"Lianxi" is WAB's weekly newsletter
to parents and the community. It provides an overview
of the latest news and special events occurring
at WAB, together with special features from different
parts of the school including the PTA. It also
gives an update on the latest "Key Dates
".
LIANXI:
15 June 2007
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!
This week marks the end of another
extraordinary year at WAB, with many
highlights and accomplishments. From
the opening of the new High School
facility to the graduation of WAB’s
first class of Grade 12 students, and
from the successful completion of the
first phase of the Strategic Plan 2006-2011
to the ongoing quality of learning
that takes place daily in and outside
of the classroom, the 2006-07 school
year will be remembered as a pivotal
and celebratory period in WAB’s
history.
Last Saturday, WAB Grade 12 students
literally walked in the footsteps
of Confucius and thousands of imperial
scholars as they ascended the well-worn
stone staircase leading to Dachengdian,
of the “Hall of Great Accomplishment,” where
they were presented with their diplomas.
WAB GRADUATES FIRST CLASS OF GRADE 12 STUDENTS -
1 June 2007
The graduation ceremony for the ‘Class
of 2007’ will be held tomorrow,
Saturday June 2, at the Confucius
Temple, where Chinese scholars have
gathered for over eight centuries
in pursuit of knowledge and wisdom
and in honor of Confucius.
WAB HOSTS 2ND ANNUAL LEADERS TODAY PROGRAM -
25 May 2007
This summer, WAB will host aspiring young leaders from
Middle and High Schools across North America and China
for the second-annual Leaders Today Program in Beijing,
scheduled for August 5 - 11.
As WAB continues to grow and mature,
so does the network of WAB alumni
and families, and so does the need
for WAB to develop new strategies
for staying in touch with the thousands
of WAB families scattered across
the globe.
WAB Middle School and High School students will be piloting
China’s first and only model Formula One (F1) program
as part of the international ‘F1 in Schools Challenge.’
IB PRESENTATIONS: A CELEBRATION OF LEARNING -
27 April 2007
This week’s PYP Exhibition
(Grade 5) and MYP Personal Project
(Grade 10) marked significant milestones
in the lives of IB students, reflecting
months of hard work and intensive
learning.
BUDGET FOCUSES ON PROGRAMS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS -
20 April 2007
The 2007 - 2008 school budget, recently approved by the WAB Board, reflects WAB’s
commitment to achieving the goals outlined in the WAB Strategic Plan 2006-2011,
with a focus on enhancing education staffing, programs and special projects.
WAB SWIMMERS SHARE LANES WITH US OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST -
13 April 2007
WAB Tigershark swimmers Lucas
Thomee and Kaylan Weng never dreamed
they’d
shake hands with US Olympic gold
medalist and 5-time world record-breaking
athlete Michael Phelps, much less
compete with him and Special Olympic
athletes in a Unified Relay Race
in the WAB swimming pool.
GIG GROUP TAKES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP ROLE -
6 April 2007
Since WAB founded a Global Issues
Group (GIG) two years ago, this
collaboration of globally-minded
Middle and High School students
has sought after and promoted GIN’s
mission to help students realize
that they can make a difference
in the world by empowering them
to work with their peers internationally
to develop solutions for global
issues.
GIG HELPS RURAL VILLAGE COPE WITH WATER SCARCITY -
23 March 2007
Last weekend, a group of High School
students in the Global Issues Group
(GIG) traveled to the Enshi Prefecture
of Hubei Province to meet with a
group of leaders about collaborating
on a plan to provide a clean water
source for a village comprised of
around 60 minority families.
WAB welcomes hover 100 participants
including Heads of Schools, Principals,
Activities Coordinators, Creative
Arts Group Coordinators and Athletic
Directors, and other guests from
international schools across China
(including Hong Kong and Taiwan)
and Mongolia to the ACAMIS Annual
Meeting being hosted at WAB this
weekend March 16 – 18.
