CIS Newsflash: May 12, 2017 Page 1 of 13

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Newsflash Friday, May 12, 2017

Upcoming Events:

May 15: All School Assembly

May 19: Clubs End

May 20: JS Prom

May 22: All School Assembly

May 24: ES – SPTC

May 26: Graduation Ceremonies

May 26-31: MHS Exams

June 1: Last Day of School / End of Year

Assembly / Moving Up Ceremony

In this week’s Issue:

Using RAFT to help transitioning

K-12 News

Band News

Grade 6 Youth Camp

No Age Is Too Young for Service Work

Biomimicry

Alumni Talk

Summer Activities & Academic Program

Library Clearance

Canteen Menu

CIS Newsflash: May 12, 2017 Page 2 of 13

As we near the end of the school year, it is a time we are forced to think of upcoming change. Some

families will be leaving, and students are finishing up this year’s classes, and starting to think of the

changes a new school year bring. During this time of change, it is beneficial to consciously consider

how transitions can affect us, and our children.

Pollock and Van Reken1 outline the transition process as a normal process which uses the following

associated feelings:

ENGAGEMENT LEAVING TRANSITION ENTERING RE-ENGAGEMENT Settled Unsettling Chaos Resettling Settled

Commitment Preparation Statelessness Observation Commitment

Status Celebration Anxiety Introduction Status

Intimacy Denial Vulnerability Intimacy

It is helpful to consider emotions involved during transitions, so as to understand and be ready to deal

with any stress these emotions may cause. Failure to cope with these will result in an unhappy

transition and poor re-engagement in your new environment. For students, this will certainly affect

their social and academic achievements.

Dr. Pollock2 also developed the acronym and visual image “RAFT” to help explain pre-departure

processes needed for successful transitions. Here is a summary for your reference:

Reconciliation - Begin building your raft by asking yourself if you have any relationships that need

mending. Is there any unfinished business between you and someone you are in relationship with? This

is the time to give and receive forgiveness. Bitterness and regret stemming from lack of closure and

resolution inhibit good grief and adjustment to a new location.

Affirmation - This is the time to thank the people who have been involved in your life. Affirm the

relationships you have made and what they have meant to you. Take the time to tell people what

you have learned from them and how grateful you are for them. Try to leave as little unsaid as

possible when you leave a place.

Farewells - Say good-byes to people, places, pets and possessions that have mattered to you. Take

lots of pictures. Take the time to say culturally appropriate good-byes. Some cultures require a lengthy

departure process. Particularly difficult farewells are the ones that are generally rushed or put off, so

plan ahead and give the farewell its due.

Think destination - Think and dream about where you are going and what it will be like. Be very honest

about the expectations you have for the people and situations that you are going to. Be honest with

yourself about how you feel about this transition. Think ahead to what scares you or excites you about

where you are going. Research the realities of your destination. If at all possible, put concrete plans in

place.

Please take time to build your RAFT as you transition, and go out of your way to help your friends build

theirs. Consider how change may impact student’s feelings, not only those are leaving, but also those

who are staying, as they move into a

new grade, and as some of their friends

and teachers leave.

I hope RAFT helps you all have a positive

transition over summer whatever you may

be doing, or wherever you may be going.

Dr. Gwyn Underwood,

Superintendent

References: 1Third Culture Kids: The experience of growing up among worlds by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken 2 Adapted from: http://theirrationalseason.blogspot.com/2008/04/raft.html

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Hello All!

With just three weeks of school left, you can feel the excitement (and a little anxiety!) in our

hallways. It is an exciting time as we prepare for the break, say goodbye to friends, begin to

enjoy our summers. We would like to wish our seniors a special “good luck” as they enter

their absolutely final week of school and exams next week. We are so proud of your

accomplishments and wish you all the best this coming week, and in the future.

As for the rest of our students, make sure you come to school each day ready to learn, and

prepared. We will be working and learning right through to the end on May 31. Put your best

foot forward every day! Have a wonderful long weekend with family and friends!

