AOSR News www.aosr.org

Dec/Jan, 2004–05

Issue

In this Issue: Headmaster’s Message 1,2 Principal’s Message 1 Honor Roll 3 All-School News 4 PTO Corner 5 PPAC News 6 Pre-K, Elementary News 7-9 From the Counselor 10 Sports Briefs 11,12 Notes from the Field 13,14 Il Foro 15 December Calendar 17 January Calendar 18 Remember, No School on

December 8 December 18-January 7

WELLNESS DAY A Day for HS Students to Learn about Making Healthy Choices

Once again, AOSR high school students were able to dedicate a day to learning about

and directly experiencing ways to make healthy choices that affect their lives. The idea is to intro-duce students to a wide range of healthy choices and alternatives, as well as giving students accu-rate information about potential risks; they will be less likely to do things that may harm them both physically and mentally.

Originated last year by AOSR counselor Jody Ballard, the 2nd Annual Wellness Day wel-comed close to 30 speakers who presented workshops on Thursday, November 18th to over 200 high school students. Among the speakers were a number of our faculty members who volun-teered their time and talents: David Beaver, Ellen Buckley, Alessandra Cozzi, Diane Cullen-Moore, Larry Dougherty, Kip Hendry, Brenda McDonald, and Jane Rumsby.

Students were able to choose from a wide variety of workshops, on topics ranging from learning about the devastation that illegal drugs can cause, as explained by a couple of real-life DEA agents, to how alternative medicines work, including the fundamentals of CPR, and ways to design a healthy food diet. They also came face to face with the facts about what smoking really does to your body; they tried an innovative muscle toning routine called Pilates, and some sam-pled self-defense tactics. Students and faculty members had the opportunity to take a break from their routine and choose ways to learn to control stress, relieve tension, become more assertive, as well as to try some new dance steps for salsa and merengue led by our very own Alessandra Cozzi. Participants could also experience first hand ways to enhance their image in a workshop by a renowned make-up artist and AOSR parent, Jeff Goodwin, who works with famous movie stars including Renee Zellweger and Julia Roberts.

It was a great day for all in the high school community thanks to the excellent planning and organization by Jody Ballard. We hope to carry out similar events in the elementary and mid-dle schools in the near future.

Dr. Beth Pfannl, Principal

LESSONS FROM HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

THE IMPORTANCE OF “SHOW AND TELL” * Dr. Larry Dougherty, Headmaster

An article in the Harvard Business Review, which analyzes the skills of high performing scientists and engineers at Bell Laboratories, has direct implications for the ways we teach children. The research began with the question, “What separates high performing scientists and engineers from their colleagues?” The scholars asked colleagues and supervisors to identify those who were performing at the highest levels in the organization. What separated the highest performers from the rest was not technical competence, IQ or education, for everyone at Bell Labs was smart, educated and had essential technical competence. Rather there were several important personal and professional qualities critical to high performance. The skills that they found were most important for the engineers, scientists and team leaders at Bell Labs are skills that we work on constantly with our children. The most important quality separating high performers from others was in taking initiative. Those who accepted responsibility above and beyond their stated job and volunteered for additional activities, responsibilities, and promoted their ideas emerged as leaders. A second critical quality was self-management. Those employees who organized their time well and could focus on the most important tasks were those who accomplished the most. Several inter-personal skills were critical – the ability to work on teams, to share responsibility for work activities and to work effectively with co-workers. High performers developed networking skills by sharing their technical expertise and knowledge with others. As a

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result, they received technical support and advice from colleagues when they needed it in the future. Those who were unwilling to share ideas were quickly shut out of the network and no longer received important information or technical advice from their colleagues. Those who initiated the sharing were respected and supported by their colleagues. By sharing first, high performing engineers could then call on their colleagues because they had built up a reservoir of trust and good will. The highly successful group had two complementary skills: leadership and followership. When required, they could lead effectively by formulating goals and building consensus among colleagues. At the same time, because of the complexity of tasks within Bell Labs, people would frequently be required to serve as followers and members of teams. Those who could both lead and follow were the most productive members of the organization. Another critical skill was the ability to have a sense of perspective and to place one’s job in a larger context. Effective leaders were able to understand the viewpoints of the manager, their customers and their colleagues. The research also suggests that an activity we begin in kindergarten, “show and tell,” was critical for success at Bell Labs. The ability to present ideas persuasively to colleagues in written and oral form was one of the most essential skills of outstanding scientists and engineers. Finally, a skill identified as “organizational savvy,” i.e. navigating within the organization and being able to promote cooperation and manage conflicts while getting things done was also important. In last month’s article I talked about the importance of developing computer fluency for our students so that they have the ability to use computers and technology as a tool to aid their thinking. As we plan these future programs, I believe it is critical that we continue to address these fundamental skills to support their technical competency. We want our students to develop high standards for themselves so they will go beyond what is expected, to learn organizational skills, to manage the competing demands of homework, their social life and their resposibilities to their families and the community. We want them to be effective leaders and effective followers when appropriate. We want them to write and speak clearly. We also teach young people to take the perspective of others. We hope that we are able to move our children from pre-kindergarteners, who view the world in a self-centered way, to the seniors, who are not only sensitive to their classmates but also understand and appreciate different languages, cultures and value systems. AOSR has always had a strong commitment to developing these kinds of skills in students. This research from Bell Labs adds valuable insights to the importance of our work. People do not learn to take initiative, to be responsible, to be effective leaders and followers, to write and speak effectively on the job. We work hard to build these fundamental building blocks which will help our students be successful learners, leaders, followers, and citizens. * ”How Bell Labs Creates Star Performers”: Harvard Business Review, July/August 1993.

