Creepy, Spooky October 31

o
o
k
p
y
S
,
y
O
t
p
s
c
e
t
e
ober 31
r
C
Everyone got into the
spirit on Halloween!
Volume 6, Number 1
Dr.Fruit (Left) awarding Audrey Hsu
as Best Senior Debater.
By Taylor Chou
While most students spend their summers playing
and relaxing while on vacation, this summer, several
spent part of it at school! From July 14th to 18th there
was a summer debate camp hosted on campus. The
school hosted not just IBST students, but students from
the International Bilingual School at Hsinchu-Science-Park (IBSH) and Gangmin as well.
At the camp, students learned how to debate and
take notes, improved their English, and also got the
chance to meet new people and see old friends. As the
debate coach, Dr. Fruit explained, “It teaches you how
to research, how to read, how to speak, and how to
work with others.” Students also got the chance to learn
different forms of debate, such as Asian Parliamentary,
3 on 3, Policy, and World Scholars Cup.
The debate camp, now in its 5th year, set a new
record with 54 participants. “We broke the [record for]
number of students joined that we ever had,” said Mrs.
Belle, one of the teachers present at the camp. “I got to
meet lots of new people,” said Bill, one 9th grade IBST
student. Throughout the camp, students were able to work
on their debate skills, as well as individual weaknesses. “I think it is very hard to debate. It’s hard to debate
because I don’t know how to debate, and it’s hard to
find a good argument, and also during debate, I am easy
to be nervous,” said Morris, an 8th grade IBST student
attending his first debate camp.
In debate, a debaters experience and knowledge on
the topic are crucial. “In general, I’m ok to debate, but
when the topic is about something that I don’t really
No.6, Lane. 12, Dashun 6th Rd. • Xinshi Dist., Tainan City 74146 • Taiwan (R.O.C.) • TEL: 06-5052916 • http://163.26.206.132/web/
Fall 2014
2014 Summer Camp Junior Best Debaters
From Left to Right: Dennis Yang, Iris Lu, Dr. Fruit,
Ethan Wang and Trinity Gau.
know, I can’t come up with arguments really fast,” said
Bill, who was attending his third debate camp. At the
camp, students recieved guidance on how to form strong
arguments.
Most of the camp was focussed solely on learning. The first 3 days were spent on developing and
practicing skills, while the final day was for competition. Judges had to figure out who was the best debater
while students voted for the best judge and best helper.
The best judge went to Jonathan from IBSH, while 11th
grade Julia from IBST captured the best helper award.
It was not all just debate though! People also got to
have special activities and play sports at night. “It was
very fun, especially soccer,” said Bill. Participants also
went on a field trip to Tainan on the second to last day.
The students went to the Confucian Temple, the Garden
Night Market, as well as some other places in Tainan.
Sadly, it appears that this summer debate camp
will be the last for IBST. With debate coach and camp
organizer Dr. Fruit planning on leaving the school at the
end of the year, it is unlikely that the camp will continue
in his absence.
When asked about the possibility of the camp
not happening again, Dr. Fruit explained, “it is sad because it’s the last summer debate camp, but this summer
debate camp was fun because we got to debate many
different interesting motions and [the kids] got to interact with people from other schools.” While the future of
the camp is unsure at best, the benefit it has had for the
students, and the memories they have made along way
are obvious.
MUN
A Link Between Departments
A look at what
Ms. Coco Chen’s
2nd grade class
has been up to!
The entire MUN Club.
By Shirley Chen and Iris Lu
Another school year has started, and so have the
elective courses for the middle and high school students
at Nanke. What people may not know, is that students
from the Regular Department are able to take Bilingual
Department clubs, and vice versa. As a result, several
students from the Regular Department have opted to
take MUN with the bilingual students.
MUN stands for Model United Nations. Students in
MUN gather together, do research on assigned countries,
and act as the delegates of those assigned countries; it’s
where people get to gain understanding of what the UN
does and how it works, all while seeing firsthand what it
is like to be part of it.
