News
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
In February, the students were very active with a variety of activities and events. Our sports teams have been actively participating in soccer, while the Varsity Teams have be preparing for the AASCA Tournament in El Salvador. We wish our teams the best of luck in their challenge to bring home a trophy. Win or lose, we are still proud of our teams effort and sportsmanship that they will demonstrate.
The seniors were very successful with their Valentine Grams that were sent out to students and teachers. This is one of many fundraisers that the Seniors have for financing their graduation. The AIS student Council had a wonderful Valentine’s Dance that many students in grades six through twelve participated and enjoyed. Then a week after, they had the first camping activity for grades five through twelve. Zé Prudencio took the leadership role and did an outstanding job of organizing these two events. Along with Zé, the other student council members that assisted were Joaquin Ramirez, Xavier Suarez, Luis Olivares, Carlos Nigro, Miguel Nigro, Oscar Alpizar and Juliana Herz. All the students involved had a great time as well as the teachers, special thanks to Adam Herbert, Jorge Simon, Neli Santiago, John Salmon, Marjorie Villegas, Barbara Cruz, Mildred Hipólito who assisted with the chaperoning of this event. Last but not least, Carlos Zelaya who has done a tremendous job as Student Council Sponsor this semester. His efforts in leading this group has been superb and greatly appreciated.
The schools financial situation has had plenty of publicity and I do not feel there is the need to continue discussing this matter. The proposal the Associates formed, voted and approved are necessary ! The school will be on solid ground when all is accrued. If there are any questions that parents still have, please, please come in and see the Director for further explanations.
Finally, we hope that all families have a relaxing and fun filled Easter vacation. Please be aware that your children will have relevant educational activity up to the last period they are here in school as well as the start of school after vacation.
Please, make sure your children do not miss class prior to or after this week off. Teachers spend time to prepare for the class work and education your child receives, lets make sure they obtain the benefits as well. We wish that everyone has a fantastic and safe vacation.
There are many activities going on at AIS, in February we had Valentine’s Dance, Camping and in March the AASCA Tournament. Special thanks to the ones who make all this possible.
FROM THE BOARD
The Board would like to thank all the Associates whom attended the financial meeting on January 31 , as well as at the General Assembly held on Feb.12. We were happy to see so many Associates provide constructive advice that assisted the Board in drafting the final proposal which was voted on that night. We had input by virtually everyone who attended the meeting where 37 families were represented. The final vote was approved by a vote of 26 to 11 in favor of the current increase to cover the schools outstanding and projected expenses. We are moving forward with implementing these increases, as well as obtaining the loan, which was approved that night.
We also welcome the new Fiscal, Robert Rowland whom was elected in our General Assembly. Robert is finishing Chuck Piacentinis tenure which finishes May of this year.
During the last month we have met with several representatives of the US Embassy and have their support in moving forward with the projected plans. The Board has also added Brandon Peterson, a liaison for the US Embassy and the Board, he has been attending the Board meetings since November.
We are moving forward with a new Accountant, Manuel Cordero for the Finance Dept. Mr. Cordero is a specialist in the new finance computer program we have installed and he will work closely with Austin Briggs.
We continue to work closely with our new Director. Thanks to our dedicated faculty, our Associates all spoke highly at the General Assembly about the quality of education we provide at our school. I believe we came together as a group for the common goal we all have for a quality school on solid ground.
FROM PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE
I am pleased with all the wonderful events that transpired during the month of February; AIS Second Sample Writing, School Wide SMARTe Goals, Valentine’s Dance, First AIS Week-End Camping, MEP community service with the students of Escuela Ninfa Cabezas Quitirrisi and Spirit Week, all successes.
Spirit Week continues on into March to spark school spirit, support and cheer the Boys and Girls High School Soccer team who are leaving for the AASCA Tournament in El Salvador, March 5.We have a great group of players and we are happy they are representing our school in AASCA.
