TISATimes

TISATimes
Newsletter
23 r d June 2011
20 1 0- 2 01 1 I ssu e 10
The International School of Azerbaijan
www.tisa.az
email: times@tisa.az
Contents
Director 2
Secondary Principal 3
Primary Principal & Read-a-Thon 4
Musician Day, Talent Show & P8 5
P5 Ask the Author 6
Primary Musical & Fashion Show 7
M1s, BTK & P8 Exhibition 8
P8 Exhibition 9
Sport 10
Calendar
June
24- Last Day of School
Reports Out
Classes Dismissed at 3:00
Director’s End of Year Round-up
What a year this has been! We have
had an exceptionally industrious time
with a number of whole school
projects as well as various important
initiatives in both the Primary and
Secondary Schools.
The CIS Re-accreditation Self-Study
has given us all the opportunity to
carry out a full assessment of who we
are and what we do, and everyone
involved – students, parents, staff and
Board members – is to be
congratulated on the work done to
provide a framework for future
developments. We have identified a
few areas which we will strengthen
over the coming months, and we are
confident that we will be able to
demonstrate that we are an extremely
effective learning institution in all
respects when the final Self- Study
report is submitted prior to the Reaccreditation
Visit in April 2012. As
some already know, we have at the
same time been carrying out an IB
Diploma Five-Year Review, and this
has also served as a focus for ongoing
improvement.
We have also implemented a Mission
Statement Review cycle and we have
made some recommendations of ways
Hats off to The Class of 2011
in which to develop our After-School
Activities programme. As well as
updating and giving a new look to
various school handbooks for next
year, we have designed an entirely
new website which should be online
very soon. Back in September we
surveyed the perceptions of the whole
school community, but we have also
introduced a tool for the selfevaluation
of the Board‟s
performance, which has also allowed
us to pinpoint and prioritise certain
areas to enhance. We have moreover
developed a vehicle for assessing the
attitudes of employees. In addition,
for the first time all TISA staff have
gone through a common appraisal
process, which has set objectives and
evaluated the delivery of goals over
the year. This has provided an
extremely useful opportunity to
acknowledge the very many
achievements and to make a start on
setting goals for 2011-12.
Our students have attained a great
deal again both in and out of the
classroom, and there have been
memorable celebrations of learning
from BTK to IB2. We have seen
attractive and thought-provoking
…continued page 2
Summer Holidays
August
12-New Student
Orientation
15- First Day of School
30-31- Ramazan Holiday
September
8- Planning Afternoon

TISA Times Director
Page 2 of 10
Director’s End of Year Round-up..continued
The Secondary Blue Team in the
Tug-of-War
The Secondary Green Team in the
Tug-of-War
artwork on display, we have attended
captivating stage performances by
students of all ages and we have been
entertained by high quality concerts.
This term our students have also
enjoyed educational trips to discover
the culture of Azerbaijan as well as
England; the teachers organising and
accompanying these events and visits
have done a great job in offering these
enrichment activities.
Sporting fixtures and tournaments have
brought success in basketball in Tbilisi
and in Baku, and recently the TISA
athletes were again placed first at the
Wild Wind Track and Field Meet here in
Baku: well done to them! It was also
great that so many students, parents
and teachers participated in last
month‟s Triathlons.
We bade farewell to the largest
graduating class ever in May, the month
in which research was published to
suggest that the IB Diploma is a more
effective pre-university course than any
other and that IB students outperform
those who have followed other
university entrance routes. TISA
graduates have been well prepared to
enter excellent universities in the UK,
the USA and elsewhere, and we have
high hopes for the class of 2011 when
the results are published next month.
I expect 2011-12 to be another very
good one. We will begin the year with
more students, more teachers and more
classes than ever. We have recruited
some terrific new staff, and have made
two significant additions of key players
with a new Primary Counsellor, who will
be an asset for parents, teachers and
children alike, and the Educational
Technology Coordinator, whose aim will
be to help teachers integrate technology
into the curriculum. With this in mind
we are now investing $200,000 in
technology which will enable our IT
provision to better serve the needs of
our students and which will enhance
teaching and learning at all levels.
