Issue 1 - Kirby School

FeaturesInternationalPage 5ConnectionsOverseas Program Introduces Students from Chinaby Maraya FisherAt the end of each summer, studentsreceive a Family Directory listingeveryone attending Kirby. Theyfeverishly flip through the pages to see ifthere are any additions to their classes--Kirby is such a small school that newstudents are greatly appreciated. Thissummer, there was a new heading at theend of the packet: International StudentsFrom China.A week before school starts, mostKirby students get a friend request onFacebook from Yue Lou, a student fromChina. “I don’t know them but I justadd friends!” Laughs Lou, who goes byClaire at Kirby. “And later when I comehere [Kirby] I find ‘oh I am friends withthis person!’ and then I talk with them.”This year Kirby will host five studentsfrom China, one from Thailand, and onefrom Switzerland. “Our new missionstatement really emphasizes studentsof a global age,” noted Head of SchoolJosh Karter, “and we need to prepare ourstudents to be citizens for a global world.And our mission statement also asks usto be a diverse school. Both of those arechallenging propositions.”After a two-year struggle with theState Department, “we got added to allof the lists of schools that people can seethat have the ability to have the studentvisas, and therefore people began tocontact us,” Karter says.“Literally within I’d say a dayor two I had two different agenciescontact me,” said Admissions DirectorNancy Ondrejka. “And also withinthat same time, I had an internationalstudent contact me via email, and itwas almost as if somebody had put outa huge advertisement saying ‘Kirbyis welcoming international students’because all of the sudden after havingzero contact with international applicants,we had several.”Going to high school in the UnitedStates puts international students in abetter position to apply to universitieshere. “The new strategy is to comeand do two years here, get grades fromAmerican prep schools, take the standardPSATs, etc., so they can then apply,”explained Karter.“I’m staying here until I finish college.Maybe I will work here,” commentedEvan Xin Er Hong, another student fromChina. Lou wants to work in the media.“People say that Columbia’s media isreally nice, but I know it’s really hardto get into,” she said. “But my father, hethinks just have fun here. Like if you don’tget any good grades [it’s ok] because youhave this experience. And you will havemany international friends.”Indeed, international friendship is abig part of the international students’plan. “We create some friendships andstudents can have somebody to visit inChina,” said Karter. “It creates that sensethat, as young people, the world willreally be at your feet, and it’s all a matterof those connections.”The international student programbenefits both foreign and local students.“Hopefully, Kirby students open up toour new students,” commented Ondrejka.“I think we’re going to continue to growfrom just knowing them. Not just aspeople but also sharing cultures andlearning about them personally.”“It will not be a good program if theAmerican students at Kirby don’t benefitfrom it,” added Karter.The program benefits the School inother ways. “Our enrollment is down byabout 20 students, and it’s a nice wayto fill our school with interesting newstudents,” commented Karter.However, the international studentsaren’t going to be “Kirby’s bread andbutter,” as Karter put it. “We are nottrying to illicit, seek, or reach out for alot of international students, versus someprivate schools that are. And they’veliterally put a lot of endowments intothat to build facilities and boardingoptions for international students, and thereason for that is it increases their studentpopulation, which increases their funds.”“And Kirby is not looking to payfor our facilities or our school throughhaving international students here,”Ondrejka explained.“Whether the number is seven orwhether it’s fourteen, I don’t know, butit’s never going to be a dominant partof school,” Karter added. “It’s going tobe an enrichment and a flavor that we’regoing to have.”Adjusting to Kirby is different foreach international student. Noting thedifferences between school in China andAmerica, Lou explained that in China,students stay in one classroom and thereis a lot more homework. “And the teacherwas very strict and formal, and we haveto wear uniforms,” she lamented. “Wehave so many strict rules, like you can’tdress up, and the girls have to tie up theirhair, and the boys have to make they’rehead very short, like that.” She indicatesa buzz cut.Hong, on the other hand, went to aninternational school in China where allthe teachers were Canadian. “It’s almostlike the same,” she commented. “Onedifference is we needed to learn somethings in Chinese.” Hong speaks like aSanta Cruz teenager, dropping in “like”and “awesome” to describe anythinggood. Her peers are still adjusting to thelanguage.