Secondary Newsletter 12 – November 6, 2020

University Counseling
Counseling
CAS Corner by Jacob Von Harrach
Service as Action Updates
BIS 2020 Mock American Election
Extended Essay Celebration
Grade 6 & 7 Fine Arts Sharing
Actor’s Lab Spotlight

University Counseling
Virtually Orange: The online Dutch University Festival
Sunday, November 8
11:00-14:00 & 18:00-21:00(CET)
Augustana College 
Rock Island, Illinois

 

Counseling
The IBO recognizes the importance of Creativity, Activity, Service, and Service as Action for providing opportunities for collaboration, accomplishment, and enjoyment. They also realize these opportunities counterbalance the academic pressures of the IB MYP and DP. Psychologists look at CAS engagement as building a happiness habit. There are significant well-being benefits to those engaged in serving their communities.

For all:

• Live longer
• Fewer aches and pains
• More feelings of calm
• Less depressed (dopamine-mediated euphoria)
• Increased self-worth
• Decreased anxiety

For teens in particular:

• More active, involved, excited, and engaged
• Lowered suicide risk
• Increased academic performance
• Decreased unhealthy risk-taking (Christine Carter, Ph.D., 2010).

Finding ways to help your family to be involved in giving to the community is not just beneficial to people on the receiving end of your time and kindness; you will all benefit, as well. It’s a win-win! 

 

CAS Corner by Jacob Von Harrach
Taman Bacaan Project
Goal:
Throughout our project, Joseph and I want to teach the local children around our campus writing and speaking English. Our aims are not just to teach them, however, we want to put a smile on their faces and distract them from their everyday life with fun activities for them to enjoy. We plan to create a system of learning that is engaging and entertaining. We would even expand to other areas of learning such as sports, maths, and then more, when possible. Since this is going to be our CAS project to show initiative, we will plan all the lessons by ourselves. It will take a lot of commitment & perseverance, especially during the DP years as it is a very busy program. We want to grow with our collaboration skills as we will need to be able to work with different languages and collaborate with one another. It will certainly be a challenge for Josephe and I as we will be doing this by ourselves and need to work together to make this a fun activity for the children. Due to COVID-19, this project is more challenging as we aren’t able to see the kids. 

Reflection:
Today, Josephe, Lani and I discussed with ibu Ketut (our supervisor) about how we would be able to approach this project, and discussed the following things:

• How can we start this project considering the current conditions 
• Introduced Ibu Ketut to our ideas and shared our plans 
• Fun ways to keep the kids busy from their busy schedule: we thought about different education games that we could send them
• Finally, we asked Ibu Ketut if she is able to contact the kids and see if they are willing to attend Taman Bacaan and if we could run the activity through her. This means we would plan out ideas and games, send them to her, which she will then hand to the kids as we aren’t able to see them face to face. 

We are aware of the current situation which is making this project very difficult to do, however, we are determined to try and hopefully make the most of it. This is showing our commitment to the project as well as our perseverance to complete it. 

 

Service as Action Updates
Our MYP students have now started their Service as Action experiences. Most joined groups with a grade 11 student leader and are continuing work started in previous years, like the Pet Guardian groups, or new groups like the Ocean Gardeners. Others created their own group to address a need they identified in our community. 

We have eight different groups working to support children, stray animals, and the environment on both ocean and land around Bali. It is incredible to see our students taking leadership and action on matters of interest to them. Everyone is involved! Ask your child what group they belong to, and support them on their journey to becoming “globally-minded, confident learners” that work “to reach their utmost potential in an active, creative, and respectful learning community.”

You can read about some of these projects below. Enjoy!

Pet Guardians
Jackson Budiana (Grade 6)

Reflection:
My outcome is awareness.

I expect that more animals will be more cared for because there are lots of street dogs that are sick and hurt. So my outcome is to help people start looking at animals and care for them; by giving awareness to the people.

Kupu – Kupu Foundation
Ellery Lau (Grade 6)

Reflection:
My outcome is collaborating with others.

I will achieve my outcome by collaborating with the families and kids in the Kupu – Kupu Foundation and also achieve my outcome by collaborating with the others in my group. I expect to learn to help by donating things for them, maybe build a toilet and fix their rooftops.

Green Team
Aqvila Mari Wilson (Grade 6)

Goals:
We want to spread awareness about environmental problems happening around the world and educate people about it.

Reflection:
My outcome is perseverance in action.

I think that a way I can achieve the outcome I picked, I need to keep my motivation and try as hard as I can. What I expect to learn from this experience is to keep driving forward, and not quit/give up, and that we can help the world step by step.

2020 Relief Team, Mask Making
Ayden Grosskinsky & Eduardo Perera Guzowski (Grade 7)

Description and Goals
Making three-layer masks for the Sanur community. 