MEP students are required to fulfill 30 hours of community service during their 10th grade. AIS is working work with Escuela Ninfa Cabezas Quitirrisi in an Indian Community. Our students spend their time teaching them how to use computers; we also provide lunch and activities for them. On March 1st, AIS students will be visiting and presenting different workshop for the students of the Escuela Ninfa Cabezas Quitirrisi, and in return our students will learn the different culture of this particular school system.
Spring Break comes early this year; there will be no school from March 18-23. Enjoy you sunny days off from school, but do not forget to take the book you are reading along. This month is Book Month and we are encouraging students, parents and teachers to read more and what better opportunity to get some reading done than during the Spring Break. After the Spring Break, there is only one week before the end of the third quarter, March 28th. There will be parent-teacher conferences on April 3rd, and it is a half-day for the students. Conferences will be from 1:00-4:00. Junior and senior parents should join Ms. Villalobos and me for the seminar on SATs, APs and universities.
We start the 4th quarter with the Sports Festival, Saturday, April 5. Do not forget to pencil it in on your calendar, and come join the Family fun. The International Luncheon and an assembly will be April 8th sponsored by 6th grade. The student body, faculty, staff and parents will celebrate their heritage by participating in the assembly and bringing in typical food of their countries. You must come and join us for this unforgettable experience.
You do not know how fortunate we are to have the National Symphony Orchestra perform for our school on April 11th to celebrate Juan Santamaría, hero of Costa Rica. Students, parents, staff and friends are invited to attend such event. What more do we want? It will be a great month of academics and culture!
FROM THE COUNSELOR
Our children are living in a culture that is inundated with video games and other electronic toys, television, computers and the Internet, with glorified violence in each of these media. It is a very different world than the one in which most parents grew up. Trying to provide some alternatives to this media culture feels like swimming against a rushing tide. Many parents feel tempted to give up and give in, or worry that if they set limits, their children will ignore them or become alienated.
Parents, however, still have a great potential influence on the activities their children get involved in. Likewise, parents have a significant impact on the values their children are developing. The two most important tools you have are modeling and communication. Here are some things to think about:
Look at how your son spends his time. If your son's obsession with video games and characters mostly relates to how he spends his money, it is less of a worry than if his interest also dictates how he spends most of his time. Aside from the violent content, the problems with video games have to do with the fact that they take up time that could be used for other important activities
.During the course of a day, does your son have time to be physically active, to really play with friends, to read and do homework, to be creative -- using his own ideas and imagination? Does he have time to interact with the family? If there isn't a balance in his life, it is important to work on helping him find one.
.Talk with your son about your concern with video games. Often kids will say, “My parents don’t like me to play video games, but never say why.”
.Set up parameters and engage his initiative. Rather than just saying, "You can only play video games for an hour each day," try listing with him all of the kinds of things you and he would like him to do each day. Then you could come up with a schedule you can both agree on about how much time he'll spend doing each activity.
.Model the kinds of choices you would like to see your child making. Many of us spend long hours in front of computers, on the Internet, or in front of the TV, and then we wonder why our kids aren't more creative or physically active.
SCIENCE BRIEF
Regarding the Environment, AIS Students Can Make the Difference
The cafeteria staff, Don Pablo, Mr. Herbert and the AIS students and faculty have been participating in an effort to compost the organic food leftovers from lunches. Averaging about 7 kilograms of leftovers per day being diverted from landfills, the AIS campus kept nearly 2 metric tons of carbon from greenhouse gas emissions last semester. This is equivalent to keeping 4 cars off the road last semester, way to go AIS! The added bonus is the wonderfully rich topsoil being created in the process. Any household interested in making a compost pile in their own backyard or donating organic wastes to AIS's worm farm should contact Mr. Herbert (aherbert83@gmail.com).
Mr. Herbert's Science classes this semester will be collaborating with Rutgers University and the Jacques Cousteau Society in their "COOL Classroom" instruction series which connects students with Marine Science researchers. Using innovative Internet-based instruction modules, Mr. Herbert's classes will link with real-time data being collected by Oceanographers and Marine Biologists toward developing science literacy and critical thinking skills and to encourage students' natural fascination with the marine environment. For more information please contact Mr. Herbert or visit (http://new.coolclassroom.org/).