When asked why they chose to take MUN, the
majority of students stated that it interests them and that
MUN is an opportunity for them to communicate and
see what the outside world looks like. From people in
other club’s perspective, MUN may seem hard, and to put
it concisely, a club that involves a lot of work. Some may
see it as a burden when you could be outside having fun,
like in Sports Club. With each club comes its own merits
however. MUN includes going to competitions in Taipei,
and in some cases, possibly out of the country. Doing the
work is rarely fun for any subject, but the hard work can
pay off. The honor and joy of achieving a unanimously
voted in resolution, with friends who worked so hard
with you; sometimes even pulling all-nighters, makes all
that hard work pay off.
MUN’s purpose for many participants is to
understand the outside world better. By linking Regular
2
All dressed-up and ready to go to the first big conference.
and Bilingual Departments, both get to work together to
help the IBST MUN Club live up to its name. This club
has other, personal benefits for its members. First, it looks
impressive on your resume, especially compared to other
less academic extracurricular classes. In addition, members
in the club get to participate in conferences like the
HSINMUN Conference; a mock MUN conference held in
Hsinchu, that took place this past October. While the club
can be a lot of work, it can also be very rewarding, and,
a lot of fun. As Jamie Wu, a current MUN Club member
explains about her experience at the last conference, “I
improved a lot from last year, got to make new friends, and
hang out with the old ones.”
7
by Jamie Wu
Happy Double Ten Day!
By Brian Feng October 10th recognizes the Wuchang uprising, which, on October 10,
1911, started what would eventually lead to the collapse of the Qing
Dyanasty in China. Fast forward to 1949, after the Chinse Civil War, the
Government of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) lost control of mainland
China, and were forced to relocate to Taiwan, where they continue to celebrate National Day, even today.
This year marks the 103rd birthday for the (R.O.C.). The fireworks
event held in Taichung gathered over 500 000, who came out to witness
the display. That being said, most people from IBST opted to stay at home
instead of going out. Ms. Belle, the grade 6 homeroom teacher, said “I will
stay at home and sleep because it is really hard to have a holiday and sleep
well when we have school.” Ms. Wang, from the 9th grade homeroom,
added “I will stay at home because there are too many people outside, so I
will not go out.”
October 10th this year was a Friday, which meant everyone got to enjoy 3 days without school! Students and teachers joined together to rejoice
in the fact that they could finally relax at home, and there was no need to
feel the pressures of work or school. For some people, the thought of the
holiday was all that mattered to them! Such as Azim from the 9th grade,
who said, “the holiday is all matters to me! Not the National Day though!”
Many people did not celebrate the day at all. Some people instead used the
3 day holiday to go back to their hometown, or even just to sit back, relax,
and play computer games. Such as John Ou from 9th grade, who said, “I
will probably go back to Taipei and visit my family.”
Unfortunately for those hoping to enjoy the fireworks display, it was
a little bit too far away for those in Nanke or Tainan. This year, the only
official National Day fireworks were in Taichung. Many people said that
they wished the fireworks would be in Nanke. For example, Mr. Colo said,
“I wish it can just be in front of my house; Taichung is too far!”
Many elementary students and their teachers instead went to other
cities or to places like shopping malls to have big dinners with their whole
family. Even if technically, the National Day is only October 10th, at least
this year, no matter where people went, they got to enjoy a full 3 day long
weekend!
by Ann Chen
& Maggie Chen
by Ting
Chang
By Nina Eckolt
On the twenty-seventh of September, Nanke’s grade
nine classes went on their annual graduation trip. Every
year the grade nine students of IBST go on a three day
trip with the Regular Department’s grade nine students
to celebrate their accomplishment of finishing junior
high school.
The ninth graders started off going to the North of
Taiwan. After sitting on the bus for about three hours,
they arrived in Taichung and went to a place called “the
green tunnel,” where they rented bicycles to ride around.
“It was my favorite place, because the view was beautiful
and the wind was really comforting when I rode through
the tunnels,” says grade 9 homeroom teacher Ms. Louisa.