Dr. Ted Mockrish, K-12 Principal

Congratulations to all band members

for their performances in CIS’ Second

Annual Band Concert last Friday, May

5. Well done and thank you for all your

performances this year (including

Assemblies, ELO Concerts, Ayala Art

Exhibit, and House Activity Days)!

The Middle School Band will play once

more at the Moving Up Ceremony on

Thursday, June 1.

Grade 3 will be participating in a

“Come and Try” Workshop on

Monday, May 22 to explore which

band instrument they might like to

play in Grade 4.

There is no preparation or equipment that the students need to do or bring for this.

Next school year marks the third year of band classes at CIS. All students entering Grade 4-9

in August are welcome to join.

Please contact Ms. Sara Rieke, srieke@cis.edu.ph for more information.

Ms. Sara Rieke, Music Teacher

CIS Newsflash: May 12, 2017 Page 4 of 13

"For the past month, Grade 6 has been working on Fun Fest Friday and Youth Camp. Fun

Fest Friday was a fundraiser for us to earn enough money to make Youth Camp happen.

Youth Camp is a camp that Grade 6 made for the little kids from the Inawayan dumpsite.

On both May 6 and 13, Grade 6 invited 40 students from the site, to CIS, and taught them

different topics such as team building, hygiene, Spanish, Mandarin, etc... We are hoping

they will use the lessons they learned." - Constance

"The day of May 7, 2017 isn’t any other

week where you would learn from the

teacher, because we became the

teachers! This week something beyond

magical happened, and the whole

Grade 6 thought this day would never

happen because of the fact that we

became teachers for a Saturday!

Teaching kids is really great and that is

what we discovered. All of us never

knew how teaching kids would be so

important until we found out ourselves

by being teachers and discovering

what it would be like. Now we truly

know why adults become teachers,

because first of all it is fun to teach and

it is a great experience, most of all it is

really exciting to meet new people in

your class and become friends

instantly, and to mainly have fun, have

fun and have fun!" - Joo Ha

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Last weekend several CIS community

members participated in the painting of

school furniture and a new school

building donated via funds of the Yellow

Boat of Hope Foundation and Fluor

Cebu. The building was later

ceremonially turned over to the

Caohagan community just in time for the

beginning of the new school year. We

are especially proud of our two pre-

schoolers AJ and Ariya and our first

grader Arianna for their active

participation. There is no age too young

to get involved in service work. Our

alumni and Ms. Cebu 2016, Gabriele

Raine Baljak also joined us. A big thank

you to Arnulfo B. Pierra Jr. for organizing

this opportunity for our CIS community

members to make a difference.

Ms. Maike Silver, Asst. Elem Principal/PYP Coordinator

CIS Newsflash: May 12, 2017 Page 6 of 13

On May 10th 2017, Ms. Jennifer

Basa came to the grade 4 class to

talk to us about biomimicry. First,

she showed us pictures of nature.

Then she showed us the designs

that humans created that copies

nature. Next, we went outside to

find specimens, so that we could

look at them under the

microscope. We even found a

whole dragon fly! It was really fun!

Our favorite part was taking a

closer look at nature.

Bella and Sophia

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On Tuesday we welcomed our alumni from the Class of 2016, Michael Kwon and Reona Ido,

to talk about their life after CIS. The session consisted of Michael's stories of studying at

Northeastern University and Reona's experience of doing a gap year by studying Korean in

addition to taking on internships. Both shared very valuable advice on decision making, the

importance of IB, and the impact of their experiences. We would like to thank Ms. Jenny

Basa for organizing and our alumni for their time and imparting knowledge to hopefully help

our Grade 10 and 11 students.

Ms. Justine Condor, Marketing Manager

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Cebu International School

Pit-os, Cebu City 6000, Philippines

Tel no. +63 32 261 0247 || Fax no. +63 32 261-0247 ext. 217

www.cis.edu.ph