AMERICAN SCHOOLOF PARIS

Founded 1946

Graduation Edition: Class of 2012

American School of Paris Newsletter

A Word from the Head of School

With great respect and even a sense of awe, our teachers, Aaron Hubbard and I have watched the com-mitment to learning and unbridled energy our gradu-ating class of 2012 poured into their final year at ASP.  The pace our graduates set for themselves within their academic and extracurricular pursuits has left all of us a bit breathless, yet sincerely touched by the substance of their achievements and their obvious initiative for per-sonal and academic excellence.

In the name of wholeness of education, we ask our students to continually stretch themselves intellectually and dedicate their time and effort within and outside the classroom–a hallmark of an ASP education. In the ten months of their senior year, our students take on de-manding course loads, ongoing classroom assessments, service projects–from Romania to Bali to the Kalahari Desert, theater productions, sports and academic tour-naments, external exams, college applications, and then they must wait for college admissions officers to make decisions about their future. 

There were surely days our seniors felt part of a jug-gling act within a three-ring circus. Yet graduating and emerging on the other side is the stuff of achievement and building the belief that all things are possible. Our seniors did not disappoint.

This year’s graduates raised the bar on personal and academic excellence. As an example, consider sev-eral achievement measures of our 85 students in the class of 2012:

• 40% are seeking the full IB Diploma

• 20% are seeking the IB bi-lingual diploma

• 40% completed three or more AP courses and exams

• 33% completed four or more AP courses and exams

• 24 of our seniors are AP Scholar candidates

• 91% of have participated in IB/AP external examinations

• 5 of our students are Advanced Placement International Diploma Candidates

Commencement• 88% of our seniors participated in service clubs

• 39 seniors played on JV and varsity sports, earning medals in multiple sports

• Seniors led our student council and initiated the first-ever international student government leadership seminar for European overseas schools.

• Our graduating class obtained an exemplary university admissions standing, with a 40% acceptance rate into the most competitive colleges in America–the world average is 33%, as rated by the Barron’s Guide.

• Fully 90% of this year’s graduating class received one or more offers from their top university choices.

• 18% of the class was admitted to the most competitive Colleges and Universities in the United Kingdom.

• 24% of our seniors are going to science, technology and engineering programs and 13% to business and hotel management programs

• 1 0% of our seniors are attending top film, visual and performing arts programs worldwide.

This class has worked hard to learn and excel and we all observe, and like very much, what good and loyal friends they are and will continue to be for each other.

Surely the senior year poses special challenge to the art of parenting.  I suspect there were days you thought your senior was redefining the term “procrastination” or you had a new understanding of the word, “worry”. Yet these ten months have flown by faster than anyone would have liked, and just as you know your family dynamic is about to change, we know your graduate is prepared for the challenges that come next.

Yes, our class of 2012 has achieved much during their time with us – but all that was meant to happen has happened because they are fine people from families that care deeply about doing what it takes to help them live meaningful and purposeful lives. Thank you teachers through the grades, parents of graduating seniors and our remarkable ASP com-munity. I think you have graduated too.

All Good Wishes,

Mark E. UlfersHead of School

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This special edition of The ASPect is dedicated to our ASP graduates. The purpose of the issue is not only to highlight and celebrate this proud accomplishment in the life of our students but also tell the stories of those who have helped along the way. The production of this issue would not have been possible without the contribution of ASP par-ent Usha Viswanathan. We thank Usha for bring-ing her wonderful story ideas and so eloquently delivering them in the written word.

Renée BélecCommunications Manager

This year-end issue celebrates the Class of 2012 and the many members of the school community who helped these 85 seniors arrive at this mile-stone. Soon, the class will disperse all over the world to start their college careers. Continuing to link them together, however, will be the friend-ships forged on this campus and memories of the academic challenges they tackled together. Our hope: their remembrances of their ASP years remain vivid and that they return “home” to share stories from the next phase of their lives. Finally, we would like to thank the faculty members, administrators and staff at ASP for nurturing our graduates’ hopes and supporting their dreams through the years.

Usha ViswanathanSpecial Editor

Note from the Editor

“ASP by the Numbers”

131Number of university

acceptances

88%of senior students

involved in an Upper School club or group

1,302Number of champagne

bottles sold by the senior parent group in support of

senior class activities

10Number of service

organizations in which senior students played

key roles

2012An outstanding class!