There are several other exciting
innovations planned which I will share
with you in August.
As usual, the many achievements have
been the result of the collaboration of a
host of team members. All staff involved
at the school play an important role in
driving forward the TISA Mission, and we
value the contribution of security,
cleaners, maintenance workers, drivers,
business office support staff, teacher
assistants and teachers all together in
making the learning process as effective
as possible for our students. We are also
appreciative of the fact that our
students are extremely eager to learn
and well behaved, and that they make
the most of all that is on offer at TISA,
bringing creativity, dynamism,
enthusiasm, vitality and fun to the
school.
The PAT (soon to become the PTA to
further cement the parent-teacher
partnership) has been active as usual.
The Parents‟ Association has helped the
local community in its sponsorship of
various projects and has also been of
enormous benefit to TISA. The PAT has
generously provided us with playground
equipment, musical instruments and kits
for sports teams amongst other things
and has organised various events
including the innovative and extremely
well received Teacher Appreciation Day
and the recent Summer Barbecue, which
was enjoyed immensely as much by
adults as by the children. More is on the
cards for next year…
I am also grateful for the work of the
members of the Board of Governors,
who have supported the school in many
ways, providing advice and expertise as
well as giving us access to various BP
resources. A special word of thanks goes
to Kemp Copeland who is stepping down
as Chair having led the Board with
determination for the past two years,
and to Victoria Cross, our US Embassy
Representative, who is also moving on.
We thank those staff members who are
leaving TISA for their various
contributions over a the past few years;
we are grateful to the parents who are
leaving for giving us the opportunity to
have a hand in educating their children
albeit in most cases for a relatively
short time; we thank the students
themselves, who are at the very heart of
all that happens at TISA, for the
…continued page 3

Page 3 of 10
Secondary
TISA Times
Director’s End of Year Round-up..continued
difference that they have made to the
school; and we hope that everyone will
keep fond memories of TISA wherever
they may be. I look forward to seeing
those returning to TISA on the first day
End of Year Message from Secondary
It is amazing how quickly the year
passes. Only yesterday I was writing the
first TISA Times article for the year
welcoming new and returning families
and now you are off again on holidays!
In fact, 180 days of school have merged
into a myriad of experiences, events,
and developments.
I mentioned a number of highlights at
the PAT AGM that have taken place in
the Secondary School this year and I
would now like to take the opportunity
to reiterate just a few of the highlights.
There have been major developments in
fully documenting the Middle Years
Programme. Although this was done in
the past, the amount of detail and
information supplied for each unit is
now very detailed and thorough. An
online system for major MYP homework
is now accessible to Staff, students and
parents. Parents can check when
assignments are due. Interdisciplinary
activities (across subject themes) have
included Feral Animals M1 and Gadgets
M2 and these meaningful activities will
continue to increase throughout grade
levels.
A large amount of work has taken place
on two major Self-Studies. The Diploma
Self-Study involved reviewing the
Diploma Programme and subject areas.
This was presented in report form to the
International Baccalaureate to ensure
that our Diploma Programmed continues
to meet its high standards. The second
Self-Study has involved the whole
school, including the Board, support
staff, parents and students. I am
pleased to report that all committee
sections have completed their reports,
although they will need to be updated
next year. TISA will be visited in April by
a team of specialist educationalists to
review our standards and engage with
the TISA community. The work that has
come out of this Self-Study will be used
to guide the way forward for the TISA
Strategic Planning.
of the Academic Year 2011-12 on
Monday 15 August.
Thank you to everyone for making this a
great year!
John Gillespie
Director
In addition, the Secondary School has
witnessed many notable events during
the course of the year including sporting
successes in the areas of athletics,
basketball and soccer. Our Community
Service and CAS Programmes have been
strengthened with several new service
initiatives that have been added. These
you will undoubtedly have been kept up
to date with via the new community
service newsletter that comes out
monthly. The Arts have added a lively
selection of entertainment from the
major production, “Beauty and the
Beast”, to coffee shop performances,
trips to Vienna and London not to
mention the IB art exhibition.
