UNIS Hanoi’s Weekly Community Newsletter Volume 21, Edition 30, Friday 10 April

tintuc@unishanoi.org

Notes from the Head of School (p.2)

Bus Etiquette (p.2)

Grade 2 Slice of ICE photo special

(p.3)

Global Codeathon. Join NOW! (p.4)

Counselling Hightlights (p.5)

Advice from our Grads (p.6)

DP Art Show photo special (p.7)

MRISA Soccer Tournament (p.8)

Mai Chau Service Learning (p.9)

Summer Programme. Register

NOW! (p.10)

World Health Day (p.11)

School Community Organisation

News (p.12-13)

Job Opportunities (p.13)

NEXT WEEK… MONDAY, 13 APRIL K1 Exhibition, 13-16 April EAL Testing for ES students, 13-17 April

TUESDAY, 14 APRIL School Community Organisation, 8:30-10:00,

Community Room MS Boys’ and Girls’ Volleyball vs CISH @ UNIS Hanoi,

16:00-17:30

WEDNESDAY, 15 APRIL APAC Boys Soccer Tournament @ CA, 15-19 April APAC Girls Soccer Tournament @ WAB, 15-19 April K1 Parent Performance, 9:00-10:00, Theatre

THURSDAY, 16 APRIL MSHS 3-Way Parent Conferences (No school for Grades 6-10, No ASAs/HS Sports, MS Sports as normal but no transportation provided), 10:00-18:00

FRIDAY, 17 APRIL Grade 2 Field Trip, 8:30-11:00 ES Snack Sale Morning, 8:30-10:30 Board Committee/Taskforce Appreciation, 18:00-21:30

SATURDAY, 18 APRIL UNIS Hanoi Invitational MS Boys & Girls Volleyball

Tournament

COMING SOON MONDAY, 20 APRIL Primary Years Programme Grade 5 Exhibition, 20-24

April

TUESDAY, 21 APRIL MSHS 3-Way Parent Conferences (No school for Grades

6-10, No ASAs/HS Sports, MS Sports as normal but no transportation provided), 10:00-18:00

Board of Directors Meeting, 18:00-20:00

WEDNESDAY, 22 APRIL ES Earth Day Grade 4 Market Day, 8:45-11:00

THURSDAY, 23 APRIL Executive Committee Meeting, 8:15-9:45, Conference Room

MS Boys’ and Girls’ Volleyball vs HIS @ UNIS, 16:00-17:30

Grade 5 PYP Exhibition Community Sharing, 18:00- 20:00, Centre for the Arts

FRIDAY, 24 APRIL Grade 2-3 Swim Meet , 12:30-15:20

SATURDAY, 25 APRIL - MAY 3 Spring Break

IN THIS WEEK’S TIN TUC - The Highlights...

Click THIS LINK to read new The Spark edition, UNIS Hanoi Middle School Newspaper

With the last quarter of the school year

comes the challenge of remaining

focused. It is usually a time of finishing

projects, preparing for culminating events,

completing a unit, preparing for exams or

taking exams. Students begin to have

thoughts of the upcoming Spring Break

and then long holiday in June and July and find it more

difficult to concentrate, begin to coast, or even take their

foot off of the accelerator a bit. No matter what the age,

students can be easily distracted at this time of year.

The last part of the school year is extremely important and

we hope all parents will work with us to ensure that

students maximize their time right up to the end. In

addition to maintaining a routine, we encourage you to

make sure students are getting adequate rest even as it stays

light later. Also, we know enough about brain activity to

highly encourage students to maintain good physical

activity during this time. Keeping active readily supports

the brain and its functions and the world of neuroscience is

quite clear about this effect. This is NOT the time to stop

playing sports or exercising.

We appreciate anything you can do to help support

students during their last quarter of the year activities. The

discipline achieved will lead to excellence in academic

performance both now and for the rest of their lives.

Respectfully,

Dr. Barder hos@unishanoi.org

For many UNIS Hanoi students, buses are an essential part

of their school lives. Unfortunately, in the past few years

student etiquette on the buses has been severely below

reasonable standards. Thus, the ES Student Council, the

MS Student Council and the HS Senate came together to

ensure that student behavior on school buses provided

everyone with the best bus experience possible. In order to

achieve this, we came up with an extensive plan revolving

around a two-pronged approach to the issue at hand.

