High School Play, MUN Impact, ASIAC Music/Badminton/Table Tennis, WSC, & Operation Smile Mission

Friday and Saturday you can catch the high school play. The Visit runs Friday, 30 November at 6:30pm and Saturday, 1 December at 2:00pm. Tickets are on sale in the main reception office for Rs. 100.

MUN Impact is a new club this year.  Unlike Model United Nations, whose focus is developing student leadership, debate, analysis, negotiation and public speaking skills, MUN Impact's focus is outward -- on making changes locally that reflect the goals of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.  While the Chennai chapter of the club is new, they already have been highlighted on the MUN Impact's website.

ASIAC Badminton and Table Tennis head to the tournament next week.  I'll share the links for the live feeds for those events here as soon as I have them.

ASIAC Music is here at AISC.  Students from ASB and AES will arrive on Thursday and depart on Sunday.  Everyone is welcome to attend the performance on Saturday.

World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions
Four of our students took part in the World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions at Yale University in the USA November 16-21. The students started their involvement in the World Scholar’s Cup last year and earned places to compete at the Tournament of Champions. Congratulations to the following students:
Lokeshwar, Sajiv Reddy, Emi: Team Writing, Silver Team; Debate, Silver; Bowl
AV Quiz, Silver.
Loki: Challenge, 2 Silvers; Writing, Silver
Sajiv: Writing, Silver
Emi: Individual Debate, Gold; Writing, Silver

Finally, next week six high school students will travel to northern India to participate in supporting cleft lip and cleft palette surgeries through the Operation Smile club.  We're proud of their work to spread hope to those less fortunate.

Marveling at what goes on

On Wednesday morning at 7 AM I was simply amazed at how alive the campus was.  there were over 70 middle school students practicing for ASIAC Badminton and Table Tennis.  There were another 16 students in the pool -- from both high school and middle school -- working outside their season on stroke improvement.  And a high school student-lead running club had 15 students from grade 5 to 12 out for a long run followed by an exhausting game of capture the flag.  Meanwhile there were 5 parents walking and jogging on the track, and another handful of staff, students and parents in the fitness room. 

Of course, after school on any other day of the week things are abuzz too.  Practices for tennis, soccer badminton and basketball.  ASAs ranging form the arts to academics, athletics to yoga.  Clubs planning service to the local community or digging into student interests.  Band rehearsals...  Open art studio... lots of pursuit of passions. 

This week we kicked off the second season of ASAs.  We have continued to revise how we do registrations in an effort to simplify things for parents while not over-complicating things for staff.  We have a few more things to adjust and after we do I will host a parent coffee to share information about our thinking and process.

Tomorrow there are friendly matches for ASIAC table tennis, badminton and SAISA boys soccer. 

CHEMUN, ASA Season 2, and SAISA Season 2

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday over 300 visiting students will join over 100 AISC HS and MS students for CHEMUN, the Chennai Model United Nations event hosted by AISC annually. The theme is Stagnation and Innovation. This is the 12th MUN conference we've hosted and participating schools come from Chennai, elsewhere in India, and internationally!

One very special characteristic of our MUN conference is that it is largely organized and run by student leaders.

More information about CHEMUN is available on the CHEMUN website.

ASA Season 2 begins on Monday, November 12th.  Emails were sent last week to those registered.  If you want to join an ASA or need to make a change to a registration please email vsripriya@aischennai.org.

SAISA Season 2 sports have begun.  The practice schedule for each is below.
Boys Soccer - M, Tu, Th, F 3:45-5:45 PM
Tennis - M, Tu 3:45-5:45 PM, Th, F 6:30-8 AM
Girls Basketball - M 3:45-5:45 PM, Tu, Th 6:30-8 AM, F 3:45-5:45 PM
Badminton - Tu, W, Th 3:45-5:45 PM

SAISA Season 1 Volleyball and Swimming and ASA Season 2

SAISA Season 1 sport teams are out from Wednesday through Sunday this week for volleyball and swimming.  Links below go to tournament and meet information and live feeds!

Girls Volleyball in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Boys Volleyball in Kathmandu, Nepal
Swimming in Amman, Jordan

Registration for Season 2 of ASAs closed earlier this week.  Please email us if you'd like to enroll.  The activities are available using the links below.