A number of events have been offered
to broaden the experiences of our
students outside of the classroom
including the M1 camp, the Spanish
language trip to Salamanca and the Baku
MUN Conference. We also celebrated
recently our largest ever graduating
class of 17 IB Diploma students.
The final days of term year will
conclude with Curriculum Enrichment
days for M1-M5 students and the Group 4
Project for the IB1 class. It is important
that your child/children remains in
school until the end of the academic
year since these activities are both
worthwhile and meaningful as they
develop the attributes of the IB Learner
Profile and are an integral part of our
Middle Years Programme. Please join us
for the end of year assembly that will
begin at 1:30pm on the 24 th of June,
where these activities will be showcased
and the Term 3 Principal‟s Awards
will be presented.
I would like to wish you a well deserved
and enjoyable summer break. Thank you
for all your support this year; it is truly
a pleasure to work in such a positive,
school community like TISA.
Lesley Peacock
Secondary Principal
At the Graduation
Rampaging Reds Rearing to Race in the
Secondary Sports Day
Graduating Students and their Staff

TISA Times
Goal shooting action at the Primary
Sports Day
Primary & Read-a-Thon Page 4 of 10
Primary Report
We started the month off with the
Primary Sports Day, which was blessed
by glorious weather! The students all
performed to the best of their abilities
in order to score points for their
“House” while enjoying themselves in
friendly rivalry. A big thank you to the
PE Department and all who helped out
for the immaculate organization!
Musical & P5 Trip
Earlier this month the Lower Primary
School performed their musical drama
“There‟s an Alien in My Lunch.” Under
Mr. Jim‟s direction, assisted by Emily
Patterson (P7 Student Director), the
performers wowed the other students
and their parents with a dazzling show.
The Staff Talent Show on Monday saw a
wide range of TISA staff display their
talents on the stage. The PTA helped by
running the refreshment stand, with all
funds raised going towards the Japan
Crisis Relief Fund. It would certainly be
worth it to repeat this initiative next
year! Maybe we can also combine it with
a Parent Talent Show…?
I‟d like to finish with thanking you for
your support during my first year as TISA
Primary Principal. We have had a very
productive and successful year,
students, parents, teachers and
administration alike! I wish the leaving
families all the best in their new
postings, and I‟m looking forward to
seeing the returning families back in
August. Enjoy your holidays!
David Harrold
Primary Principal
Read-a-Thon Helps Christchurch School
The TISA Titans Rugby Presentation
Party
P7K - Winners of the Upper Primary
Read-a-Thon
The city of Christchurch in New Zealand
suffered a devastating earthquake on 22
February of this year. Thousands of
buildings and homes were damaged and
some collapsed resulting in 189 deaths.
The TISA community joined in to support
an appeal for the children at Rowley
Avenue School, in Christchurch. This was
a school of 125 children in one of the
poorest areas of the city with many of
the children from immigrant families
from the Pacific Islands. Since the
earthquake in February it is now a
school of 91 students as many families
have left the city.
Through the persistent reading of our
children from P3 to M5, and some very
generous sponsorship we were able to
raise a grand total of 4184.05 AZN + 90
Euros.
I contacted Mr. Glenn Bermingham, the
Principal of Rowley Avenue School, and
asked him what they might spend the
money on; this is his reply:
“We asked the children how they would
like to spend the money. We had had
the offer to take the children up into
the mountains in the winter and have a
winter holiday as many of these children
have never played in snow. Looks as
though the children are keen for the
school trip up into the snow (will need
to buy some warm clothes, jacket, hat,
gloves, socks, etc, for most of the
children), as well as indoor board games
for the wet winter ahead. One of the
classes will need help with their first
ever class camp-no money in the
community for fundraising. The Board,
staff, and children, are overwhelmed
with the generosity of your school.
Thank you so much, Glenn Bermingham,
Principal, Rowley Avenue School.”
