Meet The New Students of IBST!

Mr. Nas’ Class Projects
Mr. Nas’ 9th Grade world geography class constructed these
3D models of North American cities. The different colors in
the models depict different land use zones such as medium
industrial, middle-class residential, or elite residential. The
models also show how the structure and functions of American cities have evolved overtime. For more information about
these models and urban geography in general, go to: http://
teachernas.wordpress.com/ap-human-geography/unit-5-urban-geography/.
Ode to Erasers
By Jia-En Long
Erasers are big and small.
Erasers are sometimes worn out.
They can be short or tall.
We use them in and out!
Erasers are black and white.
Erasers live in an uncolored world.
We use them with all our might
To erase the rules the teachers have taught.
Concentric
Ring Model: <1920s,
Shirley and Nicole Chen
Hoyt Sector
Model: 1930s,
Jacqueline
Tseng and
Maggie Chen
Multiple Nuclei Model:
1940s,
Amy Cheng and
Ting Chang
Ode to My Books
By Gretchen Wang
My shabby books
stretch in their crowded apartment.
Piling on top of each other,
they pull their blankets close
And fall sleep,
dreaming of the stories they’ve heard,
thinking about the time I’ve read them.
As they fall into a sound sleep,
I tiptoe into the room.
Good night, old books.
Urban Realms Model:
Today, Ann Chen and
Jamie Wu
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/
Volume 5, Number 3
Spring 2014
Meet The New Students of IBST!
By Nicole Chen
The new semester at Nanke
began on the 11th of February,
which brought an end to the
Chinese New Year Vacation, and
a return for all the students and
teachers back to school. Moreover,
there were some new students
joining the Bilingual Department
to start the second semester! On
the first day, all of the new students, 13 over all, were introduced
to the rest of the school during the
“Welcome Back” assembly. While
the first day seemed unfamiliar to
the new additions, the school was
thrilled to have them.
The bilingual department was
very excited to welcome its newest
members. “I think it is good for
addition to the department. And
it’s positive recognition,” said Ms.
Back row L-R: Nicole (Gr. 9) Ann (Gr.9) Nina (Gr.8) John (Gr.8)
Belle, who is in charge of student
Middle L-R: Chia-hu (Gr. 3) Celine (Gr. 6) Nicole (Gr. 5) Chia-Yin (Gr. 5)
affairs and was very glad to have
Front L-R: Annie (Gr. 3) Eason (Gr. 4) Jessica (Gr. 1) Johnny(Gr. 2) Ian (Gr. 2)
the new students in the school.
“Before the new students came, we
had orientation and they were introduced to everyone
tioned. In addition, Celine’s sister Ann from Grade 9,
on the first day. Besides that we had asked each class
noted with a smile, “My helpful and kind classmates
to assign a school buddy to help them get used to the
have helped me to get used to the new environment.
new environment.”
And I thought it was pretty cool for meeting and makIan Chong, a new student from Grade 2, so far is
ing new friends since I loved to make new friends, and
pleased with the new school and making friends. “I
I liked to socialize.”
was happy for making new friends, and my friends
There have still been challenges for the new stuhelped me to get used to the new school.” Another
dents along the way. “Getting used to how different
new student from Grade 2, Johnny Tsai, said, “I was a
people were in this school and catching up with Enlittle bit shy but liked to chat with my friends.”
glish,” Nina from Grade 8 responded, when asked
The homeroom teachers and the classmates have
about what was the toughest part of coming to the new
been helping the new students adjust to their new
school.
environment. “We have new student helpers to help
The new semester has been underway for two
them and play with them. [We] also try to welcome
months now. Every new student seems to be doing well
them, make them feel like they are part of the class,
and to be feeling more familiar with the school. Even
and not feel strange,” said Ms. Rebecca, the Grade 2’s
though IBST has welcomed new students from all over
homeroom teacher.
the world this semester, including Africa, Canada, and
“The girls in my class helped me to get used to the
Singapore, the school is excited to have them now as
new environment,” Celine Chen from Grade 6 menpart of the Nanke family.
Senior update: College Applications
make concept sketches • hammer nails into the tubes • add optional armature to the outside •
add beans • apply Paper Maché (what a mess!) • and then paint.
This
is
av
ie
e op
b
en tu
e showing the nails th
at b
lock
th
eb
ean
s.
ly as possible. Know when you want to take
your tests and AP’s, and decide whether
you’re applying to the US, Europe, UK, or
Hong Kong systems.”
Civia also stressed the importance of
submitting forms well before the deadlines,
while Howard advised people to keep an
Excel spreadsheet of all ID’s and passwords
for the sign-up accounts provided by each
school.
Now that the hard part is over, the seniors will need to decide which college
they are actually going to. Stay tuned for
updates!
f th
2
Australia have different systems altogether.
So, what can younger students do to prepare for college applications?
The College Counselor, Dr. Bigler,
said that “kids should be reading books
and newspapers outside of class. Most
web-surfing doesn’t involve a very high vocabulary, so pick reading sources carefully.
