MS eNews – Friday, August 23, 2013
Updated MS Calendar of upcoming events:
Monday, August 26 – Thursday, August 29
- MS Theatre Sports Auditions
Monday, August 26
- IB Information Meeting for MS&HS Parents and Students, 6:30pm in MPB1
Thursday, August 29
- MS Welcome Student Assembly at 1:20pm in Chevron Theatre (not Friday at 7:20am)
Tuesday, September 3
- Student Early Dismissal at 1:00pm
Thursday, September 5
- MS Open House at 6:30pm
Friday, September 6
- MS Alternate Dress Day
- MS Student Social at 3:00pm
Monday, September 9
- MAP Testing Window Opens
Friday, September 13 – Sunday, September 15
- MS Symphonic Band Cultural Exchange Trip to Khao Lak
Monday, September 16 – Wednesday, September 18
- MS Yearbook Photos
- MS Height & Weight Screening for all new students
Thursday, September 19
- MS PTA Meeting
- MS/HS Math Information Meeting at 6:30pm
Wednesday, September 25
- MAP Testing Window Closes
Thursday, September 26
- Professional Day – No School for Students
Friday, September 27
- ISB Holiday – No School
Friday, September 27 – Sunday, September 29
- ISB Activity Free Weekend
MS PTA Meeting – PowerPoint
If you missed the first MS PTA Meeting of the year held Thursday, August 22, click on the following link for the information presented: MS PTA Presentation Aug 22
Counselor News
On Thursday, we were able to meet with parents at the MS PTA meeting. We made a brief presentation about who we are, what we do, and how to contact us. If you were not able to make it, here is a LINK to our presentation.
Cynthia, Jackie, & Ross
PowerSchool MS Parent Accounts
Returning parents of present 7th or 8th graders: Your login details are the same as last year.
New parents of present 7th or 8th graders: You should have received your login details either via the MS New Student/Parent Orientation Meeting held on Saturday, August 10th, or in a letter brought home by your child. If you have not received your letter, please contact Khun Arisa in the MS Office at arisap@isb.ac.th
All parents of present 6th graders: You should be receiving your login details in a letter to be brought home by your child either on Monday or Tuesday next week; if you don’t, please contact Khun Arisa in the MS Office at arisap@isb.ac.th
For all MS parents: How to set up a family account? Please click on the following link for directions – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yDDwyaxWya7uYN-anUNy9-y82uZ-h9_p3F9F5dhwyPE/pub
Update on MS Parent and Student Access to PowerSchool
A reminder that all MS student and parent access to PowerSchool is presently off. It is not quite ready to go yet but we anticipate access being activated early next week. We will send an announcement once it has been turned on.
Ask.fm: A Particularly Nasty Website
By Mr. Bates
ISB IT Director
Up until recently the choice social media sites of our students have been Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. A relatively new player in the market is “Ask.fm”, a question and answer site that allows people to post anonymous comments and questions to a person’s profile page. The anonymity part is what sets this site apart from the more traditional social networking sites, while Facebook gathers as much information as they can about their users; Ask.fm prides itself on the guaranteed, complete anonymity of its users. Perceived anonymity sadly brings out the worst traits and behaviors of people e.g. bullying and harassment.
Why is Ask.fm proving so popular with our MS and HS students? Adolescence is an age where students are trying to fit in, they want to be popular, they want to know what others think of them, and they like to know people are interested in them. Ask.fm checks all these boxes. Many of the questions and comments posted are harmless and mundane, however because of the anonymous nature of the site, some will use the site to post nasty, hurtful questions often of a sexual nature. For a student using Ask.fm to seek positive affirmation from their peers, the resultant abusive comments can be particularly destructive to the individual’s self esteem.
How would I know if my child has an Ask.fm account? While question and answer sites like Ask.fm continue to allow complete anonymity, there is very little good that can come out of using it. Students should delete their Ask.fm account. Evidence of Ask.fm use can be found in a student’s Facebook timeline, they post links to Ask.fm inviting their Facebook friends to comment.
What can I do as a parent? The most important piece of advice I can offer to any parent is to have conversations with your child. Conversations should include discussions about:
- The importance of presenting your best self-online.
- Do not share private information about yourself with strangers. Watch this video
- What to do if they are a victim of online bullying, or witness to bullying.
- Online is permanent, don’t post things you may regret later.
More detailed information specific to Ask.fm can be found here: https://www.webwise.ie/AskfmGuide.shtm
This site also offers some great tips for parenting in an online environment. As a school we will be running sessions to speak directly to the students about these issues.
Greetings from the library!
We hope you had a lovely summer and were able to immerse yourself in reading. We thought we would kick off the year with some highlights from our respective reading summers. Pick up a copy of any of these books at the Main Library:
Alegria’s Highlights
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
I kept reading about this book all summer long, it popped up in a NPR review, then the NY Times, and finally in a talk given by Ann Patchett. The reviews were uniformly impressive and rightly so. The book follows an interconnected crew of characters as they navigate the painful and harrowing realities of the Second Chechen War. Both, beautiful and brutal, powerful and poetic, the story unfolds in layers of past and present experiences giving insight into the lives of people constantly living in fear and hope. The author, Anthony Marra, has been compared variously to Tolstoy, Ondaatje, and Joseph Heller and his prose is stunning. Truly a remarkable read.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Anything I could write about this book and how much I found it brilliant, moving, and profoundly sad would inevitably spoil it for you. As so many other reviewers have noted, it’s impossible to write a review and not give away something essential that would ruin your experience. Thus, I’m hoping that sheer curiosity and perhaps some trust in my judgement will compel you to read this book. Ideally today! You won’t regret it.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
I like to think of this book as Twilight written for academics and feminists either that or the bizarre love child ofTwilight and A.S. Byatt’s Possession. It tells the story of a Diana Bishop, a historian, academic, and also, much to her dismay, a witch. While doing research for her book on alchemy, she stumbles upon an ancient manuscript, which purportedly contains the answer to some of the central mysteries of the universe. The discovery of the book sets into motion an epic tale involving vampires, daemons, many of the great historical figures of the past, and a super steamy forbidden love affair. It’s an immensely readable, intelligent, and satisfying romp…be warned though, it ends on quite a cliffhanger!