40%of the class admitted to most competitive US institutions (admitting fewer than 1/3

of all applicants)

33Number of senior students

who took the IB diploma

23Number of nationalities in

our graduating class

24%of students admitted to science, technology or engineering programs

85Number of students in the

2012 graduating class

90%of admission offers received from the applying students’ top choices

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We asked our senior class of 2012

to name a highlight of Their Experience at ASP:

“The senior trips”

“Becoming a part of this amazing international and tight-knit community”

“Taking IB Art”

“The 2011 Student Film Festival”

“My personal and academic turnaround”

“Singing in the A Capella group”

“Competing on a sports team”

“The day I became more confident”

“My incredible, talented, humble and generous friends”

“Making the soccer team”

“Traveling to Bali for Habitat for Humanity”

“Developing an open mind and educated outlook”

“Getting an amazing international education”

“The 2011 cross-country season”

“Everything – every class, every musical opportunity”

“Model United Nations”

“Being on stage instead of behind the scene”

“Being a featured writer at the INK Night”

“’A’ in Math”

“Becoming a stronger individual”

“Getting into college”

“Sitting in Johan Semaan’s classroom”

“My poem being read at Middle School graduation”

“Graduation”

“Physics labs” “The 2011 Kalahari trip”

“Winning Track & Field ISSTs and setting an new ASP record”

“Mr. Miller’s biology class”

“Gaining a love for computer science”

“Winning volleyball ISSTs senior year at home”

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Farah Weannara, Clark University

Now that I am a senior on the verge of graduating and heading off to college, I realize that I have changed quite a bit from when I was a freshman. However, rather than having changed, I have grown. I was quiet and stubborn, unwill-ing to try new things or interact with unfamiliar people, but in the past few years, I have become more confident in academics and learned to work with oth-ers. Conversely, I find it more important that I’ve grown as a person. I have be-come more adventurous and comfortable with who I am. I put myself out there and despite many challenges, it has paid off. I am happy to say I will graduate with no regrets.

ASPVoices

The class of 2012 represents numerous states and nationalities, but each member has one thing in common: the personal growth they have experienced since they started high school. We asked a small group of seniors to reflect upon the changes they have witnessed within them-

selves since then. Their thoughtful answers are presented here:

Do you think you have changed a lot from your freshman year?

Evan Knox, McGill University

Like most stereotypical freshmen, I was lost when I started high school. We were in Shanghai. It took time, but I eventually started to reach out of my comfort zone and try new things.

When we moved to Paris for my final two years of high school, I started the International Baccalaureate (to the un-fortunate detriment of my social life). I also managed to pursue a new interest I had in the developing world by build-ing houses in Macedonia and teaching English in South Africa. It was at the American School of Paris where for the first time, I became involved immedi-ately with the school due to the warm welcome given by my new teachers and classmates, along with a new desire to be more active. In Paris, I found I was capa-ble of making a noticeable difference to the school community, and this is a reali-zation I am very proud of. Through the sports I took up, I learned that I give the most of myself on a team. As a student leader, I know that I can stand by myself in front of others. I don’t hesitate to state my ideas and will step up to lead if there is a chance. Like most of the seniors at ASP, I do too much and have time for too little, but every second is always worth it.

Hannah Nowicki, Carnegie Mellon

“Yes, I have changed a great deal since my freshman year, and no doubt for the better. I arrived at ASP halfway through my sophomore year as a shy, timid girl from Kansas with no moving experience and no exposure to any kind of foreign culture. I had never been challenged to defend my thoughts or beliefs, develop my own opinions, or have an open mind, skills which are essential to the culture of ASP. Now after two and a half years at ASP, I have partaken in a number of amazing opportunities and, more impor-tantly, learned how to keep an open mind and be a critical thinker. These skills will help me in my future endeavors, both musical and educational, as one period of my life ends and another begins.”

Avery Sellers, George Washington University

When I arrived at ASP I had very few interests and little motivation in academ-ics, due to a really bad experience at a French school. At ASP I was challenged and encouraged by some really great teachers (you know who you are!) and I started to get truly engaged in learning about the world around me, and I began to understand my place in the world. In 9th grade, with Mrs. Schupack’s help, I discovered filmmaking. It has become one of my greatest passions and an inspi-ration to the rest of my work. In gaining more awareness of the world, I’ve come to demand more of myself to make a contribution to making the world a better place.

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ASP VoicesA Special Feature

Tess Miller & Allie Miller

Come fall, as parents of this year’s graduating class say goodCome fall, as parents of this year’s graduating class say goodbye to their college-bound son or daughter, Larry and Kathy Miller will wave goodbye to two children, twins Tess (Antonia) and Allie (Alexandra), as each moves to different states to attend very different programs.  Notes Allie, the elder by two minutes, “It probably will be a bigger moment for Mom and Dad than it will be for us. We’re ready, but they might have to get used to not having us around.”

The sisters arrived at ASP as juniors after a year at a German boarding school and quickly took to the vari-ety of extracurriculars offered here:  Tess became an MUN regular while Allie gravitated towards sports teams and the arts.  Their engagement in each paid off in the college ap-plication process with Tess gaining a spot at New York City’s Barnard College to study international relations and human rights and Allie acceptance into Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, for film studies.

“We’ll be separated by an Amtrak line,” notes Tess of her sister, classmate and closest confidant since kindergarten.  

