Vol. 2, No. 6

April 2012

“The Express here -- your best source for exciting, diverse and bold news about AISA’s multicultural community.”

Fireworks and more at

AISA Bazaar! / P. 2

Lanterns and Food Fight

at Senior Night / P. 3

MS Presents ‘Midsummer’

on May 23 / P. 4

Several Sports Snag

Silver Medals / P. 6

‘Inside’ Scoop on Audio

Slideshow Project / P. 5

since support staff were supposed to move from campus

shacks to new apartments.

Note: This will be a running counter on the front page until the move happens.

4 MONTHS

By Mahy Mohamed

(Gr. 12) What’s Up?!

More than 1.000 students,

family members and guests

attended and enjoyed the

fifth annual AISAfest, a

three-day soccer tournament

and carnival in early March.

This year's carnival on

March 8 was smaller, being

held on only one side of the

yard and in the TimGym,

though many rides returned

including the giant slide,

rodeo bull, slip-n-slide soc-

cer, silly string, dunk tank,

dinoslide and lollipop tree.

“Our focus was on the stu-

dents,” said Ms. Sambola, an Elementary

PE teacher who organized the event with

Mr. Abdelsalam (Grade 4), Ms. Maika

(grade 4), Mr. Lewis (Grade 4) and Mrs.

Lewis (Grade 1).

“Ultimately, AISAfest is about provid-

ing a venue for AISA students and the

greater AISA community to gather and

have a good time,” said Mr. Abdelsalam.

“It was more by AISA people, for AISA

people,” he added. “This is AISA’s BIG

event.”

This year, tickets were limited and mon-

ey left over from last year was used; no

outside money was needed, he added.

Dr. Jones, school director, praised the

event.

"Last year’s event was too big, with too

many people and too dangerous, but this

year’s was a great success,” he said. “It

was just the right size and everybody had

a great time. Thanks also to all of you who

supported and contributed."

Many younger students enjoyed the

event. “I had so much fun at AISAfest and

enjoyed the string war with my friends,”

said Mohamed Alsaadi (Grade 6).

However, most of the high school stu-

dents did not attend the event due to lim-

ited tickets and lack of communication

from Advisory teachers about ticket dead-

lines. Those who did come enjoyed the

event, but said there was room for im-

provement.

“It was full of kids, and I don’t like that

it was on one side,” said Maitha Al-

Mansoori (Grade 12). “But, I liked the DJ

and my friends made it fun.”

Khaled Al-Hammadi (Grade 10) agreed.

“If there was a change in the games; it

would’ve been better,” he said.

The AISAfest Committee is now exam-

ining the results.

“The event was a success, and good

money was made,” said Mr. Abdelsalam.

“Next year we’re working on getting more

high school students excited.”

The soccer tournament, while smaller,

was also successful. The high school win-

ners were the Boys-Yellow and Girls-

Light Blue teams, while middle school

winners were Boys-Green/Black/Red and

Girls-Burgundy.

“It was so much fun, especially when we

played against teachers,” said Lana

Ghneim (Grade 9), who played in the

tournament for the first time. “I wasn’t

thinking about winning or losing, it was

about having a good, precious time with

my friends.”

By Kairine Maharajh (Gr. 12)

AISA’s Voice Co-Editor

The girls’ varsity soccer team closed the

season with a memorable trip to Malaysia,

where they beat seasoned international teams

in an ISAC replacement.

Though the team did not win any games in

the ECC Tournament, the team boosted their

confidence by winning four of five games in

Malaysia. This trip was in place of the ISAC

tournament, which was canceled due to polit-

ical unrest in Cairo. (The team had won the

past two ISAC championships.)

Coaches Mr. Chalmers and Ms. Levi

praised the all-round strong season, noting

several wins against Al Raha International

School, The British School Al Khubairat

(BSAK), Dubai American Academy and

GEMS World Academy in Dubai.

In Malaysia, the team had the privilege of

playing against the U16 Girls Arsenal Foot-

ball Club of Singapore, Tenby International

School of Penang, Malaysia; the Internation-

al School of Kuala Lumpur, SMK (P) Sri

Aman School of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia; and

a local Malaysian club.

“It was a long season but it was a success

and we all had a wonderful time!” said Ms.

Levi. “Best of luck to the seniors in their

future — we will miss you next year!”

Players agreed. “There was a constant pro-

gress throughout the season but I think we

played the best football in Malaysia,” said

Sarah Al Zaabi, (Grade 11) one of the three

captains alongside Danielle Cobrand (Grade

12) and Claudia Oswald (Grade 12).

The team toured Malaysia's cultural sights

in the morning such as the Batu Caves, the

Petronas Towers, the Pewter Factory, the

King’s Palace and a stone site to commemo-

rate the brave soldiers who fought for the

country.

Games were played in the evening and

although the girls were exhausted, they man-

aged to pull through skillfully. In addition,

the 14 players played an unusually high 11-a-

side for the first time in school history.

“It was a fun season and playing eleven a

side with the girls was a good experience,”

said Cobrand. “I am extremely proud of

them.”

Team poses by the Petronas Towers. / Photo courtesy Kairine Maharajh.

Girls Varsity Soccer Team

Succeeds at Malaysia Tournament

By Muhammad El-Amin

(Grade 12) We Are the Lions!

The boys varsity boys basketball team had a

successful season, finishing in second place in

the ISAC tournament after losing a close cham-

pionship game to the tough American Commu-

nity School of Amman, Jordan, in mid-March .

“I’m very proud of the way we played at

ISAC,” said co-coach Mr. Pike, who coached

the team with Mr. Ingram. “The guys played the

best ball they’ve played all season. Nobody

expected us to play for the championship, but we

proved a lot of non-believers wrong. The seniors

stepped up big when we most needed them, and

the underclassmen provided valuable scoring

and rebounding.”

At the beginning of the season, the boys had a

tough time clicking and did not look possibly to

even repeat last year's fourth place ISAC finish.

But not placing in the ECC tournament lit a

fire under the team. Heading into ISAC, they

had a 5-4 record, with impressive non-

conference wins over the Abu Dhabi Grammar

School and New York University-Abu Dhabi.