Parents should, if possible, take their kids
to a college campus to show them what it
will be like… ”
Mr. Colo, who has been helping seniors
apply to college for years, suggested that
students “plan things ahead of time, as ear-
wo
By Cheryl Lin
April Fool’s Day was no joke for the seniors; that was the day they received their
college acceptances! While students who
used Early Application or Decision already
had some results, April 1st was the moment of truth for those who had submitted
their applications in the regular pool.
Notably, Howard Chang was accepted
by UCLA (University of California, Los
Angeles) and NYU (New York University), while Civia Chen was accepted by the
University of Edinburgh and had already
received a full scholarship from the College
of Wooster.
“This is a good result that I wasn’t expecting. I’m very, very pleased,” remarked
Howard.
“Overall, I am pleased with my choices...”
Civia commented. “I’ve been admitted into
some really prestigious universities with
fantastic science programs and state of
the art facilities, and I have offers to some
schools which have awarded me significant
financial aid grants…I’m still deciding on
where to go, but I’m not all that freaked
about where I will be next fall because
I know that it will indeed be an amazing
experience.”
On the other hand, some students still
have not received responses from certain
colleges. Esther Gau, who has yet to hear
from one of her top choices, professed to
being “…mostly anxious, not because of
the ‘did I get in or not?’ feeling, but because
I haven’t been contacted yet - not even for a
rejection. So...what’s up with that?”
As exciting or nerve-racking as waiting
for these acceptance letters can be, this was
just the tip of the application iceberg. Since
the start of the school year, the 12th Graders have been busy writing essays, mailing
transcripts, filling out dozens of forms,
and collecting letters of recommendation
to meet the college application deadlines.
Among all the steps required, writing essays was repeatedly named the most annoying part of the application process, followed by filling out financial aid forms and
sending in test scores.
“Every school asks what you’ll do with
your education,” complained Howard. “It
gets really irritating after a while.”
Wesley Liu, on the other hand, stated
that he really enjoyed “making up random
essays.”
Across the board, the seniors wish the
application system could be more organized. While around 500 colleges in the
U.S. currently accept Common App, an
online generic application form that can
be reused for multiple schools, others still
require students to fill out separate supplement forms or even use “snail-mail” to
send in their applications. To make matters
worse, universities in Europe, Asia, and
Seniors Sylvia, Joanne, and Esther with their college acceptance letters.
Class of 2014 College Acceptances So Far:
Civia Chen
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
King’s College London
University College of London
The College of Wooster
Bates College
Drexel University
Fordham University
Esther Gau
California State University, Monterey Bay
Howard Chang
UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)
UC Davis
UC Irvine
NYU (New York University)
Drexel University
Joanne Chen
Oregon State University
Drexel University
University of South Carolina
University of Puget Sound
Sylvia Tang
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
University of South Carolina
Babson College
Fordham University
Drexel University
Wesley Liu
UC Riverside
UC Merced
University of Oregon
Note: Chih-Chun Tsaur, Sean Huang, and Sabrina Wu are applying to
colleges in countries that have later acceptance dates.
ART IS HARD WORK!
Grades 3 - 11 students in Ms. Durkin’s Art classes created colorful
rainsticks during the month of March. Although we usually
associate rainsticks with the Australian aboriginal culture, rainsticks
have been created by cultures all over the world, especially in Peru.
The rainsticks pictured below are just a few of the 84 that were made.
For My
Grandmother
By Jamie Wu
Where is my grandmother?
She’s not in the backyard, I checked!
Little cousin tugged at the hem of my shirt
his clear, naïve eyes staring up at mine
She is probably out on her bicycle.
The words stuck in my throat
my vision blurred.
“The operation went well.”
“She is recovering.”
Phone calls once per seven days
were far from enough
to hold the downpour in the clouds.
But no, I cannot
Little brother is here
for if he sees me crack
he will fall apart.
Please, tell Dad to stop crying.
Please, tell Mum to stop chanting.
Please, tell Aunt to stop mumbling.
For the first time
I saw my grandfather whimper.
Dear Grandmother,
Hear my calls!
Hear my prays!
Come back soon
I miss you already
you forgot to say goodbye.
Where is my grandmother?
Is a question
With an unspoken answer.
15
Spring Movie Reviews continued
RIO 2 (2014)
INFORMATION:
Carlos Saldanha
Animated Comedy
G
101 Minutes
STARRING:
Anne Hathaway
Jesse Eisenberg
Bruno mars
Verdict
In Mr. Folden’s Classes...
After
reading
Dante’s
Inferno,
Grade 10
students
created
their own
9 circles
of Hell.
3 Stars out of 5
Decent
“Rio 2” is a family animated comedy directed by
the man behind “Ice Age” and “Robots.” The film consists of mostly animal characters, mainly tropical birds.
“Rio 2” takes place after the events of “Rio”
where Blu, Jewel, and their three kids are taken into the
wilds of the Amazon rainforest. Blu, a pet macaw, tries
to fit in as he meets the sounds and sights of the Amazon. However, he encounters Nigel, the villain from
“Rio” and his most fearsome rival – his father-in-law.