Mischele’s Top Three
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
A lovely, unforgettable novel that cleverly interlaces the lives of Ruth, a novelist living on a remote Canadian island and suffering from writer’s block; and Nao, a desperately lonely sixteen-year-old Japanese American girl living in Tokyo and enduring brutal bullying at the hands of her new classmates. When Ruth finds Nao’s diary washed up on the shore along with other artifacts in a Hello Kitty lunchbox, she is compelled to find out what happened to her, and unravels a mystery that moves from WW II Japan to modern day British Columbia. Shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize, Zen Buddhist priest Ozeki’s novel is an excellent match for readers who enjoy modern literature, historical fiction, and intricate storytelling. Click here for a full review.
Lamb by Bonnie Nadzam
A stripped-down, less delicate version of Lolita that makes Humbert Humbert look like a lamb, Nazdam’s award-winning debut novel has little of Nabokov’s gentle prose to photoshop middle-aged David Lamb’s kidnapping of eleven-year-old Tommie after the death of his father and the demise of his marriage. A must-read for fans of Lolita, Lamb will satisfy your craving for an unsettling and intellectual read. Click here for a full review.
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
A gorgeous space opera of an elegy, award-winning poet Tracy K. Smith’s latest work was written for her father, an engineer who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. An elegant combination of metaphor, music, and melody, not to be missed by modern poetry fans!
Yours in Reading,
Mischele and Alegria
Panther Tennis BISAC U13 Tryout
by Panther Tennis
contact: panthertennisisb@gmail.com
This is to inform you that BISAC U13 Tryouts will be held next week on Monday (Aug 26) & Tuesday (Aug 27), at 2.30-5.30pm.
As such, all Panther Tennis programs — with the exception of Cubs and Mini Cubs — will be cancelled on those two dates. There will be make-up classes in the last week of the season, on October 14 -20.
For those who are trying out, please arrive on time.
Thank you,
Panther Tennis Team
Website: https://inside.isb.ac.th/cao/
Reminder: IB Information Evening
There will be an IB Information evening on Monday 26th August 6:30pm in MPB1 for all interested families from across ES, MS and HS. Come and find out more about the opportunities and experiences that exist in our International Baccalaureate program in the final two years of school. The evening will be for those families who know little about the IB program.
Repeat: Welcome to the ISB Cafeteria
On behalf of Epicure Catering Company, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new and welcome to the ISB Cafeteria for this school year. Because there is always so much ‘cooking’ in our kitchens, I will only touch briefly on some important information in this notice, which will serve as a reminder to the ‘oldies’ and give a glimpse to the ‘newbies’ of some of the wonderful aspects happening at the ‘heart’ of ISB, namely the Cafeteria.
- · Main Cafeteria Hours:
- The Grind Coffee Corner
- · Some New Items to Look for: Assorted sushi plate, yoghurt & fruit cups, self serve muesli, and Chef Salad. New items are interchanged all year, so keep your eyes peeled.
- · Home Baked Goodness: About 98% of what we serve in the Cafeteria is home baked, hand cut, hand grate, home cooked, and hand prepared by us every morning. This includes all the items at The Grind, the hamburger buns for BBQ Friday, the baguette bread for the sandwiches, the tortillas for the ES Canteen, the Pineapple Juice for our punch, our slow brewed iced tea, and the home roasted and hand cut meats, such as the turkey and honey-ham at the sandwich bar. Our Bakery prepares on average 600-700 items per day for all of our various needs.
- · Menu Planning/ Allergy Information: Starting next week, please look for the HS/MS Weekly Menu printed on an A4 paper, which will be posted on the main menu board at the Cafeteria. Included is a list of what major allergens are in what dishes. For ex. F= Fish Ingredient, V=Vegetarian, OS= Oyster Sauce, SS= Soy Sauce, GF= Gluten Free, EF= Egg Free, DF= Dairy Free. For those in ES, the weekly menu can be found on the parent portal along with the allergy information there. ISB is a peanut/tree nut free school, hence you will not see any labeling in this area.
- · Get a 5% Discount – when you bring your own cup for any beverage at the Grind. When using our cups however, we are proud to boast that our plastic cups are 100% biodegradable and made from 100% plant sources.
- · Organic Produce at the Salad Bar – Approx 30 – 50% of the items at the salad bar are organic on any given day, depending on availability from our suppliers. For those needing a little more meat protein on their salads, please present your bowl to the sandwich counter, and the meat of your choice will be added for an additional 20 B. These together with our specialty and feature salads, have made this section the most popular item on campus!
- 6:30am – 9:30am Breakfast at the main buffet area and the Grind.
- 9:30 am – 1:00pm Lunch
- 6:30am – 5:00pm
We look forward to another great year of servicing ISB, and sharing our commitment, joy and love of good food.
Happy Eating,
Michelle Ihrig
Epicure Catering
Manager of Operations ISB
Tel. 02-963-5800 ext. 7728
M: 082-322-7531