The Secondary School and members of our community attended a crowded auditorium last Thursday for the Graduation Ceremony of the Class of 2010.
Dr David Escobar Galindo was the Guest of Honour leaving our graduates with a three part message which he explained and developed (be inspired, be disciplined, be creative). He also presented Daisi Carolina Cen Chang with the Social Service Award (the Gilda de Vergara Trophy).
We were also honoured with the presence of the British Ambassador, Julie Chappell, who presented the Prince Philip Shield to Jimena Vasquez Gutiérrez and the British Ambassador’s Award for Excellence in Sports to Juan Carlos Bonilla and Aída Gabriela Suriano Siu Jo.
The McQuiggan Cup for the Best Extended Essay was presented by Marc Starr to Ana Cristina Ferreiro Mazzini and the Headmaster presented the Headmaster’s Medals to Emma Rita Garcia Prieto, Alberto José Campos Hernández, Ximena Margarita Cruz Santos and Roberto Carcache Flores.
He also awarded the Best Graduate Medals to Alexia del Carmen Casaus Leppo (3rd Place), Ana Cristina Ferreiro Mazzini (Second Place), and Antonio José Garaycochea Castañon the Best Graduate Medal for the Class of 2010.
Graduation of the Class of 2010
June 15th, 2010ABC cares - Brain Awareness
May 17th, 2010As we begin our final week on “Brain Awareness”, I wanted to let you know some of the thinking behind the initiative.
The Dana Foundation Brain Awareness week falls in March. We have this on our regular calendar. However, we wanted to emphasise the importance of SLEEP, NUTRITION (especially breakfast), and finally EXERCISE in terms of having our brains function optimally.
So, for three weeks we have emphasised each of these themes, the final one being this week.
Resources can be found on the ABC site: Learning and the Brain. I draw your attention to the link BAW Resources which contains quite a bit of information, including the articles by Judy Willis as attachments. A link to her article in Psychology Today is useful too.
Mindset: how we can learn to fulfill our potential.
December 1st, 2009In my previous post I referred to Carol Dweck’s research. Her new book, Mindset - the New Psychology of Success (how we can learn to fulfill our potential), is aimed at the general public and is much more accessible as an easier read.
The original research work was presented in her book Self Theories in 2000. This was a very difficult book to read, being aimed at professionals. Three years ago I took the time to study it and produced a presentation for staff. Subsequently, I uploaded it to Slideshare. It has received over 4,700 views - and little wonder since it was embedded into Carol Dweck’s website Brainology.
It is about time I brought the presentation up-to-date since, in her new book, Carol Dweck has changed the naming of the two mindsets: Entity Theorists have become Fixed Mindsets and Incremental Theorists have become Growth Mindsets. Much better terms to use.
“You’re smart!” vs “You must have worked really hard!”
September 25th, 2009I have mentioned the work of Carol Dweck in this blog before. She is a US based university professor who has written books about her research into praise and effort.
There are various books now available on this topic and these are summarised in a recent ABC News article. It is very worthwhile to read this.
In essence, “blind” praising of children is counterproductive. In one of her early experiments various tasks were given and the praise was different - one group of children were told, “You must be smart at this.” Other students were praised for their effort: “You must have worked really hard.” Guess what? The ones praised for their effort were more willing to take on the more difficult tasks as these were given. Those that thought themselves “smart” or clever, dropped out.
Dweck had suspected that praise could backfire, but even she was surprised by the magnitude of the effect. “Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control,” she explains. “They come to see themselves as in control of their success.
Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.” In follow-up interviews, Dweck discovered that those who think that innate intelligence is the key to success begin to discount the importance of effort. I am smart, the kids’ reasoning goes; I don’t need to put out effort. Expending effort becomes stigmatized—it’s public proof that you can’t cut it on your natural gifts.
Here was my original blog post on Carol Dweck.