Reflection
My group and I took the initiative to start a new SA activity from scratch. I feel like I will continue taking initiative by making the masks and giving them out for free to those who might need them.

Here is a video.

Mangrove Planting 2020
Charlotte Jaquier (Grade 8) 

Description and Goals
We are aiming to plant 1,000 mangrove seedlings (specifically Rhizophora apiculata) in Kubu beach located on the Ayana Property in Jimbaran Bali. Organizers chose this specific type of mangrove because it has strong woody roots that protect from wind and waves. Mangroves can serve as a breeding ground for small marine fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and other species of importance. The mangrove plant also has a cultural meaning in Bali, Tri Hita Karana is a traditional philosophy with a rough English translation of “three reasons for prosperity”. The three reasons referred to in the principle are; Harmony with God, Harmony among people, and Harmony with nature or environment. According to this philosophy, planting mangroves means harmony with the environment, promoting sustainability, and balance of our environment.

Reflection
The primary aim of this project was to help maintain our local natural environment. In this activity, there weren’t particularly a lot of rules but we did have to follow a specific method to ensure that as many saplings as possible make it to full maturity. First, we have to dig a hole either close to the river bank or close to the shore from the water. The hole has to be deep enough to cover the roots and about 3 cm of the stem. Once the mangrove is placed in the hole we use a bamboo stick to ensure that the plant grows upright, to give the best protection for any species that will live in the mangroves, and to keep the plant healthy in the process. The final step is to rebury the sapling and fill the hole with damp soil or mud. I wanted to be as productive while planting as possible so I made sure to follow the method that the Project head (Pak Hafidh) gave to us. I believe that I followed them well, and planted somewhere around 10 mangrove saplings in the process. This activity required us to make reasonable and ethical decisions such as, listening to the guidance of our group leader, respecting the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, and keeping in mind our carbon footprints and their effects on the environment. I believe that this activity helped me identify a few characteristics of a good member of society, such as respecting local culture, being mindful of the future environment, working together with others towards a common goal despite different backgrounds.

Pet Guardians, BAWA 2020/21
William Bergeron (Grade 9)

Starting the activity itself, it is entirely new to me which means that I will face a few new challenges, and will have to face them as a group. To do this, I plan to participate more in group discussions and eventually share my ideas with the group. For the activity itself, BAWA which involves the saving of dogs in Bali that are currently suffering in the streets, I personally share a huge interest in helping dogs and I feel it is a great opportunity to meet other people that hold the same opinion.

1. Working collaboratively with others
   As I stated before, this activity is entirely new to me, and so the overall main goal or activity aim which is entirely different from the other activities that you can choose. Especially for this group, I feel that the learning outcome of being able to work collaboratively with others is a great way to improve my communication skills, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking skills working in a group, and working alone. I believe all of these skills are very essential and can not only be used in a wide range of other activities but can be used inside the school. I believe to be able to achieve this outcome, I feel that it is essential that I always take the opportunity to share my ideas/opinions relating to the activity with the other members of the group, and to contribute more in group discussions.

2. Undertake challenges that develop new skills
   Relating with what I said before, the activity is very new to me which mean the challenges that I will face in the future will be new to me, and I believe that the outcome of being able to undertake challenges and to develop new skills is very suitable for this type of activity. Another reason why I chose this as an outcome is that the use of undertaking challenges and eventually developing new skills is very useful because with the skills that I finally take from participating in the activity, can be used in many more activities, and can somewhat be used in my life eventually. Finally, to be able to accomplish this outcome, I will have to contribute/participate more in group discussions in sharing my ideas on how to solve problems that the group will face in the future, and to overall take the challenges that I face in the activity, and turn them/develop them into new skills.

3. Persevere in action
   Finally, the last outcome that I chose is to be able to “Persevere in action” which can be linked to the 2 other outcomes that I chose. The reason why I chose this learning outcome, is because I feel that it is really suitable for this activity. If I I were to face difficulties when participating in the group, I will have to persevere through them (stick to the group’s overall plan) and to be able to undertake the challenges that I face and to develop them into new skills that can be used not only in the group but in many others and elsewhere. Another reason is that its correlation between these 2 other outcomes can really help me enhance my communication skills, problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and organizational skills which I find very beneficial for the future. In order to achieve this, as stated before, I will have to participate more in group discussions and to be able to discuss my solutions with group members in solving the issues we might face throughout the year.

2020/2021 BIS Permaculture Garden
Manon Pecquery (Grade 10)

Description and Goals
The goal of this project is to transform the space behind the new field into an organic and sustainable permaculture garden using the principles of permaculture as a guide. To educate students at our school about gardening and to build and strengthen our bis community, by also cooking and selling our produce. For me personally, I am the leader of this group so one of my main goals is to teach others the skill of gardening but most importantly personally I want to strengthen my leadership skills by being organized.