Though the team lost the first ISAC game

against the American School of Kuwait 48-40,

they followed with strong come-from-behind

wins against the Universal American School in

Dubai (48-42) – avenging an earlier season loss

– and the American British Academy-Oman (45-

42), their first-ever win against the recent rivals.

The team continued its strong play against the

American International School-Riyadh (Saudi

Arabia). Down 30-41 against AIS-Riyadh with

three minutes to go, the team used full court

pressure and this reporter hit four three-pointers

to bring the team back.

“It was an amazing scene to watch and it

showed how the team really matured over the

season,” said Mr. Pike.

Senior Mike Al-Zoebie, who thanked Mr. Pike

and the new players for their dedication and hard

work, was pleased with second place.

“It was disappointing at first,” he said. “But

we realized as a small group of eight players,

that reaching the finals and knocking out ABA

was a pretty amazing accomplishment.”

Though the team is graduating six seniors,

players and coaches agreed that the returning

varsity players and new JV players are strong –

and could earn that championship!

The team shows off their silver trophy. / Photo courtesy Muhammad El-Amin.

Boys Varsity B’ball Team Wins Silver

1K Students, Staff Enjoy 5th AISAfest, Soccer Tourney

Many sophomores attended the carnival. / Photos Mr. Baron.

Grade 8 students Ewa Sepiolo (who attended AISA last year), Mathilde Bienseant, Solange Padilla and

Yara Aghabi. / Seniors Meeneshwer Madhu and Will Smith face off in sumo wrestling.

Soccer Tournament, Girls Winners: Light Blue (High School) and Burgundy (Middle School).

Soccer Tournament, Boys Winners: Yellow (High School), Green/Black/Red (Middle School).

AISA’s Voice APR. 2012 2

The Express Managing Editor: Mr. Baron

AISA’s Voice (Editorial)

Ahmed Al-Ketbi (Co-Editor)

Lamees Al-Makkawy

Hamdan Al-Nahyan

Kairine Maharajh (Co-Editor)

What’s Up?! (News)

Rana Alsaadi (Editor)

Shahd Elghazali

Mahynoor Mohamed

Tanya Tarazi

The Scene (Arts and Culture)

Greg Brown (Co-Editor)

Steffanie Sanders (Co-Editor)

Teguh Zulian

Cosmopolitan (Beyond AISA)

Khalifa Al-Fahim (Co-Editor)

Salama Al-Khumaisi

Noor Al-Mehairbi

Alia Youssef (Co-Editor)

We Are the Lions! (Sports)

Sakhr Abdullah

Aisha AlHajeri (Co-Editor)

Khalid Al-Mansoori

Zayed Al-Nahyan (Co-Editor)

Marcela Cuadra

Muhammad El-Amin

Staff Photographers:

Aisha AlHajeri, Teguh Zulian

AISA Director: Dr. Jones

Secondary School Principal:

Mr. Godley

Assistant Principals:

Mrs. Jones, Mr. Morley

The Express is produced by students

in the Publications elective for

Grades 11 and 12. It is published

eight times/year, with additional

content in print and online. Read past

issues online: bit.ly/aisaexpress

The Express by American Interna-

tional School in Abu Dhabi is li-

censed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-

ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Letters to the Editor The Express encourages letters, send them to sbaron@aisa.sch.ae.

Students, include full name and grade. Teachers, include grade and

subject. Letters may be shortened for space requirements.

By Mr. Godley, Secondary School Principal

Everything changes but change itself.

-John F. Kennedy

On our return from Spring Break, the AISA community learned

that The Abu Dhabi Education Council has approved ESOL’s re-

quest to allow our school to run a mixed gender (Co-ed) section as

well as a girl’s only section of the school. As a result, ESOL has

made the decision to move to this model next year and will offer a

choice to the girls from 6-12th grade as to which section they would

like to be enrolled in. Students, teachers and parents have lots of

questions about how this will be structured and what things will

look like next year. As the school moves forward with this plan,

things will become more clear to everyone in the community. Stay

tuned as the plans are developed and communicated.

By Lamees Al-Makkawy (Grade 12)

What happens to your waste when

you throw it or flush it away?

In late February, upperclassmen

learned from firsthand experience,

with the Environmental Science class

helping to collect aluminum cans for

recycling and the IB-2 Chemistry

students visiting Abu Dhabi’s only

wastewater treatment plant.

Of the more than 500 million

canned beverages sold every year in

the UAE, only five percent of these

cans are recycled, according to the

Emirates Environmental Group

(EEG). However, the EEG hopes to

change that behavior with annual can

collection campaigns that have been

occurring since 1997.

On February 23, the school served

as one of several countrywide collec-

tion points.

“AISA took part in the can collec-

tion drive to create awareness about

recycling and to pass the message that

we care for our environment,” said

Ms. Shreebanu, head of the Science

department.

Although the school only collected

one kilogram of cans, the EEG sent

the school a thank you email and is

hoping for a larger turnout at the next

campaign on May 5.

Not only can cans be

recycled, but so can

wastewater, which the

Chemistry students

learned first-hand at a

trip on February 28 to the

city’s only sewage treat-

ment plant in Mafraq.

“The purpose of the

field trip was to reinforce

their understanding of

the wastewater treatment

process,” said Mr. Man-

gan, IB-2 Chemistry

teacher. “I thought it was

essential to visit a sew-

age plant to have a better

understanding of what

they have learned.”

Waste takes 13 hours to pass

through the plant, starting at pre-

treatment, in which substances are

removed, then bacteria start cleaning

it by eating the carbon and nitrogen,

according to The National newspaper.

The water on the top is then filtered

and treated with chlorine until ready

for use, mostly in irrigation. The

sludge left behind is sent to digesters,

where special bacteria it away at it.

“We just got to see how it actually

worked in real life as opposed to just

the theory that we learned,” said sen-

ior Mohamed Shaker. “They had

huge vats of crap from everyone in

Abu Dhabi, it was pretty interesting

to see.”

