Dear Students, Parents, Faculty and Friends,
This is always an exciting, and busy, time of the year. The first semester is drawing to a close and we are preparing for the End-of-Year programs and our semester exams for High School. Beyond that, the promise of our long vacation beckons, whether it is on the beautiful beaches of Uruguay, or back in one’s home country.
UAS continues to develop and expand its programming. Here are just some of the recent highlights:
Our long-awaited SCAC debut took place November 1-3, 2007, in Buenos Aires. Our boys and girls soccer teams competed with their peers from the American School of Quito (Ecuador), Nido de Aguilas (Chile), Escuelas Lincoln (Argentina) and FDR-Lima (Peru). Our students competed well and were wonderful ambassadors for UAS. Six of our players were recognized with a Fair Play Award -- Priscilla Santoli, Sofia Cikurel, Reagan Shaw, Michel Bacque, Lucas Martinez and Karl Toot. Special thanks to Mr. Bruce Gill, who coordinated our participation in the tournament. We are now looking forward to basketball, in April 2008, in Santiago, Chile.
We were thrilled to learn that 12th Grade student Stephanie Jurburg was named an AP Scholar with Honor, by the College Board in the United States, for her performance on the Advanced Placement examinations. Stephanie earned a mark of 5 (the top possible score) in U.S. History, Biology, Spanish Literature and Spanish Language, which is a performance that puts her in the top 1% of college-bound students who took the exams. Stephanie is also one of our Student Council officers and has been a UAS student since KG.
In October, 5 HS students and 2 teachers spent the weekend building housing for low income families. It was a very powerful experience for them, and one which they shared with the rest of the student body in our weekly assembly program. One of our goals has been to continue to expand the service learning aspect of our curriculum and we plan to continue in our relationship with Techo. Synergistically, the fantastic PTO Bingo raised over $1500 for our community service programs, part of which was donated to Techo.
Our nurse, Elisa Pereira, has been working with parent input and our catering company, Nora Rey, to improve the nutritional quality of our cafeteria food. For instance, we have instituted a salad bar, where students have different choices each day, expanded the fruit options, and changed some of the meal choices. For instance, hotdogs are out; stir fry with brown rice is in.
We are also hoping to have at least one organic meal per month and are reinstituting the monthly international menu offering. We have begun to offer Gatorade as a drink option, both during and after school. Once we have the Gatorade established, along with the Salus water that we currently sell, UAS will become a “soft drink-free” school. Beginning next semester, February 2008, we will no longer sell carbonated beverage soft drinks – Coke, Pepsi, etc. – and students will not be able to bring them into school. This policy is already in place in the ES and we are simply pushing it out to MS and HS. While popular with students, we know that these drinks are not healthy for them and inconsistent with our vision of a healthy campus.
On Wednesday, November 21st, we will have a lunch that brings all of our students, N-12, together in a spirit of togetherness and thanks. Each student is asked to buy a special lunch ticket for that day. Our menu will be as close to the traditional U.S. Thanksgiving feast as we can get: chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pie, etc. As a community, we will give thanks for all that we share together.
25 members of MS nation are getting ready to travel to Brazil at the end of the month, to take part in a sports exchange. Sara Kaste has been organizing the logistics and our parents have been patient, and supportive, in terms of figuring out the exact regulations and laws governing travel of minors to Brazil. All looks ready to go and we are excited to usher in a new phase of international competition and exchange.
Last year, we called this event “La Parrillada,” and used it to inaugurate our PTO-donated outdoor grill. This year, we are back with Round #2 of a new school tradition. Please plan to join us on for an evening of music, sport, friendship and fun. We will have food for sale and the campus open for students to play. If you have friends or colleagues who might be interested in UAS, please feel free to invite them to join us as well. It is a great time to be on campus and experience the dynamic diversity of our community.
Students in Grades 9-12 take examinations from December 12-17th. Students are not allowed to miss an exam, without prior permission from the Principal. Please note this, if you are making holiday travel plans.
This is looking far ahead, but I wanted to let our families know that we will be celebrating an “International Week” next April. During this week, we typically organize events that highlight the food, costumes and traditions of our different nations. If you are traveling home in December /January, and have room in your suitcases, please think about bringing back items that might contribute to this week. More details about this event will follow, in February.
Finally, this year’s PTO is carrying on our tradition of fantastic parent support. I want to thank the members of our PTO Board – the President, Andrea Kats, as well as members Christina Rigamonti, Patricia Acosta, Alicia Fiandra and Victoria Placeres – for their leadership and commitment to UAS. They are supported by another wonderful group, the Athletic Booster Club, which is led by Lisa Hamilton, Barbara Yuravlivker, Charles Shaw and Takao Watanabe. We are all blessed by their volunteer spirit and their desire to give all our students the best possible opportunities.
Thank you for choosing UAS.
Sincerely, Thomas E. Oden November 2007