During the Read-a-Thon we ran a
competition in the Middle School, Upper
Primary and Lower Primary to see which
class could accumulate the greatest
number of reading hours. The prizes
were generously donated by the TISA
PAT. Each of the students in M1-5 who
chose to take part the Read-a-Thon
Lower primary winners: P3C: 50 hours,
P4J: 47 hours 52 mins, P5A: 45 hours
and 16 mins
Upper Primary winners: P7K: 169 hours
23 mins, P7F: 86 hours, P7J: 60 hours,
20 mins
I am overwhelmed with the generosity
of the TISA community and feel very
privileged and proud to be able to take
this money on behalf of you all to
Rowley Avenue Primary School, during
our New Zealand visit in July. We will
bring back some photos of happy faced
children from New Zealand.
Thank you to all the children for your
reading and thank you to the TISA
community for your generosity.
Kate Brown
P7 Teacher

Page 5 of 10
Dress-Up, Talent Show & P8
TISA Times
Favourite Musician Dress-Up Day
The „Dress up as your Favourite Musician
May‟ was a success with so much
excitement and enthusiasm from
students and staff alike. We raised 300
Manat through this event. This will go
towards the Japanese crisis.
There were many students and staff
really dressed up so it was hard to
choose the „best dressed‟. After much
contemplation, 3 students won this
year‟s „best dressed‟ event –
Rauf (Elvis Presley) P6K
Thomas (Brian May) P6E
SuBin (Vanessa Mae) P8M
The winners won a „two minutes of
fame‟ – an opportunity to perform at the
final assembly on June 24 th . Don‟t miss
the action.
Thanks again for your support.
Melvyn Sawyer
Primary Music Teacher
Staff Talent Raises Funds for Japan Aid
There was a real group effort to show
support for Japan in this time of crisis.
The TISA Staff put together 16 different
acts for the first Staff Talent Show, and
the various members of the staff,
performers and the PTA sold tickets for
the event. The result was that the Staff
Talent Show raised over 600 Manats for
Japan crisis relief.
The PTA also sold refreshments, and
took charge of sales at the door. Close
to 200 people attended the event and
registered their approval with loud
applause and laughter in all the right
places.
The judges recognized four outstanding
acts: Sabina and Nijat Mammadov,
danced their way through several
different styles with perfect timing and
tremendous energy.
After adapting her style to play for
student productions Lala Suleymanova
demonstrated her Masters in Music by
playing Chopin's “Fantasy Impromptu”
with ease on the piano.
Jeff Hearn gave his own entertaining
introductions and gave a winning
performance on the piano with
"Romance" and "Tarantella".
Melvyn Sawyer was all over the place
the entire show. He played the piano
and sang for his featured act, and joined
the „Detention Squad‟ on the guitar, and
played a grown up Linus Van Pelt in the
Charlie Brown drama. He also fulfilled
the role of stage manager.
Jim Hammer
P5 Teacher
This student was „All Shook Up‟ from
winning a chance of „2 minutes of
Fame‟
Wheelbarrow Race during the
Secondary Sports Day
P8S Students Visit Secondary Science Lab
On June 16 th we, the students in P8S,
visited the Secondary Physics lab in TISA
4. Mr. Kremer and Ms Sara organized this
to help us with our transition to Middle
School and to give us an opportunity to
work with a physics expert on our unit
of inquiry Sound.
Mr. Kremer organized some interesting
experiments. There were four stations.
At one, we explored vibrations. At
another, we learned that it is hard to
hear high pitched sounds. At the third
station, we felt the vibrations of a
speaker. In the fourth station, we saw
how high-pitched sounds are created.
We thought it was a great experience.
Romena enjoyed it, “It was very useful,
understanding how the particles vibrate
when sounds are created.” Claire
learned a lot, “You can‟t hear high
pitched sounds very well when you get
older.” Jan was grateful for the
experience, “It was great to use the
equipment and do stuff we can‟t do
down here in the Primary School.”
Most of the P8S students are nervous,
but very excited, about going to middle
school. We really look forward to having
science classes. Thanks, Mr. Kremer!