WORLD WIDE SEARCH FOR QUALITY TEACHERS -
9 March 2007
WAB administrators recently attended a number of international recruitment fairs
in the UK and USA in search of new teaching staff for 2007-08.
Every year, WAB undertakes a rigorous search for a diverse range of high quality,
experienced teachers whose own educational and teaching philosophies are in line
with WAB’s Mission and Core Values.
WAB HOSTS FIRST EVER BEIJING SCHOOLS FILM FESTIVAL -
2 March 2007
In April, WAB will host the first-ever Beijing Schools Film Festival (BSFF) for
students and teachers from Elementary, Middle and High Schools across Beijing.
Working with a consortium of eleven international and Chinese schools, WAB is
launching this extraordinary community-wide event, which is expected to bring
together more than 1,500 students and school staff from around Beijing to celebrate
the art of film.
SPECIAL SPRING FESTIVAL EDITION - 16 February
2007
WAB Wishes the Community a Happy Chinese New Year!
Year of the Golden Pig
WAB’s diverse community is bound together through our
host country China. While the language and culture of China
provide a platform for learning throughout the year, the celebration
of the Chinese New Year offers a special opportunity for the
WAB community to come together to learn more about Chinese
culture and language, as well as to better understand and
respond to the world’s - and our own - diversity.
HS STUDENTS EXCEL IN MATHEMATICS - 9 February
2007
WAB High School students are excelling in Mathematics, as evidenced
by the outstanding results of various standardized tests sat
by Grade 10 - 12 students. Results from the International
Schools' Assessment (ISA) tests, taken last October, have
just arrived, and while WAB Counselors are still analyzing
data, it's evident that Grade 10 Mathematics scores are significantly
higher than last year, with WAB students ranking well above
the international average.
YOUTH SPEAK OUT IN SERVICE SUMMIT - 2 February 2007
In preparation for the official IB
Diploma examinations in May, Grade
12 students enrolled in the IBDP
will sit ‘mock examinations’ from
Monday February 5 – Tuesday
February 13. The results of the mock
examination will provide students
with an accurate assessment of their
knowledge prior to the official exams.
In preparation for the official IB
Diploma examinations in May, Grade
12 students enrolled in the IBDP
will sit ‘mock examinations’ from
Monday February 5 – Tuesday
February 13. The results of the mock
examination will provide students
with an accurate assessment of their
knowledge prior to the official exams.
WAB’s new five-year Strategic Plan 2006 - 2011 “Continuing the Dream”,
recently approved by the WAB Board, outlines how WAB envisions itself continuing
to develop as a leading world school. The plan identifies seven key developmental
areas for growth, and identifies specific goals and strategies for achieving
outcomes that are grounded in WAB's Mission and Core Values.
This school year, the ES PE Department
is piloting an innovative new series
of martial arts units for all Grade
2 - 4 classes. Grounded in the IB
learner profile and fully China-engaged,
this vigorous, performance-based
series focuses on wushu, one of China’s
most popular and highly regarded
forms of the traditional martial
arts.
On any given weekend, the WAB campus
buzzes with activity: HS students
play badminton in the HUB gym or
hold drama practice in the Blu Theater;
a group of ex-pats play cricket and
touch rugby on the sports fields;
a group of Russian businessmen spike
volleyballs in the ES gym; a local
Chinese soccer team dribbles down
a sports fields; Sodexho employees
scrimmage against the Properties
Management crew; and students of
A&J Dance Studios stretch in
the dance studio. And that’s
not to mention Tigerhoops, gymnastics
clinics, swim practices, Sports Beijing
activities and all of the ASA, ACAMIS
and WABX meets, tournaments and challenges
that regularly occur across campus.
