feburary 2013 newsletter
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Kincaid International School of Bangkok Newsletter Feburary 2013TRANSCRIPT
February , 2013
Editor’s comment
Greetings to all, I think the month of February was a hectic month with
a lot of events and activities which the students enjoyed a lot. Above all,
new students are joining for summer school from different Thai schools
but what amazed me was the way these students were easily accepted
by our students. This really shows how “International” our school is and
reflects the name of the school—Kincaid which actually means family. I
will also like to commend the efforts of the parents for being construc-
tive and positive towards the school. Read and enjoy the second issue of
our school’s newsletter and feel free to offer your suggestions and con-
tributions.
Mr. Kevin
Sports news
P. E Classes, befitting or beneficial?
Hello everybody.
You may be wondering about what is happening during our P.E.
classes. Well, we are all very much excited for the opening of the new
sports court upstairs. Many students are busy preparing some activi-
ties for the opening ceremony. Also, we are doing exercises regularly
as we need to be physically fit to play the games upstairs and also
avoid injuries.
Exercise is really good for our health; it makes us healthy and strong.
It helps ease stress and sleep well. During exercise, our brain releases
a chemical called endorphins. Keeping in mind all these benefits of
exercise, all good standard schools take care of their students’ health
by arranging physical education classes for them and our school is
one of them.
These days, we have an activity of increasing the number of laps every
week in order to increase body stamina. One team in our class
( Mithushan’s team) won three times in a row. Mr. Marc, our PE
teacher, encourages us by saying things like ”Good job Japan; Good
job Myanmar”. Everyone tries their best to feel proud by making
others hear about his or her nationality.
By grade 6.
Volume 2
Indoor Field Trip for Kin-
dergarten The Month of February has been
full of new experiences for kin-
dergarten.
Preschool, K1 and K2 had a picnic
in the mess hall. There was a lot
of different food on offer as well
as exciting games to play includ-
ing castle building, rice planting,
grab-a-chocolate and ring tossing.
The students thoroughly enjoyed
themselves and certainly had a
day to remember.
K3 joined the rest of the school
on the field trip to the Science
Museum. The students learnt
about dinosaurs, volcanoes and
earth science. They played in a
fantastic play area and experi-
enced a show that was out of this
world.
Our theme this Month was
“Elephants”. We have all enjoyed
learning about this wonderful
animal. The students made ele-
phants out of clay and partici-
pated in different activities re-
lated to this subject.
Overall, t has been a great Month
for Kindergarten.
Dublin Literary Awards—A must for
all students.
One of the biggest events
is now opened to Thai
students all over Thailand.
Fortunately, they gave
Kincaid International
School students the
chance to participate last
time. The 8th Dublin Liter-
ary Award 2012/2013 was held on February 1st
at Rembranst Hotel, Sukumvit soi 18, with our
special guest, Steve Van Beek; one of Amer-
ica’s well known authors and documentary
filmmakers for travelling. He is writing about
his journeys in Thailand. Thousands of entries
were submitted from the Central, Northeast-
ern, Northern and Southern regions, but only
ten assays were chosen.
This competition is for students of ages 14-18.
The essay can be as long as 800-1200 words.
The winner from each region earns 10,000
Baht and the overall winner gets 50,000 Baht
and a trip to Dublin (with one parent) to at-
tend the senior Dublin Literary Awards. Al-
though it looked like it was unlikely for an in-
ternational student to get shortlisted , I ,
Stephanie ALbores, a Kincaid student, was one
of the winners from the central region. Hon-
estly, I did not have high expectations to even
be one
of the winners, “I entered this competition
because I felt motivated to do so, and that’s
the most important thing about writing. Writ-
ing is to free your mind and expand your crea-
tivity.. The best thing about writing is that you
don’t need a degree to do so, even an engi-
neer can write a book for children”.
Organized by the Nation, NJJ magazine and
strategic partners, Phuket Gazette and City
Life Chiang Mai with support from the Em-
bassy of Ireland, Emirates, OCS Group and
Kerry Group, the topic of this 8th Dublin Liter-
ary Awards was “My Biggest Decision”.
Steven Van Beek shared his experience here in
Thailand and encouraged young writers to
continue writing, by giving them the opportu-
nity to ask him questions . He also shared use-
ful tips.