Firstly, the ES Student Council compiled a list of eight rules

for bus behaviors, adapted from the official handbook.

These rules are as follows:

1. Seatbelts on please!

2. Please use indoor voices.

3. Please listen to the instructions of the bus monitor/

driver.

4. Please be respectful and courteous to other people on

the bus.

5. Please keep the bus clean!

6. Please don’t eat or drink while on the bus.

7. Stand up for others and don’t be a bystander.

8. No public display of affection, please!

While the original rules were already publicized in the

handbook sent to parents, we felt that it was important to

relay them directly to the student body as well in order to

ensure their effective implementation. In order to make

this a school-wide movement, we also talked about the

importance of these rules with each student body

(ECC,ES,MS,HS) at morning meetings and assemblies in

the hope that everyone will collaborate and become role

models for each other, keeping the differences in age in

mind. These regulations will also be put up around the

school in the form of posters.

The combined student councils also helped create a new

system of consequences which empowers the bus monitors

by giving them a spreadsheet containing student names and

bus rules. With these, each bus monitor can quantitatively

keep track of the students that have broken the rules and

take action if their behavior is consistent and/or very

serious.

Overall, we the student councils hope that these measures,

while simple in nature, will help improve the bus

conditions and make transportation a more pleasant

experience for the student community. However, we see

the need for both the student body and the parent

community to step up and support this initiative in order to

ensure that there are effective results and our efforts were

not in vain.

Tuesday evening, parents and friends wove their way

through several areas of the school to celebrate Dance,

Song, Music, Fine Art and Journal work. The evening was

hosted by the students themselves, and focused around the

Unit of Inquiry - Through the Eyes of An Artist. It was a

wonderful celebration of student learning and

achievement.

The evening began with two Dances by 2RJ and 2MA: the

Troika and the Mayim Ushtavez. Parents and friends joined

the students in dancing the Mayim Ushtavez with much

energy and laughter. Then it was time to explore the two

Art Galleries: the Plastic Ocean gallery and the Through

the Eyes of An Artist Gallery. Both contained an amazing

variety of student Art work which explored how artist see

different topics in many ways and how artists can take

action on a social issue. Once the bell was rung, it was time

to go back into the theatre and enjoy the Grade 2 orchestra

perform with great skill on the recorder. The evening

closed with a thought provoking song called “Plastic

Ocean”, reminding us that we all can take action.

Thank you to everyone who came and supported this

wonderful showcase of student learning.

Grade 2 Slice of ICE. Photos by Tim Barnsley

Photos by Tim Barnsley

Julia Karpati’s presentation in

Swarthmore College’s Information

Session this month was inspirational

for many current UNIS Hanoi

students, with her story of shaping

her future education and career.

Julia Karpati is German-Vietnamese

and attended UNIS Hanoi from

1999 until graduation in 2009. She

was heavily involved in community service projects during

her time at School, which centered on addressing the needs

of marginalised Vietnamese children.

Julia completed her B.A. in Economics and Political

Science at Swarthmore College (PA, USA) in 2013. She also

interned with a development agency in Laos, and with The

Aspen Institute's Agent Orange in Vietnam Program (NY,

USA). She entered Maastricht University/United Nations

University-MERIT (Netherlands) for her double MSc. in

Public Policy & Human Development. She joined the

Economic Policy Research Institute (Cape Town, South

Africa) in 2014 as a researcher of social policy and

children's deprivations.

Julia is currently based in Berlin working with various EPRI

consultancies, which include multidimensional childhood

poverty analyses in partnership with UNICEF country

offices in Botswana, Tajikistan, and State of Palestine, and

an analysis of the socio-economic effects of ebola on

children in West and Central Africa.

Looking forward, Julia aspires to be an agent of

international understanding in global efforts to create

conditions for lives of comfort, safety and dignity for all

children and their families.

UNIS Hanoi’s Korean students and parents participated in

Yonsei University’s information session this month.