“Rio 2” is the next addition to the popular animated film “Rio” from 2011 and sure feels a lot like
the original in many ways. All the memorable, feisty
characters have returned as well as new additions that
fit right in. However there are some characters which
appear solely for comic relief and are easily forgettable (looking at you Will.i.am). The movie keeps to
its roots with extremely colorful and vibrant visuals
that which capture the tropical rainforest feel. There
are intricate songs and dances as well as witty jokes.
However, “Rio 2” is just as forgettable as the
first film. The script is not very inventive and ends up
being noticeably bland. The story feels like an old television sitcom. Jewel must be faithful to her husband,
and Blu must do everything he possibly can to keep
his wife. It is hard to count how many times Blu utters “A happy wife is a happy life.” Ultimately, “Rio 2”
is lacking something that sets it apart from the rest.
“Rio 2” is a charming and attracting movie
with enough going for it to be a passable family movie. However, it is still a bland story that does not bring
anything new to the table. “Rio 2” is just charming
and sometimes funny enough to be a somewhat decent film. You can catch “Rio 2” in theaters come April.
Japanese Rotarians & Interacters
Visit Nanke Counterparts
By Sylvia Tang
By
Julia
Semenyuk
and
Linda Chung
By
Jordan
Lai
and
Ruby
Tang
On the morning of Tuesday, March 25th, the
National Nanke International Experimental High
School (NNKIEH) welcomed a group of Rotary
visitors along with select Interact groups from
Tochigi, Japan. Nanke Interact greeted the visitors
in front of the school gate. The visitors were then
taken on a tour of the Bilingual Department (BD)
building. The tour was led by Interact President
Civia Chen, Vice-President Faye Ho, seniors Wesley Liu, Sabrina Wu, Howard Chang, Esther Gau,
and Joanne Chen. After a tour of the BD, students
Esther Gau giving Japanese Interacters a tour of the 4th floor of IBST.
from the Regular Department took over as tour
Japan’s visit is part of an annual visit between
guides for the high school section tour, while the
Taiwan’s and Japan’s Rotary chapters. The visiting stusix Nanke Interact guides served as translators for
dents are selected from a pool of Interacters to accomthe Japanese visitors.
pany Rotary officials on this trip. This is the first time
Interact chapters from Japan have visited NNKIEH.
According to Ms Belle, the event conductor, “this
Rotary Youth Exchange allows Nanke Interacters and
Japan Interacters to share the services both Interact
clubs offer and the fun they gain while carrying out
their services. The Japan Rotary Club Interacters also
took the opportunity to get to know more about our
school.”
Civia also believes such visits will continue, possibly with a different region of Japan next year. “I have a
good feeling this will continue because of the event’s
success. [Students from both countries got along really
well, and [they] appeared to really like [NNKIEH].”
When asked about interacting with Japan’s Interacters, Faye found communication to be a bit of an
obstacle. “You have to speak really slow.” However,
the level of their language ability did not douse their
excitement about Nanke. “[The whole visit] was really
fun, and they were really friendly.”
Nanke Rotarians, Interacters, high school volunteers, NNKIEH
administrators, Japanese Rotarians and Interacters together for one
final picture.
By
Yu-Ling
Huang
and
Cheryl
Chen
Japanese Interacters were awed by both the size
of the school and the canteen food. “They said the
school was really big,” noted Faye. “They were also
fascinated by pea crackers and guaiguai (a type of
snack),” says Sabrina. After the campus tours, the
tour guides, visitors, and Nanke Rotary’s officials
had lunch at a retro-style restaurant before visitors
heading home.
Hosts waving good bye to visitors.
3
Spring Movie Reviews
By: Andrew Lee
Free to Play (2014)
Divergent (2014)
INFORMATION:
INFORMATION:
Valve Corporation
Documentary
Unrated
75 Minutes
Neil Burger
SciFi-Action
PG-13
140 Minutes
STARRING:
STARRING:
Danil Ishutin
Benedict Lim
Clinton Loomis
Shailene Woodley
Theo James
Kate Winslet
Verdict
Verdict
The IBST World Scholar’s Cup Team
Alpaca PWA
The World
Scholar’s Cup
Trophies to Be Handed Out.
4
By Jacquline Tseng
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the
word “alpaca”? For IBST students, it is World Scholar’s
Cup! World Scholar’s Cup, an academic tournament with
a very prominent stuffed alpaca theme, is an important
event that according to Dr. Fruit, IBST values a lot. This
year, the event was held at Morrison Christian Academy in
Taichung on March 15th. 15 IBSTers attended the event.
World Scholar’s Cup is broken up into 4 main parts:
debate, collaborative writing, the Scholar’s Challenge, and
the Scholar’s Bowl. Students debate in simplified parliamentary style. For collaborative writing, a team of 3 work
together and talk about essay prompts they are given. They
pick 3 topics out of 6 to write about. After 20 minutes of
collaborating, they write their essays individually. The
Scholar’s Bowl is a Jeopardy style event where each team
gets a “clicker” to answer sets of questions in the auditorium. The hosts, Daniel Berdichevsky, Zac Ellington, and
Burch Wang changed a dull academic event into a fun
activity that engaged the audience and hundreds of kids.
To prepare the students for this event, a lot of teachers volunteered to teach different subjects. Mr. Folden
taught the literature part. “It was a lot of extra work, but
I also believe there were major benefits for the students.”
