ICU READ April - ISIK College

The GoldenGenerationicu readApril 2009www.isikcollege.vic.edu.auUpfield Campus ISIK COLLEGE UPFIELD CAMPUS MONTHLY NEWSLETTERPages 1 & 5Shrine of Remembrance ExcursionsPage2Principal's MessagePage 3Year 9 Physics CampPage 4Year 7 Humanities ExcursionArt ExcursionPage 5Year 12 Trip to CanberraThe Shrine of RemembrancePage 6-8Pastoral Care CampPage 9Taha Casak on Kidz Book ClubPage 10Mr Kadir Emniyet's Visit to the USAPage 11First Alumni General MeetingPage 12Library NewsPE with Mr RajabChess ClubEXCURSION TO THE SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCETuesday 12 MayYear 7 & 9 NAPLAN TestsTuesday 19 MayYouth and Sports CarnivalSunday 24 MayOPEN DAYWednesday 27 MayICAS ICT TestFriday 5 JuneEnrolment Renewals DueMonday 8 JuneQueen's Birthday HolidayOn the 23rd of April five year 9 and 10 students visited the Shrine of Remembrance toattend the Legacy Annual ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony for Students. Thesestudents were Taha Sisman, Imran Guler and Ali Celik of year 9 and Yusuf Balkis andKutay Askin of year 10. On a warm autumn morning our students laid a wreath forAustralians who gave their lives in service of the nation during World War One. Theyalso sang the national anthem with gusto and were perfectly behaved for the entireexcursion. I was extremely proud of the way they represented the school. Well doneboys!Mr Traikovski - Head of Humanities(More on page 5)

Dear Parents, Students and Friends of ISIK College,Principal's MessageI would like to extend my warmest Term 2 welcome to everyone in the schoolcommunity. I hope you had a restful, relaxing and peaceful term break. I alsohope that all our student 'newcomers', have now had plenty of opportunity tobecome well-adapted into our friendly and warm environment. Term 2 has itsown significance for everyone. Year 12 students will encounter their first officialserious assessment with the midyear examinations while Year 7s and 9s will besweating and swotting for their NAPLAN tests in May.“I myself came alongand instantly fell in lovewith the magnificentviews...students whoregularly participate inthese camps willappreciate their value”“we held a minute’ssilence to remember allthe honourable soldiers”I would like to extend mydeepest appreciation toour PFA members formaking one of ourdreams come true. Theyhave initiated an Ebrucourse, a traditional artestablished during theOttoman era. Ebru willbe taught by Mr AlperErdem (graduated from 9Eylül University,Academy of Fine Arts,Izmir and has worked inthe craft of china inKutahya/Turkey forseveral years). It is verypleasing to see ourparents' greatenthusiasm for makingsure this special culturalart continues here inAustralia.As Term 2 is also the season when many families choose to take overseas trips,it is vital that parents and guardians read and familiarise themselves with ourpolicy regarding students' long-term absences. The information can be found inthe 2009 Student Handbook.During April, our Year 12 English teacher, Ms Anne Mitchell, took with her 37Year 12 boys and three senior staff members on a trip to Canberra. Thankfully,everyone (including Ms Mitchell) came back in one piece after a very successfultrip to Australia's capital.Also, our Pastoral Care Department took boys from various year levels on acamp to Jumbuk Park in Morwell. I myself came along and instantly fell in lovewith the magnificent views. Of course, it was a very successful study camp too,especially for the year l2s. I am sure students who regularly participate in thesecamps will appreciate their value and remember them as some of the mostfruitful periods of their lives. Whenever I see how much hard work our teachersput into shaping our students' characters, I feel a strong sense of pride in myschool, not just as its Principal, but as a member of its community. Building finecharacters is the most needed of ideals for today's world. I am sometimes askedwhat it is about our educational philosophy that makes our school so differentfrom many others. Without prejudice to any other school, I have to say that theanswer is very simple: we just love our students.Another highlight this month was our Humanities Department taking a group ofstudents to the Shrine of Remembrance for ANZAC Day commemorations. Hereat school, at Friday afternoon assembly, we held a minute's silence to rememberall the honourable soldiers who lost their lives during the battle at Gallipoli in1915.Also, our young Physics Olympiad team had their first camp together withstudents from our Dandenong campus and Sule College. It was a greatexperience for our students to share their knowledge with 'other' physics-mindedstudents and to engage in friendly competition with them. Professor AkhtarKalam, Dean of Science, Health Science and Engineering at Victoria University,was kind enough to visit and address our boys in order to encourage them ontheir challenging journey.Before I conclude I would like to remind everyone about Mothers' Day. Let'sonce again make this day a memorable one for our mums. Don't forget “Heavenis under the feet of our mothers”.Enjoy your newsletter.ICU Read 2