• EY5

• G1

• G2

• G3

• G4

• G5

• G6

• G7

• G8

High School Discovery Day Fall 2018

On Friday, October 19th, High School students had a day outside of the traditional classroom.  Here are some of the things that were done.

Students created pottery for Art Sustains which will be sold next week. Proceeds will go toward purchasing an electric pottery wheel for a local struggling potter.

Some students took "Cook Your Lunch" and learned how to prepare food from scratch.

Some students volunteered in the Elementary classrooms for the day.

Experiential trips, activities during fall break, student information, HS clubs and activities, photos of games

Experiential Education Trips

Within the next month and a half all students from grade 5-12 will have an experiential education trip.

• Grade 5 go on their classroom without walls trips from Sept 18-21 or 25-28.
• High School students go on Discover India trips are between Sept 21-28.
• Middle School Week Without Walls trips happen Oct 29-Nov 2.

Jump Off
With the time off for students during fall break we realize that many families would benefit from having activities.  So we're going to offer Jump Off during the student's time off.  Three types of activities are available.  Jump Off Camp provides activities for students between 8 AM and 2 PM on the Monday-Friday of the break.  Jump Off Coaching is much like our current ASA program where students choose from our options.  Finally, Jump Off Open Times are times where facilities may be used by families or HS students.  For information about all of the Jump Off programs go here.

Student Information

Early in the year when speaking to new parents about how to find out about activities I mentioned that HS and MS students have a daily bulletin that is the source of much information about clubs, sports, and service opportunities.  The address for these bulletins are below.

• Middle School Student Bulletin
• High School Student Bulletin

Clubs and Activities

Here is a glance of the high school activities that are coming up for the next week.  We should have similar information out for the middle school students in a week or so.

Photos
There are photos of recent ASIAC Boys and Girls soccer matches.  

ASA registrations and payments, HS clubs kickoff, Big Bad Blue, Community Soccer Tournament

Bills for Season 1 for the Arts, Sports, and Activities (ASAs) have been emailed to parents.  If you did not receive on or there is an error, please just email Sripriya or Ryan or stop into the Athletics & Activities office.

On Tuesday the 4th of September, the HS students will participate in the Activities Mela -- where clubs and activities are represented by students to spread awareness about their group and encourage joining.  Spend time thinking about how to be involved in activities in the HS.  Next week I'll share links to the planning documents that are given to students.

September 8 and 9 is the annual Big Bad Blue swim meet.  If you are able to volunteer to help, please fill in this form.  No experience is necessary!

The Danish parents are hosting a community soccer tournament on September 23rd.  Open to anyone from middle school and older.  For more information click here.

Beginning of 2018-2019 school year

Hello and welcome to the beginning of the new year!  Here is what is going on with more information about each linked.

• SAISA Swimming has started their morning practices for students age 10-19.
• SAISA Boys and Girls Volleyball has begun their afternoon practices for HS students.
• Model United Nations has begun for the MS and HS.  Info in the MS and HS bulletins.
• ASAIC Girls and Boys Soccer has begun their morning practices.  The girls have their first match Friday the 24th at 4 PM and the boys on Saturday at 9 AM.
• ASAs for EY5-G8 students have begun.  Information about activities is here.
• Information on facility use by community members is available here.

Coach Melissa Hutchinson

This is Melissa’s first year coaching tennis at AISC. She played on various sports teams including the tennis team during her time as a student. Specifically, Melissa fondly remembers competing against AISC in SAISA events when she was a student at the American School of Bombay.

Coach James Smeltzer

Coach James is a record setting high school track runner. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and is excited to lace up his shoes once again here in Chennai. 

Coach Marea Bouma

Coach Bouma began playing soccer as a 5-year-old in Southern California and continued playing through college. For the past 9 years, she has thoroughly enjoyed coaching elementary through middle school girls soccer in Saudi Arabia, where she worked and lived before relocating to Chennai in August of 2018. Besides being an enthusiastic coach, Mrs. Bouma enjoys time with her family: her husband, Robb, and her two children, Judah (son, grade 9) and Avery (daughter, grade 6). They enjoy traveling, card games, boating, scuba diving, hiking, and many other activities. Coach Bouma is also known as "Mrs. Bouma" as she teaches 1st grade at AISC.