Students agreed that the worst part

of their trip was the smell. “I learned

that I do not want to go into waste

management,” said senior Quosain

Memon.

Mr. Mangan thanked the Abu Dha-

bi Sewage Services Company and

Tebodin for organizing the field trip.

Bring cans for the next can drive,

and every time you flush a toilet, now

you’ll know what happens to your

waste!

By Ahmed Al-Ketbi

(Grade 12)

AISA’s Voice Co-Editor

More than 200 students had

fun at the second annual AISA

Bazaar in late February.

On the evening of February

28, the event was packed by

students from AISA and their

friends from outside of school.

Students organized their own

booths – from food to games.

Student Council raised more

than AED 3,000, from sales of

tables (AED 50) and tickets

(AED 20), which went to the

support staff.

Students who rented booths

could pocket the money from

their sales.

“This year's Bazaar is an

improvement than last year,”

said high school assistant prin-

cipal Mr. Morley. “The booths

are bigger and the participants

rate increased, overall Student

Council did a excellent job in

organizing this event.”

The students booths were a

huge success. One of them was

Grade 11 student Nasser bin

Lootahs' booth that sold UK-

made Bens Cookies. He col-

lected a total of AED 9,400.

“I’m glad that the people

liked my cookies and I’d like

to thank all of them for coming

to this wonderful event,” he

said.

Unexpectedly, fireworks

were set off outside of school.

While unsanctioned, they

made the people leave the

event with a smile or their

faces.

“I didn’t imagine that this

event would be such a success,

all thanks to my friends,” said

senior Hamed Al Baloushi. “I

hope next year's Bazaar would

be even better.”

Hundreds Enjoy Second Annual AISA Bazaar

IB-2 Chemistry students Elena Botella, Dorien van Heerden, Nahil Memon, Janeeta Abbasi, and Amira

ANthonijsz. / Photo courtesy Dorien van Heerden.

Students Learn About Waste Re-Use with

Can Collection Drive, Treatment Plant Trip

(Left): Students enjoyed food, fire-works, and game prizes at the AISA

Bazaar. / Photos courtesy Aisha

AlHajeri and Teguh Zulian.

Softball Cancels Season, Could Return Next Year

Dear Editor,

The article "V for Vexed" (March

2012) states that students were very

disappointed because Student Coun-

cil could "not even keep an organized

bake sale from occurring."

However, there was no actual re-

quest for this to be done, and how

are a few members of Student Coun-

cil supposed to bring in enough food

for the entire high school?

Aren't students also responsible for

bringing in food?

Even if Student Council were to

have brought in food, it would not

have been enough, and the students

would still have remained disappoint-

ed.

There should be no high expecta-

tions from the students, since Student

Council never made any promises.

To those who were extremely dis-

appointed, do consider that you live

in a Muslim country where Valen-

tine's Day is not celebrated.

Yes, this is an international school,

so you have the right to bring in

flowers and dress up, but you have no

right to blame a couple of students

for not being prepared for an occa-

sion that they do not even celebrate.

In addition, when the chocolate and

flower exchange was done last year,

it was very disorganized and some

people did not even receive their

chocolates or flowers.

Also, Student Council was given

strict instructions from Admin not to

celebrate Valentine’s Day.

-Mariam Al Marzooqi (Grade 11)

Letter: ‘No Right to Blame’ Student Council for No VDay Bake Sale

By Hamdan Al-Nahyan

(Grade 12)

Students and staff are

disappointed that there will

be no popping of softball

gloves or home runs hit

this year, after the coaches

made the difficult decision

to cancel this year's softball

team.

Returning coaches Mr.

Miller and Mr. Murphy

quietly announced in late

February that there will be

no softball season.

After three years of play-

ing as a developmental

team, last year was the first

time that the school fielded

a league team. But the team

– with few upperclassmen

and facing teams with ex-

perienced North American

high school students – lost

all four games.

This year, 12 girls tried

out, including four return-

ing players. But the coach-

es decided that

they did not have

enough older, ex-

perienced students.

“Technically 12

players is enough

to field a team,

however with the

potential for inju-

ries, other con-

flicting school activities

and the lack of experience

and age of the players try-

ing out all factored into the

decision to cancel the sea-

son,” said Mr. Miller. “I

strongly believe we could

not have fielded a competi-

tive team to compete with

schools such as ACS and

DAA. The girls’ young and

fragile confidences would

have been shattered early

on.”

Students who tried out

are disappointed. Emilia

Repo (Grade 11), a starting

pitcher on last year's team,

had been looking forward

to the season.

“Last year was so much

fun,” she said. “Everyone

developed their skills sig-

nificantly. I really believe

we would have had a

chance to win one or two

games, so I am quite sad

about not playing this sea-

son.”

Could the team revert to

being an intramural team

like the Cricket club?

Students could compete

against their skill level

while learning along the

way.

Mr. Miller said that is a

decision left to the Admin,

but Repo would support it.

“[N]ext year we should

try to have an official team

and make sure the word

about the tryouts is heard

by all student body,” she

said.

“[E]ven with a slightly

weak team it would be fun

to actually compete for

real,” Repo said. “But an

intramural would definitely

be better than no softball at

all.”

(Left) Pitcher Emilia Repo (Grade 11) hopes to play next year. (Right) Last year’s softball team before a game. / Photos courtesy Mr. Baron.

School Going Co-Ed+Girls

What’s Up?! Apr. 2012 3

By Rana Alsaadi (Grade 12)

What’s Up?! Editor

Fourteen high school students suc-

cessfully tackled international issues

at the annual Abu Dhabi Model Unit-

ed Nations conference held in early

March.

The conference from March 1-3

was organized by Al Nahda School

and held at Abu Dhabi University

Mr. Baron, Mr.

Stewart and Ms.

Fleming served as

club advisors.

The students

were divided into

eight different

committees, in-

cluding Security

Council, Human

Rights, and World

Health Organiza-

tion, and debated

issues such as the

Libyan Crisis, UN

membership of Palestine, and Inter-

net Censorship.