The session aimed to provide information about admission

and choice of majors at this world leading Universtiy. They

gave advice and guidance to students, parents and

counsellors about studying opportunities at Yonsei.

Yonsei ranks No. 4 in the top of best universities in

Republic of Korea in 2015. For more information, please

refer to http://www.yonsei.ac.kr/ or contact Mr. Je Eun

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

13:20 – 14:00

Common Room B5 G29

Hult International

Business School in San

Francisco and London

Ms. Debbie Gacutan,

Associate Director of

Enrollment

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

12:40 – 13:20

Common Room B5 G29

American University

Ms. Julie Soper, Assistant

Director of International

Admissions

IB DP Art Show. Photo by Tuan Anh

Earlier this week the Grade 7s had a great advisory class!

We invited a group of Grade 12s to come and talk to us

about what it was like to be graduating and to give us some

advice they wish they had had in Grade 7. Despite the very

busy time for these senior students, they were more than

willing to help us out. They came prepared, and facilitated

the sessions very well. Each of our four Grade 7 Advisory

classes were led by three Grade 12s. They shared their

advice and posed great questions to get us thinking

They also graciously answered all the burning questions we

had, including;

How do you manage your time so you can still have fun

with your friends?

Is IB really that hard?

What are SATs?

How did you decide what university to go to?

Is it OK if you don’t know what you want to do for a

job?

What do universities want to know about you besides

your grades?

Did you study this much when you were our age?

The 12s had some very wise words for us about balancing

our lives, taking our studies seriously, the value of CAS, the

appreciation of the education we get at UNIS Hanoi, how

we can start to figure out what we might want to do, and

mostly to enjoy the time we will have in high school.

Thanks so much to Ms Kerry, Ms Zahid and Mr. Loeffler

for organizing with the Grade 12s and especially to the

students themselves, who gave their time to share some

wisdom with us: Devin Cheong , Do Quynh Anh ,

SoYeon Jeong,

Soya Kanemaru,

Na Young Kim,

Mavindra

Mayerfas,

Thanh Le,

Nguyen Ba

Hung, Than

Viet, Angelique

Somers, Vu

Duong and Vu

Khanh

The opening for the Diploma Visual Art Show was held this week night. There was a great turn out from the UNIS Hanoi community. The quality and magnitude of the

students work was outstanding and many parents and community member praised the creativity of our students here at UNIS Hanoi. The show will be up for another two weeks so you still have time to see it.

IB DP Art Show. Photos by Tuan Anh

The MRISA Football season of 2015 was yet another

season of amazingness, the effort and the passion for

football was seen on all our faces. The MRISA squad

selected consisted of: Jed, Thabo, Ujwal, Dan Bui, Ly Dinh,

SeungWon, Colin, Ki Hyun, Truong Son and Davlet and

was led by Coach Mike McMillen.

After 6 weeks of intense training, we arrived at the MRISA

tournament. During some games, we showed what we were

capable of but in others, we weren’t at our best. Although

we were disappointed with our finishing position of 8th, we

were extremely proud of our effort on the pitch. We

worked hard to close the space, frustrate the opposition,

and track back. We did all we could have done. The

motivation to win games was unbelievable and the sorrows

of losses were seen in the faces simply because of the

passion of the players. Taking ISPP to extra-time after a

thrilling 1-1 draw in normal time was one of the most

exciting and exhausting games we have played in and we

did everything we could to try and claim a victory but sadly

this time it was not to be. However, throughout the season

we have greatly improved our skills and team work and we

will be better prepared and stronger to come back and fight

for the MRISA championship next year!

Ki Hyun, a Grade 10 student who competed in his 2nd

MRISA tournament mentioned that “our season was fun,

the whole team put in a lot of effort into becoming better

players and I believe we did. Although it was tough to play

teams like HIS and ISE, who have been playing together

for longer and have more experienced players, the

experience was a great step into making us better players. I

was really happy with my 2 goals in the friendlies; like,

really happy!”

On behalf of the team, I would like to give a special

mention to Steward Magau, Jek Tan, Gun Hee, Animesh

Sarkorikar and Morgoun Le Nghiem, who had been

training with the team, but did not compete in the

tournament. Their support and involvement with practices

were a great help to us all. We would like to thank our

coach for us his great work this season and also the girl’s

team and friends and family who were there to support us

during the tournament. GO PHOENIX!!!