When asked if Doctor Fruit thought the preparation was
a burden, he said, “Yes. I died. I was happy so many other
teachers volunteered. I’ve had some good staffs I’ve worked
with.” Ms. Durkin, who taught the Art section enjoyed
teaching the students. “I love talking about Art history!”
Right before World Scholar’s Cup, there was another
event going on, which was the NIFTy tournament. Some
students participated in both NIFTy and World Scholar’s
Cup. Many of these people thought NIFTy shortened
their preparation time. “I could have put in more effort in
preparing, but NIFTy did take away some of the time. I
was exhausted and I slacked off,” said Jamie Wu, one of the
participants. Mr. Folden also thought that it gave less time
for the students to prepare, but the tournament helped to
develop essential skills for World Scholar’s Cup, like public
speaking. Dr. Fruit mentioned, “A lot of people were just
plain tired. We did our best, but it was tough doing two
events in two weekends. I think that especially hurt in the
test part.”
4.5 Stars out of 5
2 Stars out of 5
Excellent
“Free to Play” is a documentary made by Valve Corporation, the company behind video game hits like the
Half Life series, “Dota 2,” and “Team Fortress 2.” The movie shows the rise of competitive video gaming and focuses on Valve’s “The International” competition.
The film follows the lives of three competitive video game players – Danil “Dendi” Ishutin from the Ukraine,
Benedict “HyHy” Lim from Singapore, and Clinton “Fear”
Loomis from the United States – through their daily lives as
professional gamers. “Free to Play” illustrates the struggles
they face to perform well, but also to make a living and show
their families that they are making the right life decisions.
The three players compete against each other in teamwork
and skill to pursue their dream of winning the world’s first
1 million dollar video game tournament, The International.
Free to Play is a beautifully shot and expertly edited documentary. The occasional in-game footage of amazing moments and plays has been masterfully animated to match the
heat of the moment. There are unbelievable moments during
the game where you would want to jump up and yell in excitement. Although there is a lot of gaming terminology used,
it is very clear as to who is winning or losing in the action.
“Free to Play” builds up a lot of emotion. The players have
literally given all they have to pursue a career in competitive
gaming and the pressure is on. The film does not glamorize
E-sports as an easy way to reach fame and fortune. E-sports is
a high risk, high reward, “winner takes all” industry and players are not guaranteed a steady income. How these players
deal with pressure from their home, and at the tournament at
such a young age is truly remarkable. When the film nears the
end, it can become a serious tear-jerker for the light hearted.
However, there are some minor issues with the film. It
feels like the film is a bit too short, at 75 minutes. Some moments could have benefited from more screen time. Also,
the film does not feel different from any other documentary out there. There is nothing that really sets it apart.
However that does not mean the movie is not well made.
“Free to Play” is a solid and well-made documentary which
is very accessible, even to non-gamers. With great visual design,
pacing, and few issues, this film is recommended to everyone
who wants to see what competitive video games are about.
You can watch “Free to Play” for free on YouTube and Steam.
Abysmal
“Divergent” is a film directed by Neil Burger, the director of “Limitless” and “The Illusionist.” The movie shows a young girl’s struggle in a dystopian future.
The film is based on the best-selling young adult book
written by Veronica Roth. The story takes place in a dystopian future where society is divided into five factions based
on people’s personalities. However, there are rare people
who cannot fit into any faction; called Divergent. The protagonist, Tris, is Divergent and discovers a faction leader is scheming to kill all Divergents. Tris must find out
what makes being Divergent dangerous before it is too late.
The young adult genre has been extremely popular in the
past few years. However, “Divergent” is an obvious cash in on
the extremely profitable formula of “The Hunger Games.” The
plot of “Divergent” is extremely predictable because of this.
Both movies are about teens led by a reluctant heroine who
steps up, banding together to save a broken world or society, and
an evil adult tries everything in his or her power to stop them.
The film is a tangled mess of under-expressed concepts, boring stock characters, stale ideas, and pacing issues. The film places a significant amount of emphasis on
the need to be free-thinking and different from the masses, but ironically conforms so rigidly to current young adult
movies. The only redeeming factors in the movie are the
outstanding performances by lead actress Shailene Woodly
and supporting actor Theo James. However, at 2 hours and
20 minutes, they are not enough and this movie is a snore.
Director Neil Burger builds an amazing futuristic world with
great acting, but the weak script and dull ideas drag the film to the
dumps. You can watch “Divergent” in theaters starting in April.
Danil “Dendi” Ishutin in “Free to Play”
13
Tech Club Offers Computer Building Service
Michael Chen
On the 17th of March this
year, Tech Club offered a new
service for the very first time;
they helped Bill, a Grade 8 student, build his own computer. “I
got the suggestion from Andrew
(the leader of Tech Club) and the
internet. The computer cost me
around 17,000 NTD. It works
really well.”
First he put the CPU on the
motherboard. “Do not touch
the pins,” he instructed. “That
can destroy your CPU.” Next,
he inserted the RAM. “It’s really
important to read the manual; it
tells you everything you need to
know.” After he connected and
managed the wires, the computer was basically finished. The
last thing to do was just to push
the power button, and start the
computer. “It’s really fun to make
a new computer!” said Andrew.
