MS eNews – Friday, January 25, 2013
Updated MS Calendar of upcoming events:
Wednesday – Sunday, January 30 – February 3
- MS AMIS Honor Band
Friday, February 1
- MS Assembly 1:10 – 2:00pm in the Chevron Theatre
Saturday, February 2
- BISAC U13 Soccer (Boys at ISB, Girls at BPS)
Monday, February 4
- Grade 8 depart after school for Chiang Mai Trip
Wednesday, February 6
- Grade 6 depart start of school for Khao Yai Trip
- Grade 7 depart start of school for Kaeng Krachan Trip
Friday, February 8
- Grade 8 arrive from Chiang Mai at 7:00am, no school rest of day
- Grade 6 arrive from Khao Yai in time for 2:15pm busses
- Grade 7 arrive from Kaeng Krachan in time for 2:15pm busses
Tuesday, February 12
- Early Dismissal at 1:00pm
Friday, February 15
- MS Alternate Dress Day (Theme is Twin Day)
Monday, February 25
- Maka Bucha Day (No School)
MS Activities and Athletics Weekly Highlights
AMIS Honor Band. Good luck to our 24 amazing student-musicians heading to AMIS in Myanmar next week. On the topic of Top 10 lists and the arts, check out this Washington Post article about 10 skills children learn from the arts.
Grade Level Trips. All grade levels have been meeting about the upcoming class trips in February. It is never too early to start looking at the packing lists. Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8
The very first U15 BISAC Badminton Tournament is being held this Saturday at Bangkok Patana. Good luck to all our badminton student-athletes participating in this event!
Drama Auditions for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” begin THIS Monday, January 28. Details, including the script, can be found HERE.
Watch your step in the grade 6 quad. As part of their Innovation and Urbanization Units, Grade 6 Humanities students are growing rice. To kick off this project, they had speakers from one of Bangkok’s CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). To learn more about this CSA, check out this Bangkok Post article.
Grade 7 puts on their first Model United Nations. This past week grade 7 students held the first ISB Middle School Model United Nations conference, for which students had prepared for extensively. This conference was entirely student run and acted as a capstone to their Food Sustainability unit. Each United Nations committee prepared a solution to a pressing issue regarding food security. The students then voted both as humanitarians and as representatives of their countries on whether or not to pass these resolutions. Issues of country sovereignty, economic cost and environmental damage were paramount to the decision making process. The teachers were all impressed with how professional and passionate the students were while debating these important issues. Check out photos of the event HERE.
U13 & U15 BISAC Soccer Tournaments will take place next Saturday, February 2. ISB will host the U13 Boys Tournament. For a schedule of matches at ISB, click HERE.
Web Design for students. This is an opportunity for students to learn a quick and easy way to turn Google Sites into stunning websites. During the Mini Workshop students will learn about setting colors and fonts as well as creating and adding their own favicon. To sign up, click HERE. Contact Mr. Zambrano (miguelz@isb.ac.th) if you have any questions.
One School, One Book, One Ring events will conclude next week. For a list of events, click HERE.
BISAC SPORTS Season 3: Volleyball, Softball, U15 Tennis tryouts start on February 27!! For more details, click HERE.
From Your MS Librarian…
Happy New Year (a little late)! As the New Year is so often a time for people to reinvent themselves -physically, emotionally, spiritually – I thought I’d compile a list of books wherein reinvention is the name of the game. In this case, it is the classics themselves, which have been reinvented by modern authors. Without further ado, here are my picks for the best retellings of classic stories (a very popular subgenre these days)!
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
This highly compelling re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter is set in America in the near future. In this America, church and state are no longer separate and criminals are not imprisoned but rather dyed specific colors that denote their crime. In the case of the protagonist, Hannah Payne, she has been genetically altered to be a Red–the color of murder. Hannah has been convicted of killing her unborn child and has refused to name the equally complicit father, a famous evangelical pastor. This remarkably disturbing novel functions both as political commentary and well-crafted entertainment and owes as much to The Scarlet Letter as it does to The Handmaid’s Tale. The story of Hannah’s punishment, her passion, and her surprising journey will linger a long while after you’ve finished reading it.
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
I am an unabashed Jane Austen fan and generally find all of the recent Austen-inspired literature to be third-rate knock-offs. However, once in a blue moon, a novel will come along that captures the spirit of Austen in new and intriguing ways. For Darkness Shows the Stars, a YA retelling of Persuasion, is such a novel. Set in the dystopian future where humanity has barely managed to survive a genetic apocalypse of its own making, the novel deftly explores the ramifications of genetic modifications, the dangers of blind faith and the complexities of class, while remaining true to the plot of Austen’s original story. The novel’s protagonist, Elliot North, is smart, prickly, and compelling–in short, worthy of her Austen lineage. Even if you’re not an Austen fan, you’ll love this story for its intelligence and insight.
