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NEWSLETTER ISSUE #7

SUMMER, 2016, MIRAS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, ASTANA

Welcome! We hope you enjoy our Summer Newsletter along with early,

great warm weather. You’ll find interesting news within our topic headings

which are listed below to the right so scroll down and take a peek at all the

events and information that make our school special. Contributions to each

season’s Newsletter can be submitted to Miss Josie Quintana, the

Newsletter Coordinator in advance before publication. Requirements for

submissions are listed at the end of the Newsletter. We hope to see events

and information that are relevant to our whole school community. Next you

will find a note from our Head of School and our Secondary School Principal.

Thanks for stopping by!

Miss Josie Quintana, Newsletter Coordinator

NEWSLETTER TOPICS

IB EVENTS STUDENT ARTICLES

SPECIAL EVENTS AND EXCURSIONS ART CORNER

Newsletter Submissions

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL:

Dear Friends:

We have come to the end of another incredible, and incredibly busy school year here at Miras International School.

Academically, this has been a challenging year. We are still awaiting the results of our external IB examinations and

believe that they will have been successful. For those students who are leaving us, we hope you will achieve everything

you wish to achieve. We appreciate having had this wonderful opportunity to work with you all.

This academic year was a final for some of our colleagues: Mr. Willem, Mr. Ray and Mrs. Joanne, Ms. Josephine, Mr.

Pete and Mr. Reed. Saying goodbye is never easy, and it is even more difficult with colleagues like you who have been

such a vital part of our community. While we will miss you, we have fond memories of working with you and we wish you

every success in all future endeavors.

For those who are with us next year, I hope you have a superb summer holiday and I look forward so much to seeing you all again at the end of

August.

Sincerely yours,

Yelena M. Khamitova

FROM THE SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL:

Dear Learners, Parents, Guardians and Colleagues: Another academic school year is coming to an end...time has flown. The last weeks were hectic and sometimes stressful with exams. Now it is time to rest and enjoy the fulfilling feeling of all what has been achieved. We can look back on a very successful academic year, particularly last quarter, when we celebrated Naurys, Student-Led-Conferences, Victory Day, our exam graduations and much more. This summer newsletter gives you an overview of the learning milestones in the last ten school weeks.

Unfortunately, this is my last contribution to the MIS Astana Secondary School Newsletter as I will be leaving Kazakhstan and moving to Thailand where I have signed a contract with another international school. Miras International School, Astana is part of my life, and I will always enjoy the memories of my time here at this wonderful community and family. I would like to thank everyone for hosting me and being with me in Kazakhstan, which I appreciate very much. I wish everyone a healthy, restful, and joyful summer break!

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Willem van der Sluis, Secondary School Principal

IB EVENT

Miras International School presented DP2 BOTAGOZ SADYKBEKOVA’s final Visual Arts exhibition on 31 March, 2016. It was a great event with music and snacks. Here are some photos of the event. Bota’s theme was a cultural one with a variety of 2D and 3D media.

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DP2 GRADUATION

Miras International School’s graduating Diploma Programme class of 2016 celebrated its achievements in a ceremony on

Monday, May 23, in the school concert hall. The program was made possible by the contributions of the graduates and their

parents, the DP1 cohort, and the hard work of homeroom teacher Ms. Guldana.

Many thanks to all who came out in celebration of the class of

2016. Enjoy the photos.

Article by Peter Steadman and ceremonial photos by Josie Quintana.

First three from left to right:

Botagoz Sadykbekova Yaroslav Mamin Aigerim Zhunussova,

Anahit Kondyan, Rethabile Mankhoe, and Mariyam Tleukhan

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Grade 11 Graduation

On May 25, Miras celebrated another grade 11 graduation ceremony. It was filled with memories and merriment all across the stage with lovely dances, heartfelt songs, and memorable videos. Thanks to grade 10 Rabiya and Victor for their master of ceremony skills. Congratulations to a great set of students who will surely be missed. Photos by J. Quintana

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STUDENT ARTICLES

“Breaking the Stereotypes” by Miriam Kuanysh, Grade 7 Hello! My name is Miriam Kuanysh. Today I want to tell you about how Miras International School and its International Baccalaureate programme helped me to break stereotypes. From early childhood I have been studying karate. Many people say that this is a male sport and girls shouldn`t go in for it; but the truth is that karate develops the power of spirit and discipline, it helps develop character. At the age of 13 I have already become a champion of Kazakhstan, gaining the title of karate champion at an international tournament in Portugal. I always try to support everyone who needs my help. And Miras School has always supported me in my development. I believe that if I didn`t study in the IB program, I could not have achieved such success. IB teaches us to recognize ourselves within all environment. I have learned a variety of different skills: organization, critical thinking, self-cognition, responsibility, and decision-making. I apply such skills in very practical ways in order to achieve my goals, and to reflect the profile of an IB student. School can teach us to reach for the stars with help of hard work and determination. Thanks to my school, I am confident about my abilities, I think positively, and I am open to new knowledge and learning. The IB helps us not only in education but in various other spheres such as art and sport. Miras School also teaches us to be patriots of our country and responsible citizens of the world.

