Wednesday 21st November – Grade 10 IB Information Evening
by Philip Rogers
Grade 10 parents and students please save the evening of Wednesday 21st November to attend a presentation on our IB program and courses.  I will provide information to all Grade 10’s about choices involving either the full IB Diploma or taking individual IB courses during grades 11 and 12.  These are important decisions and I hope you will be able to attend and I look forward to seeing you there.
Philip Rogers
HS Dean of Academics

News from HS Counseling
by Kevin Callahan

Did you know:

• 57% of our seniors have been here since 9^th grade?
• A study of one million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.
• The San Francisco Giants did not win a baseball World Series in the first 53 years of Mr. Callahan’s life; they have now won two of the last three!

Do you have a tutor for your son or daughter?  Does the tutor know and talk with the subject teacher?  If not, you aren’t getting your money’s worth!  Asking a student to “translate” (even in the same language) what they think they need to work on from teacher to tutor is a very poor use of a tutor’s time, and asking a lot of a student who is struggling with the demands of a specific subject.  If you want to maximize your son or daughter’s tutoring time, talk to your child’s counselor so that he or she can arrange a meeting between tutor and teacher.  That will guarantee that your tutor is working on the things that need to be worked on!

Interested in Japanese universities?  See the notes from Dr. Curtis below!

Freshmen:  On Wednesday and Thursday, the grade 9 students’ Freshman Seminar consisted of work on Naviance to understand how parents and students choose the universities to which the students will apply.  We talked about criteria for selection of universities and how to do a search based on specific criteria.  This is just an exercise to understand the process; the best thing a student can do for their future right now is to study hard and do their best in ISB’s program!  The next Freshman Seminar has been moved to November 26^th and 27^th to avoid a conflict with the students’ visit to a local Wat for World Civilizations class.

Sophomores:  Sophomore Seminar #1 –  Nov. 5 and 6.

Students will complete ” Do What You Are” on Naviance.  This is a personality type inventory.  Using this inventory, students will then complete a Career Worksheet and research possible colleges majors and careers.  A good start for learning about doing what you’re good at, and what you like (they often go together!).

Juniors: If your child is struggling with any class recommend that he/she see the teacher during flex time for some extra help!

Seniors: It is important to know that universities often have automatic responses when they receive your application.  It will instruct you to have a transcript or other official documents sent, even though you requested them long ago.  Don’t worry!  We keep track of everything and send documents in a timely fashion.  Give a few days for the university, not us, to update your application.  If your file still shows items missing after two weeks, see your counselor.  And remember, November 14^th is the deadline for submitting transcript request forms to schools with a deadline before February 1^st.

The University Lab is still in session every Monday in room 3-203 from 2:15 to 3:00.  Seniors are welcome to come by and work on their applications, ask questions of a counselor and/or review their essay with a peer or counselor. Snacks and treats are provided.

University visits at ISB in the Coming Week:

• Monday, November 5 – Illinois Wesleyan
• Wednesday, November 7 – Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Coming November 12 – Keio University, Carleton and Juniata Colleges

And from Dr. Curtis:

During the October Break, Japanese teacher Kahoru Nakamachi and I visited the following five Japanese Universities:

• Yokohama National University
  Yokohama City University
• Chiba University
• Rikkyo University
• Tsukuba University

The visit helped cement ISB’s relationship with these universities but it also gave us a chance to hear about programs for Japanese Returnee as well as programs for non-Japanese students.

Japan has launched a new program, Global30.  According to the universities we visited (and written on their website at https://www.uni.international.mext.go.jp/global30/),  “With the introduction of the “Global 30” Project, the best universities in Japan are now offering degree programs in English. By doing this, these universities have broken down the language barrier which was one of the obstacles preventing international students from studying in Japan. A range of courses in a number of fields are offered in English at the universities under the “Global 30” Project.”  There are 13 pilot universities who are offering programs, but the impact has been tremendous on other universities as well.

For Japanese Returnees, all the universities we visited had differing views on the necessary requirements, all the way from wanting only full IB diploma candidates to apply (Tsukuba) to accepting students who can demonstrate an excellent record of not only academic success but also involvement in extracurricular activities (Rikkyo).

As always, visits to universities help counselors to understand the university more fully and have the ability to help students find the best match.

SEA Honor Band:
by Kerri Fitzgerald

18 Band students under Tom Myers and accompanied by Helen Lambie – Jones head away to Manila for the South East Asian Honour Band this week. They will be hosted by Faith Academy and the festival will end with a concert. We wish them safe travels and fabulous music making.

A Debating and Impromptu invitational with NIST
by Laura Stewart

A Debating and Impromptu invitational with NIST  will take place Saturday Nov 10th 9 am – 2 pm. Our top debaters will battle it out with wit and wisdom and hopefully hone up their skills for the CC event in March 2013.