A UNIVERSAL CALL FOR COMPASSION & ACTION - 8 December
2006
Former China President of the Clinton
Foundation and WAB founding member
Sabina Brady led a discussion about
HIV/AIDS with Grade 11 students last
Friday in recognition of UN World
AIDS Day. In addition to broadening
students’ knowledge about HIV
prevention, Sabina prompted students
to consider how social stigmas can
affect people living with HIV/AIDS.
Homeroom class 10-5 organized AIDS
Awareness Week in the High School.
Red ribbons (provided by Edmund Settle
of the UN AIDS office) were sold
to raise money for people with HIV
living below the poverty line in
Guiyang and Guizhou.
Caring is one of WAB ’s core
values. This value is demonstrated
by the entire WAB community, with
students from all grade levels, as
well as their parents and teachers,
engaging in community service within
the school, around Beijing and across
China. We believe that we can enhance
the human and world condition by
harnessing the power and commitment
of individuals and communities to
affect positive change. In this spirit,
the WAB community takes care of each
other, of the wider community and
of the environment.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN VIETNAM - 24 November 2006
In Martin Cannon’s classroom,
students literally face the realities
of the Vietnam War. Color-tinted
and fuzzy black and white images
of the conflict cover an entire classroom
wall. Photos of soldiers and airplanes
hang amid a chronological series
of Time Magazine covers documenting
the war years.
A team of WAB administrators, board
members, staff and two students attended
the 2006 East Asia Regional Council
of Overseas Schools (EARCOS) Administrators’ Conference
in Bangkok, November 3 - 7. WAB attendees
led and participated in a breadth
of workshops and keynote speeches
centered on the theme: “Shared
Vision Through Collaboration, Technology
and Global Awareness.”
While leaders from 60 African nations gathered in Beijing
last weekend to discuss Sino-African relations, six WAB High School students
were in Egypt to debate critical world issues and explore global solutions
at the 28th annual Cairo American College Model United Nations (CACMUN)
Conference.
WAB: MODEL SCHOOL
FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - 3
November 2006
WAB will be featured in a new film by
Apple Computers shot by acclaimed filmmaker
and director Marco Antonio Torres. WAB
was selected out of thousands of schools
worldwide as an Apple model school for
demonstrating how technology and learning
can be integrated in the classroom.
On Tuesday October 24, MSHS students
celebrated diversity and reflected
on global issues in recognition of
WAB’s International Day. The
major theme running through this celebration
was the message that “youth
can make a difference” towards
realizing the United Nation’s
Millennium Goals.
STANDING UP AGAINST POVERTY, STANDING UP FOR
PEACE - 20 October 2006
International Week will be celebrated
at WAB from Monday October 23 - Friday
October 27 as an opportunity for WAB
students and staff to celebrate their
cultural diversity and to reflect on
what it means to be global citizens.
NU LI GAN, YI QI GAN: WORK HARD, WORK TOGETHER
- 13 October 2006
The airport was busy on September 29
as hordes of Beijing residents set off
for the October holiday. Among them,
a group of WAB teachers and Grade 11
and 12 students considered the construction
work they’d be doing for a Community,
Action, Service (CAS) Habitat for Humanity
project in a flood battered area of
Guangzhou Province. The group anticipated
hard work, but they couldn’t foresee
the needs and prevailing spirit of the
local people they’d encounter.
INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHORS VISIT WAB
- 29 September 2006
On Tuesday, the WAB community welcomed visiting
authors Margaret Mahy and Tessa Duder, and guest
lecturer Libby Limerick for a morning of storytelling,
literary discussion, and workshops.
ADVENTURE BOUND ON THE CHINA STUDIES FIELD
TRIPS - 21 September 2006
Tireless trekkers
Ida Madsen and Mignon du Plessis
set the pace for a Grade 6 hike
along Huang Hua Cheng.
WAB welcomes back all Middle and
High School students from China Studies
Residential Field Trips. Students
traveled to contrasting terrains and
provinces, gaining new insights and
appreciation for the wealth of geographic,
cultural, and ethnic diversity in
China.