With college looming, how do they imagine their future relationship?   “When you grow up with a person who is in the same grade as you, who shares the same birth-day, you become known as the twins, the girls” says Tess.  “We don’t know what it will be like to be one person, on our own, as indi-viduals.”

“We’ll definitely miss each other,” says Allie.

Arriving at ASP, each sister gravitated to her area of interest, discover-ing additional strengths and interests in the pro-cess. While they explored some of the same extracurriculars together, such as the six-day Model United Nations confer-ence at The Hague, a Habitat for Humanity  excursion in Macedonia, and a two-week trip to the Kalahari desert to teach English at a South African school, their academic choic-es differed.  Allie chose the AP track and Tess the IB.

“In Germany, we were being prepared for IB, so choos-ing it was  natural for me.  And, I wanted to challenge myself,” says Tess.  Notes Allie, “Not all my interests fit into the IB track and I wanted to study a variety of subjects outside of it, so doing the AP made more sense.”

A very early involvement in a theater group and an hour-long play she wrote in eighth grade convinced Allie to pursue the arts in depth.  “I ran into the same kids from my Provence middle school, where I had written the play, at an MUN con-ference in The Hague last year. They remembered me and that play,” she says proudly.  A movie script she wrote at her German school and short films she has produced at ASP, in-cluding a 13-minute documentary of the Kalahari experience now on YouTube, convinced her of Wesleyan’s fit.  “It has a re-ally artsy vibe in addition to a strong film program,” she adds.

For Tess, a career that addresses international issues and offers lots of travel, maybe at the United Nations, the U.S. State Department or with an NGO, would be a dream come true.   “I’d like to do a five-year Master’s program in International Relations and study a combination of history, sociology, and several languages,” she says.

Today, with year-end exams over, the girls note that they have a lot to look forward to and less to complain about.   “Before, we could agonize about the workload to-gether, and we would argue about who is carrying the heavier load,” laughs Tess.  “But, we also would read each other’s col-

lege essays, and that made it really nice because we could share information and critique each other’s work honestly. With some-one else, it would have been harder because you really don’t want to feel like you’re competing with a friend for a spot at a school.”

The next t ime the girls see each other regu-larly will be during semes-ter breaks.  

“ I k n o w t h a t t h ey think their parents will

suffer the most, but from my perspective the bond they have had since birth is stronger than they think and at some point after the exhilaration of the first few months at college wears off, they may feel an odd sort of emptiness,” says their mother, Kathy Miller.

“It’ll be tough,” says Allie.  “We’ll speak with each other on the phone, that’s for sure.  But then there’ll also be, ‘where do we begin?’ ”

Twins for Life

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SeniorAwards

The European Council of International Schools’ Award for International Understanding

This award is given to a student who is a good representative of his own country with a positive attitude towards the life and cultures of others, able to

converse in at least two languages, a contributing force in the life of the school, with the ability to bring differing people together into a sense of community,

thus furthering the cause of international understanding.

This year’s recipient is Julia Fruitema

Academic ExcellenceThis award is based on class rank. It is presented to

the top two students in the class.

This year’s recipients Karson Pape &

Robin Brenninkmeijer

CitizenshipThis award is given to two students who have

demonstrated through their outstanding citizenship the core values of respect, responsibility and honesty that are

central to the mission of the American School of Paris.

This year’s recipients Robin Brenninkmeijer &

Anna Bradley Webb

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Parker Bradford Spirit AwardThis award, named in honor of Parker Bradford, Class of

2007, is given to a student whose energy, enthusiasm and dynamism have lifted the spirit of the ASP Community.

This year’s recipientMartina Belloni

Renaissance AwardThis award is given to two students who have distinguished

themselves in at least three of the following areas: the Humanities, the Sciences, the Arts and Athletics.

This year’s recipients Rawi Fayad & Karson Pape

Director’s AwardThe Director’s award is presented to a person who so closely typifies our school’s mission, as being committed on the day-to-day to personal and academic excellence but who also lives the value of

service to others — putting in the time to make things better. This is a person of integrity, who walks the talk, has a mighty heart — and beyond all other gifts is viewed as a person of character.

This year’s recipient

Anthony Ghosn

International AwardThis award is given to two students who, in their own

way, have fostered better understanding among the diverse nationalities comprising the community of the

American School of Paris.

This year’s recipients Salomé Mirigay &Farah Weannara

Service to the SchoolThis award is given to two students who have

demonstrated exceptional commitment to the school.

This year’s recipients Nikhil Pai & Avery Sellers

J.B. Chapman AwardThis award is given in memory of John Chapman, former Headmaster of American School of Paris; annual awards

are given to two students who have contributed with great modesty to the life of the school.

This year’s recipients Evan Knox & Hannah Nowicki

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High School – look out! Make way because here we come…

As the now “past” President of the Middle School Student Council I want to take this oppor-tunity to thank, congratulate and honour each and every one of my fellow students for participating and supporting all the events that took place during this past school year.