YEAR 9 PHYSICS CAMPThe Physics Camp at Isik College -Upfield ran over three days fromApril14th to the 16th.. It was anintensive physics- study program forstudents from Sule College (Sydney),Isik College Dandenong and IsikCollege Upfield.The main subjects covered in this campwere Dynamics and Gravity. As a Year9 student myself, this was a valuableopportunity to learn more about physicsand to compete with students from ourwider school family. Each day the studylessons started at 9am and finished at4pm. Breakfast, lunch and dinner werealso provided.During the camp we had a lot of funactivities, including a soccertournament between the three schools.Being experts at soccer we wanted tosee how good the other schools were.We first played soccer against SuleCollege. It was a fair and fun match, butbeing Upfield we had to win. So we did."I cannot remember the scoresbecause the number of goals wescored was immense", said a playerfrom Upfield after the match. Upfieldscored 11 to Dandenong -"It was a funand fair game" commented a playerfrom the other side.On the last day of the camp a quiz washeld between the three teams. A seriesof questions were given to every teamand answers were needed to be givenwithin the stated time. Points wereawarded for the correct answer. Theeventual winner was Isik College-Dandenong, followed closely by theUpfield campus. The close scoresindicated that it was a greatcompetition. Students were presentedwith a certificate and gift for theirparticipation in the camp.The students from Upfield were IsmailNaim, Taner Cagin, Mehmet Dogan,Fatih Gezer, Ahmed Almoktar, andOmer Atmaca.Teacherspicturedwithfuturephysicists.HardatWorkAVictoryforUpfieldWe thank Mr Murat Sevil for hisefforts in organising the camp. Itwas his time, knowledge andexpertise that made the camp amemorable one. Thank you MrSevil!Another highlight of this camp wasthe visit by Prof. Akhtar Kalam. Theprofessor was kind enough toaccept our invitation and was madeaware of the historical significanceof his visit to our college. We thankhim deeply for making his timeavailable to us on his very busyagenda.By Ismail Naim 9A.“a valuable opportunityto learn more aboutphysics and to competewith students from ourwider school family”“Prof. AkhtarKalam...was kindenough to accept ourinvitation and was madeaware of the historicalsignificance of his visitto our college.”“thank[s] to Mr MuratSevil for his efforts inorganising thecamp...his time,knowledge andexpertise... made thecamp a memorable one”ICU Read 3

YEAR 7 HUMANITIES EXCURSIONAs part of our Humanities course, the year 7s visited the Melbourne Museumand the IMAX theatre on April 1st. We watched a documentary called'Mysteries of the Nile' and we then explored artefacts and historical items in theMuseum. We all enjoyed the excursion.By Mikhail Davis and Mikail Avci 7AART EXCURSION - VCE Top Arts 2008“students had theopportunity to view theamount of research andbackup work in theexhibited students’folios and workbooks”‘The year 7, 8 and 9 art students attended an excursion to the Top Artsexhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. This annual exhibition, which isthe most viewed public exhibition in Victoria, showcased the work of sixty VCEArt students from 2008 chosen from over three thousand entrants. As well asa general gallery viewing, students had the opportunity to view the amount ofresearch and backup work in the exhibited students' folios and workbooks.The students found some artists of particular note. Yvonne Chan fromEssendon was inspired by the earthquakes in China and made paintings witha cracked surface to refer to the Earth's crust. Another favourite was JohnSharp from Diamond Valley, who exhibited a work called “The EternalWatcher”. This was a black and white linocut print showing forest spirits in theKinglake region. His imagery was ominous and an eerie premonition of theBlack Saturday bushfires.If you would like to explore this on the net the website ishttp://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/toparts/.Mr. Rohan MorrisonICU Read 4