AIS Students will be collaborating with Rutgers University and the Jacques Cousteau Society in their COOL class.
The AIS High School is sponsoring an essay & mural contest (6th-12th), during the 3rd quarter to celebrate Costa Rica's biodiversity. Teams of 2-3 students will be formed in science classes to participate in this transdisciplinary approach. Determining the different ways that people value biodiversity in Costa Rica and what AIS can do to preserve biodiversity is the theme that a panel of teacher judges will be looking for in awarding prizes. Prizes for the winning teams will include painting a wall in the hallways of AIS with their mural and gift certificates to Libreria Internacional. We are looking forward to insightful, innovative, well written essays and brilliant mural designs . All the mural design proposals will be displayed together in the cafeteria and outstanding excerpts from essays will be posted on the AI Nature Journal Blogspot (www.naturerules-ais.blogspot.com).
Adam Herbert, Science teacher/ Wilson McCray, Art teacher
Essay & Mural Contest for Biodiversity
“The most wonderful mystery of life may well be the means by which it created so much diversity from so little physical matter.” E.O. Wilson, 1992
SPORTS
The winners of the Kick Ball Tournament for Elementary were : Patrick Rowland, Matías Ramirez, Oscar Rojas, Taylor Vatan, William Moore, Valery Jara, Nicholas Callaghan y Mark Johnson.
CONGRATULATIONS!.
The second Season of High School and Middle School activities during lunch time, will continue. We will have Basketball and Indoor Soccer (girls and boys) Tournaments. Elementary will have “Capture the Ball” Tournament during lunch time in the soccer field, the teams will be selected shortly.
High School and Middle School also participate in the Soccer ACTION (National Tournament), both masculine and femenine teams
The students that will participate in the AASCA Soccer Tournament in Salvador March 5 to 9 are:
Miguel Nigro
Beatriz Vila
Gabriel Ayala
Karla Ruzicka
Bryan Raine
Natalia Roblero
Eduardo Benitez
Andrea Zúñiga
Alan Kerbel
Nicole Johanning
Mathias Müller
Lilliam Solano
Xavier Suárez
Rebecca Zelaya
Joaquín Ramírez
Michelle Marchiano
Víctor Villalobos
Carolina Cuadra
Héctor Chacón
Ariana Espinoza
Esteban Araya
Monica Espinoza
Camron Befus
Erin Befus
Oscar Alpízar
Autunm Befus
Federico Carbo
Gina Conejo
Julián Delgado
Yoo- Ri Lee
Nikolas Cyr
Mariana Guillén
Our Sports Festival will take place on Saturday,
April 5th from 8:30 am until 3:00pm.
Visitors: Asociacion Deportiva Belemita and others.
Don’t Miss It!!!
NHS NEWS
Thank you for participating in the SPIRIT WEEK. It was a huge success!
On Wednesday, March 12, we will be having the Induction Ceremony for the new members of the NHS: Alexander Maslov, Jose Antonio Moranchel, Rebecca Zelaya, and Lucia Zelaya. This activity will be held at Club Campestre Español at 6:30 pm.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Michelle Marchiano before March 6.
STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS
We are happy to announce that the activities we did last month, the Valentine’s Dance and the AIS Camping were both huge success. Thank you for all your support and cooperation!
This month, we have planned a couple of activities for the Elementary School students. We will have two “Fun Days”, which is a time where kids stay after school from 3 to 6:30 pm and have a very special time with art and games that will increase their creativity, skills as well as have fun. The first one is on Wednesday, March 11th, and the second is on Friday, March 28th. They will cost ¢3.000 each, which includes food and material for all the activities.
We have also developed a website where students and parents cab be informed about everything that will happen in all the activities. They can also see pictures and be aware of what is going on. The address is www.aisactivities.piczo and hopefully will be connected with the school website (www.aiscr.com) by the end of next week.