By Ujwal Kumar (Grade 10)

The Mai Chau Service Learning Group was created to

further the work that we do on the Grade 7 Grade Level

trip. For several years UNIS Hanoi Grade 7s have visited

the Chieng Chau Middle School in Mai Chau, bringing

them school supplies, sharing activities and playing games.

Most of the students there are from the White Thai ethnic

group and the school is sadly under resourced. Last year we

were able to donate 10 used UNIS Hanoi tablets to the

school and with the help of Nguyen Dinh Khanh, from the

UNIS Hanoi Tech department, the Chieng Chau school

now has a functioning computer lab and the government

supplies them with a computer teacher.

With the creation of the SL group this year we are able

focus on building the relationship between the two schools.

The SL group is led by Medeha Zahid and myself and we

have had an absolutely outstanding group of 12 enthusiastic

and committed seventh graders. They held a tech drive in

the fall to collect printers and other useful items for the

school’s computer lab. They raised several hundred dollars

at the Women’s Bazaar and the Spring Fair, with the long-

term goal of raising enough money to build proper toilet

facilities at the school.

The highlight of the year, was bringing a group of 10

students and 2 teachers from the school in Mai Chau to

spend 3 days here at UNIS Hanoi and in Hanoi. An

exciting focal point of the trip was our students teaching

the Mai Chau students how to make movies on the tablets

and creating great little videos of their impressions of UNIS

Hanoi. Several of the students who came had never been

out of the valley and all of them were in awe of UNIS

Hanoi, which they described as the perfect school-

especially the swimming pool!

Here is a report from Richard, Vi and Agathe, three

members of our SL group:

“When the Mai Chau kids came to UNIS, it was clear that this

was a new experience. We tried to be as welcoming as we could when

they arrived, introducing them to UNIS with a scavenger hunt that

took them around our school. With them, we did many fun and

exciting activities, such as going in hamster balls on the water and

visiting the aquarium to see fish as big ourselves. After the day time

activities ended, we enjoyed two delicious dinners with the Mai Chau

students, both of which hosted by the students in the Mai Chau

Service Learning. Then, they enjoyed their stay at the Diamond hotel

downtown, near the Hoan Kiem Lake, before leaving us after three

fun-filled days.”

The Mai Chau group left Hanoi tired but happy and

full of appreciation for the time they spent here. Our

SL students, who planned and led the events and

participated in the activities, also gained so much

from the experience. It was a huge success for all

involved!

Donna Bracewell, on behalf of the Mai Chau SL Group

Food safety is the theme for this year's World Health Day

on April 7.The World Health Organization has chosen this

theme for 2015 over growing concerns about how safe is

the food we eat.

Unsafe food is linked to the deaths of an estimated 2

million people annually – including many children. Food

containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical

substances is responsible for more than 200 diseases,

ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.

Food safety is a shared responsibility. It is important to

work all along the food production chain – from farmers

and manufacturers to vendors and consumers. WHO’s Five

keys to safer food offer practical guidance to vendors and

consumers for handling and preparing food to prevent

foodborne diseases.

Key 1: Keep clean

Wash your hand before handling food

Wash your hands after going to the toilet

Wash and sanitize all surfaces and equipment used for

food preparation

Protect kitchen areas and food from insects, pests and

other animals

Key 2: Separate raw and cooked food

Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other

foods

Use separate equipment and utensils such as knives and

cutting boards for handling raw foods

Store food in containers to avoid contact between raw

and prepared foods

Key 3: Cook food thoroughly

Cook food thoroughly, especially meat, poultry, eggs

and seafood

Bring foods like soups and stews to boiling to make sure

that they have reached 70°C. For meat and poultry,

make sure that juices are clear, not pink. Ideally, use a

thermometer.