Coach Nigel Holdsworth

Coach Nigel arrived in Chennai in 2015 and as the School Psychologist works with students in all sections of the school. This is his first season as a coach of soccer but since his arrival in Chennai, he has studied the art of soccer under the wise instruction of Mr Bill. Coach Nigel grew up in Sydney, Australia playing rugby, cricket, soccer and competing in surf lifesaving, swimming and track. In a previous career, he was an adventure educator in Australia, Nicaragua, Honduras and the USA where he led backpacking, canoeing, rock climbing and caving trips.

Coach Jayme Gawrych

Coach Gawrych has been a coach for various sports over the past five years, including American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Golf, and Volleyball. He is looking forward to coaching Volleyball and Basketball at AISC this year. Coach Gawrych grew up playing sports all the time. He played American Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Golf in Cudahy, Wisconsin where he attended High School. Along with sports, you can often find Coach G doing outdoor activities, which include, but are not limited to camping, fishing, and hiking. Coach Gawrych is excited to get food recommendations from the teams he will be coaching as he loves eating at new places and trying new items on the menu.

Coach Robb Bouma

Coach Bouma is from the amazing Pacific Northwest in Washington State, USA. He grew up playing football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and track. Since then, his personal athletic focus has been exploring the outdoors and enjoying as many adventures that it offers. Coach Bouma has taught for 20 years and has coached each of those years in education (soccer, baseball, basketball, and golf). He's excited to join the AISC community - both in and out of the classroom!

Coach Hans DeJong

Coach Hans grew up in Kodaikanal, India, and played for the school soccer team. During college he played soccer on the club team and also spent his time playing ultimate frisbee, hiking, and backpacking. He has coached soccer teams in Los Angeles and Bamako, Mali. He spent the last 6 years in graduate school where he played on multiple competitive soccer teams in San Francisco. Coach Hans is a scientific scuba diver and has been to all 7 continents.

Coach Gemma Adderly

Coach Gemma has been coaching soccer for over 10 years. Her love for the game started at a young age and lead to her playing in the women’s Premier League in England. Coach Gemma’s passion for the sport saw her paving the way for a girls section of a previously male-only soccer club in Manchester, England. Her recent soccer coaching experience saw her establishing a girls soccer program at an International school in Singapore, before transferring to become the head coach of the MS and HS boys teams. Her passion for sport continues with a love of volleyball where she has been working with MS girls and boys teams in Singapore. Coach Gemma’s volleyball playing days saw her and her college team crowned as the National Champions in England before she took early retirement to focus on soccer. When not working, Coach Gemma enjoys scuba diving, cycling and watching movies. She hopes to master the skill of surfing on the Chennai waves.

Week 30 - World Scholar's Cup

This weekend AISC is hosting the Chennai round of the World Scholar's Cup.  We'll have over 500 visitors from the community on the campus for the event.

We've had quite a few boys basketball games this year and have just a few more scheduled over the next couple of days.  If you've missed the past games there are great photos from the matches against Loyola, IIT Madras, and Abacus.

Next week the SAISA teams will travel.  Boys' Basketball goes to TAISM in Oman.  Girls' Soccer goes to OSC in Sri Lanka.  Track and Field goes to ACS in Jordan.  These links are to the tournament websites.

While those are going on, we'll be hosting the SAISA Music Festival.

Meanwhile, in the Middle School, ASIAC Swimming and Basketball are going strong.  We host that event in May.  We've already got many hosts lined up for the visiting athletes.  If you're willing to help out please complete this form.

This weekend also features a Design Saturday. And sign-ups are open for this year's Summer Camp!

Week 27 - 3/4 of the year!

As this week draws to a close we wrap up 3/4 of the year.  April and May will move quickly so here is a preview of some of the events coming up in the next two months.

April 7th we plan to have an off-site soccer match and track meet for the SAISA teams.  We have to hold them off-site because the construction will have begun for the track and soccer pitch on our campus.

April 14th we'll be hosting the World Scholar's Cup.  For information about this, contact Mrs. Paula.  Registrations will be due on April 3rd.