After riding bikes in the hot weather, most people
bought ice cream to cool themselves off. Afterwards,
they went to the Jiufen old night market, where there
was lots of delicious and special food, such as taro balls
served with shaved ice, and wild boar sausages. Grade
nine student Taylor said that “the tofu pudding there
was really good.” Unfortunately, the market also had
many stairs to climb, which Bill Cheng thought was
“really tiring.”
On the second day the class went to the Taipei Zoo
to explore the animals. “I got to see all kinds of animals
including the panda with my own eyes and not through
the TV!” explained Emily Liao. They walked around the
zoo and saw many special animals including penguins
and the red panda.
Afterwards they went to check out the Keelung Miaokou and Ximending night market to eat dinner. There
was lots of unique food, like ya rou bian tasty duck meat
and Ay-Chung flour-rice noodles. Unfortunately, many
Everyone enjoying the view along the water.
people did not find food they wanted to eat, so they went
to McDonalds.
On the last day of the trip, the class went to Leofoo
amusement park, which, when asked, was what they
liked most. “It was fun and exciting” said Bill. When
asked what they liked most about the amusement park
Taylor said that the Ring of Fire, a ride that spins you
in a continuous loop, was fun. Brian Feng stated that he
thought that Pagoda’s Revenge, a drop tower, was the
most exciting.
When asked where they wanted to go for their next
graduation trip if they would have a choice, Emily Liao
said “I would like to go anywhere I haven’t been before.”
Grade 8 Lisa Streiter, who will go on the graduation trip
next year, said that she would like to go to “France, because it’s a fun place and it’s awesome to go to a country
with your friends.”
No matter the destination, it seems what is most
important about the graduation trip is the people you are
on it with. The grade 9 students have memories from a
fun weekend together to cherish as they start high school.
Only a few more years until their next graduation trip!
by
Shirley
Chen
by Nicole Chen
6
Mr. Folden’s Language Arts grade 9 class
explored the world of mythological creatures. These are some of the illustrations
that the students drew.
The grade 9 class stopping to take a photo.
3
Classes leave windows and doors open to fight the heat.
By Bill Cheng
During hot summer days, students at the
International Billingual School at Tainan Science Park
(IBST) are desperate for air conditioning to offer some
type of escape from the extremely high temperatures.
However, as school administrator Ms. Sandy Hsieh
announced, there will be limitations on the amount
of air conditioning students can enjoy. This will cause
higher temperature rooms, which may prevent
students from concentrating properly.
There are still two rooms in the Bilingual
Department building that do not have airconditioning units installed: the second floor science
subject room and the third floor Chinese subject
room. Ms. Stubblefield, located in the science subject
room, said she feels “a little blue and depressed” not
having air-conditioning in her subject room. She
also noted that not having air-conditioning also
causes “paper curls, short-temperedness, and waning
attention spans. Kids could pass out in a coma due to
heat exhaustion.”
Studies from the United States Department
of Education (DoED) suggest that the physical
environment of a school can have an extremely large
impact on a teacher’s ability to educate students.
Similarly the learning capacity of students is also
hindered as temperatures rise in a classroom.
Research done in 2011 by the World Renewable
Energy Congress suggests that high classroom
temperature causes student productivity to drop.
Students cannot be fully attentive while listening to
a lecture if they are not in the proper environment
to learn, with appropriate room temperatures. It will
further affect the students grades because they will
take more time to think and to concentrate.
Karim Butt, a student in the 11th grade, argued
that “nobody uses the air conditioner everyday, so the
4
limit is pointless.” Also Mr. Nascimento pointed out
that there should not be a limit to the air conditioning
when it is the class and students who are paying for it.
Lori Fang, a student from the 11th grade also said “the
limit is unreasonable because sometimes it is really
too hot so you can’t really limit the air-conditioning.”
Limitations might be a way to lower the electricity
cost but there are still other solutions. Aquiring more
efficient units would cut costs without threatening
student learning, for example.