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Hours is a hard book to describe, in part, an homage to Virginia Woolf, and a retelling of her masterpiece Mrs. Dalloway, it is a rich testament to the ways in which novels can impact and shape us. Deeply sad, superbly written, The Hours explores the interior lives of three women living in three different time periods–Virginia Woolf in 1923, Clarissa Vaughan in 1990, and Laura Brown in 1949–and the intersection of love, loss, and despair. A slim novel, it manages to speak volumes about the secret truths we carry within us and the daily beauty and sorrow we are witness to. It’s by no means an easy book to read, as befitting any tribute to Woolf, but it is marvelous and well worth the effort.
Railsea by China Mieville
As most of you know by now, I am an avid science fiction fan. Having read widely within the genre, I can safely say that China Mieville is possibly the most inventive, surprising, subversive, and intellectual writer in the field. Genre aside, he’s widely considered to be one of the most eminent writers working in the world today and deservedly so. Railsea, his most recent work is nominally intended for a young adult audience but is so rich and complex that it would certainly captivate any adult reader. A retelling of Moby Dick, the novel introduces us to a world where the “seas” are a vast network of railways and the monsters hunted are giant moles. Our main character, Sham, is a young doctor’s assistant aboard a moler ship serving a captain intent on hunting down an elusive mole responsible for her lost arm. Is the premise absurd? Yes. The world is wildly improbable? Certainly. Is it a fantastic, mind-boggling read? Absolutely!
March by Geraldine Brooks
More of a parallel novel than a retelling, March is the story of Mr. March, the long-absent father from Little Women. Geraldine Brooks writes stunning historical fiction and this slender work is one of her very best. March is a clergyman, a transcendentalist, and an abolitionist intent on living life according to his lofty, yet often naive, ideals. The novel takes us into the dark heart of war and delivers us into the horrors, the guilt, and the small moments of redemption that occur in such times. Mr. March (who is based on Alcott’s father) is a compellingly human character; at turns flawed and tragic, inspiring and riveting. For those who loved Little Women, Brooks’ depiction of Marmee will be a surprise, but I think, a welcome one.
And finally, for those of you looking for some visual entertainment, look no further than the masterful and highly addictive reinvention of the 1970s show Battlestar Galactica. Arguably the best TV show ever made, its commentary on Bush-era politics, exploration of religious faith, representation of gender roles, and good old-fashioned space battles make this series a must-see. It’s so good that the cast and writers actually were invited to the UN to discuss human rights issues and global politics! See the trailer if you’re curious…
Happy reading and watching!
Campus Card system was down on Thursday Jan 24th
About 90% of all lunches and snacks were recorded manually. This means that many of you will not see the usual activity on the campus card from the cafeteria for this date. Slowly but surely our staff is entering the manual notes into the computer system. However, the transaction may show up on a different date than the actual date of purchase, and may even show up as a different item, just with an identical cost. Kindly take note of this possible confusion as we get things sorted. Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact Michelle Ihrig at cafeteria@isb.ac.th
The International Food Fair NEEDS YOU!!!
The IFF is in two weeks! It is going to be a great time for everyone with 20 different countries providing food and over 40 games for all of us to have a blast! There is a raffle and a silent auction with fabulous prizes. But what we need is YOU! We are only half way there with volunteers! We only need 1 hour of your time to help at games, sell tickets for food and games, or just sit and chat with a buddy at the silent auction table! The games are easy, just take tickets and do crowd control! EASY!
PLEASE consider volunteering! If you can’t….sign up your husband! Your teenager! They need something to do to keep them out of trouble!
This IFF is run completely by volunteers and we need YOU! Please click on the following link and sign up today! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MylN-uPwcu3nKc14AhPo9uoC8fxMKk__6gKoBR0VcLg/edit
Questions? Email me, warrickbethe@gmail.com
eNewsletter Guidelines
By Tony Arnold anthonya@isb.ac.th
ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. For your convenience we have provided you with our eNewsletter guidelines below.
- Submitting an announcement for publication ISB accepts announcements from ISB families for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.
- What to include in the announcement • A title for your announcement • An email contact for further information
- Where to submit your announcement
- 4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community
- tinaratr@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School announcements of interest to ES families
- maurilib@isb.ac.th is for Middle School announcements of interest to MS families
- vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families
Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Marketing Director for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.
- Frequency of eNewsletter mailings
- The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.
- The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.