Together, we raised over 20,000 Euros that went to vari-ous charities around the world. The Middle School Dances, Love in a Box, Walkathon, Advisory Challenges and the Canned Food Drive are just a few activi-ties that would not have been possible without your sincere dedication and participation.

Participation is what counts – and that is all up to you! I think this year proved that when we work together, we can make a difference. For those of you who would like to dedicate a little more time to shaping our Middle School and helping improve our community, I encourage you to jump right in and become more involved. I have no doubt that you will find the experience very rewarding and enriching.

As I look forward into the future, there is one thing that has always been very important to me. Something that I have learned right here at ASP: show respect, show responsibility, show hon-esty and tolerance. Cherish the difference in everyone! Enjoy the variety of cultures and learn and grow from them. But most im-portantly be open to new things that will be presented to you on your journey. Along the way, never forget to respect yourself. Live your dream, live it to the fullest, and take advantage of all the possibilities that your parents and your teachers have been able to provide for you. Take responsibility for your actions, take care of your community and always remain honest.

Finally, to my fellow 8th Graders I want to congratulate you and acknowledge that we have all worked long and hard this year.

Lara Minder 2011-12 President of the Middle School Student Council

A Word from the Middle School President

Lara Minder

The great news is that we are ready! We are prepared! We are excited! And, we are awesome!

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The Graduating Class of 2016!

A sincere, “Congratulations!” goes out to our 74 eighth grade students at ASP who graced the stage for our Middle School Promotion and Closing Ceremony in June. It is fitting to celebrate this rite of passage – graduating from middle school to upper school. The middle school years are a time of immense growth and development physically, emotion-ally and educationally. The attitudes and values they develop during this period will have great impact on their educational outcomes and indeed on their lives as adults. And so, we mark this occasion with deserved pomp and circumstance for it is truly an accomplishment. We can, also, take this opportunity to offer them encouragement as they head towards the next stage of their education.

Observing these young adults in their transition to up-per school, I am reminded that this has been a year full of exciting opportunities for their development. They found ways to express themselves through the fine and visual arts including the MS musical production, “Man of Steel”, and MS Band performances. I’m encouraged to see them reach

out to our greater community through service learning activi-ties and clubs like Model UN. Through the Outward Bound field trip and middle school athletic programs, they sought to stretch their physical boundaries. Perhaps most exciting of all, has been watching them strive for academic excellence and achieve.

It is with mixed emotions that I bid good-bye to all our eighth graders. Some of our students have joined as recently as last year, and others have been with us throughout middle school. However long their time in our school, I have come to appreciate the contribution each has made. They are a group of fine young people full of “joie de vivre” and promise. The faculty, staff and administration are equally proud of their achievements. I am confident the lessons they have learned and the skills they have acquired in the compassionate, yet challenging environment at ASP will set them in good stead to take this next step on the road to maturity.

Kathy Miner Middle School Director

Eighth Grade Promotion

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Let Us Take the World by Storm

With a flip of their blue and gold tassels to the opposite sides of their mortar boards come June 16, the class of 2012 will officially become ASP alumni. Already, two graduating seniors have agreed to serve as the point of contact for their senior classmates from their college years to beyond.

Seniors Martina Belloni and Julia Fruitema will become class reps and encourage their classmates to remain in touch with one another. Says Kim Sheehey, alumni and community coordinator, “A well-connected and motivated alumni community is critical to sup-porting the mission of the American School of Paris. With college students and young adults moving frequently, it is difficult to main-tain updated contact information.” And, that’s where alumni reps serve an all-important role. “Alumni respond much better to commu-nication from their peers than from the alumni office,” says Sheehey.

Belloni and Fruitema were selected class reps by US Head Aaron Hubbard. “They make an excellent choice because they love ASP,” says Hubbard. “They are great friends and very outgoing and social — the type of students that their classmates will rally around.”

In their roles, the pair will administer the Class of 2012 Facebook group (now active); help inform classmates about reunions and class events; and, encourage classmates to update their contact informa-tion with the Alumni Office.

“While students will scatter throughout the world soon to start their college careers, holding them together will be the memories of the ASP experience,” says Sheehey. “And, we want to help them stay in touch with each other and with the school that nurtured them in so many ways.

Class of 2012 Alumni Reps

Martina Belloni & Julia Fruitema

Upper School Student Council 2011-12

As the year comes full circle I’m sure we all feel the same bittersweet feeling of excitement and regret. Excitement at the uncertainty of the future, and regret at the intangible, un-touchable nature of the past. Memories, experiences, friend-ships, that all seem to slip through our fingers, that time and circumstance have stolen, float in your mind and trouble you slightly. Yet, one cannot deny that we have all had great high-school experiences, all made friends, learnt from one another, and grown intellectually. Although his chapter is closing, we are well prepared for the next, equipped with open-minds, international networks and a top notch education. We can collectively find strength and solace in the fact that we have come out on top, that we have been given the tools to be the

best we can be. As a class we are a pow-erhouse of talents, ambitions and per-sonalities, all feeding and learning off of each other to enrich ourselves and share our knowledge. Let us rejoice in these truths, let us cherish the last moments together, and then finally let us take the world by storm.