Next week, in celebration of International
Day of Peace on September 21, we highlight
two unique new features of the WAB campus
– the International Peace Wall
and Peace Bell.
International Day of Peace was founded
in 1981, when the UN General Assembly,
recalling that the promotion of peace
is one of the main principles of its
charter, decided that it would be appropriate
to “devote time to concentrate
the efforts of the United Nations and
its Member States, as well as of the
whole of mankind, to promote the ideals
of peace and to give positive evidence
of their commitment to peace in all
viable ways.”
Jasmine (Gr 12) and
other very talented pianists provide
great entertainment in the High
School.
The High School Koi Garden is taking
on the feel of a concert hall as HS
Music students discover it as an ideal
location for ‘practicing piano’.
Visitors, staff and fellow students
are often seen gathering around the
piano to enjoy these practice performances
– but the real thing is not that
far off as the MSHS and the ES Music
Departments begin gearing up for the
year-long Teatime Concert Series.
The Koi Garden piano, is currently on
loan from the HUB and was donated last
year by the PTA. The Koi will soon be
getting its own new piano thanks to
a very generous donation of 120,000RMB
from nearby Cathay View Villa Estates.
Cathay View will also sponsor this year’s
MSHS monthly performances of the Teatime
Concert Series featuring students and
local musicians.
Streamers and fireworks completed a fantastic opening celebration for the new High School.
WAB families and guests came together for a very special
celebration last Friday evening, for the official opening
of WAB’s new High School!
The event included a contemporary dance performance by Chinese
and WAB High School Dancers and an African drumming and dance
performance by WAB students. Before the performances guests
were entertained with background music played by WAB HS student
pianists in the Koi Garden and WAB Chinese instrumental ensemble
on the balcony of the Wild Ginger Cafe.
The evening finished with a spectacular fireworks display
over Wild Duck Lake. With the help of our WAB High School
ambassadors, more than a thousand guests toured the new facilities
and viewed artwork and installations by WAB students and local
and international artists currently displayed in the new High
School. The opening of the new High School also marked the
completion of the WAB Facilities Master Plan 2001-2006. It
has certainly been an exciting journey over the years and
we would like to thank all those who have been a part of it!
Our new HS Center provides
a unique learning
environment.
After months of construction and anticipation, the doors
to WAB’s new High School Center were finally opened
last weekend! With the help of several High School Student
Ambassadors, WAB families toured the exciting new addition
to the WAB campus, which represents the completion of the
WAB Campus Master Plan 2001 – 2006. As HS students and
staff returned to school this week, it’s been great
to see their enthusiasm for their new college style learning
environment.
A unique dimension to the new High School is a collection
of artworks exhibited by local, student and international
artists. These can be found throughout the new building and
will be on display over the next month.
If you would like to view the new High School, we would be
delighted to arrange a tour for you. Please contact Community
Relations Manager, Angela Snowball at asnowball@wab.edu.
Our New High School Center an exceptional learning environment!
NEW HIGH SCHOOL - 'SETS A NEW STANDARD'
- 2 August 2006
WAB’s new High School Center is the
final building to be completed in our 5
year Campus Master Plan development, and
as such, has benefited from the experience
of previous projects and the ongoing development
of education at WAB.
The new High School
(HS) features a large central atrium, student
lounges and cafés designed to provide
flexible study, promote social interaction
and has great views to the rest of the campus
across the lake.
The 8,500 m2 HS building together with
the HUB Sports, Arts, and Technology
Center will accommodate 400 HS students
this year, including WAB's first graduating
class of seniors set to start their
final year. WAB's sprawling 7.1 hectare
campus arranged in parkland setting,
features 6 buildings with 4 seperate
school centers (total 35,500 m2) and
a total capacity of just over 1,400
students. With the addition of the
new HS, it has almost taken on the
feel of a small township. WAB's wireless
network extends campus wide, supporting
it as a leading IT school in the region.