And here is a good summary from various sources: (thanks to Doug Belshaw)
Scholarships and Honor Societies
September 18th, 2009It is really pleasing to receive mails from our alumni telling us of what they have been up to.
Eloisa Portillo (ABC 2008) wrote recently to describe the scholarships that she has been offered and also the induction into the honor society. This is what she said in two e-mails:
“I was checking my emails today in the morning and I got some of the greatest news ever and I immediately wanted to share it with you! I have been awarded the Good Neighbor Scholarship for three upcoming semesters (fall 2009, Spring 2010 and Summer 2010). I am really excited. I called my parents today in the morning and they were also excited and happy.
This past weekend (yesterday, actually) I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Mu Tau chapter. It is an honor society dedicated only for college students with a 3.5 gpa or higher. Out of the 25,000 students from the college I
am attending, only 72 were inducted yesterday into the prestigious honor society Phi Theta Kappa, and I had the honor to be a part of that group with a current 4.0 gpa.
The Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony was not at all creepy or unpleasant. I did feel weird at the beginning as I too believe I have watched many wrong movies. It was a nice ceremony and I had to swear to abide to the 4 main
components of Phi Theta Kappa (Leadership, Scholarship, Fellowship and Service). If you are interested, you could probably look through their website http://www.ptk.org/ but Phi Theta Kappa’s mission is: ” to recognize and
encourage scholarship among two-year college students. To achieve this purpose, Phi Theta Kappa shall provide opportunity for the development of leadership and service, for an intellectual climate for exchange of ideas and
ideals, for lively fellowship for scholars, and for stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.
Once again, I belong to the Alpha Mu Tau Chapter which (out of like 12,000 chapters in the US) has been recognized to be in the top 25. The chapters are just the ways in which each college or university represents itself.
It is to make the immediate link between the university and the Phi Theta Kappa members. By being a member of this honor society I have benefits such as recognition, scholarships, internships at top companies and even
discounts at things such as car insurance, health insurance and many other things. Because I was just inducted yesterday I have not been able to fully participate in the honor society but I am now able to do so and I am
definitely looking forward to it.
I also forgot to mention that I am (from the beginning of this semester) part of the Honor’s Institute at my College since am taking 2 honor courses and I was also chosen, by the Honor’s Director, to represent the Honor’s Institute and to write in the Honor’s Blog as a student to encourage and motivate current students to join the institute. I have only posted 2 blogs so far (since the website started running only 2 weeks ago) and please feel free to check it out at http://www.ccccd.edu/honors/ under blog.
Lastly, I definitely feel comfortable if you want to share my news on the school’s website. As a student at the ABC
I always felt I was only taking advantage of the ABC without ever giving something back, which, is what lead me to pursue the role of Head Student; a position which I felt would allow me to give something back to the school and
the school’s community. And by being featured in the school’s website, well, lets just say I feel it is another way in which I can give something back to the ABC as well.
What I learned at the ABC has, without a doubt, opened many doors for me in less than one year from graduating and for that, I am forever grateful. I know that it is because of the way in which the ABC gave me true leadership,
academic and personal growth that I have been succeeding in my first year of college. I am really happy and pleased of what I have been able to achieve so far and I look forward for the future.
Once again, I would like to thank you so much for the opportunities and for the many ways in which I was able to develop as a student at the ABC.”
HM’s Ambassador visits the ABC
September 11th, 2009Julie Chappell, the new British Ambassador, visited the ABC. She was met by our Head Students, Jimena and Juan Carlos.
Ms Chappell met with me and then toured the school. We managed to get around to most areas so as to return to the LRC to meet British teachers.
It was clear that she enjoyed meeting our students and watching classes in action. In one 5th grade class, Ms Chappell was particularly interested in a Life Skills exercise on what students thought that they would be doing in 2, 5, 10 years time. She was able to read the ambitions of several girls and commented favourably on these.
Responsibility and being a Team Player
August 30th, 2009Responsibility and being a Team Player are ABC Values and Traits.