Anthony Ghosn 2011-12 President of the Upper School Student Council

Anthony Ghosn

A Word from the Upper School President

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Wholeness of Education

Think it’s only parents without a dry eye at graduation?

Each June, as the line of mortar board-topped seniors snakes its way through the gymnasium, college counselors Laura Vincens and Mary Jean Lowe look on with mixed emo-tions.

The moment marks the culmination of a two-year jour-ney the guidance office, students and their parents had jointly embarked upon. Notes Vincens who has observed the cer-emony as college counselor for nearly 20 years, “We try to educate families about the virtues of the many schools out there. And, then, as now, I am thinking of how much respect I have for the child and the family to have arrived at this moment, to have com-pleted the process and to have worked so hard to arrive at the right match.”

“It’s a huge sense of pride I feel because the kids have had to be confident in themselves, to be brave, and to take on the next challenge,” notes Lowe about the graduates she first welcomed into her office as juniors.

Looking every bit their age and often claiming little knowledge about navigating the complex application pro-cess to American and international universities, these 16 and 17-year-olds built a strategy for college applications by work-ing alongside a counselor. In turn, the counselor, has learnt about the student, his or her interests and strengths, and has guided the child and the family to the universities that will make for the best fit.

It’s a period during which the guidance counselors be-came closely familiar with each student and one that allowed them to gain the perspective they needed to write the coun-selor’s recommendation that accompanies most applications.

Laura Vincens became principal college counselor in 1993, advising between 75-90 students on average an-nually until three years ago when the class size topped 100. Over the years, she has written more than 1,000 coun-selor’s recommendations and spends about eight to ten hours crafting each one. “I never cut and paste,” she says.

“I really do think about each child and what they have offered our school and will offer to their college.”

Mary Jean Lowe, a former member of the school’s board of trustees, US head liaison, and a diplomat in an earlier ca-reer, whose son and daughter graduated from ASP, says she relives every June the great joy she felt at her children’s grad-uation. “I’m seeing the culmination of their efforts to make the most of their talent, capability and skills,” she says.

Whether its aiming for a spot at an European university or one stateside, Vincens and Lowe encourage students to consider a range of options, including ones they may never have heard of. Working with both the parent and student, the counselors help manage expectations, grieve with the students when they do not gain acceptance to a college they coveted, and impress upon them that they cannot be defined by a rejection. “It’s not easy when they learn they haven’t been accepted, but we quickly move on and get very excited about the rest of the schools they’ve applied to,” says Lowe.

Come graduation, when acceptance letters are a memory, Vincens and Lowe sit back and reflect on what the students have been able to accomplish since the start of their senior year. “It’s a really emotional time because you’ve shared their setbacks and their triumphs,” says Lowe. Adds Vincens, “I am thrilled by what I do. And, that’s because I have a lot of respect for the kids, the faculty and administration, and I love the school.”

College Counsellors: Helping Pave the Journeys from Upper School to University

“I’m seeing the culmination of their efforts to make the most of their talent, capability and skills,” – Mary Jean Lowe

“I really do think about each child and what they have offered our school and will offer to their college.” – Laura Vincens

Laura Vincens

Mary Jean Lowe

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Caspar Nilson Wrede ’11

Advisor: Mr. Ferguson Extended Essay: “To What Extent Does Scandanavian Airlines use Price Discrimination”

For Caspar, the experience of working under former Economics teacher Jim Ferguson provided him the confidence to transition into a professional job immediately following high school. Now in his gap year, Caspar works at the Zurich office of Union Bank of Switzerland as a management support officer assisting bankers to design and market financial products. He plans to pursue advanced economics at university this fall. “I doubt that if I hadn’t done such a challenging essay that I could have gone into the demanding job I have right now,” says Wrede. “The extended essay requires you to structure a product from be-ginning to end, and it takes a long time. It’s what I do at the bank now,” he says.

Laura Cavaciuti ’11

Advisor: Sonata SardinhaExtended Essay: “To what extent does multilingualism affect an individual’s emotional repertoire?”

Laura, a Sociology major at the University of Bristol, chose the IB track because it would best allow her to transition from an American high school to a British university. With guid-ance from Learning Support Specialist and Psychology teacher Sonata Sardinha, Cavaciuti explored the effects of speaking many languages upon emotions in her thesis, “To what extent does multilingualism affect an individual’s emotional repertoire?” The assignment required extensive planning, much reading and research, numerous drafts, and an excellent work ethic, she says, “which is exactly what I have found to be needed at the university level.”