We will have the talent Show 2008 on April 18th in March the Student Council will have the auditions for this event. On March 25th, Elementary School will be auditioning from 3 to 4pm, and March 27th the High School will audition. We are more optimistic than ever, and as we said in February: with responsability , dedication and hard work, we are willing to provide the students an environment of enjoyment.
“To achieve great things, we must not only act but also dream; not only plan, but also believe”- A. france
OVERNIGHT TRIP
Our school has some traditions that are worth preserving. One of them is the overnight trip. Every year, for the last 8 years, children in third, fourth, and fifth grade have participated on a two-day adventure called the Overnight Trip. They have visited various sites around the country, such as Tortuguero, Monteverde, Arenal Volcano, and other exciting places, as well.
This year more than 30 children went to the Guanacaste area. They visited the ICE Geothermic Plant by the Miravalles Volcano, Africa Mia Zoo, and they floated down the Corobici River.
For two days they learned about volcanoes, landforms, dry forests, socioeconomic activities of the area, endangered animals, and more. At the same time they shared experiences with their friends and teachers in a safe, fun environment outside school.
Costa Rica offers wonderful biodiversity and extravagant places where students can learn by doing. This is also a precious opportunity for them to observe nature and take clear actions in order to protect it.
“More than 30 AIS students had an unforgettable experience in Guanacaste “
ILT NEWs
The New Year has brought several changes to the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT).
We welcome two new members Arthur Kuesel and Guisella Camacho to the team, they joined Marjorie Villegas, Irene Arrea and John Salmon as well as the Administration Neli Santiago and Austin Briggs.
We look forward to continue the advancement of writing at AIS as well as initiate other areas to enhance the student academic level.
One such area is reading which research shows will assist in improving writing levels.
Good literature will model excellent writing as well all research shows that students that read regularly are predominantly the highest achievers academically. So lets encourage our children to read more often.
The students throughout the school recently finished a writing sample and teachers are busy assessing these writings. We will have an up date on the statistics and the perceived improvements when all the data has been calculated.
We look forward to advancing the literary levels of your children and if you have any concerns in this area please feel free to contact the ILT.
FROM THE NURSE
Since the 1971 introduction of MMR, the life-threatening childhood infections have become rare in most developed countries. The MMR vaccine prevents from measles, mumps and rubella illness.
Measles, mumps, and rubella are serious diseases that are spread from person-to-person through the air.
*Measles : Measles is caused by a virus that results in a rash, cough, runny nose, fever, and eye irritation, and can lead to ear infection, pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and death.
*Mumps: Mumps is caused by a virus that results in fever, headache, and swollen glands, and can lead to deafness, infection of the brain and spinal cord, painful swelling of the testicles or ovaries, and even death.
*Rubella : (German measles) Rubella (German measles) is caused by a virus that results in a rash, mild fever, and arthritis. It is spread from one child to another through direct contact with discharge from the nose and throat.
According to Costa Rican guidelines a child must get the vaccine at 15 months of age and a booster at 6 years of age.
Concerns about the safety fo MMR arose in Britain in 1998 linking the injections with the onset of autism. A new study made in Britain this year found no evidence linking the MMR vaccine to autism.
*The study was a collaboration between the Health Protection Agency (HPA), Guys Hospital and Manchester University.
** MMR is the safest and most effective way of protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella. MMR has been used extensively and safely around the world for nearly 30 years - with over 500 million doses given in over 100 countries. MMR is also recognized by the World Health Organization as having an outstanding safety record.
FROM LIBRARY
In order to further encourage good reading skills and habits in our students, AIS is going to celebrate READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY (March 3, the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Seuss) with the inauguration of a new program called D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read). With this new program, everyone at AIS (students, teachers, secretaries, etc.) will have one and later two scheduled twenty-minute free reading times per week when they will stop whatever they are doing and read.