“every individual had aresponsibility to ensurethat he kept his areaneat and tidy”“enabl[ing] students toappreciate the hard worktheir parents orguardians do at homeeach day”“students also partookin religious discussionsand were encouraged toperform every action aswould be expected of aMuslim”“a special thank-you toMahir Hoca fororganising this camp”“We are forever indebtedto the wonderfulteachers who sacrificetheir holidays to be withus.”The camp also provided students with the opportunity to bond witheach other. This promotes and develops teamwork, camaraderie,understanding, responsibility and leadership among students. Having toshare rooms with each other meant that every individual had aresponsibility to ensure that he kept his area neat and tidy, and that hekept a high level of maintenance so that his actions weren't a liability toanyone else in his group. Furthermore, at mealtimes it was importantthat the dining room was kept reasonably clean so that those oncleaning duty would have a less arduous job. It was also pleasing to seestudents kept the overall environment litter-free. All these helped buildresponsibility. By looking out for their friends, students displayedleadership and by spending time with each other, students learnt moreabout their friends' characters and got to know each other a little better.Perhaps the most character-building part of this camp was the way inwhich students reacted to living outside their comfort zones. At home,many students have the luxury of others cleaning their rooms, washingtheir dishes, making their beds, etc. At camp, students must look aftertheir own needs under conditions that aren't always most comfortable.This enables students to appreciate the hard work their parents orguardians do at home each day. Hopefully students will keep this inmind and help out more at home. Furthermore, students hadopportunities to work on their punctuality and develop their mentaltoughness.A major theme throughout the camp was the promotion of Islam. Sadly,religion is often neglected by the majority of students, and the teachers'focus was on endorsing the practice of Islam. Apart from learning aboutthe importance of praying, students also partook in religious discussionsand were encouraged to perform every action as would be expected ofa Muslim. Hopefully, students can take these experiences as buildingblocks to becoming better Muslims.A huge thank-you goes out to Necdet Bey (or “Haci Amca” as he ismore affectionately known), who has been cooking delicious food forISIK College camp students for the last 10 years, and Husem Abi whoboth worked tirelessly to provide us with beautiful breakfast, lunch anddinner and then clean up all the dishes. A big thank-you to all theamazing teachers who were so generous with their time, and a specialthank-you to Mahir Hoca for organising this camp.Overall, I found this camp experience to be of enormous benefit andthe feedback from the large proportion of students who were present reenforcesthis belief. We are forever indebted to the wonderful teacherswho sacrifice their holidays to be with us and hopefully we can rewardthem with not only great marks but by replicating the generosity they'vedisplayed in the community ourselves. I know a lot of the boys arealready looking forward to our next camp during the mid-year holidays.Emre Akgoz, 12BICU Read 8

