for 2023

November 12
Saturday
10:00am – 12:00nn
Cebu Country Club
Link to sign up

University of Navarra (Spain) – Open to all G11 & 12 Students & Parents: Face to face info session followed by Q & A with university reps.  This session is scheduled on a Saturday to allow parents and students to attend.  Lunch will be served after the session.

November 15
Tuesday
9:15 – 10:00AM
Canteen Annex
Link to sign up

Temple University (Japan)  – Face to face info session followed by Q & A with a university rep.

November 25
Friday
9:15 – 10:00AM
Canteen Annex
Link to sign up

IE University (Spain) – Face to face info session followed by Q & A with a university rep.

SAT Update

2022–23 School Year Test Dates

Test dates labeled Digital means that students will bring a device to the test center and take the exam using their device.  The College Board may provide devices for test-takers who do not have access to a device.  All test-takers for Digital SATs are still required to report physically to the test center to take the test.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.