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TEACHER APPRECIATION HOLIDAY BRUNCH Wednesday, 15 December 2004

09:30 – 12:00

To show our appreciation, the PTO is organizing a Holiday Brunch for all AOSR teachers, administrators and staff. We are asking for your assistance in making this a successful and deli-cious brunch by sending in a holiday treat or dish of your choice. Some simple but tasty ideas could be: cold cuts variations of cheese sandwiches. Please send or bring your contribution to the cafeteria by 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 15 De-cember. We are counting on a big contribution from all parents. If you have any questions please feel free to call or e-mail Grazia at 06 3630 4287 or deulus@virgilio.it

Your efforts, like the entire faculty’s are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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1st Quarter Honor Roll 2004-2005

GRADE 6 Sam Atwood Flavia Ceci Ginistrelli

GRADE 6 Claudia Argomenti Omri Bar Noa Bittmann Rocco Cavadini Katherine Chartier Megan Ferguson Petra Franic Benedetta Gambioli Yotam Gotal Frederik Jonsson Alice Malentacca Martina Mannozzi Ilai Meyer Samantha Nelson Pier Giorgio Russo Lisa Smits Mildred Stallings Nicholas Woolcott GRADE 7 Alice Mia Addis Richard Barad Romy Ben-Hur

Headmaster's Honor Roll (4.0 GPA)

Principal's Honor Roll (GPA 3.50-3.99)

GRADE 8 Federico Merlo Sage Rahm

GRADE 9 Garen Der-Khachadourian

GRADE 12 David Israelachvili

Katherine Berton Nur Synhada Bte Rossly Helena Hagg Paolo Liel Karpel Todd Kopf Flaminia Marrucci Jasmine Mohsin Maya Or Henry Stallings Luciano Wu Hanyon GRADE 8 Neta Ben Israel Andrew Ceen Dario Corsetti Jonathan Farache Melanie Ferguson Rebecca Jonsson Jillian Kneeland Ryan McFarlane Seth Moore Lucas Nelson Martin Oberle Benjamin Otte

Elisa Palana Siddheshwar Singh Nicoletta Valente Roxana Weich GRADE 9 Aaron Dungca Michela Fossati-Bellani Talya Kahan Daphne Maglie Silvia Maglione Mohamed Mattar Alexandros Mitsialis Victoria Nicolis Di Robilant Dana Or Gioia Raccah Matthew Smith Caroline Van der Does de Willebois Leilei Xu Serena Zhang

GRADE 10 Chiara Gambioli Christopher Haight Nuwanthika Jayatilake Jacob Kopf Tyler Otte Brennan Panzarella Nicole Zawasky GRADE 11 Alexander Buckley Jonathan Csapo Gongjie Li Ranieri Maglione Christina Mitsialis Maria Anna Murmura Riccardo Serrao

GRADE 12 Sudeep Bhatia Ettore Canestri Danai Giwa Shankar Kar Na-Re Lim Agnese Marino Taussig de Bodonia Luca Montesi Rachele Morgante Shikha Prashad Elisa Russo Bernard Schwartz Christopher Shelton Chiara Siravo Federico Soddu

GRADE 6 Samuel Alfassy Asia Colombo Tommaso Gandelli Bryan Garcia Yael Gazit Nicolo' Genovali Daniel Gilad Katharine Kadenacy Anna Lin Jacopo Lorenzi Hana Mattar Michael May Yorai Nadler Peter Neumann Liel Schori Raviv Camila Sobral Jie San Jenny Tcheng Selina Weich Danny Zelenka GRADE 7 Ludovica Batazzi Elena De Giovanni Eva Ellergaard Pedersen Yasmin Mackay Shahar Nof-Agam

Honor Roll (GPA – 3.00-3.49)

Benny Raccah Paul Daryll Sandoval Emily Tedesco Massimo Zheng Wencai Zheng GRADE 8 Piergiorgio Ciceri Stefan Countryman Gabriele Fabozzi Shira Gazit Morea Mahmuti Eugenio Marini Lorenzo Masserini Sophia Matthews Joey Miller David Prosperi Giuseppe Saviano Adi Shachar Jiayi Wang GRADE 9 David Ananiades Alessio Daswani Randy Garcia Liya Kahan Ludovico Linari Narjan John Martin

Crishan Perera Edoardo Quadri Yael Refaeli Caterina Serenelli Alejandro Smith Karim Zelenka Jin Kai Zhou GRADE 10 Roisin Agnew Flaminia Belli Ido Bittmann Dennis Buckley Javier Elkin Michelangelo Fano Tajnim Imami Mohammad Ashar Khan Maria La Via Tae Hyun Lee Michela Lombardi Nathan Miller Morel Naim Annika Neumann Alex Piscina Susanna Satta Elena Testi Nicole Wentz

GRADE 11 Ana Almour Stephanie Andreucci Paola Cordero Alessia Fiochi Steffen Fischer Kim Gallimore Shungo Inoue Joshua Kneeland Edoardo Linari Flavio Massari Giulia Merlo Audrey Moyer Raya Mustafa Nicole Otte Daniele Schiavo Claire Sensi Mitchell Tedesco Sabrina Triglia Zhi Chao Yi

GRADE 12 Erick Chartier Rozen Erdal Sesil Erdal Giorgio Ferrero Michael Gorelick Stephany Item Benedetta Marigliano Aglaia Alexandra Matthews Matteo Mencarelli Daniele Pestilli Benjamin Pfannl Enrico Piano Daniel Piscina Laura Proenza Gabriele Raccah Oluseyi Smith Tjasa Volk

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All School News

Babysitters Pass Am Red Cross course: By Millie Kneeland, AOSR Parent On November 20th, a Babysitter's Training Course was held at AOSR and co-sponsored by the middle school Girl Scout Cadette Troop # 76. The six hour course was taught by a nurse and certified American Red Cross Instructor; Mrs. Price, who came all the way from Gaeta. The class was unique using an educational format that targets youth, ages 11 - 15 years of age, with activities such as identifying safety problems around the house and yard and selecting age-appropriate toys and games for children in their care. The participants learned various skills necessary for future babysitting jobs along with Infant & Child CPR by practicing the drill on manikins, over and over that af-ternoon. The format, along with a course video and our enthusi-astic instructor, kept the interest of the babysitters and provided a meaningful classroom experience. Congratulations to the following students who partici-pated and received their certified Babysitters Card from the American Red Cross; Shira Gazit, Megan Ferguson, Melanie Ferguson, Jessica Kingsbury, Jillian Kneeland, Morea Mah-muti, Sophie Matthews, Jennifer McNeill, and Adi Shachar.