Each student represented a country

and had to walk, talk, and behave in

a way consistent with that country’s

beliefs, values and laws.

“It's important for students to learn

about these real-world global issues

outside of school and to build public

speaking skills,” said Mr. Baron.

In preparation for the conference,

student-delegates spent several

months researching their countries

and the relevant topics, according to

Mr. Baron. The students were also

given country worksheets, wrote

issue papers (one-page on their com-

mittee’s issues) and positions papers

(their country’s stance on the topics).

“Most of the students had already

participated in the AISA MUN con-

ference in December, so they built on

that experience,” said Mr. Baron.

“By the last month, they were hold-

ing extra meetings themselves; I've

never seen such committed and dedi-

cated students!”

Senior Quosain Memon was the

committee chair for the Human

Rights Council and won an award for

his position. Although he had partici-

pated in MUN for five consecutive

years, this was his first year as a

chair, the person who controls the

committee.

“Being the only senior at AD-

MUN was tough,” he said. “But I

managed to get through and made a

lot of new friends.”

Junior Kathrin Harb, who won her

committee's prestigious “Golden

Gavel” award for best delegate, rep-

resented the Russian Federation in

the World Health Organization

(WHO) committee.

“I was able to achieve that through

not only researching a lot about my

own country, but also other country's

positions that were present in the

conference,” she said. “As a dele-

gate, I think that the insight behind

your questions and your ability to

think on your feet matters the most.”

Several other students also re-

ceived awards: Junior Diala Ghneim

won Best Orator and International

Diplomat (Security Council), junior

Aarav Balsu for Truth Seeker

(Human Rights Committee), junior

Sheren Abou-Ouf for Most Persever-

ing (Human Rights Committee), and

junior Farouk Abdul-Karim for Most

Persevering (World Health Commit-

tee).

Advisors were very proud of the

students.

“AISA walked away from AD-

MUN 2012 with six awards,” said

Mr. Stewart. “On top of that, we had

a high percentage of freshman take

part, an intimidating proposition

considering most of the delegates

were upperclassman. Overall, my

only disappointment was I couldn’t

be in every committee at once and

see every moment of AISA students

in action.”

Memon thanked the advisors.

“Thanks for being extremely sup-

portive advisors,” he said. “It would

have been highly unlikely for us to

do as well without you both.”

Students Debate Global Issues at Abu Dhabi Model UN Conference School Wins Six Awards, Including ‘Best Chair,’ ‘Best Orator’ and ‘Golden Gavel’

By Shahd Elghazali (Grade 12)

Childhood memories of Alice,

the Queen of Hearts and the

creepy Cheshire cat are returning

in mid-April, with the second

annual elementary school musi-

cal production, Disney's “Alice in

Wonderland Jr.,” and it will bring

back loads of your childhood

memories!

After nearly 500 people saw

last year’s first-ever elementary

school play, Disney's “Aladdin

Jr.,” Grade 1 teacher Ms. Al-

Jenaibi has returned as director,

and is expecting a bigger and

better play on April 18-19 at Abu

Dhabi University.

“The purpose of this play is to

bring more drama into elemen-

tary school,” she said. “We tried

to pick a fun musical which the

boys would know and be interest-

ed in taking part in.”

Since January, the students

have been rehearsing with Ms. Al

-Jenaibi, Ms. Byers

(choreography) and Mr. Ab-

delsalam (stage manager) three

times a week and once a week

with elementary school Music

teacher, Mr. Mays. Art teacher

Ms. Ramirez is working on set

design.

Grade 5 student Seema Mallah,

who is playing the Door Knob, is

excited to be on stage.

“In the play, you can expect to

hear familiar songs with new

beats,” she said. “I think you

guys are going to see a very ex-

cellent performance that we

worked very hard on and I am

especially excited about the

dance performances, they are my

favorite part of the play!”

Seniors Set Wishes Sail at

First-Ever Senior Night

The school’s award-winning team poses at ADU. / Photo courtesy Mr. Baron.

The cast of more than 20 students at a rehearsal for Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland, Jr.” / Photo courtesy Mr. Abdelsalam.

See ‘Alice in Wonderland, Jr.’ April 18

Students lit lamps, and ate cake after McDonald’s Happy Meals. / Photos courtesy Aisha AlHajeri

and Teguh Zulian.

By Tanya Tarazi

(Grade 12)

Colorful floating lanterns

shone brightly over the dark

night sky, as seniors enjoyed

starting a new school tradition

with Senior Night, an unforget-

table celebration that marked

100 days until graduation in late

February.

On February 27, nearly 100

seniors dressed up for a casual

dinner of McDonald's Happy

Meals (with light-up toys), a

senior sign board, DJ dance-off.

Afterwards, seniors lit colorful

floating lanterns and released

them into the sky. Student Lead-

ers organized the event.

“For the first time I felt like I

actually had a senior class after

this night,” said Menat El Abd.

The night also included games

between the boys and girls, such

as tug-of-war and dodgeball.

“Ironically the girls came out

with no broken nails or any

make up mishaps,” said Summia

El Awawdeh.

The night ended with a senior

cake – that did not fill our stom-

achs but instead filled our shirts

and faces after a food fight.

“It was a very special night

that brought together a very

special class,” said Mrs. Jones.

“I hope this tradition continues

for years to come.”

IB-2 Spanish stu-

dents taste Latin food,

cooking dishes from

Argentina, Chile and

Mexico. Then they

presented their recipes

to our class. Well

done, muchas gracias

chicos y chicas.

-Mrs. Montenegro-

Loughran

The Scene Apr. 2012 4

By Greg Brown

The Scene Co-Editor

Three members of the

school community were

involved in a play held at

The British Club in early

March.

The play, “The Brown-

ing Version,” written by

Terence Rattigan, was

directed by Drama teach-

er Mr. Gallichan, his first

production at The Club,

from March 7-9.

In the one-act play, a

once-brilliant, now-ailing

Classics teacher at an

English private school in

the 1950's is forced to

confront not only the dys-

functional and loveless

state of his marriage but

also the reality of his rela-

tionship with the boys in

his class.