Choha Kim
P8S

TISA Times
P5 Ask the Author
Page 6 of 10
P5J Students Contact Author
M1 students play football at Ishegli Ev
Blue Team triumph in the
Primary Sports Day
Jean Craighead George is 92, and lives
in the United States. She has written
over 100 books, including the Newbery
Honor book „My Side of the Mountain‟. It
is a fictional story about a young boy
who goes to live in the wilderness, and
learns to use the resources around him
for food, clothing and shelter.
We wrote the author!
Hello Ms. George,
I am reading your novel, My Side of the
Mountain, to my grade 2 class of
international students, and we were
hoping we could contact you.
My students are: Arif, Zarifa, Rufat,
Ava, Jessica, Mervan, Vadi, Frederik,
Daphne, Sejal, Sparsh, Mhari and Regan.
We are doing a unit on natural
resources, and I remembered my
fascination with your novel and living
off the land when my teacher read it to
me when I was in elementary school.
Most of the environmental issues we
read about seem too large and
complicated for us to understand or
believe we can make a positive
difference.
Can you give any suggestions for our
students how they can care for their
environment in their home countries:
Azerbaijan, UK, USA, Turkey, Iran,
Belgium, Denmark, and India?
Thank you for your time! Jim Hammer
Jean Craighead George Wrote Back!!!
“Dear students,
One thing you might do to help the
planet is to raise your country's native
fish from eggs or tiny fry (you can buy
eggs from pharmaceutical houses) and
put them back in the streams and ocean
when they grow up. We need all the fish
we can get.
You could also test your streams and
rivers for pollution by asking a
pharmaceutical company to come with
you and test the water. They might let
you test it.
Plant nuts, acorns and small trees
everywhere. Put out birdseed for the
birds also boxes to nest in. Some birds
like string. Throw some out. Barn
swallows must have white feathers to
put on their nest to decorate it. Throw
white feathers on the ground for them.
Have Mr. Hammer show you a couple of
weeds and pull them up whenever you
see them. Help salamanders, if you
have them, across roads. Cars are
killing them and they are dying out.
They must travel to their ancestral
ponds to breed which often means they
must cross roads these days. Pick up
trash, put it in a bag and find a public
trash basket to dump it in. My email is:
jeangeorge1@verizon.com if you care to
write me.”
Jean Craighead George
Some of our students wrote her back.
Ava: Dear Ms. George, My name is Ava.
How are you? I am good. My teacher is
reading the book called „My Side of the
Mountain‟. It is really good. We are on
the page 59. I have the book at my
house. How many books have you made?
Your books are really good. What was
the first book you made? Do you have
fans? I got to go. Nice talking to you.
Bye Bye Ava
Zarifa: Hi Ms. George. My name is
Zarifa. I'm from Azerbaijan. The book
„My Side of the Mountain‟ is a very nice
book. I have a question... what book are
you writing now? I love writing books
too!
Mhari: I hope you will come one day to
Azerbaijan, Baku. You are my favorite
author. The school I go to is called TISA.
Daphne: Dear Miss George, My name is
Daphne and I come from Belgium. In my
family there are 4 people. I am going to
TISA. How many people are in your
family? Bye from Daphne.
Jim Hammer & P5J
P5 Teacher

Page 7 of 10
Primary Musical & Fashion Show
TISA Times
Aliens Invaded TISA Lunchboxes!
The Lower Primary Musical Drama
production of “There‟s an Alien in My
Lunch!” featured the youngest group of
performers we have ever worked with.
Over 50 students from P3-P5 performed
10 songs in this 40-minute drama
production, five of which were original
student compositions.
They were aided by several students
form Upper Primary. Claire in P8 worked
backstage keeping the performers quiet
while waiting for their entrances. Nina
and Romena, also in P8, helped the
performers enter on time, and delivered
lines as “performers” when the P5
students needed a little help.
The Student Director, Emily in P7,
choreographed the dances, wrote the
opening number, and assumed a leading
role for the second performance after
one of the P5 students had to depart.
One of the highlights of the event was a
full performance for ELC on Friday. The
P4 students were on a field trip and the
P3 students had to step up into these
larger roles. They did a fabulous job.