Declamation 2004 The 2004 annual Declamation Oratory Competition took place in an all-HS Assembly on Wed., November 10th. Declamations has been a long standing tradition here at AOSR for over 30 years. Every year it is mandatory for the HS juniors (11th graders) to present a 3-5 minute performance, of published works, unaided with visual effects, costumes, or hand gestures. This years theme was “Fear.” The program this year was judged by AOSR alumni and teachers Alessandra Telmon and Jonas Ullman, and last years Declamation award-winners; Tim Garbinsky and David Israelachvili. This year there were 17 finalists. They all were very impressive.

Congratulations go to this year’s Declamation winners, Alessia Fiochi, Marin Finerty and Josh Kneeland. What an honor!

Senior Retreat in Umbria November 12th and 13th 27 HS seniors attended the Senior Retreat. Faculty members, Joe and Nan Miller, Michael Branch and Kate McKenna chaperoned this event. The purpose of the trip was to allow these hard working seniors time to relax and bond with one another. They left on Friday and headed to the hilltop town of Gubbio. On the way, the bus stopped in the beautiful town of Todi. Here the students hiked a long hill to take in a beautiful sunset. Word has it, that although the sunset was beautiful and the students enjoyed it, the hike was not their favorite. Afterward, they hopped back on the bus and left for Gubbio. Their hotel was a wonderful converted castle with breathtaking views. There, the students and faculty enjoyed a delicious Italian meal together. After dinner they all went to a discothèque in town. Great fun was had by all, as they danced the night away. It was hard to decide who was having more fun, the students or the chaperones! After breakfast the following morning, they visited the church and the piazza in Gubbio. Next, it was off to Viterbo for a relaxing soak in the ancient baths. The seniors returned to Rome later that afternoon. A great time was had by all as some friendships were made stronger and certainly new friendships were forged. Let’s hope this can become another longstanding, tradition here at AOSR.

New HS Library The renovation of our library is complete! Please feel free to stop by and admire the new library. Our hours are M-Th 8:30-4:45, and Friday 8:30-3:20.. Raffle: It’s time for another raffle for students, of those ever popular magazines; Rolling Stone, ESPN and 17. Look for signs in the library! New books: Our shipment of new books for fall is in. These are featured on the table next to the window, and the se-lection changes weekly. Stop by and look at what’s new!

Cheerleading This year AOSR will have a high school girls cheerleading squad that will perform at home basketball games and plans to travel to the European championships in February. Contact cheerleading coach Angela Natale, who also teaches first grade, if you are interested in joining the team. Falcon cheerleading fans are looking forward to their first performance at the home basketball games Fri-day and Saturday, 10 - 11 December against Vicenza.

National Honor Society News By Timothy Garbinsky, NHS VP We are currently sponsoring a little Haitian girl's educa-tion. Her name is Claudimene' and we are in writing correspon-dence with her. Her well being and education are quite impor-tant to the whole of NHS and we will continue to support her to the best of our ability. In addition, we are donating other funds to very worthy projects. We are helping to end the hunger in Sudan, and sup-porting education in Ethiopia. Over the summer, we supported several different organizations benefiting a number of areas, among them Africa and Latin America. We are also assisting the making of a documentary examining the immigration placement in Rome.

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PTO Corner

Next PTO Meeting is Monday, December 6 @ 9:15

in the Boutique Hope to see you there!!

Thank You PTO! Just to say thank you the PTO for the great idea of having a healthy food snack table during Wellness Day for the HS students. It was greatly ap-preciated by all. Dr. Beth Pfannl, Principal

Don't Miss the First Half-Price Sale! By Susan Haight, PTO Boutique Coordinator The Boutique is overflowing with winter clothing for all ages, household goods, books and toys! The WHITE tags will go Half-Price on Tues-day, December 14 just in time for the winter holidays. Any vendors who would like to retrieve their WHITE tagged goods should come in December 7th to pull them as they all will go half-price to benefit the school on Dec. 14. Don't miss our first sale! The next Sale Day will be the Half-Price day for YELLOW tags on February 8th, 2005. Mark your calendars to collect any unsold items you would like back on February 1st. At the beginning of this school year, the Bou-tique and Christiane Krippl received a lovely note of thanks from the Istituto Ancilla Domini, an order of nuns right here on the Cassia who arranged to send a container load of our charity items to Indonesia last June when we closed. They were very appreciative of all the clothing for the poor they received. Weekly pickups of clothing throughout the year go to local charities and refugee families here in Rome. So don't miss the fun every Tuesday in the Boutique! Great choices, bargains galore, and good conversation in many languages!

Only five weeks to go until the holidays! There is so much to accomplish! The Booster Bar continues to do a brisk busi-ness and we look forward to parents and kids at our next Booster Bar on December 3. There will be a new list of dates for the Spring semester available in early January. Check with Susan Haight at B.Haight@agora.it to find out when your group can sponsor a Booster Bar! The Boutique, now open for 5 weeks, is doing great. Don’t forget to put the Boutique, open every Tuesday from 9:30 to 2:30, on your list for holiday shopping! Our Elementary School has several activi-ties coming up, i.e., Wellness Day, collecting canned goods for the homeless and a visit from Santa Claus. Look for more information about all these events in your e-mail and also in your children’s backpacks! The Middle and High Schools will host the dessert table at the Thanksgiving Dinner. Coming up on De-cember 15 is Teacher Appreciation Day. Our teach-ers will be treated to a scrumptious brunch. Everyone should be sure to contribute a dish to help us make it a special day. Finally, the PTO is gearing up for Mayfair, the biggest single fundraising event of the year. Marina Benetti is already at work to make this year’s Mayfair a fabulous event. Contact her at ma-rina@studiobenetti.com to sign up now to volunteer! PTO meetings are held in the Boutique at 9:15 and we look forward to your participation. Join us at our next meeting on December 6th or at one of the meetings for 2005, which are scheduled as fol-lows: January 17 February 14 March 14 April 11 May 9 May 31 Happy Holidays! Cathy Garbinsky, PTO Secretary