The best proof of my success in this IB World School is found not only in a large number of medals or good progress in learning, but also in acquisition of knowledges and skills for reaching my unique goals. I encourage everyone to identify their own goals, gain the necessary knowledge, and do not be tied down by stereotypes! Grade 7 student, World Karate Champion, Miriam Kuanysh.

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Student Article

Article by Adema Kasseinova, Miras Dean of Students

We are pleased to share with all Miras Community some news about a young and talented designer Kamila Nagishpayeva, our Grade 9 student. On the 28th of April at the Tilep Kobyz Palace, Kamila presented a wonderful collection of exquisite dresses. It was the III graduation show of “Fashion School Laura,” devoted to its 5th Anniversary. Kamila is a beginning designer but her dresses are so beautiful, tender and elegant, that we wish her all the success in the future and will look forward to her next new creations. Here are a few photos of the event.

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STUDENT ARTICLE-EXCURSION

KazMedia Center Excursion for 6B

There are so many types of Mass Media like TV, Internet, newspapers, magazines, radio, etc. So, on Wednesday, 13th of April our 6B group went to

KazMedia Center of Astana. The enormous building was built in 2012 and is located near my house. Its aim is to provide translation of different

channels: there are 8 TV channels—four of them are state like “Khabar,” “Kazakhstan,” “Euroasia,” “Mir,” and 3 radio channels “Shalkar,”

“Astana,” and “Kazakh radiosy.” During our visit we couldn’t enter some of the studios because they were locked due to working “on air.” I think if

there wasn’t security, I could cay “Hello” to our country. The concert Hall in KazMedia

center is very big and has dynamic lights on the walls which sparkle like a rainbow. I also

very much liked its panoramic studios which are located on the 22nd floor. If you look out of

the windows of this studio you can see the whole city. I think at night the city looks very

beautiful. And if you go there in 2017 you will be able to see the buildings of EXPO! About

4000 people work in this center!

I can’t imagine that the center could ever stop working because then the country wouldn’t be

able to see these channels. It is unlikely thought because we are now in the XIX century and

the technology has greatly changed. We have become modern and qualitative. After my

writing I will relax and together with my family to watch our favorite TV programmes.

Article by Nurlyzhan Alpyss, Grade 6B

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ART CORNER- MYP ART SS teacher: Miss Josie Quintana

Grade 6A and 6B: Group Mosaics, Left to right-Maryan I. and Valeriya K; Ian A. and Adi K, and Timur N. and Tarlan A.

Van der Steen Fantasy Animal Art: Valeriya K, Maryan I, and Aidana B.

Grade 7: Endangered Animal Paintings, left to right: Dinara-panda, |Neferu-panther, Adema-panda, Amina-snow leopard, Dariya-Zebras

Paintings trees

for “Earth Day”

on 22 April.

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Grade 8: Pastel Flowers, Left to right: Rinat I, Aisha B, Bella M, Nurai M, Alyona T, Liliya A.

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Grade 9: Computerized Commercial Word Art from top to bottom of each column: Aiymzhan, Dilmurat,

Kamila; Yuhki, Dezire, Bela; Dilyara, Diana, Daniya, Yessen

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Grade 10 Optical Art: Left to right and then bottom: Victor, Alua, Arman, Aruzhan,

Diana M, Sofiya, Rabia.

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Grade 10 Landscape Watercolors, left to right: Malika I, Saniya S, Aidana O; Timur S, Adiya A, and Sofiya P.

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DP1 Art: Quintana’s DP1 Visual Art students recently completed teacher directed project # 5 on flowers done with soft

or oil pastels and landscape paintings. From left to right: Aliya Nurgaliyeva, Dayana Kuatova, Victorya Sim, and Venera Nazarbayeva.

More DP1 Paintings

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NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS

The Secondary Newsletter is published four times a year on the last week before each break: autumn (October), winter (December), spring (March), and summer (June). Estimated submission due dates will be one month before each publication. Submission due dates will be announced so they can be translated into Russian. Thank you to DP1 Dayana Kuatova, and DP1 Aliya Nurgaliyeva, and Aliya Mussina for their contributions to our past Newsletters.

Article Submission Requirements:

1. Text under 300 word count, Ariel front style, 12 point size, single-line spacing, and spell

checked; please no embedded pictures (only jpegs can be properly edited).

2. Include as much of the 5 "W"s for most articles (who, what, where, when (dates) why and maybe how).

3. Submit up to a maximum of three cropped photos per article (see me if you need

more) and include names of people in them with their grades as well.

4. Resize your photos at or below 200 KB (higher pixels will make the final file too big to

download and resizing all photos is time-consuming). If you are taking photos for

Newsletter events, change your camera’s pixel/image mode/ISO setting to the

smallest one. VGA works well and results in a 134 – 200 KB depends on your

camera. You can also resize photos on your classroom computer with MS Photo

Viewer and in the Paint Program. See my previous email about how to resize photos.

This is my last newsletter and it was a great experience. I hope you enjoyed them.

Please email your autumn 2016 submissions to the new Newsletter coordinator.

If you have questions, please call Miras International School. Here is one of my very own

favorite Astana photos.

Pahka! Dasvidanya!

Miss Josephine Quintana