TAHA CAKSAK ON KIDZ BOOK CLUBI was very excited to have been chosen, along with eight other Victorianschool children, to be a panellist on the Kidz Book Club. This is a newchildren's program which encourages a love of books and it provides a guideto a range of reading opportunities. There are six episodes planned in the2009 introductory season and I appear in episode 1. My role is to readparticular books, review them and give my opinions about them.On the day of filming the episode, it was nice to meet the film crew and mypanel partner, Emily. I enjoyed the filming process and the wholeatmosphere. I had the opportunity of meeting children's author andCompany Director, Phil Kettle and the guest author, Mark Carthew who is anillustrator, musician and riddle writer. It was also great to work with SusanHalliday, Company Director and also Chairperson of the Victorian Institute ofTeaching.It has been quite an experience being part of a new children's program,especially when that involves reading and talking about books. As a lover ofreading, I hope this program inspires children to read more and show themthat reading can be a very enjoyable hobby. It was an unforgettable day andI can't wait to be a reviewer on future episodes.For more information please visit http://kidzbookclub.com.au/.Taha Caksak, 7AEmily, Phil Kettle, TahaCaksak, & MarkCarthew?“I was very excited tohave been chosen.”“a new children’sprogram whichencourages a love ofbooks”“I hope this programinspires children to readmore and show themthat reading can be avery enjoyable hobby.”Cameraman Andy,Emily, Taha & MarkCarthewICU Read 9

Mr Kadir Emniyet's Visit to the USAFirst, I would sincerely like to thank Mr Deniz Erdogan for themagnanimous gesture he has shown in giving me the opportunityin early April to travel to the USA.The trip had a twofold purpose: to visit our sister (brother)schools and to visit Mr Fethullah Gulen, the spiritual scholar whohas inspired millions all around the world with his simple butprofound message of love, tolerance, appreciation andunderstanding through education.“When I happened toinform him that ourcurrent enrolmentacross all campuses hadgrown to about 2000 hebecame overwhelmedwith pride.”Accompanying me on the journey were four other staff members (SheppartonCampus Principal Mr Nail Umur, Dandenong DPs Mr Mehmet Koca and MrIsmail Kullu and Mr Sedat Coskundag from Zaman newspaper). Upon arrivingin New Jersey, we were met by Mr Ali Riza Gurcanli (Isik College's 'pioneeringprincipal' in 1997, when student enrolment numbered just 38) who leftMelbourne in 2001 and is now the Principal of the (appropriately named)Pioneer Academy of Science School, New Jersey. When I happened to informhim that our current enrolment across all campuses had grown to about 2000,he became overwhelmed with pride. The visit to his school was veryinteresting and informative and it is where we had our first ProfessionalDevelopment session.Next, we visited the Amity School in Brooklyn which was a larger school andwe had a thorough tour of the campus. The school is doing quite well and hadbeen recently visited by Senator Hilary Clinton.On our third day we had an opportunity to tour New York; visiting the Statue ofLiberty, Times Square, theTurkish Cultural Centre and other significant sites.“Mr Fethullah Gulen...thenumber one publicintellectual amongst thetop 100 publicintellectuals fromaround the world.”On our fourth day we drove to Pennsylvania where Mr Fethullah Gulen hasbeen residing for the last ten years. In August 2008, Foreign Policy magazinedeclared him the number one public intellectual amongst the top 100 publicintellectuals from around the world. According to the magazine, this group “are(Continued on Page 11)Mr Ali Riza Gurcanli, Principal ofPioneer Academy of Science, NewJersey (second from right) proudlyshowing us one of the classrooms.Mr Ali Riza Gurcanli (seated)demonstrating a unique AmericanProgram about student attendance,assessment and reporting via theinternet.ICU Read 10