“They all were to various degreesproficient in English, but you’re neverreally proficient in a foreign languageuntil you really immerse yourself init,” Karter explained. “They’re smartand they’ll absorb it very quickly. Myby Acacia LommenIn-ter-ro-bang: noun.1. A nonstandard punctuation markcombining the exclamation mark and thequestion mark.2. A punctuation mark designed especiallyfor use at the end of an exclamatoryrhetorical question.The forthcoming literary magazine,Interrobang, plans to feature a varietyof creative writing, including stories,poetry, plays and creative non-fiction.“There’s no real place for kids to getwhat they write out,” explains junior RyFaraola. “Some kids just write for school;they don’t have a place to put it or toshow people.” But that will change.“Over the summer Rose Levay contactedme about being interested instarting a literary magazine,” says MariaCaballero-Robb, faculty advisor ofInterrobang. “It just so happened thatindependently I was thinking the samething.” Levay and Caballero-Robb beganto design potential publications.“The idea of a literary magazine hasbeen around Kirby for a while,” says Levay.“There was talk of one a few yearsago, but it never materialized. We haveForeign Relations Sophomores Ken Zhehao Tang and Claire Yue Lou (standing) joinjunior Evan Xin’er Hong on the balcony.sense is that in two months they’ll feelmuch more comfortable in the Englishlanguage, and all of the sudden we’ll seea blossoming.”Another challenge for the studentsis homesickness. Lou stays in contactwith her parents through Skype but stillmisses her family, most recently duringthe September 12 mid-autumn festivalin China. “I felt so lonely at that timebecause it is a festival for family. Weget together,” she commented. “And onthat day my host family went out, and myparents, I can’t call them, they’re busy.”She plans on going home during winterand summer vacations, hopefully takinga few Kirby students with her.Lou’s only other concern is AmericanMightier than the Swordplenty of talented poets and fiction writerswith no venue to showcase their work.Dr. Caballero and I agreed that they deserveone.”“Interrobang is a chance to publishpeople’s writing onto a public forum,”says junior Analise Pappastergiou, “andas I work with my peers and edit writing,I think I’ll develop my own braveryin showing my work.”“I’ve always liked the interrobang, Iused it as my Facebook profile picturefor a while,” laughs junior Andrew Amis.“I’ve never actually used it in a paper, becauseit always seemed too informal.”“It’s not a word that has any othercontent other than its function,” adds Caballero-Robb.“Its function is to exclaimand to interrogate. And I thought thoseare two great things for creative writingto do.”Kirby is known for its arts, but the artof non-essay writing is rarely revealed.“We are a school that has a lot of emphasison creative work,” explains Caballero-Robb,“whether it’s drama or musicor the writing that appears through journalism,and it seemed like it just makessense for a school with so many smartpeople in it to have a literary journal.”The magazine will not be limited towriting. “I imagine that we will also hopefood. “At first I just worried about,like, I’m afraid the food here is so highcalories!” She laughed. “All of my friendswho come here, they gain weight!”Mr. Karter he explains that in orderfor Kirby to maintain this program afew questions need to be asked. “Arethe students making friendships? Is thecultural gap too weird?”To this I answer: My interactions withHong and Lou don’t end after my briefinterviews with them. Lou found me laterto give me a fan and silk scarf from Chinaand Hong was first to give me her essayfor peer review in L’essai. They bothposted hearts on my Facebook profilethis week. I having a feeling I’ve alreadymade two international friends.Interrobang to Premiere Creative and Nonfiction Student Workto solicit submissions of visual art to gowith it,” she explains.The school published a literary magazinesyears ago. “Ms. Smith rememberedthat there’s this old version of the literarymagazine,” says Caballero-Robb. “Itlooks like people from all grades submittedall kinds of things, including translations,and essays. I think our journal isgoing to be a little different.”Interrobang has the “provisional planto try and do one issue per semester,”notes Caballero-Robb. It also acceptssubmissions from anyone in the schoolcommunity. While people on staff willedit work, they plan to rely on externalsubmissions.“The goal is just to publish the worksmostly of students, although in our meetingsso far people have shown an interestin inviting faculty members submitthings as well.”“I hope that it will bring us together,because when you read someone’s writing,it’s almost intimate; you understandsomething more about them,” explainsPappastergiou. “It’s where anyone fromsixth graders to seniors can share somethingpersonal.”LeVay hopes the community will getinvolved with the publication: “Help usmake this a success.”