Although I’m not the overall winner, I was one
of the shortlisted winners and I got a certifi-
cate and a small notebook which encouraged
me to continue writing. This isn’t a big award; I
didn’t win any money, right? That’s what most
people said. But this was the first time I won
an award that is not based on what I do in
school, and so this made me feel that every
cloud has a silver lining, and that maybe I’m
not always going to be labeled a “mental” girl.
So, I know everyone can join and get that op-
portunity to win and show what you’re capa-
ble of doing. As they say, “Stay hungry, stay
foolish.”
What are you waiting for? Pick up your pens or
pencils and start writing on the next topic
“Behind the mask”, and who knows? you
might be the next winner!
By Stefanie Albores(G9)
The world education games
is an annual online chal-
lenge created to encourage
students to be excited and
enthusiastic about educa-
tion. Participants come
from all around the globe –
Australia, New Zealand, Africa, China, you name it.
By competing with students from other countries,
the hall of fames allows students to see their rank-
ings compared to the rest of the world.
The games consists of three main competitions:
World and Literacy day ( Held on March 5th ), World
Maths day (March 6th ) and World Science day
( March 7th ). Students can choose to participate in
any of these according to which subject they do
best at. Finally, winners will receive a Gold medal
and be known as the 2013 world champion of the
Champions.
According to students’ ages, the games are
separated into age categories so participants com-
pete with others within their own age range.
Students can practice for the upcoming real events
as long as they have access to internet and a com-
puter – it is that easy. Just log in to
www.worldeducationgames.com with the user-
name and password provided by your teacher.
By participating, you are improving your skills and
speed in thinking and answering. It’s just your cup
of tea – having fun, learning and improving your
ability all at the same time.
Our school has encouraged students from kinder-
garten to high school to participate. Positive re-
sponses have been received by the students, who
enjoy the games and are excited for the big event.
In fact, some of our students are more than ready
for the games. Who knows, we might even end up
with a trophy and fill our school with pride.
By JJ (G10)
World Education Games
Teams’ events and updates
Blue Eagles A thousand miles begins with a single step. In order
to reach a goal you need to make your move. I am
one of the proud team members of the blue team, a
team full of enthusiasm and a high spirited members.
In this Month of February we faced our ups and
downs. We tried our very best to prepare for the
upcoming events. Last week on Friday, our hard
working team mates participated in the monthly
event of general knowledge . They kicked their hard-
est to answer most of the difficult questions being
thrown at them and at the end we got first place. A
big round of applause to our teammates: Shanee,
Hawa, Jenny, Elim and Noah. Winning is a great feel-
ing but knowing we worked harder for it is the best.
The following week we held a speech and the poetry
contest. Unfortunately, most of our participants
were missing. The remaining members still did their
best and even though we lost they still managed to
put their efforts into their work. All we need now is
some motivation and cooperation in order to win the
next competitions that will come our way. Success
comes from knowing that you did your best to be-
come the best that you are capable of becoming.
By Mikee (Grade 9)
Green Narwhals
We have come to the end of February and all three teams have stepped up their game and are working so much harder now. We’ve recently had the poetry con-test, spelling bee, general knowledge quiz and the speech contest.
So far so good, our teammates have shown an incredible improvement. The green narwhals have stayed stuck in second place for quite a long time. However, in last week’s speech contest, the green team stepped up to first place. We’re extremely proud of our development and wish to continue this way. The captain and assis-tants have taken it up a notch and are working twice as harder. They are even practicing with the students dur-ing lunch breaks.
The teams are preparing for the upcoming basketball game and the cheerleading presentation. The new sports court on the third floor of the school is being in-augurated in a few weeks from now. We have been awaiting for this moment for a long time, especially the students who are in the basketball team. The opening is certainly spurring excitement into all of the students.
We are very proud of the developments taking place in our school, and it’s giving the students many new oppor-tunities to show our talents through sports, dance, aca-demic activities and so forth.
Green team is proud to be updating the school and par-ents with news and we’re looking forward to write many more articles.
By Achu and Liliane (Grade 9)
Orange Ocelots Orange Ocelots are flying high!!!
The month of February has been a hectic one, keeping up each and every the
members of the team with a duty.
