Tirana International School 27 March 2019 Important Dates March 29 – Term III Tuition Payment Due 29 - Student Led Conferences - No School for Students 30 - Saturday Soccer Begins April 1-3 - Mock AP Exams 4-8 - MUN Trip 5-6 - Alice in Wonderland Performance 11-14 - CEESA Knowledge Bowl in Tirana 11-13 - Balkan Arts Festival in Montenegro 18-21 - CEESA HS Math Counts in Belgrade 24 - National Honor Society Induction Ceremony 29-May 3 - Spring Break - No School Director's Desk Dear Parents, Students, and Friends of TIS, We are excited to introduce you to some new staff members that will be joining us in August at TIS. Please take a moment to read through their biographies below and learn about their experience and passion for working with children. This group will join us in early August to learn about the school, our community and life in Albania. As we are thinking of welcoming some new people, it is the time of year when we begin to understand the impact of those leaving us in June. A huge part of an international school is that we constantly have students and faculty that are in transition to their next country or posting. The next few months will be difficult for everyone as we prepare to say goodbye to dear friends, and now is a good time to begin the conversation with your children. Helping our children to know that their feelings of loss are valid, we can also provide some concrete ways that they can maintain relationships. Even though they might be physically separated from their friends next year, they can keep in touch through email, Skype calls, and physical letters. Start planning now on how they will maintain their friendships by distance. It isn't easy, but it is worth the effort! Looking Forward, Robert S. Jackson, Director Let us introduce the new teachers joining TIS for the 2019-2020 school year! Cameron and Kevin Kalua My name is Cameron Kalua. I come from a long line of teachers in my family. We joke that teaching is in my blood! My grandparents, parents, and most of my aunts and uncles are teachers. I graduated from Azusa Pacific University with my teaching credential. From there, I jumped right into my career. I have taught for 20 years in public, private, Christian, and overseas schools. I have been with QSI for 6 years. I spent 2 years in Almaty, Kazakhstan teaching 10 year-olds. The last 4 years have been in Shenzhen, China teaching 8 year-olds and 10 year-olds. I am looking forward to joining the Tirana community next year as one of the 8 year-old teachers. My husband, Kevin, will be one of the counselors and secondary teachers. We have 5 children, but only our youngest 3 will be joining us. Our oldest daughter is attending the University of Nevada Las Vegas and our son, who is an S4, wanted to finish his high school in America with my husband's family. We also have 11 year-old boy/girl twins, Kanaloa and Marley, and a 9 year-old son, Avery who are excited for this new adventure. Aloha (hello in Hawaiian) QSI Tirana community. My name is Kevin Kalua and I come all the way from the islands of Hawaii via China. I look forward to supporting you as the new school counselor and AP Psychology teacher next year. I received my Bachelor of Science from Nevada State College in integrated studies, matching my interests of education and psychology together. I then went on to complete my Master of Science from Emporia State University in school counseling. I am currently a school counselor at QSI-Shenzhen, China and before that I was the school/college guidance counselor at QSI-Almaty, Kazakhstan. I look forward to getting to know our new community, building relationships, and being a support. David and Nancy Johnson We are excited about coming to Albania to live and teach. David is originally from North Carolina and Nancy grew up in Connecticut, though we now make our summer home northeast of Charlotte, NC. We began our lives overseas in 1994 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where we lived for 12.5 years and grew to a family of six. Our oldest child is Autumn, who is in her third year at Belmont University in Nashville studying music business. Our son Forrest is in his first year in the Business Honors Program at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Danae, Secondary 1, and Acadia, 12-year old class, will be joining us in Albania next year and will be looking forward to playing volleyball and soccer, respectively. Danae also loves art and design, and she loves children. She especially enjoys babysitting young children. Acadia loves outdoor activities and reading. David, who has a PhD in genetics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is completing his 21st year with QSI and has taught a wide variety of subjects and grade levels, though his love is biology and science and mathematics. He enjoys keeping up with current events, especially those that tie in with the courses he is teaching. David and I both love hiking in the mountains in any part of the world. Nancy, a graduate of Williams College and Ohio University, has a MS degree in biology and has taught at a community college before earning a TEFL certificate and