Secondary Newsletter 27 – March 26, 2021
CAS Corner by Momo Hirai
Panti Manuela Service as Action (SasA) Update
MYP Corner – Grade 10 Personal Project
Counseling
University Counseling
CAS Corner by Momo Hirai
Creativity: cooking project
My goal is to improve my creativity to think about the menu and also acquire cooking skills. The opportunity to come up with this project is I thought that I would like to help my mother who is often struggling to think about the menu of daily dishes. Eventually, I will be able to make various variations of dishes considering the nutritional balance of the day.
First reflection
1. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
So far I haven’t used a knife and also I didn’t know how to cut sweet potato skin with a kitchen knife, so throughout cutting sweet potato by my mother advising me, I developed cutting skills with a knife. What I learned is not to peel the sweet potatoes completely, but to peel off the sweet potatoes.
2. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Cooking is the first time for me so it’s hard to cook efficiently by myself. Therefore it’s very helpful for me to do it with my mother who cooks on a daily basis, and I can learn a lot because she gives me various advice.
In fact, when I cooked digakuimo, I didn’t know how to adjust the taste with seasoning, so that the taste wouldn’t be too strong or too sweet, the seasoning would be honey and it would be sweet enough, so use less soy sauce and sugar. It was adjusted.
From now on, I will gain experience so that I can develop this kind of feeling myself.
Second reflection
1. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
For a month, I cooked many cooking menus. I focus on efficiency. For example, when it comes to okonomiyaki, I knew that chijimi was very similar in the cooking method, and if I applied it and changed the ingredients, I could almost do the rest, and when I actually made it, I found that it was surprisingly easy to make. I made chijimi in two parts, but I didn’t think that the texture would change depending on the baking time, and I baked it in roughly the same amount, so the texture was crispy and the other was the short baking time, which was a little soft and different. We needed to think a little more to our tastes. Also when I made hamburgers, the taste of the texture of the meat was always firm, so when I added potatoes to give it a plump texture, the texture was so soft that the whole family could really tell the difference. I realized that such a device could make such a difference. From this discovery, I would like to continue making this menu. I’ve been cooking for about a month and have become accustomed to handling kitchen knives, and I think my skills have clearly improved, so I’d like to continue cooking while making the most of my experience.
2. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
I’ve been cooking for a month so far, but I still have to handle cutting meat more carefully, so even if my mother has done it before I did it, how to handle the meat well and before baking. Ultimately, you will be able to do the steps yourself.
After all, doing everything on your own is a good way to focus on time-saving, so it is very helpful for an experienced mother to do it together as support.
Specifically, in the process of making omelet rice, there are many processes such as frying onions, cooking rice, and cooking eggs, so I do not know how to proceed at the same time, so my mother taught me the procedure to do it efficiently. As a result, I was able to make enough for 3 people smoothly. In the process of making eggs, the taste is different depending on the person, such as fluffy and thin dough, so my mother supports the adjustment well, and since I am fluffy, I turn off the heat shortly before the yolk is fully cooked. My mother said she didn’t like soft-boiled eggs, so I was able to adjust it to my liking, such as by cooking it longer than I did.
Last reflection
1. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
I have cooked various dishes and often do not understand the basics of the process. For example, when peeling radish, it is important to be aware of peeling thicker than usual. I got advice from my mother, and at that time I learned that the reason is that if there are many fibers in the radish and they are peeled thinly, the fibers will remain even if they are heated. I don’t know how to peel vegetables and why, and I don’t have enough knowledge. Every time I cooked, I was able to get to know new things like this and felt the joy of cooking again. Also, when cutting vegetables, it took time because I’m not used to cutting them evenly. However, my mother always had a habit of pulling knives, I was told that she would cut from the cutting edge and push from top to bottom. After doing so many times, I understood the meaning of what she was saying, and now I can cut it evenly at a good pace without the difficulty of doing it.
And recently, cooking has also helped to relieve stress, and I’m addicted to making the all-purpose sauce. As you can know from my mother, the reason for this was the sauce made from Khao Man Gai in this last photo. I became interested in making my own sauce while adjusting it myself. At one point, I made a spicy sauce using gochujang, but when I felt a little strong and wondered what to add, tomato ketchup and oyster sauce softened the spiciness a little and I was able to adjust it well. I was happy that my younger brother suddenly told me that this sauce was good. It’s important to try anything, and the sense of accomplishment when you finally make a good one is very rewarding for me. Although this project is over, there are still many things that are not enough to improve the cooking skills and menu creation that I was aiming for, but my level has definitely risen, and I can decide the menu in my own way. With a sense of accomplishment in mind, I would like to further improve my cooking skills and gain experience so that I can create more original menus.
2.Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Eventually, I will be able to cook by myself, but now I am still lacking in knowledge, and by doing it with my mother, I will learn more by understanding the meaning of cooking the process in each work. I’m glad I went with my mother for this project.
In particular, I wanted to quickly improve the lack of basic cooking skills, so by always listening to the tips, I naturally remembered my body, and now I can cut vegetables fairly evenly and remove lye when handling vegetables. Now I can cook by thinking about what kind of work is required for each vegetable such as necessary ingredients.
At one point, I had the opportunity to make dumplings at home and serve them to my father’s acquaintance at a dumpling party. Since there are more people than usual family members, I prepare early and bake in front of people, so it is faster for my mother to wrap the dumpling skin more efficiently as shown in the video by going with my mother. By doing it together, it ends quickly, and since I’ve done it several times, I’ve become accustomed to it and can do it better than when I first started.
