ACAMIS IN ACTION!
Volume 1, Number 1 - December 2018
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MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ACAMIS in Action!
Thanks to the great assistance from Finalsite, a sponsor and our website provider, we have upgraded our website and are now able to publish the ACAMIS Newsletter - ACAMIS in Action, much easier than before. After this experimental issue, we hope to produce this colorful overview three times per year to keep you better informed, share events and activities, and celebrate achievements. This is our first attempt, so feel free to share any comments or suggestions with Angie Lee at eo@acamis.org.
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ISC International School Awards
Our good friends at ISC Research have just shared the results of initial selections of schools shortlisted for the International School Awards. Thirty-three international schools from around the world were shortlisted from 200 candidates for the Awards. Twelve of these will receive an Award at the ceremony on January 21st in London. The aim of the International School Awards is to help raise awareness of some of the exceptional initiatives being successfully implemented in international schools today. The awards aim to highlight some of the best practices in learning, teaching, wellbeing, leadership, use of technology, pastoral support, community impact, inclusion, pathway support, and international impact.
The schools shortlisted for the Awards that are ACAMIS members are: Dulwich College Beijing, Dulwich College Shanghai, Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong, and Western Academy Beijing. The Awards, previously open only to British Schools, are now open to all international schools around the world. Although there will be only twelve Awards presented, all of those shortlisted will be recognized at the ceremony. Congratulations to our members who were shortlisted!
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ACAMIS PD Links
During our visits to member schools the topic of professional development usually arises. While ACAMIS has created five annual conferences to focus on the main needs identified by our members, Leadership, Technology, English Language Learners (ELL), Early Childhood Education (ECE), and Chinese Language and Culture, the issue of personal professional development for teachers' individual needs is frequently mentioned. These include certification, re-certification, masters degrees, enhancing international teaching credentials, learning for advancement, and summer programs.
Now, we are working on a solution for that. We have created an experimental program called ACAMIS PD Links. Some of the most prominent graduate schools will be invited to join ACAMIS as Associate Members and be included on a special page on our website devoted specifically to the 8,300 teachers in our 75 member schools. This page will act as a one-stop stopping clearinghouse for teachers who after assessing their needs, can easily compare graduate programs, connect directly with the university or organization of their choice, and apply online from our website through direct link to the program they choose. The first participating organizations are already online with us and more will be joining. It often takes three full years to achieve the desired variety of opportunities. While this is a start, we are in contact with a range of universities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US and hope to build this relationship to about twenty in the coming years. The success is dependent on teachers' use of this free opportunity.
So, please share this with your PD Coordinator and your teaching staff, western and Chinese. Suggestions of other international universities/programs to contact will be appreciated. Be sure to include a contact name and email address.
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WELCOME NEW MEMBER SCHOOLS!
We are pleased to welcome new members who applied last year and whose memberships were activated on August 1, 2018. ACAMIS now has 75 members with over 63,800 students and 8,300 teachers.
School Heads
Peggy Gorman- Mitchell
Ally Wu, Daniel Legualt
Eleanor Prescott
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UPCOMING CONFERENCES
ACAMIS Spring Leadership Conference
Registration Now Open for Members
Shanghai Community International School Hong Qiao (SCIS)
March 1-2, 2019
Register now to take advantage of savings for members.
Now through December early registration is reserved only for members and presenters.
As a non-profit membership organization, attendance by the Head or designated representative is a legal requirement.
"Our entire SCIS team is excited about hosting the ACAMIS Spring Leadership Conference. We have two dynamic and relevant keynote speakers in Will Richardson and David Guerin who will address the theme of "The Power of Agency". In addition, there are 10 strands that include the leadership categories of Heads, Principals, Middle Management and Aspiring Leaders, as well as Business Managers; the important planning meetings of Athletic Directors and Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) Coordinators; plus strands for Curricular Leadership; Marketing, Admissions, Communications (MAC); School Counselors; Special Needs/Learning Support; and University Placement. We look forward to welcoming you to our SCIS Hong Qiao campus for this great opportunity to exchange ideas and connect with others in our field!"
SCIS Director of Schools, Dan Eschtruth
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ACAMIS English Language Learners Conference
(for all types of English teachers)
International School of Nanshan Shenzhen
April 26-27, 2019
Translanguaging: Maximizing Communicative Potential
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Yew Chung International School of Shanghai - Ronghua Campus
June 29-30, 2019
Learning Chinese Should be Fun! Methods to Enhance Learning 知之，乐之！
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KOERSCHEN AWARDS AND SERVICE LEARNING GRANTS APPLICATIONS
APPLY BY FEBRUARY 15, 2019
Help your student earn valuable funding for innovative or service awards within your school and community. It is easy to apply. Up to US$2,500 per project is available annually to a total of US$10,000. Projects can be built around CAS ideas that also fit our award criteria. Take a moment now and check out the details and successful projects from past years. Pass this opportunity on to the appropriate people who work with student community service!
Click below for more information:
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ACAMIS CULTURAL & ENRICHMENT (ACE) EVENTS
ACE Cultural Convention - March 8-9, 2019
Please register ASAP. This is our signature ACE event and as such it is important that we show our support by sending students. It is strongly encouraged that all ACAMIS member schools send students and it is part of our bylaws that member schools participate in ACE events annually. It looks like it is going to be a great event, so please sign up via this link - https://russellgrant.wixsite.com/xisconvention2019
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Debate for Change Tournament - January 26-27, 2019
This is the first annual ACAMIS Debate for Change. This is a student run event and is funded by a grant they received from ACAMIS. Please share with your colleagues and students. You can find out more here (link to registration in this link)
https://www.acamis.org/student-activities/ace-events/debate-for-change-tournament
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Chinese New Year Holiday Cards Challenge!