Maria and Eileen took over several solos,
and Angelina delivered the closing lines
for “Quark Picasso” after a short
rehearsal in the corridor the morning of
the performance.
As always, the staff and parents played
major roles in the show‟s success:
Musical Director: Mita Velker-Pajic
Assistant Director: Colleen MacDonell
Musical Arrangements: Lala Suleymanova
Lights and Sounds: Said Hasanov
Still Photography: Sean Barry
Video Photography: Nazim Mammadov
Refreshments: The PTA
Costumes & Make-Up: Students & Parents
Art Work: After School Art Activity
Students under the direction of Ms
Emily, Ms Gunel and Ms Sabina.
Jim Hammer
P5 Teacher
Aliens get „Framed‟
Benefit Fashion Show in September
The Students will hold a Fashion Show at
7pm on the evening of 20 th September.
Designers
The theme of the Fashion Show is
„Neon‟, which means that there has to
be something linked to neon on the
outfit, make-up or accessories. Each
designer is responsible for finding their
own model for their outfit(s). Designers
can show up to eight outfits.
Models
If you are interested in modeling clothes
on the TISA catwalk, but you can‟t find
a designer for whom you can model, we
will make the arrangements to pair you
up. We have a professional model who
will be helping us with the choreography
for the models.
Musicians
We would like to have live music played
during the Fashion Show as and there
will be cheese and wine and stalls. We
would like a mixture of student, parent
and teacher musicians to play
throughout the evening.
There will be a dress rehearsal for
everyone at 3pm on Monday 19 th
September.
Accessory Stalls
People who make their own hats, bags
or jewelry can pay 10 AZN for a stall in
order to sell their produce. Money raised
from the stalls will go towards the
nominated charity.
Tickets
Tickets will go on sale at the beginning
of September and will be limited, so be
sure to get in early.
The following students are each
responsible for a specific area of the
Fashion Show and can be contacted for
further information:
Caen Dennis: Fashion Coordinator
Tamilla Dowse: Entertainments &
Backstage Coordinator
Erin Gilroy: Stalls Coordinator
We look forward to working with you.
Mrs. Vicki Gardner
On behalf of the Fashion Show team
Aliens from the Lunch boxes
End-of-Year Party Lunch at BTK

M1s, BTK & P8 Exhibition
TISA Times Page 8 of 10
M1s Visit Ishegli Ev
An M1 Student helps with face
painting at Ishegli Ev
The M1s finished up their visits to the
Ishegli Ev (Light House) Street Kids
Center with a surprise lunch provided by
the Latino club along with a huge pile of
clothes and toys to be donated to the
center. The weekly visits to the center
were a huge success with the M1s (and a
Wet End-of-Year Party at BTK
Baku Toddlers Klub had a great End-of-
Year party last Tuesday. We ended the
year with a lot of water fun. Pools,
water slides and water balloons made
sure we had great fun outside. Later, we
went inside to continue the celebration,
to thank our BTK moms for all their
support and as well to thank the teacher
and teacher assistants for this year. We
few M2s) being introduced to and
committing to the true meaning of
Community and Service by interacting
with the children, providing activities
for them and sharing their love.
Nadine Mains
MYP Coordinator
finished the day with a shared lunch,
provided by all the parents. We got to
take our portfolios home before we left.
It was great!
We wish all the children moving to P1 all
the best in the ELC for the new school
year.
Ellen van Erk
BTK Teacher
A warm day and lots of water made
the BTK party lots of fun
The Booths during the P8 Exhibition
The Big Day for P8
The 18 th and 19 th of May seemed like any
other ordinary days, but for the P8s of
TISA it was the moment they had all
been preparing for. It was the PYP
Exhibition.
How did they prepare for the big day?
The P8 students needed to choose a
topic and relate it to an issue, conduct
research and then take action. Then,
later on, the issues were combined into
different types of presentation formats
and put together in an entertaining
drama production.