Laith Hamid (Grade 11)

played the key role of

Taplow, a reluctant

though kind-hearted

member of the Lower

Fifth Classics class.

Grade 6 teacher Ms.

Najarian sparkled briefly

as the naive young wife

of the new Classics teach-

er, according to Mr. Gal-

lichan.

After a reported full

house for all three days,

Hamid said: “They play

was well worth the work

and the turnout was ex-

cellent.”

Once the production

was over, the entire cast

received positive respons-

es and reactions about the

show, and it seems that

everyone in attendance

over the three-day period

had a great time and were

impressed with the cast

and turnout.

“I personally thought it

was a really good and

successful production,”

said Hamid. “Everyone

did a really good job and

everything went smoothly

and as to plan!”

By Teguh Zulian (Grade 12)

Come see the third middle

school Musez production,

Shakespeare's “A Midsummer

Night's Dream,” in late May.

The play is a twisted romantic

tale of lovers trying to live a

happy life. Directed by Drama

teacher Mr. Gallichan, the cast

includes 21 actors from five

different continents.

“I chose the play for the young

talented middle school students

to have a challenge and help

build their performance skills as

an actor and actress,” he said.

This is one of the middle

school biggest productions a

lighthearted and is a very enter-

taining play, he said. Many of

the actors appeared in last year's

first-ever Musez play “Beauty is

a Beast,” which Mr. Gallichan

also directed. “It's a very keen

and talented cast, I’m looking

forward to the play,” he said.

The main roles are Grade 8

students Dean Carstens as the

Fairy King Oberon, Melinda

Knowling as Titania, and Joel

Nasrallah as the Bottom.

Carstens said, “I like fantasy

story that has twist in it, also

there are part of comedic scenes

in it.”

Nasrallah agreed: “I like my

character which fits my person-

ality really well,” he said. “This

is going to be a huge production,

I would like everyone to come

and see it.”

The Shakespearean theater

group from the Globe Theater in

London gave lessons on March

19-20 to help them learn more

about Shakespeare, and students

also saw the production.

Everyone has been preparing

and practicing three times a

week for the two shows on May

23, which will be in a round

stage in the TimGym. Come for

an enchanted evening!

MS Eager to Perform Shakespeare in May

The middle school cast of “A Midsummer Night’s

Dream” in rehearsals. /

Photos courtesy Mr. Baron.

By Steffanie Sanders (Grade 12) The Scene Co-Editor More than 100 students, teach-ers and parents watched the annual middle school spring pro-duction, this year of traditional folktales and music, in late Feb-ruary. On February 29, the middle school Musez drama group per-formed “The Three Little Pigs” and “Leyla and the Lamp,” while the Musez singers accompanied the performance with numbers by Adele and classical instrumen-tal pieces. “Middle School students had their chance to perform on-stage,” said Ms. Najarian, who directed with Ms. Gunal. “We really let them make it their own providing them with the play that they wanted to do and letting them do their own thing.” Students and staff worked hard to put on the plays, researching traditional folktales then re-hearsing for months. Music teacher Ms. Jana van Rensburg worked with the choir.

The cast of the plays were mainly Grade 6 students, but also included two Grade 7 stu-dents, Ellise Roth and Yun Jeong Jeon. The Grade 6 actors includ-ed Zayed Al Hashli, Hadeel Al Mubarak, Jasmine Al-Mehairbi, Mariam Al Sawadi and Oratile Mphofu. “The play gave the sixth grad-ers experience and increased their confidence while perform-ing,” said Melinda Knowling (Grade 8), who also played piano at the show. Alongside the play, a few songs were sung by the middle school choir, while regular talents Rabia Abba Omar (saxophone), Mathilde Bienseant (Grade 8, singing an Adele song), Yara Aghabi (Grade 8) and Noorsultan Mussinov joined the choir, add-ing to the production. “The performance was good practice for them for our next play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ which has a lot more complex language,” said Bienseant.

MS Superstars at Folktales Plays, Music Performances

(Clockwise from top left): Rabia Abba Omar on saxophone, Zayed Al Hashli proposes to Yun Jeong Jeon in “Leyla and the

Lamp,” Zayed Al Hashli as Wolf blows down Ellise Roth’s

house in “Three Little Pigs,” Mathilde Bienseant sings, Yara Aghabi on piano, Noursultan Mussinov on piano, Musez Choir,

cast of “Leyla and the Lamp,” Melinda Knowling on piano.

/ Photos courtesy Mr. Baron.

(Left to Right): Young, talented director Mr. Gallichan made his Abu Dhabi professional debut at The Club, with “The Browning Version,” starring junior Laith Hamid as the student Taplow and Ms. Najarian as the

wife of the new Classics teacher. / Photos courtesy Ms. Najim.

School Talent Stars in British Club Play

By Adib Khondker (Grade 8)

Middle School Correspondent

Several hundred middle

school students competed with

their advisories at the first-ever

Advisory Games and Sports

Night, both in March.

At the Advisory Games, stu-

dents showed-off their team

spirit by covering themselves in

their advisory's colors and

cheered their team-mates.

“The objective was just to

have fun and hang out with

your friends, so the day was

definitely a success!” said Mr.

McGrady, who organized the

event.

Students from the Hawks-

bills, Oryxes, Falcons, Leop-

ards, Stingrays and Scorpions

battled it out on the field in

games of tug-of-war, dodgeball,

water balloon catching, save-

the-water, and an obstacle

course.

"It was the best day of the

year because we got the chance

to have fun, hang-out with

friends and most importantly,

skip class!" said Samer Akileh

(Grade 8).

At the end of the day, there

was an epic final tug-of-war

contest between the boys' and

girls' advisory teachers, which

the girls side won thanks to

help from several, athletic high-

school students.

At Sports Night, students

enjoyed games like bench-ball,

ping -pong, dodgeball and foot-

ball.

Students ate pizza to keep up

their energy levels and team

MVP awards were distributed.

Overall, these were huge suc-

cesses and students had a fabu-

lous time.