Reflection
Today was the first day to set up my group and Ideas. I have created the MYP Project Proposal Form which helped me to gather up my ideas for the garden. So far I have also visited the space in which we will be doing the garden. I have also found a supervisor that will be interested in my group, Mary MacDonald will be our supervisor. I am so excited to start and lead this project even tho we are currently online there are lots of things we can get started on now. I had a bit of trouble getting through to the people in my group but we got there eventually.

 

BIS Overwhelmingly votes for Joseph R. Biden for US President in BIS 2020 Mock American Election
Thank you to everyone who voted in our BIS 2020 Mock American Presidential Election. All votes that were cast were valid and all proper rules, procedures and protocols were followed. The election was open to BIs students in grades 5 through 12 and all staff/faculty/teachers. 

1) Joseph R. Biden – Democrat

59 votes (82.4%)

2) Howie G. Hawkins – Green

10 votes (13.5%)

3) Donald J. Trump – Republican

2 votes (2.8%)

4) Jo Jorgensen – Libertarian 

1 vote (1.4%)

By The Numbers

-83.3% of our total voters were students and 16.7% were teachers/faculty/staff. 

-12 teachers/staff/faculty voted. That translates to roughly 13% of all eligible voters who actually cast a vote. 

-62 students voted. That translates to roughly 47% of eligible voters. 

-31% of all total eligible voters cast a vote. If BIS were a country it would rank 36th in the world in percent of eligible voters who actually voted versus all potential voters in worldwide national-level elections since 2014. 

Thank you again for your democratic participation, Mr. Marshall. 

 

Extended Essay Celebration
DP Hour this Thursday saw our Grade 12 students successfully complete and hand in their Extended Essays. This is a huge milestone that they have achieved in their DP journey and is thoroughly deserving of a celebration! The Extended Essay, a 4,000-word research project undertaken in a subject and a topic that the student is interested in, contributes to a maximum of 3 additional points in the DP in conjunction with outstanding performance in Theory of Knowledge. 

Our Grade 12 students demonstrated a wide range of interests in their EE topic selection and our 8 DP students selected to complete EEs in 6 different subjects showing a phenomenal scope of diversity, from Physics to History, and desire to follow their interests. Well done! 

The celebration allowed the Grade 12s to reflect on the process and also offer words of advice to the Grade 11s who will be introduced to the EE at the end of this term. It also allowed us to see which of the seniors had the experience of popping the cork on a champagne bottle, congratulations Mr Kneipp on expertly hitting Han, as well as reconnecting, sharing laughs, and looking forward positively to the future. 

 

Grade 6 & 7 Fine Arts Sharing

Students will shortly enter their final week of the first rotation of the Arts (Music, Art and Drama). 

To celebrate we will hold an Arts Sharing event online on Thursday, November 19, 4 pm with zoom. 

Be sure to tune in as the students have produced some outstanding work and we would like to enjoy and acknowledge their outstanding achievements. 

The link for the event will be shared 24 hours prior to the event so please check your email and contact me if there are any issues finding it. (eandrews@baliis.net)

We look forward to spending the afternoon celebrating Grade 6 & 7 achievements in the Arts with the BIS Community.

Secondary Arts: Edward Andrews, Hayley Green, Ina Wiweka 

 

ACTOR’S LAB Spotlight
Cintya Roby as Columbina (Grade 10)

Enjoy this fantastic original performance and character demonstration from the World of Commedia dell’Arte.

 Behind the mask of the MASK – COLUMBINA 

Cintya introduces her character:

“When given the task to embody a Commedia dell’Arte character, I chose the character called Columbina. When I researched more about commedia as a whole, I found out that this was the first time women were allowed to perform on stage which made me gravitate towards a strong and independent female character. Columbina in Italian means “Little Dove” as she is swift and elegant even though she is a maid. As one of the few female characters, she has to present herself as someone who knows her worth and is bold but still down to earth and she is usually the only logical character. Her looks attract the male characters but her heart belongs to Arlecchino. An example of Columbina in today’s theaters is Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, as she is a strong and smart female character who can be misjudged at times. In order to get into character, I tried my best to dress up as her and look like a somewhat fancy maid from the 1600’s. Throughout the entire lazzi, I kept a strong and good posture and exaggerated some of her reactions (mostly when excited). On top of that, I talked with a high pitch to show her gossipy side. I decided that I wanted to show her intellectual and emotional side by combining two lazzis that I saw (one about her receiving a letter from Il Dottore and another one of her stealing Pantalone’s money). This activity really helped me learn more about Columbina and I hope to learn more about the other characters.”