The big day started off in the lunch hall
at 9:00 am with a warm welcome from
the Principal, Mr. David. Afterwards, the
production opened with a newscast on
different issues happening around the
world. The issues in the news skit were
girls‟ education, prejudice, rugby
safety, children‟s diseases, art therapy
and having a balanced life. It really
taught the audience about some of the
issues the P8s studied. Second, there
was an inventions show. The issues in
that performance were materialism
harming the planet; medical, social and
transportation
technology;
desertification; and deep sea trawling.
It was funny while being informative at
the same time. The next performance in
the Exhibition production was musical;
some students performing “Black or
White” by Michael Jackson about
prejudice. The performance was
inspirational and overall was an
entertaining piece. Afterwards there
was a quiz show. The issues in that
performance were myths and legends,
ancient civilizations, mathematics, the
Roman Empire and disappearing art. The
act was imaginative and presented the
audience with some more information
on issues the students researched. Next,
there was an animal skit showing
endangerment of species. The piece was
humorous and educational. The last act
of the production was a song by the
whole of P8. It was an amazing
performance!
After the production, the P8s went off
to their Exhibition booths. At their
booths, they waited for any visitors to
come along. Then, if they stopped by at
their booths, the visitors could learn
something about the students‟ issues.
The theme of the Exhibition, “Our
passions and interests can lead to
action”, was reflected in many ways.
The students of P8 inquired into their
passions, and their actions have made a
positive change in the world.
Jan Haverkamp
P8S

Page 9 of 10
P8 Exhibition
TISA Times
Exhibition Reflection
I am in P8, I did the Exhibition and my
topic was Girls‟ Education. In this
newsletter I am going to be telling you
about the exhibition process. On the
first week of the exhibition we had to
choose a topic (passion) that we liked
that we had to study for eight weeks.
On about the third week we searched
for articles on INFOTRAC and EBSCO, a
couple of Destiny search engines. I used
many sources to find information such as
books, articles, movies, people from
organizations, and the Internet. I used
that information to make Key Concept
Questions. Then we started to look for
answers to our questions and that was
actually pretty hard because we didn‟t
know if the answers from what we read
were right or wrong.
The thing that was most important was
time management. I think I used my
time very well. I did many things in the
little time I had. Another important
thing that we had to focus on was
responsibility. We had to be responsible
for all our things. I was very responsible.
I always kept my work in a nice folder
and never lost my book. I was also
responsible when I remembered to do
my action even though I was nervous. I
was also responsible when I did my
homework and tried to do as much as I
could. It took me a whole weekend to
get something done once. But it was all
Reflecting on the Exhibition
worth it.
After a couple of weeks we started the
drama performances and I was in the
Newscast group. The newscast worked
very well together and everyone
cooperated. I was respecting my group
when I was trying my hardest to make
it the best. We all made decisions on
our lines and the teachers were very
supportive.
I also cooperated very well with my
mentor. My mentor was Miss Emma the
drama teacher. She gave me many
ideas and was very supportive. I liked
her. She gave me many things to do
and a website.
In the second to last week we had to
think up our action. Personally I loved
my action and raised over 200 Manats
from it. Doing my action felt well and I
know all the money I earned will go to
a good cause. When you do your action
it is a very good experience.
In the end the Exhibition was not as
bad as some people said it was and I
think I handled the exhibition very
well. My board turned out very good
and was well organized. My topic was
very unique from all the others and I
am proud of that. I am making a list of
accomplishments and this is one of
them.
Nina Gante
P8T
„Going for Goal‟ for the Red Team on
Primary Sports Day
A flying Yellow Dragon in the Primary
Sack Race
The Exhibition looked really hard in the
beginning. I had the feeling that I was
going to fail. As we continued it became
easier and more fun. There were also
some issues during the Exhibition like
friends getting me off task or the
computers not working. One time the
whole PS School shared folders
disappeared. A week later we got them
back. That was not much help because
it was fixed on the sixth week of the
Exhibition.
I could have gotten more work on my
board. But with all the problems it was
hard to get a lot done. My responsibility
was really bad. It took me and Gabriel
two weeks to think of a perfect
Exhibition Topic and I didn‟t get most of
the work done I just threw it on Gabriel
and I feel really bad. Gabriel took more
responsibility on this entire
presentation.