“Without the experience and rigor demanded by the ex-tended essay, I believe I would be struggling,” says Cavaciuti. “Ms. Sardinha kept me focused and determined. Her comments on my rough draft as well as her constant support allowed me to feel less stressed.”

Nearly every year, Upper School History Teacher Johann Semaan sits back in wonder at a paper he’s reading. Written by a 17 or 18-year-old International Baccalaureate diploma candidate in his or her senior year, the investigative energy poured into the 4,000-word IB Extended Essay renders him momentarily speechless. “I doubt that many college upperclassmen could write at the level of these kids,” he says.

For Extended Essay advisors such as Semaan, Hal Judis, and Chris Friendly, reading the final draft of an es-say nearly a year in the making, is an annual ritual. Even Judis, a 42-year veteran of the IB program, notes he still gets excited when evaluating a well-crafted final draft. “And, boy, if the student then gets a score of seven on the IB exam that’s the subject area of his essay, well I tell you, I couldn’t be happier.”

As one component of a two-year course of study, the purpose of an Extended Essay is to further a high school student’s ability to “analyze, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge,” according to the foundation that administers the IB curriculum now adopted in 141 countries.

In the class of 2012, 33 out of 85 graduates, or more than one-third of the class, chose to fulfill the require-ments for the full diploma that also includes prescribed hours of community service, college-level classes in aca-demic subjects including the arts, and the Extended Essay.

Starting in the fourth quarter of their Junior year, ASP’s IB candidates begin to craft a rough draft of a thesis. “Sometimes the instinct for the student is to do something crazy, the kind of work a Ph.D., candidate with a two-year grant might pursue,” says Semaan.

It’s here that an advisor whose expertise falls within the area of inquiry the student proposes to explore makes all the difference. “We work in short bursts of guidance between the junior and senior year, helping the student to narrow down their research idea, to start organizing in-formation, and to build the sections of the essay logically,” he says.

Deadlines for thesis ideas, rough drafts, and final drafts are set a year in advance by Academic Dean Brian Brazeau. “Sometimes, there’s a tremendous amount of nagging from the spring of the junior year to come up with a real topic with real answers to investigate, and to get students to focus on a subject that’s not due for sev-eral months,” says Friendly. “It’s a huge undertaking and students have to come to realize what it means to dive into a subject.” Advisors will spend five hours on average guiding a student over the six months he or she will spend crafting a final draft.

Judis, who served as advisor to 12 seniors in this year’s graduating class, says “the essay has forced them to work hard, to research and to be objective answering their questions.” “You could say the experience puts hair on their chests,” laughs Friendly.

IB Faculty Advisors Reflect on Seniors’ Extended Essays

The Extended Essay: Structure and Rigor

“It’s a huge undertaking and students have to come to realize what it means to dive into a subject.” – Chris Friendly

The purpose of an Extended Essay is to further a high school student’s ability to “analyze, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge”.

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For Isabel Cordier, a single phrase has informed her daily life as Guidance Secretary: “We cannot allow ourselves a mistake.” Her zero tolerance for error has earned her a per-fect record. Today, Cordier can proudly say that in 16 years, a document never has been misplaced nor a college application delivered late.

To her colleagues in the Guidance Counselors’ office, Cordier typically understates her efforts managing the huge flow of paper and electronic files between ASP and universi-ties worldwide. “She is the linchpin of our operation,” says College Counselor Laura Vincens. “I can’t imagine life here without her.”

Arriving as a temp in October 1996, Cordier was offered a full-time job three months later. Today, as the point of con-tact for requests for information about Upper School students, Cordier knows every student by name. And, as the keeper of all data about their academic life, she ensures that any docu-ment requiring a school stamp or signature, and requests for the all important high school transcript, are handled expedi-tiously.

She has to, she says. It’s a habit she perfected in the pre-C.A. (Common Application) era. While students have long been asked to submit transcript requests a month in advance, “back then, a lot of times, seniors would apply to a school at the last minute, and that meant putting together a file with transcripts, standardized test scores, teacher and counselor

recommendations, and the applica-tion form, and do it all in a hurry,” she says. The experience was forged over a decade and half with senior classes that numbered up to 95. With each sen-ior applying to as many as 10 schools, the volume of applications requiring processing between September and January reached 900 or more.

Recent senior class sizes have occasionally topped 100. And with the great majority of American colleges now ac-cepting the Common Application or the Universal College Application, which allow students to upload one application to multiple universities, Cordier’s workload is hugely stream-lined.

She finds she no longer is tethered to the photocopy machine unlike the “old days” of just three to four years ago. “Now, we upload the transcripts and other required docu-ments, such as the counselor recommendations, to a student’s Common App file” she says. Of course, once more Cordier checks and rechecks to ensure that the transcript is up to date, and that the transcript, recommendation and application match. This she does for the 1,000 or more applications ASP seniors submit each fall.