As the office explains, the issue this year is that
with the recent purchase and installation of additional
AC units, it is likely that the school’s overall electricity
fees will increase. If all classrooms were to use their
air conditioners constantly, the use could sky rocket.
It is not simply a matter of cost. If the school’s usage
becomes too high, there is a possibility that the
Ministry of Education could step in with fines.
According to Mr. Colo, the fines are not yet clear,
and there has yet to be any enforcement of AC fines
or limitations. Some experimenting may be required
to find appropriate limits. However, if air conditioners
are used excessively, and the Ministry of Education is
forced to step in with fines, harsher fines and stricter
limits can be expected.
As for now, it appears there are no set answers
to the air conditioner concerns at IBST. Students will
have to wait and see what the future holds regarding
the limitations. One thing that is certain, however, is
that the more talk there is about restricting AC use
in the classroom, the more the issue is going to keep
heating up.
Azim Butt colling off by a fan.
By Jordan Lai
Students of the International Bilingual School at
Tainan Science Park (IBST) are not very pleased with
the new recycling procedures introduced this school
year. Many students have raised their complaints to the
Administration. However, no changes have been made
to alter the apparent strict policies on school recycling.
The school recycling policy is comprised of a system
in which the recycled items are sorted into different
categories and recycled according to the day of the week.
The general guidelines issued from the school’s general
affairs office state that general garbage is disposed of on
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On Mondays, paper,
plastic bottles and metal items such as cans are recycled.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, aluminums (including
drink packs) are recycled, along with paper and plastic
lunch boxes’ and cups. The guidelines also note that
bags, snack bags, straws, bottle caps, and seal film belong
to general garbage.
When Cheryl Lin, a senior student in IBST was
asked about her opinions on the recycling policy, she
replied, “Yes, [the policies are unclear]. For example,
straws and containers are made of the same kind of
plastic. However, container lids need to be recycled as
straws do not.” Cheryl followed up to her statement by
saying, “[We should change the policies by] making
them much more clear and simplified and making the
recycling days much less confusing.” Students mainly
find the recycling policy unclear because there are too
many rules and guidelines on the recycling procedure.
Also, the rules blend into each other. Many recyclable
items cannot be appropriately categorized and some
recyclable items can fit into one or two categories. This
confuses students when they try to recycle post-consumer
waste such as water bottles, and cans.
Cheryl Lin is not the only person who has
commented on the school’s recycling policy. Karim Butt,
a student from the 11th grade and also a classroom
cleanliness supervisor, commented on the categorization
Karim Butt Recycling Water Bottles
of recycled items. “There is a problem with number
three recycling. Because we only have numbers one
and number three recycle baskets. But we also get other
plastics like number six and numbers five and we don’t
know what to do with them.” The number system for
recycling is made up of categorizations of different
types of plastic. Plastic that contains polyethylene
terephthalate would be categorized under PET-1, or the
number one. Karim Butt states that the school offers
only limited recycling options. Thus, there is often excess
recyclable plastic that cannot be categorized.
On the other hand, Mrs. Jenny, the grade 5
homeroom teacher, stated that, “There are several
recycling buckets outside, and the students go about
their duties accordingly. Since there are labels on the
buckets, the students can distinguish which items belong
to which buckets. However, sometimes at the beginning
of the semester, students did make mistakes in the recycling
policy.”
When asked about the recycling policies and
whether or not they could be changed, Mr. Colo
stated that the Xinshi District Government regulates
the recycling policy, meaning that the administration
in IBST has no control over the direction of change
in terms of these policies. Mr. Colo also explained,
“Actually, we do not have a new recycling policy, we just
haven’t been doing a very good job of recycling.” As a
result, Mr. Colo explains that the school does not have
new policies, but new stricter enforcement to implement
the rules we should have already been following. Last
year, the policies were apparently just as strict. However,
it seemed that no one followed the actual recycling
policy, which caused the school administration to
getincreasingly serious on the recycling matter due to
the fact that they received several warnings from the
Xinshi District government.
5
o
o
p
k
S
y
,
y
O
p
e
t
s
c
e
t
r
ober 31
C