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PPAC NEWS Principal Parent Advisory Committee

PPAC Minutes of Meeting November 22, 2004

Present: Marina Benetti, Grazia Deulus, Laurenne Hemily-Figus, Millie Kneeland, Cinzia Neri Palana, Beth Pfannl (Principal), Larry Dougherty (Headmaster) 1. Dr. Dougherty talked about the Middle States accreditation process and the school’s philosophy and mis-sion statements. 2. Parent/Teacher Conferences for MS and HS: The arrangement this year (in the gym with teachers seated in an arena style) was very successful. Teachers saw more parents. Parents were able to visit with teachers in a shorter period of time and did not have to go around the school. There was a suggestion that child care be made available next time. 3. Wellness Day Update: 2nd Annual event took place on Thursday, Nov. 18th. Faculty members were invited to attend workshops. There were suggestions to do something similar in the elementary and middle schools in the near future. 4. Thanksgiving Events: PTO would organize special desserts for Wed., Nov. 24 to be distributed at MS and HS lunches. Parents were asked to send in donations. 5. Lunchtime Monitors: Suggestion that HS students doing Community Service be placed in cafeteria during ES lunch to help the supervisors in charge with students’ table manners, noise level, etc. 6. PPAC Minutes in Falcon Flyer: The question was raised as to why the minutes appear in the Falcon Flyer. The PPAC is a very important communication vehicle with the parent community. Minutes are summarized for the school newsletter. 7. Buses: Rules for behavior on the buses will be reviewed and distributed. 8. Campus Maintenance: Any concerns should be directed to the principal’s office and they will be communi-cated to the appropriate offices. 9. Teachers’ Appreciation Brunch: It will be held on Wed. Dec. 15th between 9:30 – 12 noon.

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Pre-K School News

The “Why” Behind Learning Center Time in the Pre-Kindergarten… By Kimberly Murphy, Pre-K Coordinator

During November, the children in the Pre-Kindergarten are enjoying a variety of experiences dur-ing our “learning center time” each morning. Learning centers are areas that are set up in the classroom where students go to explore and learn. We offer centers in math and manipulative toys, language (and computer), art, science and sensory, dramatic play and blocks. Our center time is structured with both independent and teacher-directed activities and consists of over one hour each day. We know that the best way for children to learn is through active, hands-on play. The materials in each center are organized to develop skills and to enable students to become successful learners at their individual developmental level. We believe that learning centers give teachers more time to interact one-on-one with students. We know that centers give teachers the opportunity to meet the needs of individual students through flexible grouping. Centers allow for different learning styles. Centers encourage positive behavior be-cause students are actively involved and are allowed to make choices. Centers build self-concept as stu-dents experience success. Centers give children the opportunity explore, discover, and create. During this time, children need to negotiate and collaborate with classmates. At this time, children can practice and apply new skills and reinforce learned ones. They problem solve and use critical thinking skills and most importantly, they become independent learners. This month during learning centers, the children had the chance to:

Paint with colored corn syrup Explore water, and why some items “sink” and some items “float” Try painting lying on their backs like Michelangelo when he painted the Sistine Chapel Build with Legos Listen to What Dad’s Can’t Do on tape Make chocolate chip flavored waffles with Sylvia’s mom Work with the program Kid Pix on the computer “Cook” in the “kitchen” Measure “how many cubes long?” our hands are Act out a show with puppets in our puppet theater Make patterns with unifix cubes Manipulate rainbow colored filo dough into different shapes Work cooperatively to put together a large animal floor puzzle Practice writing and drawing in glitter Build homes for farm animals Create roads and bridges with blocks for trains Be a patient or a doctor in our “hospital” Make a picture like the author/illustrator Eric Carle Be a musician or conductor in our symphony Sculpt with wooden pieces and glue

And much, much, more! Upcoming Events Pre-K “Informal” Concert, December 15th at 9:30, Pre-K parents are invited to the classroom to hear their children perform some of their favorite songs. December 16th at 9:30 am Grades K-2 are invited to a Pre-K "Sing A Long"

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Kindergarten & Elementary School News

Fifth Grade By Mrs. Hogan November is a very busy month in 5th grade. We have been writing about the journey to the New World and explaining the difficulties that we had to face. See an account of the journey by Lori der-Kacherdourian on page 13. We designed the map of our colony and we have been engaged in some Native American embroidery to make book marks. November 24th is a very big day as we will be having our Thanksgiving banquet in the classroom. On the festive menu is turkey, stuffing, apple pies and pumpkin pies, tangerines, roasted chestnuts and cornbread. Then there will be the apple sauce, egg salad, mashed potatoes and butter made by the 5th graders .

Third Grade Dates to Remember! December 7 to Explora Museum December 10 to Centrale Montemartini January 21 3rd Grade Booster Bar and Bake Sale January 26 to Castel Sant'Angelo

Caldara By Marissa Ferguson (3rd grade)

Watch and Listen - Our tour guide [Ariana] told us to be quiet so that we could hear the birds sing. She also told us

to look all around us so that we could see animals like a wild boar and porcupines. A lot of kids in my group saw a bird. I saw a bird. Also when we were walking Ariana stopped us because she heard a bird singing and she wanted us to hear it. We heard three different birds singing. They sounded very beautiful.

Sulfur Gases - At the time we arrived at the lake we stopped and sat on the rocks. Ariana told us about the lake. We asked her why is that one area bubbling. Ariana said the water isn’t hot its normal temperature. Cause if the water is hot it would make it bubble, but this lake has so much gases in it and sulfur it makes it bubble.