Reheat cooked food thoroughly

Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures

Do not leave cooked food at room temperature for

more than 2 hours

Refrigerate promptly all cooked and perishable food

(preferably below 5°C)

Keep cooked food piping hot (more than 60°C) prior to

serving

Do not store food too long even in the refrigerator

Do not thaw frozen food at room temperature

Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials

Use safe water or treat it to make it safe

Select fresh and wholesome foods

Choose foods processed for safety, such as pasteurized

milk

Wash fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten raw

Do not use food beyond its expiry date

For more on Food Safety, read http://who.int/campaigns/

world-health-day/2015/event/en/ and

http://www.fda.gov/Food/

FoodborneIllnessContaminants/BuyStoreServeSafeFood/

ucm255180.htm

School Health Centre

Date: Tuesday, April 14

Time: 8.30 - 10.00

Location: Community Room

(Administration Building,

room 104)

To facilitate open communication within the community,

the SCO holds open General Meetings four times a year.

We invite students, parents, faculty and staff to join!

Topics for this meeting:

We will welcome Amie Pollack, the incoming Parent

Elected Board Member who was uncontested in the

Board of Directors parent election. Amie will tell us a bit

about herself, why she wanted to join the Board, and

answer any questions.

We partner with the Tech Team for another insightful

presentation on the "Year of the Future: Emerging

Educational Trends and What They Could Mean for

Schools".

We will also give the community updates about success

of the Spring Fair.

The FINAL SNACK SALE of the year for the Early

Childhood Center (ECC) and Elementary School (ES) will

take place next Friday, April 17 from 8.10am - 10.30am.

Contributing Classes:

K1KM, K1AP, G1SF, G5MN, G5JH, G5DL, G5TC

BRIEF HISTORY

The Elementary School Snack

Sale is a long standing tradition

at UNIS Hanoi. Over 20 years

ago, the “Bake Sale” was

created to raise funds for

library books while providing

students with the opportunity

to taste a diverse range of

snacks from all around the

world! The Snack Sale has

evolved into a fun opportunity

for children to exercise choice,

learn how to handle money

and is raising awareness of the

value of healthy snacks.

WHAT TO BRING IF YOU ARE A

CONTRIBUTING CLASS?

As a Nut and Allergy Aware campus we require all

snacks to include a list of ingredients. When it is your

turn to be a contributing class, we encourage that each

family supports the ES Snack Sale by providing:

10 individually wrapped homemade healthy snacks (the

value of each treat should be at least 10,000VND)

A labeled container/dish with your child’s class and

name

On the morning of the snack sale, please deliver the

snacks BEFORE 8.10am to the designated tables in the

ECC or ES Courtyard

Both savory and sweet snacks are welcome (i.e. fresh fruit

bowl, lightly salted/sweetened popcorn, rice balls,

homemade muesli bars, muffins, samosas, etc.), below are a

few example of snacks provided in previous snack sales.

If you are interested in volunteering or have any questions

about what snacks to bring, please contact the Snack Sale

Coordinators:

Akiko Nakano: akiko.nakano2008@gmail.com

Masumi Tsuda: ma-na10@hotmail.co.jp

Bo young Hwang: soool2@yahoo.com

1. ECC Physical Education Teaching Assistant - School year 2015-2016

2. ES Multi-lingual Additional Languages Teaching Assistant - School year 2015-2016

3. MS/HS Technology Coordinator Assistant - starting April/May 2015

To view more information about these openings at UNIS Hanoi, and to apply online,

please visit our website at www.unishanoi.org/jobs

Wednesday, May 20

Time: 18.00 - 20.00

Location: Don's Bistro Rooftop (16 Quảng An Road,

Tây Hồ)

What would our school community be like without the love

and support of our generous volunteers?

We VALUE everyone who has given their time and

talents to help the UNIS Hanoi community over the

year. Your spirit of volunteerism makes our school

community thrive and flourish.

To THANK our volunteers this year, we would like to

invite everyone who has supported UNIS Hanoi with your

time and talent to a VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION

NIGHT!

There will be delicious food and drinks (wine, beer,

cocktails, juice) for all to enjoy on behalf of the School

Community Organisation and the Advancement Office as a

final THANK YOU for all your help.

Please register HERE before May 17th.

Please keep in mind that this is an adult function and we

kindly ask that you arrange childcare beforehand.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel free

to contact the Community Liaison Officer, Nathalie Grun

at clo@unishanoi.org