We think that we work well in these areas. But I do not think that we should shirk from saying it as it is when we do not.
The National Student Swimming Championships were held on Thursday and we got a very credible third place trophy for the Junior Swimmers and fourth place overall. Good. But let me tell you another bit of the story behind this.
Fifty three of the sixty three swimmers who participated in the departmental championships (which we won) were selected by the Federation, on the basis of their times, as being eligible to swim. This indeed was an honour. It would be a long day but a great experience, with all the best student swimmers in the country participating.
However, only 35 ABC swimmers chose to show their Team Player qualities and swam on that day. Worse, only 15 returned to swim in the afternoon of that day. The ABC, surprisingly, was in third place overall at event 60 out of 68 events. Then came the relays. We had hardly anyone to swim them.
Many parents took their children away in the afternoon. Even worse, unforgiveably worse, some said that they were bringing them back after lunch and never did.
This is not the ABC at its best. We are examining what we could have done to have ensured full participation for the whole day. But I hope that those people who chose not to be part of the team and who chose not to act responsibly, will think long and hard about this.
Ring Ceremony - words from Luis Argueta
June 10th, 2009Mr Argueta, as the long serving ABC Secondary School teacher, represents all teaching staff at the Ring Ceremony.
The tradition is that he provides the staff message to the graduates at the very end of the ceremony.
Several people asked for these words to be published and so I am very happy that Mr Argueta has given permission.
CEREMONIA DE ENTREGA DE ANILLOS 2009
Un conocido orador tenía a su cargo un seminario para 200 personas, se paro en frente de ellos, saco de su bolsillo un billete de $20 y lo mostró a la audiencia preguntando: ¿Quien quisiera este billete? Muchos levantaron las manos. Luego, apretando fuertemente el billete entre sus manos lo convirtió en una bolita y pregunto: ¿Quien lo quiere todavía? 200 manos en el aire. Bien dijo, ¿Que pasaría si hiciera esto? Tiro la bolita al suelo y la comenzó a estrujar en contra del piso con la suela de su zapato, lo recogió y pregunto: ¿Aun lo quieren? Las mismas 200 manos.
¿Cual es la moraleja del cuento? En cuestión de dinero todos lo queremos porque su valor no decrece. No importa como, en este caso, el billete todavía vale $20. Muchas veces en la vida somos estrujados o tirados al piso por las decisiones que tomamos y las circunstancias en las que nos hemos visto envueltos, pero la verdad que no importa que suceda o que sucederá nunca perderemos nuestro valor, si lo hemos amasado con dignidad, con esfuerzo y con mucha valentía.
Últimamente he hablado con muchos ex alumnos quienes comentan acerca de los nuevos retos por los que han tenido que pasar, momentos difíciles que han tenido que afrontar y la manera de cómo han salido adelante, la frase es la misma através de los años: Gracias a lo que aquí me enseñaron y la manera en que me entrenaron he sabido salir adelante.
No se puede detener la fuerza de los vientos, pero si se pueden construir molinos canalizando así un factor muy útil capaz de producir resultados positivos. Los años que vivimos y los que se avecinan no son muy prometedores, vemos el futuro con temor y caminamos vacilantes a una meta que no vemos muy clara. Si nos sentamos, nada remediamos, pongamos la mente en alto, preparémonos, eduquémonos y valorémonos constantemente para poder emerger como seres útiles, como seres de un valor incalculable para nuestras familias, amigos y sobre todo para la sociedad que nos rodea.
Hoy mas que nunca se vuelve imperativo acelerar la marcha pero mucho ojo, no hay que correr a través de la vida con demasiada prisa, no vaya a ser que se olviden no solo de donde han venido, sino que también hacia donde se dirigen. La vida no es una maratón sino una caminata que hay que saborear con cada paso que se da si este es de avanzada.