MS Enjoys Advisory Games

and Sports Night

Cosmopolitan Apr. 2012 5

By Noor Al-Mehairbi

(Grade 11)

Come see the return of the

school’s Bollywood dance group

at their upcoming and second

annual performance during In-

ternational Night in April!

The club was founded in 2010

by then-senior Sharon Albu-

querque to present her Indian

heritage through dances from

popular Bollywood films.

“A few members wanted to

start it because they have been

interested in Bollywood movies

for a long a time and others

wanted to try something new,”

said Xin.

Last year’s group danced to

“Dhatad Tadad” and “I Hate

Love Stories” and received a

standing ovation from more

than 600 people – and this

year’s group hopes to top that.

In contrast from last year’s

dance, the five group members –

sophomore Pragya Gupta, and

seniors Nimra Ahmed, Amira

Anthonijsz, Sonu Mathew and

Yu Xin want to have a more

modern twist.

The dance will

focus on a combi-

nation of songs

from the Bolly-

wood musical

“Aaja Nachle”

and Akon’s song

“Chammak Chal-

lo.”

The club's advi-

sor is Music

teacher Ms. Jana

van Rensburg.

“Last year's

was more tradi-

tional so this year

we're trying to

retain some of the

traditions but

also bring newer

Bollywood

styles,” said Xin.

“The last section

of our dance will

even have some

shuffling and

Tecktonik.”

Ahmed is the only returning

member, but the other members

are just as excited, and have

been practicing relentlessly since

October.

“We have started practicing

and decided to come up with our

own moves,” said Mathew.

“We hope to perform to our

best on International Night and

I hope everyone will remember

our Bollywood dance.”

By Alia Youssef (Grade 11)

Cosmopolitan Co-Editor

Publications students are excited

to show off their multimedia pro-

jects – audio slideshows focusing on

students with a special talent or

hobby, giving viewers a look at life

“Inside AISA.”

Publications students spent two

months following around another

student, ranging from athletes to

leaders to artists. They then put

together an audio slideshow of two

to three minutes long, with about 20

pictures along with interviews and

natural audio. Students also wrote a

text version of their slideshow, and

recorded a behind-the-scenes take

on the project.

“[S]ince publications are changing

so quickly with the rise of new me-

dia,” said Publications teacher Mr.

Baron, “from a practical viewpoint

it's important for students to be ex-

posed to and have experience in

working with multimedia.”

After a brief photo essay assign-

ment at the end of last year's Publi-

cations class, this year Mr. Baron

wanted students to create something

similar to the New York Times' “1 in

8 Million” or Ohio University's

“Soul of Athens” audio slideshows

of ordinary people telling interesting

stories.

“This project is also a great way

for students to build school commu-

nity” said Mr. Baron. “Everyone has

a story, but we don't often know

what they are.”

The challenge was building up

students' skills, said Mr. Baron.

“Most students don't even own a

camera!” he said. As a result, stu-

dents reviewed photojournalism

skills, analyzed photo essays from

the New York Times' Lens Blog and

profiled photojournalists.

Students then cut down their hun-

dreds of photos – mostly taken on

Blackberries or iPhones – down to

about 20, then used Audacity to edit

the audio, and iMovie or Windows

MovieMaker to create the audio

slideshows.

“The most important part was

working with each student individu-

ally on how to take better photo-

graphs and how to tell a story with

their photographs,” said Mr. Baron.

Publications students found the

project time-consuming but fun.

Junior Noor Al Mehairbi enjoyed

this project, focusing on IB-1 Art

student Kathrin Harb. “It was by far

one of the best works I've done,

having to do with media,” she said.

“It's a great way to practice your

movie making skills, as well as get-

ting to know someone's passion on a

personal level.”

Senior Lamees Al Makkawy fo-

cused on freshmen Jude Al Hajeri,

the youngest soccer player on the

varsity soccer girl’s team.

“She's an amazing soccer player -

she's got speed, natural talent, and

has scored the most goals through-

out the season,” said Al Makkawy.

“There were some challenging

aspects of this project; however, it

was still enjoyable, as it allowed us

to explore different photography

techniques and really get to know

the person we were focusing on. If I

were to do this project again, I'd

want to do it based on a certain topic

rather than a person.”

Senior Reem Lari enjoyed being

“stalked” by Mahynoor Mohamed.

She focused on Lari's passion for

international relations, especially

when she was a delegate the school's

Model United Nations conference in

December.

“It was a really creative project for

two reasons: the person being fol-

lowed around gets an idea of what

it's like to be a celebrity, and the

person taking pictures gets an idea

of what it's like to be a journalist,”

said Lari.“So both sides really bene-

fit from this project. It was awe-

some.”

Note: Visit the Inside AISA 2012

landing page at

bit.ly/insideaisa2012.

Watch the videos on the AISA

YouTube channel:

bit.ly/insideaisa2012videos.

(Logo Steffanie Sanders, Gr. 12.)

By Khalifa Al-Fahim

Nearly 50 students and staff

volunteered at the third annu-

al Abu Dhabi Triathlon in early

March.

The school's group of 20

teachers and 20 students helped

to set up an aid station for giv-

ing assistance to the more than

1,700 runners on March 3.

The students, mainly IB stu-

dents receiving community ser-

vice CAS hours, cheered on the

athletes and gave out water and

energy drinks to keep them from

getting dehydrated.

Humanities teacher Ms. Flem-

ing, the main school organizer,

praised the group. “I received

nothing but compliments on our

aid station and I think this was

(in the long run) a great event

for AISA to be part of,” she

said. “All of the school volun-

teers did a great job giving out

supplies.”

The school joined Al Khu-

bairat-The British School, which

hosted, and the American Com-

munity School.

The long-distance participants

had to swim three km, bike 200

km and run 20 km. “We had to

watch the athletes go through so

much but we tried to motivate

them as much as we can,” said

Sonu Mathew (Grade 12).

Additional staff who volun-

teered included high school staff

Mr. Huner, Ms. Levi, Ms.

Ramirez, Mr. Ugalde and Mr.