It is once again time to celebrate the new year in China! The Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) component of ACAMIS hosts an annual Chinese New Year Greeting Card Challenge. All member schools are invited to participate. A winner will be selected from each grade level and the artworks displayed on the ACAMIS website. Digital greeting cards with the winning images will also be sent out to all member schools.Here is how to participate:
1. Open to all grades and classes (not just art!) from K-12.
2. Participating schools will select a single submission for up to three grade levels (Primary, Middle, and Secondary).
3. Submissions should be medium resolution for digital viewing (around 120 ppi).
4. Submissions should be in either jpeg or pdf format.
5. No student or school names should appear in the greeting card.
6. Please include the words: "ACAMIS" and a positive, new year greeting in the design.
7. Submissions should be made using our Padlet: https://isnsarts.padlet.org/isnsarts/1ylezs216yl6
8. Deadline for submission is Thursday, January 17, 2019.If you have any questions, please email ACAMIS ACE Chair Jennifer Nicklas at jennifer.nicklas@isnsz.com
2. Participating schools will select a single submission for up to three grade levels (Primary, Middle, and Secondary).
3. Submissions should be medium resolution for digital viewing (around 120 ppi).
4. Submissions should be in either jpeg or pdf format.
5. No student or school names should appear in the greeting card.
6. Please include the words: "ACAMIS" and a positive, new year greeting in the design.
7. Submissions should be made using our Padlet: https://isnsarts.padlet.org/isnsarts/1ylezs216yl6
8. Deadline for submission is Thursday, January 17, 2019.If you have any questions, please email ACAMIS ACE Chair Jennifer Nicklas at jennifer.nicklas@isnsz.com
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After more than a year of conversations, in January of this year, we took initial steps to create a new ACAMIS Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) activities in Robotics in addition to Math and Chess competitions. Tapping into the considerable expertise of two ACAMIS members, Barbara Boyer and Tim Boyer from Shanghai American School Pudong Campus, Significant progress was made and in May a Robotics Planning Committee was formed to make all arrangements as soon as possible for the immediate launching of ACAMIS Robotics.
Members of the ACAMIS Robotic Planning Committee are:
Barbara Boyer, Chair, Shanghai American School Pudong
Tim Boyer, Shanghai American School Pudong
Jonathan Rachlin, Daystar Academy Beijing
Danny Yu, Beijing World Youth Academy
Lisa Hawkins, Concordia International School Shanghai
Elizabeth Cooper Newton, Nansha College Preparatory Academy
Larry Ehnert, Shanghai American School Puxi
The plan was to invite past participating ACAMIS member schools and any other ACAMIS members to start ACAMIS Robotics. To our delight, the response was immediate and surprising. Twenty-four ACAMIS member schools responded and are already part of the competitions for this year.
In September, the committee arranged for training sessions for schools-students and coaches in Shanghai (EASTERN), Guangzhou (SOUTHERN) and Beijing (NORTHERN) regions. In October, a special strand of workshops for Robotics was successfully included in the ACAMIS Technology Conference with every session at maximum capacity. The ground work for student activities and collaborative support amongst the coaches were put in place. Already this year ACAMIS Robotics competitions have taken place in the Southern and Eastern Robotics Regions involving about 16 schools and another regional is planned for January 2019 in the Northern region in Beijing. The qualifying championship tournament will be held in Shanghai ICS in February.
If your school is not yet involved and you would like to know more information about how to get involved in ACAMIS Robotics, please contact committee member, Elizabeth Cooper at ecooper@ncpachina.org for further information.
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SPORTS TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS
We are having another good tournament season! Some of the recent highlights of tournaments results and photos are now available on the ACAMIS Athletics Page. For those who completed the tournaments, please email photos/videos to eo@acamis.org
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UPCOMING 2-DAY PD WORKSHOPS
February 21-22, 2019
Participants will be equipped with tools and confidence to communicate more effectively, both interculturally and in writing, as well as to coordinate multiple priorities and problem-solve effectively through different skills, such as obtaining communication and time management skills.
Speaker: Michael Iannini - Affiliated CIS consultant with over 20 years experience supporting organizations to improve their leadership, strategy and governance.
Our Ideal Audience: Executive and Personal Assistants, Receptionists and other relevant administrative staff working in HR, Finance and Marketing Departments.
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Improving Student Health and Wellness through Advoacy
May 17-18, 2019
Mental health is now an issue which is widely recognized at the educational and international level and is found to affect academic performance of children significantly. This workshop will empower school counselors, in particular, on preventive measure on students' mental issues, and provide practical guidance to different stakeholders on how to address needs and crises when they arise.
Speaker: Davy Guo - Counseling psychologist, health and wellness guru, mindfulness classes leader, fitness club runner for children with special needs.
Our Ideal Audience: Improving student health and wellness is everybody's responsibility - counselors, teachers, principals, support staff, and parents.
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Published by the ACAMIS Executive Office
For any inquiries, please contact Angie Lee at eo@acamis.org
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ASSOCIATION OF CHINA AND MONGOLIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS
33 Wai Man Road, Sai Kung, Hong Kong
www.acamis.org