The rise of the Internet has vastly reshaped her daily work life, often for the better. But, it also means that Cordier experiences less face time with students. “Before, I was deal-ing with students all day long. It was very personal. But, now they email me from their Blackberries,” she laughs. “But, I’m always available for them!”

“She is the linchpin of our operation”

American University (3)Appalachian State UniversityRochester Institute of TechnologyBabson College (3)Barnard College (3)Bentley UniversityBoston UniversityBowdoin CollegeBrigham Young University - Provo (2)SUNY Purchase (2)Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve UniversityTemple UniversityChapman UniversityClark UniversityColgate UniversityColumbia CollegeColumbia UniversityCornell UniversityDePaul University (2)Drexel UniversityDuke UniversityEmerson CollegeEmmanuel College (2)Emory UniversityFairfield UniversityFlorida Institute of Technology (4)University of Rhode Island (2)Florida International UniversityFordham University (2)

George Mason UniversityGeorge Washington University (4)Georgetown University Georgia Institute of TechnologyGoucher CollegeHamilton CollegeIthaca CollegeJohns Hopkins University (3)Wesleyan UniversityJuniata CollegeKenyon CollegeKettering UniversityLone Star CollegeLong Island University - Brooklyn Michigan State UniversityNew York University (3)North Carolina State UniversityNortheastern University (14)Northwestern University (2)Parsons School of DesignPennsylvania State University Pratt InstitutePrescott CollegePurdue UniversityQueens University of CharlotteRice UniversityRider UniversityRose Hulman Institute of TechnologySavannah College of Art and DesignSouthern Methodist University (2)

Stanford University (2)Suffolk UniversitySyracuse University (3)Texas A & M UniversityTexas Christian UniversityTufts University (2)University of California - BerkeleyUniversity of California - San DiegoUniversity of ChicagoUniversity of Colorado at BoulderUniversity of Denver (2)University of FindlayUniversity of Maryland - Baltimore CountyUniversity of Mass - Amherst (2)University of Miami University of Michigan (3)University of RichmondUniversity of San DiegoUniversity of Tampa (3)University of Utah (2)University of Washington (2)University of South FloridaUS Naval Academy - Foundation ProgramVirginia Polytechnic InstituteWellesley CollegeWittenberg University

2012 College Acceptance

Isabel Cordier

Guidance Secretary: A Fount of Knowledge

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Alexander Evers, a classical studies and ancient history scholar from Rome, was the keynote speaker at the Class of 2012 Graduation Ceremony June 16. Described as a young and dynamic researcher with varied interests from music performance to church history, Evers is noted for his inno-vative and humorous take on the past in which he encour-ages listeners to consider that there really is no dead area of thought. Says US Head Aaron Hubbard, “Evers is fascinating to listen to and a very cool academic who speaks about the relevance of ancient history and classical times and today’s society.

An assistant professor at the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola Universtiy Chicago and the Istituto Patristico “Augustinianum” of the Pontifica Universita Lateranense, Evers obtained his doctorate at Oxford University with a focus on the church and cities of Roman Africa in Late Antiquity. Today, his interests concern the city of Rome and its empire in the third and fourth centuries. Drawing from

For Stewart, the challenge is to cre-ate an efficient and memorable event for the graduates and their families. “In previous years we held the ceremony at Parc Lafayette in Marnes la Coquette, but those years when the weather grew inclement, the ceremony shifted to the PAC and more recently the gymnasium.” With neither rain nor a piercing sun bearing down upon graduates and guests, today the gymna-sium is the favored location, one that also offers the added benefit of greater seating capacity. Every minute detail is looked after from the chairs to the flowers to the lighting and if something is not thought to be up to standards, it is sure to be altered the following year.

French champagne, soft drinks and hors’ d’oeuvres await in the Upper School cafeteria at the end of the ceremony, and that’s when Stewart might relax as she mingles with her treas-ured students, now alumni, and their families.

“It feels good to look back and know that everyone was happy and that another year ended on a high note,” she says. And, the work helps Stewart to forget momentarily that the youngsters she first greeted as 14-year-olds will soon move to cities all over the globe. Her work towards a successful gradu-ation ceremony and reception for graduates and their families is what she hopes the Class of 2012 will recall as another one of their delightful memories of ASP.

She is one of ASP’s longest serving employees and the first point of contact for most Upper School families.

Mona Stewart not only can name nearly each of the 380 students in the US, but can claim to have witnessed almost all graduation ceremonies for more than three decades. As graduation coordinator, she also has planned many of the events in recent years.

For Stewart, the occasion is never a repetition of the previous year. With each crop of graduates and nuanced changes she adds annually to the now standard ceremony, Stewart aims to make the event novel for an audience that’s numbered 700 in recent years.