Starting simultaneously with the D.E.A.R. program will be the 1000 Page Club, in which students will compete for ice cream cones and other prizes by trying to read an accumulated amount of 1000 pages over a period of six weeks. Students will bring home reading logs to record the amount of pages read daily (either alone or with parents), and parents will initial the page count on the logs as verification.
To celebrate READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY and begin D.E.A.R. and the 1000 Page Club, we have a lot of fun activities planned:
MONDAY, MARCH 3: Students will have a parade around the school dressed as their favorite book character, and everyone will be treated to a slice of birthday cake in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5: Parents (and relatives and friends!) are invited to schedule time with their child’s teacher to come into the classroom and read aloud from some of their own favorite books.
FRIDAY, MARCH 7: We will have pajama day, and students will be able to wear pajamas or comfy clothes, bring a pillow and a snack and curl up somewhere comfortable in the classroom to read during the day.
Parents, we invite you to participate and to encourage your children to participate in all of the above-mentioned activities. Helping your children become better readers is one of the best things you can do for them: Studies have shown time and again that good readers are better, more successful students, as reading helps students improve language skills, reasoning powers, and exposes them to new ideas, cultures, and worlds. Good readers are also better writers because they absorb vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation along with the story they read. And finally, a good book can also be a friend for life, a refuge to come back to in times of need. Please help us help your children learn by encouraging them to read as much as possible and to participate in all the programs mentioned above. Please also be sure they come prepared with reading matter for their D.E. A.R. times.
TIPS FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN READING TOGETHER
Take turns reading a book with your child.
When you read to your child, don’t be afraid to dramatize the story and have fun with your reading style.
Ask your child to predict what will happen next in the story. Speculate together on how the story may end or how the conflicts will be resolved.
Compare the book you’re reading now to another familiar book. How are the characters alike or different? Do the stories take place in similar settings? How are the illustrations the same or different? Has your child read more than one book by the same author? How are those books alike or different?
Ask what part of the story or book your child liked best and why.
Ask if your child liked the ending of the story. Why or why not? Can your child think of different or “better” ending?.
Ask your child about the mood of the story or chapter in a book. Is it happy? Sad? Suspenseful? Ask how the author creates this mood. For example, does the author use certain words, events, or settings to create a particular feeling?
TIPS TO HELP PARENTS PROMOTE READING AT HOME
Set a good example as a reader – let your kids see you reading every day.
When relatives and others ask for gift ideas, suggest magazine subscriptions, books, a book store gift certificate.
Schedule consistent read-together times every day when you can curl up and spend quality time with each other. Remember to make reading fun - a time that you and your children look forward to each day.
Check out The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease (New York: Penguin Books, 1995). It's loaded with fun tips and reading recommendations.
Keep lots of books, magazines, and newspapers around the house. Visit the library often and shop for books at garage and yard sales, swap meets, and used bookstores.
Don't fret if Captain Underpants or Nancy Drew has captivated your child rather than Robinson Crusoe. The important thing is that your child is reading! Encourage reading in general, and your child will likely to move on to more sophisticated titles as he or she grows older.
1000 PAGE CLUB
The 1000 page club is an annual competition at AIS in which each participant student is asked to read 1000 pages in six weeks and record the number of pages read on a reading log
All AIS students can and should participate!
Start counting the pages on March 3rd and keep counting until April 11
FACULTY WORKSHOPS
The AIS faculty will be having two workshops on March 4 and 6. Dr. Neill Armstrong and Dr. John Leonard from Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Texas will be at our school the week of March 3rd to the 9th to observe the student teachers from SFA. As well they have graciously offered their expertise to present these workshops for our faculty. On Tuesday, March 4, Dr. Amstrong will present his workshop on “Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom” from 3:15 to 4:45 in the library and on Thursday, March 6th Dr. Leonard will present his workshop on “Planning and Implementing Instruction a Supervisory Technique” We are honored to have these two gentlemen here at AIS and share their expertise with our teachers.