the thinkers who are shaping the tenor of our time.” It is worth mentioning thatalthough the men and women on this list are some of the world's mostsophisticated thinkers, the selection criteria for having one's name placed onthe list could not be any more simple: candidates must be living and still beactive in public life, and they must have shown distinction in their particular fieldas well as an ability to influence wider debate, often far beyond the borders oftheir own countries. This is certainly the case with Mr Fethullah Gulen who isalso known simply as 'Hocaefendi.’We stayed at his home for seven days as his Australian guests and during ourstay we heard some of his speeches, held discussions and shared our prayerswith him. For me it was an enlightening, spiritual experience which I willtreasure for the rest of my life. I feel I could just about write a book about it. Itwas an absolute honour to be Hocaefendi's guest.Upon my return to Melbourne I was glad to see my son and family, but I amalready looking forward to our next trip.Mr Kadir EmniyetDeputy PrincipalFIRST ALUMNI GENERAL MEETING“We stayed at [MrFethullah Gulen’s] homefor seven days as hisAustralianguests...during our staywe heard some of hisspeeches, helddiscussions and sharedour prayers with him.”Our inaugural meeting kicked off with a 'bang' one April Monday evening:colourful scenes of golden tea and crispy biscuits twinkled across the room.Those present were witness to a momentous occasion to be remembered infuture years.Committee representatives were enthusiastic and committed to make thegathering successful. There was genuine excitement across the room as plansfor the coming year were canvassed and discussed. Such plans includedorganising an alumni soccer tournament, and the possibility of taking part ininterstate or overseas travel.Other plans include the setting up of a program in which members of variousindustries would be invited to mentor our students. Students would certainlybenefit from the support of these professionals.The Alumni Committee not only sees itself providing services to Isik graduates,but also to being proactive in using its resources to help Isik studentsthroughout their secondary and post-secondary lives.Our next scheduled meeting, in three weeks, will focus on developing furtherideas for what will be a thrilling year for the committee!“enthusiastic andcommitted to make thegatheringsuccessful...genuineexcitement across theroom as plans for thecoming year werecanvassed anddiscussed”“setting up of a programin which members ofvarious industries wouldbe invited to mentor ourstudents”ICU Read 11

LIBRARY NEWSNew Fiction BooksKenny & The Dragon - DITERLIZZI, TonyZac Power Mind Games - LARRY, H. I.Area 7– REILLY, MatthewCastle - NIX, GarthWill Buster And The Carrier’s Flash - HIRSCH, OdoBOOK OF THE MONTHOn 31 October 1999, at the age of just eighteen, Jesse Martin sailed into therecord books in his yacht Lionheart, by becoming the youngest person ever tosail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. JesseMartin was born for adventure. After learning to sail atfourteen, he travelled along Australia's tropical coast on aflimsy catamaran, and by sixteen he had kayaked throughthe remote islands of Papua New Guinea and crewed on ayacht sailing from Belize to Tahiti. But the biggest adventureof them all was yet to come. Lionheart is Jesse's story. Astory of courage, loneliness and danger, it is also anincredible, gripping, true-life adventure.Taken from: Lionheart.READING COMPETITIONThe Reading Competition is well under way with lots of interest from students.Remember to hand in your completed forms to the Library before the end ofTerm 2 to be in the running for the prizes on offer.SPECIALANNOUNCEMENTSThe Isik College familyextends its deepestsympathy to the familyand friends of staffmember, Eileen Keatingwhose mother, PatriciaMary Keating, passedaway on 29 April 2009.P.E. WITH MR. RAJABAs year 7 P.E. teacher, I often find myself reminding students about theimportance of stretching both before and after any physical activity. Thebenefits of stretching include improving blood circulation to muscles andassisting with flexibility. My students are also taught that stretching needs to bedone correctly, too. They need to avoid bouncing, for example, which cancause tiny tears in muscles that may develop into scar tissues, and therebyrestricting flexibility even further.Ahmed RajabP.E. TeacherThe Isik College familywould like to announcethe birth of Ali Rajab,born on 3 May 2009,weighing in at 2.66kg.(Future occupation: IsikCollege P.E. teacher )Congratulations toproud parents, Mr andMrs Rajab.CHESS CLUBStudents wisely heeding Mr Rajab's adviceChess is very popular at Isik College-Upfield. Students arewelcome to join the Club which meets every Friday lunchtime inthe Library.Mr Okan AlkinISIK College Upfield CampusAddress: King Street UpfieldVIC 3047Tel: (03) 9359 2411Fax: (03) 9357 2478P.O. Box 739 Dallas VIC 3047Upfield@isikcollege.vic.edu.au