Waldman; and middle school

staff Ms. Holmes, Ms. Huner,

Ms. Najarian and Ms. Spies.

“There is absolutely no way

that this could have happened

without their help,” said Ms.

Fleming. “They were invaluable

and gave a huge part of their day

on Saturday.”

Mr. Waldman agreed. “It was

hard work but it’s all worth it at

the end of the day,” he said.

(Left to Right:) Dawar Ali (Grade 11), Ralph Young (Grade 12), Dana Aghabi (Grade 10), Ms. Fleming, Carmel Rohani (Grade 10) and Varun Patni (Grade 10).

/ Photo courtesy Carmel Rohani.

Students, Staff Volunteer

at Abu Dhabi Triathalon

Take an Inside Look at Talented Students with

Publications’ ‘Inside AISA’ Audio Slideshows

By Salama Al-Khumaisi (Grade 11)

Four high school students taking

French were selected as finalists in

the Francophonie French Art Com-

petition, and had their artwork ex-

hibited at the Abu Dhabi Theater in

late March.

On March 22, the four students –

senior Sara Asban and sophomores

Rabia Abba Omar, Rebeka Früholz,

and Unsia Hussain – received their

prizes: a certificate, a French music

CD and a notebook.

“In spite of a short time, students

put a lot of effort to finish their

work,” said French teacher Mrs.

Merazi. “I am very proud of them.”

The competition, whose theme

was “You!”, is sponsored by the

French, Canadian, Swiss and Bel-

gian Embassies, the Institut Fran-

çais and the Alliance Française.

Asban's piece, “The Diary of a

Young Artist,” shows a variety of

images including people who have

influenced her, symbols of freedom

of speech, and beautiful nature.

Früholz's piece “My River of

Thoughts,” shows objects flowing in

a river, representing her thoughts.

Abba Omar's piece “Hypnotic State

of Mind” and Hussain's piece

“Fingerprints” also show different

images that represent their lives.

Meanwhile, students in the IB-2

French class are planning a walk-a-

thon to raise money to buy land in a

rainforest for preservation . The

students are Kebure Assefa, Elena

Botella, Marcela Cuadra, Samuel

Jovanovic, Nahil Memon, Amin

Sarafian, Dorien van Heerden and

Yu Xin.

The school would be set up as a

race track around the fields and

gym, and students would be encour-

aged to walk as many laps as possi-

ble, and the winner could receive a

prize.

Prior to the event, they would be

given a pledge sheet to collect mon-

ey from sponsors for walking a cer-

tain number of laps. After the event,

food would be sold to raise more

money.

If you are interested in helping,

please contact Mrs. Merazi, head of

the French Department. Show your

support to help raise money!

Bollywood Dance Group Ready to

Bring the Beat at International Night

Members (clockwise from top left): Yu Xin, Sonu Mathew, Pragya Gupta and Amira Anthonijsz.

/ Photo courtesy Mr. Baron

Clockwise from top left: Zahra Abba Omar (Gr. 8), Sara Asban (Gr. 12), Unsia Hussain (Gr. 10) and Rebeka Fruholz (Gr. 10). / Photos courtesy Mrs. Cherif.

Students in French Classes

Finalists in Art Competition

By Khalid Al-Mansoori

(Grade 12)

The boys varsity soccer

team finished an impressive

second place against inter-

national clubs on the

school's their first-ever barn-

storming tour of Malaysia,

which replaced the ISAC

tournament, in mid-March.

“I am very proud and impressed that the

team was competing against clubs — not

schools — which train four to five times a

week and are at an international compet-

ing level,” said Coach Mr. Mangan. “And

[the team] still stood their ground.”

After last year's team won the nearly-

canceled ISAC tournament, this year's

team finished the season with a 6-3-2

record. In Malaysia from March 14-18,

they played five games in four days.

Both opening losses came against good

clubs 0-6 and 2-6 – including the best

Under-19 club in Southeast Asia. But they

rebounded, winning the next two games

with a blowout 8-2 and a tight 1-0 scores.

In the tournament's final, they lost a close

match 1-2. But Mr. Mangan said the team

would have won the championship if not

for the referees.

Still, he praised the team, which played

without captain Samuel Jovanovic (Grade

12), and experienced players like Nick

Overkamp (Grade 12), Amin Sarafian

(Grade 12), Yousef Chehab. (Grade 11).

“The trip was a great experience, on

both cultural and sports aspects,” said Mr.

Mangan. “The team needed time to get to

understand how to play as a group, and to

implement as well the tactics that was

being used. The players needed to under-

stand what were my expectations and the

fighting spirit that they should have when

playing.”

Saif Sleiman (Grade 12), a mid-fielder,

said the team had “chemistry” in playing

together as a group. “The trip to Malaysia

exceeded all our expectations,” he said.

“We had a very fun time with new experi-

ences that could never be forgotten.”

By Marcela Cuadra (Grade 12)

Though the girls JV basketball team did not

play in ISAC this year, they had a growing

season with a strong sense of friendship and

cooperation.

"We grew a lot as a team this season," said

coach Ms. Dickman. “The girls really turned

into basketball players by the end of it." Ms.

Altaf is the co-coach.

After last year's team placed second in

ISAC, this year's team started with a 2-1

record and finished with a respectable 4-2

record. This included an impressive 30-13

win over DIA on December 5. The team lost

both games in the ECC tournament.

However, the team did not have

enough players to compete in the

ISAC tournament in Kuwait in

March.

"I would have liked to see how far

we could have gone with the tourna-

ment," said Carol Abdul-Samad

(Grade 11). "It was a nice season

though and I enjoyed the time I spent

playing for this team."

Ms. Dickman agreed. “It was dis-

appointing that we could not go be-

cause the girls worked very hard this

season,” she said. “We started with

half the team never having played

organized basketball before, and by

the end we were running plays on both of-

fense and defense.”

Both Abdul-Samad and Carlotta Saenger

(Grade 10), the team's leading scorers, joined

the varsity team at their ISAC tournament.

Though Saenger could not play due to injury,

Abdul-Samad impressed with her strong de-

fense.