Like every month, the three teams; Green narwhals, Blue Eagles, and the
Orange Ocelots competed and the Orange Ocelots came out with flying col-
ors. Students from Grade 1 to Grade 10 participated in the competitions with
students from Grade1to Grade5 in the spelling bee competition, Grade5 and
Grade6 in the poetry completion and Grade7 to Grade10 in the speech com-
petition. In both competitions, our team ranked the first except in the speech
competition where, apparently, the completion and competitors were fierce.
All our students were very cooperative and showed a great interest in partici-
pating. Surprisingly, a grade 7 student Reza Nikobayan amazed everyone
from the judges to the younger students using all his tact’s when he had to
dress and act like an old woman. Thanks to him, the team scored more points
and was able to keep its first place.
The team captain and his assistants are doing a good job to help the kids per-
form up on stage. It is sometimes hard as the student usually have never per-
formed up there and the assistants have spend the little extra time they have,
putting all their efforts in practice with the students. As a result, students are
performing better and even forgetting what is stage fear, by embracing the
boldness to speak in front of a crowd and embodying different personalities.
We are heading towards the month of March with our minds on the basketball
court opening. It is going to be a big event for the school as well as for the
teams. Our flag will be hosted for the first time and friendly games will be
played among the three teams to celebrate the event. Also, our cheerleading
group is excited as they will be performing for the first time as well.
We hope they break a leg and make the event something to write home about.
By Mahtab(G9)
The fantastic field trip
We went to the Rangsit Science center for the field
trip on February 14th 2013. Everyone who was going
for the trip was excited. We used a tour bus to get
there. Through the bus windows we could see
amazing things.
When we arrived at the museum, we had snacks to
eat. After that, we went in the center’s theater and
watched a video about Coral Reefs. Later we went
into the model Volcano and we saw what a volcano
would look like in real life. We stood on a machine
which allowed us to feel how an earthquake would
be like.
We went to the other part of the Rangsit Science
Center to answer the journal questions that our
teacher made for us. We learnt about the earth
mass, how fast the earth rotates and about orbit
around the sun. We also learnt the distance be-
tween the earth and other planets, the sun and the
moon. We learnt about other things related to the
solar system.
We were separated into paired groups so that we
could help each other to answer our journal ques-
tions. The Center contains things about physical
science, earth science, life science, archeology and
astronomy. We learnt about electrical currents and
force field. We also learnt about three 3 different
types of rocks and 6 types of volcanoes. Later on-
ward we learnt about how dinosaurs became ex-
tinct. The first dinosaur fossil in Thailand was found
at Khon Kaen.
On the second floor we saw scientific things. One of
them was a scientific bicycle. It measured our
speeds each time we rode it. What we saw there
was all facts. We finally learnt about seedless
plants, prehistoric eras and Pangea before we
started to get ready to go back to school.
Most of the grade 5 students have recommended
this place to people. We enjoyed ourselves. The trip
was really fun and educative.
By G7 Students
Announcements
We are pleased to inform the parents that our school Songkran holiday will now begin on Fri-
day April 12. This is due the fact that Friday April 12 has been declared as an additional holi-
day by the government. For this reason, our Songkran celebration will now take place on
Thursday April 11, 2013. Students are required to wear Songkran shirt on that day.
Interview with the oldest teacher
at Kincaid……..
Mr. Mark Festejo (the school P.E teacher) answered questions
from Ms. Hawa Saidi (G7 student) about the school’s develop-
ment since he joined Kincaid 12 years ago.
Hawa: Mr. Mark, how many years have you been working in
this school?
Mr. Marc: I have been working here for 12 years. That means
since the school was established in 2001 and it has been a
pleasure to be here.
Hawa: Regarding your endurance in this job, what experience
do you have?
Mr. Marc: I have a lot of experiences. I have been a homeroom
teacher for almost all the grades and I was the first teacher to
bring the school out for a sport competition. Now I am the P.E.
teacher. I love sports. It’s all about my experiences.
Hawa: Would you tell me your point of view regarding stu-
dents in our school?
Mr. Marc: I think that students in our school are capable of
improving what they can do. And I think that because the size
of the school is not very big, teachers have the ability to con-
centrate on students on an individual basis and quickly respond
to the needs of students.
Hawa: As you have been working in the school for a longer
period of time than any other teacher, what do you expect for
the development of the school?
Mr. Marc: I expect a lot of changes, especially the upcoming
new indoor sports court opening ceremony. There are many
projects that the school has. I cannot tell you; but I expect a lot
from our school.