Andrew showing how to assemble a computer.
On the day of building his
computer, everyone in the club
was wondering why there were
so many new components. After
finding out what was going
on, they were excited for it. “I
learned how to build a computer by watching lots of videos
on the internet,” said Andrew.
When Andrew was building it,
everyone was very focused on
watching him work. “I was really
excited when we were going to
build a computer,” said Azim, a
Tech Club member.
Andrew showed the group
something very important that
needs to be done before building
a computer. Grounding yourself
by touching a metal object, such
as a school desk, is very important. “This can make sure you
don’t shock your computer by
static electricity,” he said. Then
he took out all the components
and lined them on the desks.
12
Andrew installing RAM on the mother board.
After this successful experience, Tech Club is now seeking
more chances like this. As long
as someone provides the components, Tech Club can build it for
free. This is a good way for the
members to understand more
about computers and technology. “If anyone wants to make a
new computer or upgrade it, we
can defiantly help you to make
one and save your money,” said
Andrew.
Building your own computer
is worthwhile, because you can
choose whatever components
fit your own personal needs. It
is fully customized just for you.
Some people even build their
own computer with LED lights
in it so it looks really cool, or
they get an awesome-looking
case. Building a computer is
also cheaper than just buying
one from a computer company. The computer here cost Bill
around 17,000 NTD. However, a
computer from a company with
similar performance would cost
around 21,000 NTD in stores!
If you are looking to build your
own computer, or have Tech
Club assemble one for you, you
can buy the parts on the internet,
or go to shops that provide components. The only difference is
that a computer company helps
with any issues afterwards. However if you have any problems,
you can always find the Tech
Club to solve them!
The award ceremony; the climax of the entire
event, was amazing for IBST students. The venue
was a frenzy of excited screaming and shouting.
A lot of the IBST students won awards, specifically Civia Chen, Howard Chang, and Vivian
Cheng’s team. They won 2nd place for debate, the
Scholar’s Bowl, and the overall team. “I am not as
pleased cause I did better last year. I got 1st place
overall last year but I got 5th place [individually]
this year. I am still happy. It’s a great experience,”
said Civia. Audrey Chen won 7th place for essay
writing. “I feel kind of surprised because all those
people that were in the room competed in the
essay. I felt quite relieved because I at least won
something so I’m not that embarrassed. And that
means I didn’t completely waste my precious
$4000 on that. Lastly, I feel something like a
sense of accomplishment because like I’ve been
writing a whole bunch of essays (Thanks Mr.
Folden and Mr. Nas).”
Overall, World Scholar’s Cup is a very entertaining event to participate in. It is also a place to
meet new people and reunite with friends from
other schools. Dennis Yang said, “It was a great
debate experience. I got to meet some really good
people there and the Scholar’s Bowl was fun.”
When asked what her favorite part was, Emily
Wei said, “The debates and the hosts! But other
than that, I didn’t like the essay and the challenge
part.” Some students found less educational
Bill and his awesome computer!
reasons to enjoy the tournament. “I saw a lot of girls and
some were pretty good looking, so it was fun,” said Julian
Liu. No matter what was the highlight, the enjoyment of
all the students was obvious. “...observing their excitement
around the event showed this was clearly something they
enjoyed,” said Mr. Folden.
After this national round, qualified students were invited to go to the global round that is going to take place in
Singapore on June 24-27. Currently, no IBST students are
planning to participate however, due to the timing of the
event and the cost.
Individual Awards
NAME
DIVISION
EVENT
Joshua
Junior
Writing
2
Audrey
Senior
Writing
7
Christopher
Junior
Debate
1
Joshua
Junior
Debate
2
Maggie
Junior
Debate
15
Civia
Senior
Debate
1
Joshua
Junior
Challenge
6
Fiona
Junior
Challenge
10
Civia
Senior
Challege
6
Joshua
Junior
Overall
1
Christopher
Junior
Overall
8
Civia
Senior
Overall
5
Team Awards
NAME
Andrew screwing the motherboard in the case.
Stuffed alpacas for the participants.
PLACE
DIVISION
EVENT
PLACE
Vivian • Howard • Civia
Senior
Challenge
2
Vivian • Howard • Civia
Senior
Top Team
3
Christopher • Maggie •
Jacqueline
Junior
Debate
4
Vivian • Howard • Civia
Senior
Bowl
2
Vivian • Howard • Civia
Junior
Debate
2
Dennis • Joshua • Julian
Junior
Bowl
10
Iris • Jeffery • Fiona
Junior
Bowl
1
5
2016
CL
By Lori Fang
Brain Wu
attempting
the rope
challenge.
THE 10TH GRADERS attended a camping trip
at the Tree Valley Park in the Tainan Science Park on
March 4th and 5th, lead by an organization called
Outward Bound. Outward Bound is an international,
non-profit, outdoor education organization with around
40 schools around the world and 200,000 participants
per year. The main purpose of this camp is to teach
the participants to work together, help each other and
become willing to accept different challenges. Outward
Bound prepared two major activities for the 10th Grade
class; the rope challenge and a bike trip.