Little Animals - After we were done looking and taking pictures of the lake and we were heading for the forest we saw a little fuzzy caterpillar. Ariana said to never touch a fuzzy caterpillar cause they are poisonous.

Volcanic Glass - When we were done looking at the little fuzzy caterpillar we saw volcanic glass. Everyone started picking it up. It was black and kind of clear. It looked really cool.

Trees and Leaves - Once we were getting closer to the woods we stopped because Ariana wanted to talk about the tree we were by. She said this tree is an oak tree and it isn’t the kind that gives syrup. Ariana got a leaf from the tree and showed us that whenever we see a leaf that has a design that looks like this it’s that kind of tree. It looked really cool. The leaf had little circles on it. Ariana said that these bugs are bee’s and they point their stinger at the leaf and sting the leaf and that’s what makes the little circle on the leaf. While Ariana was talking about bee a bee got Ariana’s shoe and the bee started crawling on her shoe. The bee looked soooo cool!!!!

The Little Birch Tree - When we were walking in the woods Ariana stopped us again because she was going to talk to us about the birch trees that were surrounding us. Ariana said that some of the trees are on the ground because the roots of the trees were going up and ending on the path which isn’t good for the trees because the trees need the air of the soil not the air we breathe.

Sticks And Nature - I thought the sticks looked outstanding! They had neat lines on them and a creative way of telling the call of nature has called you to look and realize how beautiful the woods are and to tell you to take a moment to tell yourself how interesting the world is if you just listen to nature and its facts about the life of the animals and the natures world and life. So close your eyes and think about nature and its incredible life and the awesome animals. Imagine nature and animals and natures life.

Apples - We walked past an apple tree. There were many apples on the ground. I found an apple and I notice that the apple that I just picked up had been eaten out of. Ariana said that a fox probably took a bite out of the apple. Everyone wanted an apple to eat so they started picking up apples from the ground but Ms. Piccirilli said if you want to eat an apple you have to pick it from the tree. I didn’t want an apple because I had one in my lunch.

Cherries - Ariana stopped us so that she could talk to us about the cherries. They were as ripe as an apple. Ariana said we could eat them because were ripe and they weren’t poisonous. I didn’t get a cherry because I don’t like them.

Special Stuff - When the tour was over we got to look inside of Ariana’s office and look at stuff like porcupine quills, snakeskin, leaves, sticks, pictures and a lot of other cool stuff that Ariana found here in Caldara. It was soooooooo cool!!

Oh! I almost forgot. Ariana told us what CALDARA meant. Since the main thing about our trip was the lake with the bubbles. Well you know how it bubbles it’s just like a witch’s caldron because the lake is round like a cauldron with the bubbles.

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Kindergarten & Elementary School News (Cont)

LETTERS TO PAOLA AND VINCENZO GUIDES IN THE NATIONAL PARK OF ABRUZZO, LAZIO AND MOLISE.

Dear Paola, The trip was awesome. I liked to see the Marsican bears. The red deer and their huge antlers looked really cool. I liked watching the huge owl fly across the cage and when he opened his wings. I liked the movie about the animals too. That night I had problems sleeping, after a while I fell into a deep sleep. The next morning for breakfast I had a croissant and a piece of toast. That morning the class went to the Wolf Museum. I learned a lot of cool facts about wolves. After that we went to see a real wolf and he looked like an inno-cent big cat but with fluffy hair. By: Brian Miller Dear Vincenzo, That was the first time that I have ever been on a sleep away trip. I had a ton of fun. I liked to see all the animals, seeing the red deer and the big male deer, the otter, the bears and the owl were my favorites and I really liked seeing the spring. I had a ton of fun. By: Jasper Stallings Dear Paola, I liked Oscar (the wolf) a lot but my favorite things was seeing the lynxes. First, because it was very beau-tiful and second because I think it is a wonderful animal. But I had a great time in Val Fondilo too. After I loved the wolf museum. It had wonderful pictures about the wolves. But it was very sad that they used to kill the wolves. By: Lorenzo Haggiag Dear Vincenzo, I liked staying with you and the class. Because you taught us lots of nice things. And I saw a bear, and a red deer. It was really fun to stay with you and my class. Then we went to drink from the water spring. Then we went to see Oscar, the wolf. In the night Mr. Tebo read us scary stories. Then we had breakfast and then we tried to find lynxes but we didn’t find them. By: Raffy Pieroni Dear Paola, I really liked the trip. My favorite part was when we went to the wolf museum. I also really liked going hik-ing in the mountains. I really wanted to see the lynx in the lynx sanctuary, but maybe next time. I really liked going to see Loretta (the Marsican bear). I also liked seeing the other animals. When we went to a spring we saw a goat and she fell in love with Omer’s dad. By: Lauren Smith Caro Vincenzo, Sei stato molto bravo a spiegarci tutte le cose sugli animali. Mi manchi molto, me e’ piaciuto molto la gita che abbiamo fatto! Gli animail che abbiamo visto sono bellissimi. Peccato che siamo andati via cosi’ presto da quel para-diso!!!!! Sai sei molto simpatico. L’acqua della sorgente era gelida ma buona. Ciao, Leonora Grilli

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From the Counselor Ms. Kate McKenna, counselor@aosr.org

It is application time! Senior are busily writing essays and filling out forms. We plan to mail our Janu-ary application to the colleges and universities before Christmas break. With that in mind, there are a few things that parents can do to help:

Please help your senior get organized: ALL forms should be given to the Counselor including School Report, Midyear Report, Teacher Recommendations, Student Application, Essay, Check or Money Order, etc. (unless these items can be sent ONLINE to the college/university).

Payment: Most colleges/universities have an application fee. Please check with your son or daughter as to how you plan to pay the school. If the money needs to be sent by check or money order with the application, the student should bring payment to Ms. McKenna ASAP! (Make sure that you record the check/MO number and amount—colleges often will misplace such items during the rush of the application season.)