My mentor helped me be more
responsible. My mentor was Mr. Harrold.
He was a very good mentor. He
encouraged me and Gabriel to do a lot
of things like asking some staff member
about prejudice and if they saw any
prejudice in TISA. This went very good.
Another thing he told me to do, and it
helped a lot, was to explain the
questionnaire I did with the P8s, so I
made a chart and more people
understood what I tried to show in the
questionnaire.
Arad Gozal
P8T
Hurdling in the Primary Sports
Obstacle Race

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TISA Sport Page 10 of 10
5 of
Times
5
Sports Days 2011
Well done to everyone who competed in
both the Primary and Secondary Sports
Days. Students put in a lot of effort to
prepare themselves for the event. It was
great to see teams arriving onto the
field wearing their team colors and
singing their team songs. The team spirit
and positive energy had such a huge
impact on the day and it was
encouraging to see the level of
sportsmanship displayed by most
Board Meeting
students. The results for both sports
days are shown on the right:
I would like to take this opportunity to
thank everyone for their help and
support during sports day. Thank you for
the feedback and suggestions we
received, we will be sure to consider
them for future sporting events.
Record Competitors for Kids’ Triathlon
We had a record number of 66 children
who entered the Kids Triathlon this
year, which was a fantastic turn out.
The competitors completed a swim, bike
and run, all on the same day. The
children and young people who entered
showed fantastic stamina,
determination and above all
sportsmanship. They were amazing and
should all be proud of their
achievements.
Well done to all those who 'DARED TO
TRI'.
U10 Boys
1st Finn McCarthy 12:13:11
2nd Niels Scholten 12:13:20
3rd Daniel Daatland 12:14:15
PE Department
U11 Girls
1st Romena McGregor 12:15:12
2nd Claire Sparrowgrove 12:15:28
3rd Rija Adil 12:19:03
U11 Boys
1st Timm Bakot Gonner 12:12:56
2nd Daniel Hatfield 12:13:21
3rd Sam Bell 12:13:55
Place
Primary
Teams Points
1 st Blue 1954
2 nd Green 1878
3 rd Red 1731
4 th Yellow 1684
Place
Secondary
Teams Points
1 st Red 923
2 nd Green 847
3 rd Yellow 823
4 th Blue 718
Results for the Triathlon are as follows:
U8 Girls
1st Jessica McCarthy - 12:10:15
2nd Isabella Sarmiento - 12:11:47
3rd Kyra McGregor - 12:12:01
U8 Boys
1st Tom Bodley-Scott - 12:09:23
2nd Regan O'Kane - 12:09:27
3rd Frederik Holtzel - 12:10:58
U9 Girls
1st Louise Hotlzel - 12:11:09
2nd Nastassja Gerlich - 12:11:23
3rd Lizette O'Quinn - 12:11:54
U9 Boys
1st Kris Kazalski 12:09:20
2nd Maxime Pons 12:09:24
3rd Samuel Bowell 12:09:55
U10 Girls
1st Anastacia Dahl 12:17:24
2nd Ewa Ward 12:17:25
U12 Girls
1st Anita Jha 12:22:07
2nd Svetlana Gurbanova 12:27:09
U12 Boys
1st Connor O'Kane 12:20:00
2nd Jacob Bowell 12:22:24
3rd Alex O'Quinn 12:26:25
U13 Girls
1st Jessica Hatfield 12:19:48
2nd Elka Sterling 12:24:49
3rd Keira Lawson 12:25:51
U13 Boys
1st Ben Sparrowgrove 12:21:27
2nd Ulvi Nasibli 12:22:28
3rd Gurban Gurbanov 12:26:12
U14 Girls
1st Valentina Soler 12:34:46
U14 Boys
1st Fraser Gordon 12:24:24
2nd Clayton Draughon 12:26:06
3rd Michael Hovem 12:26:56
Jill McCarthy
Under-11 Boys winners at the Kids
Triathlon
Under-13 Girls competitor during the
Kids‟ Triathlon Bike leg of the race