On the first day of the camp, the 10th Graders
first faced the rope challenge. In this challenge, teamwork and trust was very important between classmates.
In order to secure the person walking on a suspended
log ten meters above the ground, the whole team had
to work together to adjust the rope properly. Although
some people did not successfully accomplish the challenge, they all conquered their fears and tried their best
to push themselves to the limit. Audrey Chen mentioned, “I was freaked out at first and thought that I’m
going to be dead in several minutes.” However, when she
was finished, she commented, “I feel very accomplished
to get up there, even though I couldn’t make it till the
top. Although I felt scared, I think it was worth it to go
up there and challenge myself.”
The bike trip on the next day also required participants to work together in order to face the obstacles
along the way. In this test, each person on the team had
a different job that he or she was responsible for, such
as figuring out how to solve the questions given along
the way, leading the group, reminding everyone to drink
water, etc. Karim Butt commented, “ The bike trip was
really fun. It tested the cooperation of the group and it
also trains our leading skills.”
6
Stephanie Chen said that the camping trip was really
fun and challenging. “We have a better relationship
between our classmates after the trip. Through this trip,
we understand each other more, and some of us also
solved the misunderstanding with each other.” Another
10th Grader, Yu-ling Huang, further mentioned that, “I
learned more about my classmates and their personalities.” The 10th Grade homeroom teacher, Mr. Meuret,
would encourage every class to go to this camp before
graduating from high school. “This trip makes the
students become closer with each other and they also
have more empathy, support, and understanding for one
another.” The camp counselor, Stone, that led the program
over these two days mentioned, “After this camp, I hope
the students had to learn to challenge themselves and try to
strengthen the characteristics they are seeking in their lives.”
By the end of the trip, the class became more united
and got to know each other on a more intimate level. It
was definitely a trip filled with unforgettable memories.
Students not only saw improvements in themselves, but
they also realized how they were able contribute to the
group and help improve their fellow classmates.
Students on the bike trip. The team securing a classmate during the
rope challenge.
2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400
ASS OF
important thing is to start early and get acquainted
with the format. In addition, she does not recommend reading textbooks, unless one has no basic unBy Chih Kae Tsaur
derstanding of the material. In terms of vocabulary,
Cheryl recommends younger students to start memCheryl Lin, a junior student at the Internationorizing vocabulary lists as early as 7th and 8th Grade
al Bilingual School at Tainan Science Park (IBST)
to gain familiarity. Aside from the SAT, Dr. Bigler,
recently earned a perfect score on the SAT test held
the current college counselor, also notes that other
in January. With her outstanding test score, she is
parts of the profile such as extracurricular activities
now one step closer to entering one of her dream
are also important during the college application
colleges and studying astrophysics.
process.
To Cheryl, her test results came as a big surUnfortunately her tips are likely to become obsoprise. “…I usually make silly mistakes during praclete and ineffective in the next couple of years, as the
tice tests,” said Cheryl, commenting on her initial
College Board has already announced major changes
reaction.
to the SAT starting in 2016. “On the new SAT you
Her family, however, has reacted in a very
will now have to justify answer choices in the reading
positive manner. “It’s amazing,” says Cheryl’s little
section which I think will make the questions even
sister Shannon, a Grade 6 student at IBST. Both
more ambiguous. I’m also not happy that you now
her Mom and Dad have said that they are glad
can’t use a calculator on some sections,” explains
studying has paid off. Dr. Fruit, who has taught
Cheryl about the new SAT changes. The new change
Cheryl in both Language Arts and Social Studies
in SAT format will most likely affect students who are
for 3 years now, attributes her impressive scores
in 9th Grade and below. Jacqueline, a 9th Grade stuto a high level of reading comprehension that
dent, says “I feel it’ll be easier for me now that they’ve
Cheryl shows in his class. Dr. Bigler, Cheryl’s
gotten rid of the essay and made math more focused.”
college counselor, also adds, “It’s a remarkable
Regardless of how students might feel towards the
accomplishment.”
announced changes, without anything in place yet,
To get a perfect score on standardized tests
it is still too early to tell what the new SAT will look
like the SAT or ACT is very rare and extremely
like.
difficult. Normally, students perform extracurricOne thing that is certain is that with a pefect
ular activities after school and take AP’s to make
SAT score, Cheryl is one step closer to her pursuit of
themselves stand out from the other applicants.
studying astrophysics. While this is only the first step
Cheryl decided to take another route; to go after
in achieving her dream, she has certainly gotten off to
spots reserved for students with high scores and
a tremendous start on her journey.
less performance in extracurricular activities. According to Cheryl, she says “I’m aiming for a small
pool of appliers where colleges have spots reserved
for people with the highest scores possible.”
Not only is Cheryl aiming for top schools, but
she is also aiming for schools with top programs in
astrophysics. Her top choices for universities are
Princeton, Stanford and UC Berkley.
The SAT itself is only the first step towards
Cheryl’s dream of studying astrophysics; in the
upcoming months she may also take SAT subject tests. The SAT subject tests or the SAT II test
knowledge on a particular subject, ranging from
science subjects (chemistry, biology, etc) to literature. Normally, subject tests are not required unless
it is relevant to one’s college course or major.