Sending scores: Test scores must be sent DIRECTLY from College Board/ETS to the college or university. The counselor CANNOT complete this part of the application for the student. Students should log-on to their account and follow the instructions for “sending scores.”

“Logging-In”: In order for an application to be sent, student must “log-in” the name of the school officially with Ms. McKenna. Please check to see if your son or daughter has completed his/her college log.

Writing essays: Most schools require an essay or personal statement. Ask your son or daughter if you can proofread or offer sugges-tions.

Teacher recommendations: By now, all recommendation requests have been made. Students should check in with their teachers to make sure that they are being written in time to meet the deadlines.

Registering for SAT I, II, ACT, and TOEFL tests as needed: There is still time to test! Make sure your son or daughter has taken the appropriate tests for his or her colleges.

Financial Aid: Most colleges have their own instructions on how to apply for aid. Students and parents should actively be researching merit and need-based financial opportunities. Deadlines are approaching!

TESTING INFORMATION: AOSR will serve as a Testing Center for the upcoming SAT I, SAT II, and ACT Tests. SAT I and SAT II tests will be administered at AOSR on December 4th and January 22nd for students who have registered online through The College Board (www.collegeboard.com). Students who did not register in time may attempt to test “stand-by” by arriving to the school the morning of the test at 7:15 am. The extra testing spaces are distributed on a first come first served basis! THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE for the JANUARY 22ND SAT I and SAT II test is MONDAY DECEMBER 20TH. The ACT will be administered on December 11th. For information on ACT registration, please see Ms. McKenna.

EXPAND YOUR BRAIN with our SAT QUESTION OF THE DAY: Which of the following numbers is divisible by 3 and 5, but not by 2?

A. 955 B. 975 C. 990 D. 995 E. 999

11

Sports Briefs By Doug Kneeland, Parent

High School Basketball If you were wondering why you have heard so much grunting and groaning in the gym lately, it is because basketball practice is in full swing every day after school. The season opens for real on December 3 & 4 when the AOSR girls and boys teams travel to Aviano in northern Italy for the first two games of the season. The following week, the first home games will be played against Vicenza on December 10 and 11. We have a great schedule this year with five home games in a row - including a game against AOSR alumni. Let's fill the gym!

AOSR Wins Mediterranean Volleyball Championships! Ten high school volleyball teams gathered in Naples recently to determine bragging rights as the Mens Medi-terranean Volleyball Champions. In addition to the defending champs AOSR Falcons and Marymount Royals from Rome, the Ankara Trojans and the Incirlik Hodjas attacked from Turkey. The Aviano Saints, seeded first, Milano Pan-thers, Livorno Lions and Vicenza Cougars assaulted from the North. Naples Wildcats tried to defend from her home court advantage while Sigonella Jaguars raided from the South. There were epic encounters from the first day as the Falcons, under the tutelage of Coach Andrea Desideri fell to underdog status against their arch rival Wildcats from Napoli. By the final day in the Gricignano arena our Falcons had fought their way back into a championship match against the very same team, Naples, which had routed them two days earlier 2-0. The sellout championship match against the home town Wildcats was a classic battle that was highlighted by both brilliant athleticism and excellent sportsmanship. Incessant surgical strikes from the ever dominant MVP Seyi “Grillo” Smith coupled with the cat-like reflexes and back court play of Ryan “Schlange” Panzarella earned them First Team ALL-Conference and First Team ALL- Tournament honors. Super sets and outstanding defense from Edo “Hyde” Linari and Brennan “Noodle” Panzarella contributed immensely, as did exceptionally versatile all-around play from Almir Kasumovic Alessandro, “A-sat” Satta, and Fred “Hellbilly” Arnaldi. The Falcons’ success was guaranteed in the last match because of the high spirited and heartfelt support from other players like John “Bronx” Fiano, Ido “Bobo” Bittman, Brian “Al-Dente” Culley, Nermin Kasumovic, Alessio “Boxer” Daswani and Ludo Linari. When the dust settled AOSR had won 3-1 and secured its second Mediterranean volleyball title in 2 years. GO FALCONS!!

Wrestling Father Joseph Iannuzzi, a former college wrestler, will coach the AOSR boys wrestling team again this year. Nine high school boys have turned out for the team, who are getting ready for the first match of the season on Saturday 11 December at Aviano. The first (and only) home match will be Saturday 15 January. Come to the gym to support the Falcon grapplers! Five American high schools in Italy have wrestling programs: AOSR, Naples, Aviano, Vicenza and Sigonella. The five schools each host one match, and all five teams gather at that school for a "jamboree" with all wrestlers getting a chance to wrestle each time. In February, the teams return to Aviano for the Mediterranean qualifying tournament, with the top wrestlers in each weight cate-gory advancing to the European championships.

2004-05 AOSR Basketball Schedule 3 & 4 December at Aviano 10 & 11 December Home vs Vicenza 14 January Home vs Alumni 18 & 19 January Home vs Marymount 21 & 22 January Home vs Sigonella 28 & 29 January Home vs Naples 4 & 5 February at Livorno 11 & 12 February at Milan 23-26 February European Championships in Germany

12

OUR TRIUMPHS AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP MEET!