Though both are likely moving up to varsity

next year, Ms. Dickman is optimistic. “We

have a handful of returning players, including

Cara Aghabi (Grade 8),” she said. “I'm look-

ing forward to working with a new group.”

We Are the Lions! Apr. 2012 6

By Zayed Al-Nahyan (Grade 12)

We Are the Lions! Co-Editor

The boys JV basketball team had a great

success in the ISAC tournament in Kuwait in

late April, finishing second after last year's

team finished fourth.

This year’s team took home both the silver

medal and the Sportsmanship Award. They

lost in the ISAC finals to SAS-Egypt with a

close 26-21 score. Starting guard Takumi

Morozumi (Grade 10) and forward Ahmed

Nadeem (Grade 10) were not able to

play. Earlier, the team finished third in the

ECC tournament.

Coach Mr. Armstrong praised the team. “The

aim for the season was just to work well to-

gether, compete in every game, improve over-

all skill level, and enjoy the game of basketball

all the time,” he said.

In the beginning of the year, the team suf-

fered because they did not get along as well as

they do now – but all team members showed

improvement, both the coach and players

agreed.

Mr. Armstrong pointed to the growth of

Morozumi. “Takumi has made great improve-

ment in his confidence at the basket ball

court,” he said. While more than half the team

could advance to varsity next year, Morozumi

said the team is good hands. “Jasper Saenger

(Grade 9) is a good leader,” he said.

“It was a great season in the end,” said Mr.

Armstrong. “It was a pleasure to coach all of

the athletes and I wish them all continued suc-

cess in their future.”

Team photo courtesy Mr. Baron

Boys JV B’ball Wins Silver at ISAC

Team photo courtesy Mr. Baron.

Girls JV Basketball Grows as Team

Boys Soccer 2nd in Malaysia

By Aisha AlHajeri

(Grade 12) We Are the

Lions! Co-Editor

After nearly five

months of hard work

and dedication, the girls

varsity basketball team

won second place in the

ISAC tournament, after

a nail-bitingly intense

finals game against the

American British Acad-

emy (ABA)-Oman, in

mid-March.

After three straight

ISAC championships

since 2009, both coach-

es and players had

hoped to add another

banner at the ISAC tour-

nament, hosted by Al-

Bayan Bilingual School

(BBS) in Kuwait from

March 14-18.

The team, after a dis-

appointing 2-5 season

record, regrouped in

ISAC – only to lost a

close 17-27 game

against rivals ABA-

Oman, whose pro-

gram is directed by

former longtime

AISA athletic director

Mr. Synoground.

Coach Ms. Sambo-

la, who was proud of

their finish, said a

combination of ill-

ness, injuries and lack

of execution of the

game plan were the

reasons for the

loss. “The girls have

made many improve-

ments over the past few

months, especially with

their offensive plays,”

she said.

Senior and team cap-

tain Dorien van Heerden

also complimented the

team. “All our efforts

since November paid off

at ISAC ,” she said.

“Although we weren’t

the champions this year,

we only lost two out of

six games, and our

teamwork skills im-

proved in such an aston-

ishing way.”

After the JV season

ended, the team's lead-

ing scorers – Carlotta

Saenger (Grade 10) and

Carol Abdul Samad

(Grade 11) – boosted the

varsity team by partici-

pating in their ISAC

tournament.

“I think I’ve im-

proved significantly

after having the oppor-

tunity to play on both

JV and Varsity teams,”

said Abdul Samad.

“Playing on the varsity

team has allowed me to

challenge myself and

prepare me for next

year.”

Team photo. / Courtesy Aisha AlHajeri.

Girls Varsity B’ball Wins 2nd at ISAC

By Sakhr Abdullah (Grade 12)

Track and Field coaches and student-

athletes were excited to compete at the

team’s sole track meet at the end of

March.

At the ECC meet at the American

School in Dubai (ASD) on March 22-

23, more than 20 secondary school

students competed in long-distance

running, sprinting and relay running

events, and field events such as long

jump high jump, shot put and discus.

The varsity boys 4x100 meter relay-

race — Kebure Assefa (Grade 12),

Andres Calva Lopez (Grade 10), Edu-

ardo Cuadra (Grade 9) and Kyle Barrett

(Grade 8) — finished with the school's

only medal finish, a bronze.

Coaches Mrs. Huner, Mr. Huner, Ms.

Rear and Mr. Holloway were proud of

all of the students.

"The kids did really well – they had a

lot of personal bests and showed good

improvement and dedication," said Mr.

Huner. "Next year, with more meets,

they could amazing growth."

The ISAC meet in Cairo was canceled

due to political turmoil. Both the JV/

Varsity meet at Dubai American Acade-

my and the U14 meet were canceled.

The team had a strong returning core

including sprinters Eduardo Cuadra and

Kyle Barrett, who each had three medal

finishes at last year’s ECC Meet; and

Lou van Hauwaert (Grade 7) who

placed third in the U13 800 meter at last

year’s Dubai College meet. Additional

re-

turning members include Farouk

Abdul-Karim (Grade 11), Melinda

Knowling (Grade 8) and Elli Repo

(Grade 7).

First-tear track member Kebure

Assefa (Grade 12), who last year

played varsity basketball and was

on his previous school’s track team in

Ethiopia, enjoyed the meet. He compet-

ed in shot-put, discus, long jump, high

jump and all running events.

“The coaches are very motivating,

and they always try to get us to improve

our skills, while showing how fun track

and field can be,” Assefa said. “I have

learned techniques to improve my shot-

put tries and my long jump distance.”

Track and Field Sprints to Finish with ECC Meet

Above: Team photo, Andres Calva Lopez (Gr. 10) with discus. Right (clockwise): Team practices; Coach Mr. Huner and Merihan Dobiea

(Grade 9); Lou van Hauwaert (Grade 7) takes the baton from Elli Repo (Grade 7); Jonathan Saenger (Gr. 6) and PJ van Heerden (Gr. 8) line

up for a race; Assefa on the high jump. / Photos courtesy Mr. Holloway.