The third SAISA season for sports will conclude on April 22.  Boys Basketball will head to Muscat, Girls Soccer to Colombo and Track & Field to Amman.  Meanwhile, we'll be hosting SAISA Music here.

ASIAC Swimming and Basketball will begin (or continue for swimming -- it started on the 12th for most students).  We'll be hosting so watch for messages about helping out with providing a place for the 80 students we expect to visit.  The season-end tournament will be May 11 and 12.

Raptor Swim Club will have their season-end event in Bangalore and the Stonehill Super Splash on May 18 and 19.

Finally, we've created a new website to use for all of the activities we host.  

Week 26 - ASIAC Theater, Volleyball and Tennis

One of the many events on campus this week is ASIAC Theater.  Follow the link for the program.  On Saturday at 6:30 they will perform a free ensemble program for anyone to enjoy.  

While that has 21 of our middle school students busy, we also have 8 tennis players and 30 volleyball players at ASB for the ASIAC tournament.  

ASIAC swimming will start on March 12th, click the link to fill in the interest form.  ASIAC Basketball will begin on March 26th and information will be out next week.  Practices for both are in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The Maker Carnival this weekend will be happening while the adult 7-a-side soccer tournament happens -- so there will be plenty to see and do on campus Saturday.  

Thursday and Friday of this week we had a lot of SAISA sport action.  Thursday and Friday after school we had track and field events.  Thursday was a SAISA soccer game for our girls team.  Friday the boys had a home basketball game.  For all three it was their first event of the season.

Here is a photo set from a recent SAISA Boys Basketball practice.

Week 25

There are a few opportunities for community recreation in the next week.  Open to parents (and students) is the 5th annual Raptorthon on March 4th.  

Next weekend is the 2018 7-a-side Adult UN Football (Soccer) Tournament Championship for community members.  Team or individual registration is possible.  See the details for the event here.    

Next week we host ASIAC Theater and the volleyball and tennis teams will be in Mumbai.  The theater website will feature the production on Saturday night.

Week 24

All sizes available in orange, blue and reflective.

I'm still buzzing from the excitement we generated on campus while hosting SAISA Girls Basketball.  My highlights were the nail-bitingly close games the Raptors played in, the sportsmanship, the school spirit, the wheelchair basketball (pictures at the end of this post) and the way the community supported the 68 visiting athletes.

We now have vinyl stickers of the AISC Raptor available in the iHub and Madras Cafe.  Small stickers are 100 INR, medium are 200 INR and the large ones are 300 INR.

The registrations for After School Activities for trimester 3 are open for online registrations until Sunday.  In-person registrations will be conducted on the 26th and 27th from 8:30-9:30 AM at the ES Cafeteria.  Below are links to information.

• ASA Information
• Lower Elementary ASA list
• Upper Elementary ASA list
• Middle School ASA list

ASIAC third season travel teams have been chosen.  Volleyball and tennis will go to ASB the second weekend of March.  The volleyball teams have a game today after school and we hope to have another next Friday too.

ASIAC Tennis Team 2018

AISC will be hosting the ASIAC Theater festival.  We'll have 30 visiting actors from ASB and AES.  If you can help with hosting for the event, please use this form.

SAISA season three sports have begun.  We have Boys Basketball, Girls Soccer and Track & Field.  In case there are some that are hesitant, the season has just started and the girls soccer team really needs more members!

Two upcoming high school student activities are not in the calendar...

For the first time, we will have High School students participate in an ISTA (International Schools Theatre Association) festival.  The one they will attend is in Cambodia during the first weekend in March.  

High School students also are participating in the National History Day competition in Singapore on the second weekend of March.

SAISA Girls Basketball 2018

Week 19 - Back from winter break

ASIAC volleyball and tennis have begun.  Practices are on M,W, and F before school.  The season ends the weekend of March 10th with the tournament in Mumbai.

AMIS Honor Choir will be in Chennai.  We need host families for these visiting middle school students.  If you can help, please complete this housing form.

With the SAISA Badminton, Boy's Soccer and Girl's Basketball seasons winding down there are plenty of home matches in the coming weeks.

If you're able to provide housing for SAISA Girls Basketball, please fill out this form.  

Design Saturday is coming up on Saturday, February 10th from 9-noon.  This sheet has more information about the two challenges and how to register for this activity for grades 1-5.