heading overseas to teach English. After many years as a homemaker, Nancy returned to teaching a variety of courses from 11-year old to S2. She enjoys teaching all of the core subjects, and, outside of school, Nancy enjoys cooking foods from all over the world for friends and family, hiking in the mountains, fitness, reading historical fiction, and traveling to centers of culture and history or natural parks. Shala Turner My name is Shala Marquee-Creshon Turner and I am from Georgia, USA. I have a Bachelors and Masters in Physics from Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, respectively. As a result, I have had the privilege to teach either/both math and physics for more than 12 years in the USA and UAE. Personally, I am an only child and have an only child named Sean, who turns 2 years old in June. I love to bake, travel, dance, watch movies, and ride roller-coasters. Shannon Titus Shannon completed her bachelors degree in English and Social Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Upon graduating, she moved to South Korea and taught English there for two years before returning to the U.S. to obtain her teaching credentials. She recently taught reading and writing at a middle school in Oklahoma City for two years. Teen-Ink Magazine Congratulations to Jacob Lindland who has been published in the print edition of Teen-Ink. Teen-Ink, dubbed "The New Yorker for Teens," is the USA's largest publisher of teen work in print and online. Teen-ink receives 120,000 submissions a year; however, only around 3000 actually make it to the monthly print edition of the magazine. Jacob initially received the Teen-Ink Editor's Choice Award, which made his autobiographical work "The Life of a Walking Fungus" eligible for the print magazine. He then received the news that he has been selected for this month's edition. The 7 Year Old classes ventured out to the Artificial Lake this Monday. They hiked around and looked for evidence of weathering and erosion. They found cracks in the dirt created by water, areas where the water level had risen and carried away soil, and even saw some mini landslides. Then students enjoyed some fun in the sun at the park playground. The 5s are learning about their home and host countries, and so last Friday we went on an all-day field trip to Krujë. We had a lot of fun. On the hour-long bus ride, we played ABC games. In Krujë, we explored the Ethnographic Museum and learned what life was like a long time ago. Then we explored the castle grounds and found a secret tunnel! Sign up for Saturday Soccer at HERE. Once a month, we have a very special guest in our class. His name is Sake. Research has shown that that the human-animal bond can impact both humans and animals in a positive way. It has also been shown that children's interactions with dogs can help teach empathy, improve the development of social skills, as well as provide emotional connection and support. The Crickets LOVE when Sake visits their class! 10 Orange enjoying working hard on preparing themselves for the upcoming student led conferences. Our class is looking forward to sharing with their parents their successes at this Friday's SLC event. See the latest MS Newsletter here. During French class, the students in French I and French II were in competition together and they are playing "Truth or Dare". A game about verbs in the Past Tense, specially about the past participle or conjugation with the irregular verbs that are the hardest one to learn in French. And for that, we need concentration and spirit's team. Learn German quickly by building and testing the German vocabulary with this funny and easy way. Ideal for the elementary students’, the game provides entertainment, whilst training brain to quickly recall and spell new German words. The 10 y.o. German Class had an amazing time in practicing the verbs through this game. They have to find out the correct parts of the verbs and conjugate them. In the end, we have to build sentences, it’s so fanny to make sentences event if sometimes we don’t know the meaning of the verb. Throughout the year, AP Art History students have been exploring artworks from various historical periods and geographical areas. Each time they study an artwork, they place its image on a timeline or a map. As they are coming to the end of the course, the timeline is becoming full, helping students see connections between and compare various pieces of art. Mr. Smith's 11 year old Cultural Studies class have been working in groups to analyze Primary and Secondary Documents regarding the Ancient Kingdom of Kush. They were also to evaluate this information to answer this question: Did the Nubian Culture equal the power strength, and success of Ancient Egypt? Once they decided, they needed to use the evidence provided to back up their assertion. On advisory we have began implementing the safety curriculum pilot. Students are learning about healthy and unhealthy relationships. They did a mind map of their rights and responsibilities for a healthy relationship. We have a new website where you can look through the items and see if you find anything that belongs to you. |