It is one of her favorite moments on the school calendar, and one she starts preparing in October. As the chief coordi-nator of the year-end tradition, Stewart pulls together equip-ment rental companies, invitations, a dress rehearsal with the entire senior class, volunteer ushers, and stage decorations for a ceremony that is captured in thousands of photographs over nearly one and a half hours.

It’s an emotional time for everyone who is involved with the senior class, she says. “Each class is different and each class is very special to us.”

Graduation Coordinator Key to Staging Annual Ceremony

Mona Stewart

Classics Scholar Alexander Evers: 2012 Graduation Keynote Speaker

his research, Evers manages to link seemingly disparate moments in ancient history to current issues, such as the Roman conquest of France to the nature of expat life. Both address the evolution of cul-tural identity, he says.

Evers bridges the past with current day life and does it with won-derful humor, says Hubbard. “It was a privilege and honor to have him speak at the 2012 commencement ceremony.”

Alexander Evers

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To each of you in the Class of 2012, I wish you a warm and fond farewell as you venture beyond the walls of a school whose legacy you’ve helped create. What a pleasure it has been for the faculty and staff of ASP to have had the opportu-nity to work with young people of your character and talents. 

Alas, there is a time for everything and having contrib-uted so much to ASP and gained so much yourselves, it is indeed right that you move to the next stage.  What is heart-warming and reassuring to me is that I am confident that ASP has prepared you well for wherever your journey takes you. You have a first rate academic program and have had a global experience that few other young people can boast of.

Yes, you are prepared to actively engage and contrib-ute to a world where boundaries are falling and the pace of change seems to be ever increasing. I know this first hand as I welcome back graduates of our school year in and year out who have taken what they have gained from ASP and suc-cessfully transitioned into wonderful universities around the world and later to fulfilling careers. 

I know you and I am proud that you’ll be representing ASP wherever life takes you and, though I can sometimes get seduced into thinking that the world is in decline and that young people today face almost insurmountable challenges, I was heartened to listen to the 2012 Harvard commencement speech given by Fareed Zacharia. I encourage you to watch it because, as Mr Zacharia states, an objective look at the facts paints a different picture. Challenges, yes; insurmountable, no!

I, therefore, wish you all the very best as you prepare to lead your generation forward in creating an even bet-ter world.  Be energetic, passionate and committed and remember all the valuable lessons you’ve learned from being part of a marvelous school community. Remember, too, to come back and share the exciting life stories you are about to create.

Aaron HubbardUpper School Director

Farewell to the Class of 2012A Word from the Upper School Director

Aaron Hubbard

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Sarah AhmedAkaolisa Ohiomokhare AkaraiweYasemin AksoyLatifa Mohamed Jaham Al-KuwariGonçalo Faria Kol de AlmeidaMalon AzriaShana AzriaMartina BelloniAlexandros Nikolaos Jan BenninkAnna Isabel Bradley-WebbRobin Francis Ewald BrenninkmeijerBrian Timothy CardenCaleb Michael CastineKelsey Adeline ClelandJonathan David ColeGrant Thomas ConleyJose Tomaz de AlencarLuca de RuggieroMaxime DesbansErik EinarssonAmine El AymaniRawi FayadMichael Florentino Lucien FerrasseVito FranciaJulia Johanna FruitemaFlavia Lara GarciaLeyla Anne Michelle GentilByron GeorgellisAnthony Ghosn BicharaChloé Goddard

Introducing the Class of 2012Emilia Jo GoldmanAdrian Daniel GrinspanHarmony Daphne GrobAndrew Garrett HalverstadtLauren Elisabeth HameryJulia Ryan HealeyBrooke Jordan HodenfieldLouis Michael HougaardRyan Douglas HunterSophia Willemina JacobsDaniel Hyrum JonesAlexandre Jouannem FigeacTae-Woo KimPeirce Sakura KirkhamEvan Ram KnoxGage Maxwell LaChariteEric Cheong-ming LaiEvan James LeonardMax LorsignolAndrew MacKenzieLéonard MarignierAlexandra Louise MillerAntonia Elizabeth MillerRachel W MillsSalomé MirigayAlexander MurdockHannah Rose NowickiNikhil PaiKarson Emily PapeNicole Andrée Pick

Jose Miguel Fava Pinto de SousaChristopher Robert PollardNadja PopovicMadison Christèle PughAdrian Cemre RemziJessica Ann RitcheyAlexandre Pierre David RobertsonMarie SavoyeAvery Clark SellersPatricia Servera LeiraRebecca Chenaud SladeJulia Lauren SmadjaGuillermo SosaRonald Andrew SpragueMarko StojkovicSnorre StrømbergElizabeth Anne SurprenantOlivier Louis TorchianaLovisa TullgrenNina Ana VlatkovicAnabel WahlersFarah WeannaraOliver Alexander WlodarzJennifer WoodDanielle Yona

Congratulations ASPClass of 2012

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AMERICAN SCHOOLOF PARIS

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