Report on the European Championship Meet Time and place: Saturday, October 30 in Heidelberg, Germany. Competition: AOSR competed in the Div. III/IV races (for schools with smaller enrollment than Div. I/II) against teams from Italy, Germany, England, Iceland, etc. Conditions: WET!! After about 5 hours of steady rain before race time, the 5K dirt trail had become a mix of mud/ puddles/ small ponds. The hilly course has 4 loops, with each loop circling back to the start/finish line area. During the races, conditions were partly cloudy. Best features: beautiful fall colors in the forest; a true cross-country course with all the challenges of trail running. Results:

Boys team scores: BOYS WIN DIV. III CHAMPIONSHIP! (note: in div. III/IV race, team results were calculated separately for div. III and div. IV, while individual results indicated overall place in the race, thus including both divisions) 1st place AOSR with 16 points; 2nd place Marymount with 34 points; 3rd place Hohenfels with 49 points; 4th place Sigonella with 55 points; 5th place London Central with 56 points. Boys individual places and times: Josh Kneeland (2nd place, 18:40), Riccardo Serrao (3rd place, 18:41), Sean Apland (16th place, 19:55), Rob Michalski (19th place, 20:12), Chris Haight (26th place, 20:35). 58 total runners. Top finisher: Landon Kemp of American School of London, 17:59. Girls team scores: Girls take 2nd place in Div. III championship! 1st place Sigonella with 15 points; 2nd place AOSR with 31 points, 3rd place Marymount with 49 points, 4th place London Central with 52 points. Girls individual places and times: Stephanie Andreucci (9th place, 24:27), Christina Mitsialis (12th place, 24:44), Nicole Otte (23rd place, 26:55), Elena Testi (25th place, 27:02), Daryn Goldhammer (32nd place, 28:07). 43 total runners. Top finisher: Natalie Brooks, 22:34.

A final thank you: o What a wonderful season this has been. We truly appreciate the support of our team members’ families and the AOSR

administration and community. You showed your support in so many ways – while cheering on your athletes, while walk-ing/running in our fun run, while serving us pasta or buying us snacks, etc. etc.

o Most of all, we would like to thank the entire AOSR cross-country team, including our managers. It has been a pleasure to coach such determined, supportive, interesting, fun young people. We are so proud of all that you have accomplished this season, and hope that even though the season is over you will continue to love running and keep-ing fit, and more importantly that you will remember the value of challenging yourself as an individual and sup-porting your team. One… two… three… BEEFCAKE!!!

13

A Journey To a New World By: Lori D., (5th grade)

My name is Lydia Entwistle and I’m writing from the year 1621. I’m writing about how I sailed to a New World for religious freedom. Years ago when I was young, my parents sailed to Holland to be able to worship god in their own way. However, they returned because they did not like having to speak Dutch all the time. They also didn’t like how the Dutch people were so inter-ested in money. After a lot of heartache, my family decided to journey to the New World for religious freedom.

I was the youngest of the children my parents decided to take with them. I was currently 14 so all of my siblings were forced to stay with our great aunt Miriam. The youngest was Richard who was a newborn, Patience(5), Daniel(6), Arthur(8), and Emily(10). It was hard to say goodbye. I had started to protest, saying that if the children couldn’t go, I would stay with them but it was pointless to argue. To make things worse, I could bring only one thing. I chose my doll that had been given to me at birth named Beth.

We couldn’t afford all of the supplies and the journey so we were obliged to make a deal with some investors. Finally, it was time to go. I looked at the Mayflower with a barrel under one arm and a chest in the other. I suddenly became afraid. I had never been on a ship before. Would it make it to the New World in one piece? My oldest sister, Tranquility gave me a little push to move for-ward. My older brothers, Nathan and Michael followed her. I made a new friend on board called Constance. The Mayflower set sail. “too late to go back now,” I said to myself as England shrank in the distance. Our journey to the New World had begun.

The first day was not bad. The Mayflower drifted slowly and calmly in the sunshine. The next few days were a night-mare! Waves crashed against the ship, there was a row of thunderstorms, and the compass almost broke. Many people got seasick or sick of hunger. People started puking constantly and got high fevers. Oh the smell!!! I shall never forget that smell! Our clothes got soaked on deck and got stiff when dried. Hardly any of us changed our clothes . We could barely wash. You would be lucky if you could wash your hands and face so you could see that washing our bodies and clothes were out of the question.

It was even worse at night. Each person had only a tiny place to sleep and to keep their belongings in. It was really hard to sleep. We were in our day clothes and they definitely did not smell right. It felt hot and humid under deck. The scent of dirty bodies and animals filled the room. That was definitely the WORST sleeping experience I have ever had.

Our food wasn’t much either. We had: dry fish, moldy cheese, salty beef, and hard biscuit. Our only drinks were wa-ter and beer. But we ran out of water so even the children had to drink beer! We took turns using the small iron stove. It always felt good eating something hot. The stew we ate maybe wasn’t the best on earth but beat cold food any day.

We expected to arrive in 2 days. Just to think, in 2 days I’d be starting a new life in a new world!

Notes From the Field

The Portugal Trip November 7-12 By??? The MS Portugal trip to the capital of Lisbon and the wine making center of Porto was a great success. The weather was sunny and beautiful and the sights were impressive. The students learned about Portugal's history and its famous explorers, and even learned a few words of Portuguese (bom dia, obrigado, and more). Some of the sights we visited included the Torre Belem, the famous Monument to the Discoverers, the monastery of St Jeroni-mos, the National Palace of Queluz, and the National Palace of Sintra. We also explored the medieval city of Obidos and the Santa Maria church, the monastery at Alcobaca, the fishing village of Nazare (where the teachers tried the local sardine dish), and the shrine of Fatima. We toured the monastery of Batalha and its unfinished chapels, Guimares (which is the oldest castle in Portugal), the Na-tional Coach museum, and the Castle of St George. We also walked around the narrow streets of the historic Alfama district. The students learned about the Portuguese Manueline architectural style and observed Baroque, Gothic, and Renaissance styles. The students also had a chance to wade in the Atlantic Ocean at a small beach of Cascais. We would recommend this trip to eve-ryone!

The Rome Trip By Petra Franic (6th grade)

I enjoyed the Rome trip we had because I was fond of the Roman fountains from before. They were very interesting because they were skillfully made and had very nice stone figures. We learned when, where, and who they were made by. I liked the Trevi fountain best which was made by Bernini. I liked the composition and how he sculptured it. Even the cold and rain didn't bother me because I was thrilled by the fountain. I found fun even when researching, downloading and learning new information about the fountains. We had about 18 fountains to research on. We saw the Trevi fountain, and also the Dioscuri, Farnese, Fiumi, La Barcaccia, Tartarughe etc. Every one had a special charm to me and I was impressed by the hard work the ancient artists put in these fountains. We few which were going on the Rome trip invested so much effort and hard work to finish and complete the project. It was fun participating and the experience was great. We also had fun watching interesting movies on the fountains, reading books, gathering information, taking pictures and enjoying the Trip!