I said that I was addicted to making sauce from the time I made the sauce of Khao Man Gai in the last photo, but when I made a spicy sauce of gochujang and the taste of gochujang was too strong, I tried adding oyster sauce from my mother advising. When I thought that it was suitable for alleviating the spiciness, it became a little milder and I thought about adding tomato ketchup and it was in harmony. I found it very interesting for me to adjust the original sauce with my mother in this way, and after eating my younger brother, I was chewing on the rice, so I couldn’t make the sauce with my mother. It was fun and refreshing to be able to make it together, and it was a refreshing experience. Also when I made Japanese traditional soup dishes eaten for New Year’s day, I noticed the deliciousness of the soup stock. I could feel the taste of the ingredients just by sprinkling them a little, and from there I wanted to make a dish that made the best use of the taste of the ingredients.
Although there are still some things that are still lacking in improving my cooking skills and creating the menu, which is my ultimate goal, I definitely did it with my mother and gave me a lot of advice, which made it better than before and creating the menu is fun to make this sauce. I think that the range of cooking has begun to expand since I noticed, so this project ends here, but I will continue cooking and make use of my experience in this project to further improve my cooking skills so that I can create more original menus.
Panti Manuela Service as Action (SasA) Update
Our SaA group aims to help those in need in the Panti Manuela Orphanage in Jimbaran. In only two terms, we managed to both complete a donation drive and spread awareness about this orphanage. We wanted to be able to provide the orphanage with their needs as it was our goal for this SaA activity. Through doing this, we’ve managed to help the children and staff by fulfilling their needs. But, we don’t take full responsibility for this as the BIS community had a huge part in the donation drive as well.
During Term 3, the Panti Manuela SA Group has been able to complete a donation drive in which all classes at BIS took part in. This donation drive was very successful as we ended up meeting all our targets.
Next week, we will take the donations to the orphanage where they will be put into use for the children and staff there. During our experience, almost everything went well; the amount donated, how we got the word out, and raising awareness. We only had one difficulty during this donation drive, which was transport. You collected an unexpectedly large amount of donations. This caused some complications in planning the transport of the donations from the school to the orphanage, but we managed to figure it out in the end! We’re sure all of these donations will be greatly appreciated by the whole orphanage, as well as a great help. Overall, we’re very thankful to anyone and everyone who did donate!
Thank you,
Panti Manuela Orphanage SA Group
(Amelie von Harrach and Nadia Winkler)
MYP Corner – Grade 10 Personal Project
Yesterday we had a parent and student session on the Personal Project and how it works. Our current grade 9 students will be embarking on this learning journey this term. Classes with myself, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Erickson will be taking place each Thursday afternoon.
If you missed the video please see the link below.
Please find the website address here
Counseling
There is a fine line between being critical with our teens and shifting their self-talk to the negative, which can significantly impact mood and lead to problematic emotional behaviors. Our teens are learning and managing themselves without the in-person support of teachers and peers; you might be noticing their self-talk is more pessimistic now than it was before. As an example, you might be hearing more phrases like, “There is no way I’m going to finish this project.” This article by Youth Empowerment includes a Be Inspired video by Jim Kwik on challenging negative self-talk. Watch the video and discuss the reading as a family during a family meeting. Challenge each other to point out negative self-talk they hear family members say and take time to apply ABRA (acknowledge, breathe, release, align). Work as a family to reframe the negative thinking into something more reasonable, like “I need support managing my time during this long-term project.”
University Counseling
Upcoming International SAT Test Date & Deadline
Fairs
Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern virtual fair for students in Indonesian students interested in hotel industry-related fields (April 8)
Summer Programs
Summer Internship Programs for age 12-14
Summer Internship Program for age 15-18
Pre-college Summer Programs at Washington University in St. Louis
Pre-college Summer Programs at Drexel University
Pre-college Summer Program at Parsons Paris Fashion & Luxury
Pre-college Summer Program at Paris College of Art
Pre-college Summer Program at Pace University
Pre-college Summer Program at Pratt Institute
Summer Discovery Programs
USC School of Cinematic Arts Summer Program (Deadline June 18)
Summer Program at Imperial College London
Stanford SEWSS Scholars Program at Stanford University
High School AI Summer Program by Stanford & MIT grads
Middle School AI Summer Program by Stanford & MIT grads
Summer School in Barcelona by EU Business School (EU)
Scholarships
List of Scholarships for International Students
Scholarship opportunity at Jacobs University
For Women with a STEM Degree Looking for a Scholarship to Study for a Master’s in STEM
Scholarships for International Students by Everett Community College
Scholarship Guide for Saint Leo University
International scholarships for undergraduate students at University of Kent
Virtual Events
Discover what studying Economics is like at the University of York (Mar 26)
CEI Talkshow Series: Study Mechanical Engineering in Canada (Mar 27)
Pitzer College Virtual Campus Tour (Mar 27)
Le Cordon Bleu Pastry demo by chef Laurent Bichon (Mar 31)
Open Day to learn all about the Bachelor in Management (BSc) programme at ESCP Business School (April 10)
Study in the USA Webinar for East Asia by ISN Webinars for Students (Mar 30)
Virtual Tour and Workshop at HAN University of Applied Sciences (Apr 9)
RICE University Research on Youtube
The Easter Careers Hunt: Find Your Future
University Application
Carl Benz School Application Portal is Now Open (April 30)
Webster University is accepting applications for Fall 2021 (Deadline June 15)
NUCB Calling all applicants for September 2021
Applying to Seton Hall University
Resources
Bridge U showcases by career topic – open to students and parents
BridgeU 15 questions to ask when choosing a university
Guide for International University Admissions
BridgeU Supporting your child through the application process
BridgeU tips for parents of 2021
BridgeU tips for parents of 2022