Cheryl (center) receives a red envelope from
To those that have not yet gotten their desired
Principal Lin (right) and IBST Director Martina
scores or feel worried about their upcoming SAT
test, Cheryl has given a few tips. To her, the most
Chen (left) for her outstanding performance.
11
From Left to Right: Jamie, Ruby, Brian, Dr. Fruit, Vivian, Simon,
and Maggie posing with their awards.
By Ting Chang
By Ann Chen
On March 25, 2014, the Grade 7 class went on a
field trip to Xitou and the Monster Village, along the
regular department students. The Monster Village is
a Japanese style village built in 2011 and is located
near Xitou Nature Education Area. The main purpose of this field trip was to extend school learning
outside the school while interacting with people
outdoors. Also, during this trip, students had the
opportunity to improve relationships between their
fellow students and their teachers and to work on
being responsible and independent, especially when
outside alone.
The 7th Graders went hiking around Xitou and
saw the University Pond, which had a little scenic
bamboo suspension bridge running across it. Afterward they hiked up to a gigantic tree. “It was probably the red cyprus,” said Mr. Holmberg. It was rotted out in the middle but still there after hundreds
of years. Finally they walked across a sky bridge that
was more like a great steal walkway that made a big
winding loop above the forest below. After that everyone stopped at a restaurant and hotel area to eat and
buy things. Most of the 7th Graders rated this field trip as
a 6 out of 10. Lisa commented “I rate this trip 6 out
of 10 because there was a lot of walking, which was
really tiring and there wasn’t anything fun to look
at except for trees.” While hiking, they came across
a skywalking bridge and everyone got excited except
Jeffery. Dennis remembered one of his favorite moments from the trip “Me and a bunch of the boys
were at the skywalk and we were horsing around as
we jump up and down causing the skywalk to shake,
Jeffery was totally freaked out by this. So we chased
him down the bridge.” “Like we were playing Temple
10
The Grade 7’s at the hiking place in Xitou.
Run, he was the human and we were the gorillas,” Sean added,
as the classroom filled with laughter.
Even though they said the fieldtrip was tedious, they mentioned the most unforgettable moment. “When we were riding
the bus to the hiking place, someone from the regular department puked in the bus and the whole bus [stunk],” said Kelly
with a disgusted and amused face. Another unforgettable moment was, “a performance at the Monster Village, and we were
competing who could scream the loudest and eventually I won
among all the others and I was so happy about it,” said Trinity.
Overall, the field trip was ‘not so exciting’ in the students
opinion. Each person
got excited when they
were talking about
where they wished to
go for their next field
trip however. Sean
said he would like to
go to the North Pole,
South Pole and Space.
Iris said she would
like to go out of Taiwan and Trinity said
that he wants to go
to Janfusun Fancyworld in Yunlin. Even
though everyone had
their own individual
opinions about the
trip, one thing they
all could agree on was
that they enjoyed being together.
The Grade 7’s resting after the hike.
On March 7th and 8th, IBST hosted its fourth annual Nanke Invitational Forensics Tournament (NIFTy).
NIFTy is an academic tournament that includes individual and group events that students compete in. Dr. Fruit
and Dr. Bigler hosted this event, with Ivy, HIS (Hsinchu
International School), and PuTai attending.
Friday was the feedback and preliminary rounds
for all of the events, and on Saturday, the final rounds
took place. There were a lot of events being held, including debate, ED commentary, impromptu, storytelling,
oratory, ex-temp, duel interpret, radio play, and multiple
readings. Dr. Bigler arranged all the events except for
debate, while making sure students would not be having
multiple events at a time. When asked how she thought
NIFTy went, she said, “ I was really impressed with the
contribution of the students to help time the events.
This meant that we needed students from about Grade
4, which I was really proud how they rose to the occasion.” She continued, “I saw many acts of bravery on the
part of speakers and volunteers.” Most students did their
events twice on Saturday. Then everyone gathered in the
auditorium to listen to a presentation given by Nicolefrom HIS about Yale-Mun. After that, the results were
announced. The three top debaters for Junior Varsity
were Trinity Gau and Jeffrey Cheng, who tied for the
first place, Christopher Chen, and Emily Liao. For Varsity, the three top speakers were Brian Wu, Vivian Cheng
and Ruby Tang.
When asked how they felt winning the events, Maggie,
who won ED commentary, said, “I felt shocked because
other people had really good speeches too.” Christopher,
who won impromptu said, “Listening to other people's
speeches was hilarious, like Wesley's.” “I tried really hard
even though everyone said the 7th Graders will win, but I
won anyways,” Azim mentioned, winning ex-temp. Trinity, who was the first top speaker for Junior Varsity, said, “I
felt very pleased with myself. It was pretty fun and interesting to debate against a different school. Brian who got
first top debater said, “I was kind of surprised actually,” he
continued, “I didn't really expect it and I am also grateful
to the judges who scored me so high.” At last, organizers
wanted to thank all the teachers and the administrators
who helped make this event possible. “The good thing
is that the whole school was involved, and I was very
impressed with the debate team,” Dr. Fruit added with a
big smile, “I like seeing my work, Fubu [a story Dr. Fruit
wrote], performed too.”