14

Notes From the Field (Cont) Huge and “Gianormous“ LONDON

by Jonathan Farache Monday, 3:30am Rome, at this time most of us had already woken up to get ready and leave for the flight to London. The departure was at 7:00am and we had boarded the plane, tired for we had barely slept, but played card games and still watched the movie totally immune to tiredness. Monday, 8:00am England time zone, and we had reached London with a wonderful flight. The bus journey to the hotel seemed long, yet somehow we still managed to banter some more ready for a day of touring. We visited Trafalgar’s Square which is a massive square with a big obelisk in the middle surrounded by four stone lions. The lions were gianormous (giant, enormous) and most of us attempted to climb them, though only one succeeded. We were able to pass by the British Museum but it was closed, so we’ll save that for a another day. In London if we weren’t walking, we would take what is known as "The Tube". Some of you might be asking yourself, “what the heck is the tube”? In Britain, the “TUBE, ladies and gentlemen is what we know as, the “Metro” in Rome, the subway. Yes, very odd, yet very simple. There were several occasions when we took a double-decker bus, but mostly lots of walking and using the Tube. On the second day we visited the Tower of London which is in fact not really one tower, or as most would think Big Ben the clock, it is actually a palace with 21 towers. This palace was used as many things and it was lovely and huge. Now that I think about it, a lot of sites are huge in London. After visiting the tower of London we went to see the Wax Museum which is not a museum that teaches about wax and manufactures candles to other countries, not at all. It is actually a museum with wax sculptures of famous people which look so very real, that some would actually pass for humans. It was, as English would say, “wicked.” Next day, first thing in the morning, we went to the Eye of London which is a Ferris wheel and is, as you might have guessed, huge. The Eye of London has these little tubes (not metro tubes, just normal glass tubes) that about 20 people can go inside. It circles around one time for riders and you can see almost all of London in a birds eye view. It was very beautiful and extremely memorable, yet we had to move on. Next on our 'to do list' that day was to visit Buckingham Palace which is a palace where the Queen herself lives, no we did not go inside, nor did we see the queen, but we looked at the palace for a few good… minutes, then went on to Big Ben. This gianormous tower, Big Ben, with four clocks at the top which almost every Londoner follows. The Globe Theater, Shakespeare's famous theatre, is somewhat round with no apparent roof and a square stage just a bit bigger then ours. On our last day, yet we still had lots to do, was three museums, one after another, all day long. First we visited the Natural History Museum which was fairly interesting then the Science Museum which was, about…Science and last, we did not want to come home empty handed, so we went back to the British Museum. We with smiles and tears of joy for we had not thought that we would be able to see it before we left England. The London trip, ladies and gentlemen, was all in all fun, everyone had their moments; even the teachers made us laugh. It was truly a once in a life time opportunity that would have been a pity to miss. I will not of course forget that London is a costly city and took gianormous amount of my spending money, but it was worth it!

15

Il Foro

Babysitting Friday nights and on weekends. If you need a hand with your kids or would like to go out without them please call Mahira Sobral at 06 33252992 (home) or 338 8120963 (cell) . I speak English and Italian and can help Elementary School students with their homework!

Language and Cooking Learn Italian while cooking

10 hours 100 euro + registration

Info: Centro Studi Cassia

Tel. 06.33253852

e-mail csc@mclink.it

Language and art Visit interesting sites

conducted in simple, didactic Italian

10 hours 80 euro + registration

Info: Centro Studi Cassia

Tel. 06.33253852

e-mail csc@mclink.it

The USO Advisory Council of Rome

cordially invites you to

USO ROME HOLIDAY RECEPTION AT VILLA TAVERNA

FRIDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2004

FROM 20:00 – 22:30

ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT USO ROME AND THEIR SUPPORT OF

U.S. SERVICE MEMBERS OVERSEAS

TICKET INFORMATION Cost: 50E per person

Tickets can be purchased by: 1) Calling USO Rome at 06.686.4232 and charging using credit card 2) Purchase at USO Rome - Via del Mascherino,37

3) Purchase from USO Council Members located at U.S. Embassy Rome

16

The February Falcon Flyer will be published on the 1st, Next Deadline is January 21, 2004

To make comments, suggestions, submit an article or volunteer to work on the Falcon Flyer, please send an email to ptonewsletter@aosr.org. Please send contributions as an attachment, with minimal formatting (Please, no tables!) in WORD format.

School Number: 06-334-381

Fax: 06-3326-2608 Headmaster: Larry Dougherty 06-3343-8331 Headmaster’s Secretary: Domenica Losani 06-3343-8331 Principal: Beth Pfannl 06-3343-8326 Principal’s Secretary: Alessandra Cozzi 06-3343-8326 Admissions: Don Levine 06-3343-8300 Reception/Secretary: Joanne Hoberg 06-3343-8300 Financial Consultant: Elisa Bruno 06-3343-8338 Boarding/Finance: Estelle Dougherty 06-3343-8339 MS/HS Counselor: Kate McKenna 06-3343-8327 Counselor: Jody Ballard 06-3343-8381 Nurse: Diane Cullen-Moore 06-3343-8321 After School Activities: (phone from 3:30-4:50 PM) Christine Hogan, Margaret Ciuffreda 06-3343-8320 MS Activities Coord.: Angela Santangelo 06-3343-8336 Resource Room: 06-3343-8302 All telephone and internet address corrections should be emailed to principalsoffice@aosr.org.

Via Cassia 811 00189 Rome, Italy

Internet: www.aosr.org

17

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