Dentro de poco muchos de ustedes se marcharan a lugares diferentes en busca de uno de los logros más grandes del universo, cultivar la mente para convertirse en tierra fértil de una sociedad que busca por la excelencia. En tres o cuatro años espero oír la misma frase que todas las generaciones de la ABC repiten a su regreso, pero eso será el futuro y para ese entonces todo esto será el ayer y el ayer es solo eso, historia, el mañana sigue siendo un misterio, pero el ahora es un regalo, por eso le llamamos presente el cual espero estén disfrutando.
Seven Artists exhibit in the IB Visual Arts Exhibition
April 24th, 2009The reception for the International Baccalaureate Visual Arts Exhibition was held on Wednesday with seven artists exhibiting (Waykuan, Michelle, Eileen, Emilio, Ute, Cristina and Gaby ).
This year the IB Examiner had already visited, interviewed the students and evaluated the work. Many students, teachers and parents have had a chance to view the exhibition. In my words I referred to the very high standard of work - work which came to even greater life and meaning when viewing their research notebooks and especially talking to the artists about their work. Congratulations to you all.
Mathematics Competitions
March 24th, 2009Here is a report from Mr Carlos Arriola, ABC Mathematics Teacher, who trained and accompanied the ABC Mathematics Team for the competitions held in Puebla, Mexico. They produced excellent results, given that this was the first time that we had participated in this international competition.
“The MathCounts competition is a very important event organised by MATHCOUNTS.org in order to motivate KS3 students who do well in Mathematics. This year ABC participated at the Central American competition coming in 3rd place for the Math Relay and Individual 2nd Place for the Mathcounts. This allowed us to participate in Puebla, Mexico at the Regional Competition.
We started our preparation by staying Fridays from 13:45 to 15:00 and coming to school on Saturdays from 08:00 to 12:00. The day of departure came: March 11, 2009; we were all so excited and Mr. Keslake gave us a nice motivational speech before we headed off to the aiport.
We got to Mexico Airport and took the bus to Puebla (a 2 hours drive). At Puebla bus station, the bus from the American School of Puebla was already waiting for us to take us to the hotel (a very nice colonial one in San Andres Cholula, Puebla). That day we visited Cholula, ate the tipical tacos and then came back to the hotel to do our final Math Relay practice for next day.
March 12, 2009: As soon as we got to the middle school campus, we got really nervous when we saw the 120 students who were going to compete with us. The first part was the protocol part in which the Salvadorean anthem was sang and the flag was shown for the first time, then Mr. Arriola got to meet the Governor’s wife, after that the Teachers’ Math Relay started (in which Mr. Arriola won 1st Place with the John F. Kennedy School), and then the Students’ Math Relay. This is the most important part of this day: students running and solving Maths exercises, SO MUCH FUN!!! At the end ABC came 5th Place because of time, not bad for being the first time in this competition. Later the American School of Puebla arranged a little trip so we went bowling, ice skating, to the GoCars, and to Angelopolis Mall, a great time between teachers, parents and students.
March 13, 2009: A long day was waiting for us when we arrived at the campus. The gym was arranged for the students to watch a video and to start the Sprint, Target and Team Rounds. Coaches were checking results for each of the rounds. At the end, when they finished the three rounds, Mr. Arriola saw the big surprise: Martha Osegueda (7th Grade) was Individual 5th Place, Team A was 4th Place and Team B was 4th place also. Great performance by the ABC group on this first time in Mexico!
Then the Countdown Round started; the best 10 students compete against each other to see who’s the Real First Place. Martha defended her 5th Place with honour but she lost when she was fighting for 4th Place. And the end, a great big satisfaction feeling was sorrounding the ABC group. It was time to celebrate so we went to know Puebla City and Downtown, a beautiful colonial city where you can have: culture, great “comida poblana” and a lot of fun.
In our way back to El Salvador we said: mission acomplished!! But we know that 2010 will be BETTER.
Thanks to all people that supported us and specially to the ABC authorities and parents.”