The final credit must be given to Dr. Bigler and Dr.
Fruit themselves however. Without their hard work and
dedication, events like this could never take place.
EVENTS
WINNERS JV
WINNERS VARSITY
Oratory
Katharina
Daphne (HIS)
Ed-Commentary
Fiona
Maggie
Impromptu
Chris
Civia
Story-Telling
Emily Wei
Barron (IVY)
Solo Acting
Iris
Chi-Hao (IVY)
Extemp
Azim
NA
Dual Interpret
Kelly & Iris
Civia & Sabrina
Radio Play
Grade Seven
Grade Nine
Multiple Reading
Grade Seven
Grade Eleven
7
GRADE
OETRY
9P
By Ting Chang
People are unique, in a way.
Appearance and personalities are different.
Though,
there will be some similarities between people,
especially when they are family members.
I have both of my parents’ physical appearance,
my dad’s eyebrows,
my mom’s eyes,
but still,
I am a blend between my parents,
and so is my brother.
My personalities,
half me,
the true side,
half being influenced,
the side my family affected me.
Personalities...
like mean and arrogant,
are being corrected by my dad.
like patience and elegance,
are being trained by my mom.
like ambitious and narcissistic,
are being implanted in me by my brother.
We have appearances and personalities,
that connect us,
in an invisible way,
which then,
makes us similar but still unique.
Grade 12 Howard stealing the ball.
8
IBST and KAS girls battling.
By Amy Cheng
On March 22, 2014, KAS (Kaohsiung American School) and IBST had a friendly soccer match
at Nanke. Both the girls and boys teams from KAS
came to compete in outdoor and indoor games.
For the guys, the outdoor game got off to a rough
start. They got behind early but slowly crawled their
way back, scoring two goals. In the end unfortunately, the boys lost by a final score of 4-2. The indoor
game however, was another story. The boys won by a
score of 4-0. The girls did not fare well when playing
outdoors, losing 3-0. They were able to jump ahead
early in the indoor game though, scoring several
goals, and holding on to win by a score of 3-1. Linda
Chung from Grade 10 enjoyed it and said, ”It was
fun.” Sabrina Wu, from Grade 12 said, “I think the
idea of having scrimmages is great. It helps people
grow as a team, and it gives us an opportunity to
learn from other teams.”
When asked if she was looking forward to the
next one, she said “Practicing as a team and then
knowing we have games with other schools is nice
because it’s kind of like a goal we work towards. I
hope we can improve with each match.” When asked
if the team improved, Wesley Liu from Grade 12
said, “Overall we did, and there was more communication, especially in the indoors. We talked more
and communicated better. We actually ran the things
we practiced, though we lacked the determination to
go get the ball. We could see who came to practice
and trained and who just played around.” The coach,
Mr. Holmberg said triumphantly, “I’m very proud of
both teams. I thought they played some tremendous
soccer.”
The team will have more games this year, but
because most of the tournaments are over, they will
mainly be friendly matches, not serious competitions. There will definitely be games with TNFSH
(National Tainan First Senior High School) and TNSSH
(National Tainan Second Senior High School), although
no dates have been schedule as of yet.
IBST and KAS boys going after the ball.
By Sophe Tseng
While everyone was celebrating April fools day on April 1 of this year,
the 11th Graders were gone on their graduation trip to the South and East
of Taiwan. They finally had a few days to forget about their schoolwork
and relax. “It’s a very nice trip. I don’t need to care about school business or
pressure.” said Mr. Colo, who went with the 11th Graders. For most class
trips, students have no choice for where they want to go, and thus find the
trips boring. However, this time the students were lucky enough to be allowed to decide their own schedule, so they chose to go to Kenting, Kaoshiung, and Taitung.
The trip started off at the Chu-lu farm where they petted and fed cows
and sheep. Afterwards they went to the Black Forest Recreation Area, where
they rode bikes. They also visited the Sea Animal Museum and enjoyed
The Grade 11’s playing in the sand.
Left to Right: CK, Andrew, Jeff, Faye, Alvis, Angela, Sophie. (Missing Cheryl and Daphne)
Mexican food and local snacks on Kenting Street. “The fried oreos were
really yummy,” students said. On the last day, everyone had fun at the beach
before heading home. The students also enjoyed their time in their hotels,
where they played basketball and went bowling in the basement. “We stayed
at a very nice hotel for the second night.” said Grade 11 student Faye. The
girls also shared rooms with girls from the regular department , which was
a good chance to make new friends.
This trip was a lot of fun, but also tiring. Because there was so many
places to visit, people had to hurry in order to get to the next place. Everyone for example, thought that they did not have enough time at the
Cijin harbor in Kaoshiung. “For some good places, we should stay longer,”
Mr. Colo suggested. But otherwise, the students were really happy to miss
school for a few days. Most students, like Angela, thought that the best part
of the trip was that they could “hang out with friends.” It was a great chance
for students to have fun with their friends and also meet new people.
The three days passed very quickly and at the end everyone was reluctant to go home and head back to school. But most importantly, the
students enjoyed a great time together which will be a beautiful memory
before they graduate the next year.
Angela (left) and Faye (right) take a ride on a
tandem bicycle.
9