All Roads Lead to TASIS

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A wonderful greeting from TASIS students for the Virtual Beat the Bell day on May 1st - from Big Almaty Lake in Kazakhstan.

In a typical year, “beating the bells” consists of leaving from TASIS at 6:15 AM, cruising down the hill to Lake Lugano, and battling back to campus before the Sant’Abbondio bells chime at 7:00 AM. The grueling run is just under seven kilometers with an elevation change of 340 meters.

“And for those who were unable to be in Lugano, we encouraged as many TASIS community members as possible—students, faculty, alumni, and friends—can to simply be active for 30–45 minutes on May 1. We may be spread out across the world, but community came together virtually and kept the spirit of the Beat the Bells Run alive.

How was the Virtual Beat the Bells this year?

“It was a beautiful morning for the Beat the Bells, actually one of the more beautiful sunrises for the event we have ever had!”

“Loved maintaining the tradition, but miss the entire Beat the Bells gang though!”

“Congratulations for building a healthy interest in Beating the Bells. Getting people together and out early is worth it.”

Link to all the photos and videos sent to TASIS on May 1 from all over the world: Beat the Bells 2020 Photo Gallery

Zoom groups are popular during distance learning! What class is this?
No, this is not a class!! Last night we continued our weekly Family Style Dinner with the TASIS Middle School boarding students. This has been a weekly occurrence for many years...

Zoom groups are popular during distance learning! What class is this?

No, this is not a class!! Last night we continued our weekly Family Style Dinner with the TASIS Middle School boarding students. This has been a weekly occurrence for many years and is the event where we can get dressed up and have a meal as a dorm family. With that said, we had to take to Zoom to reach the students in as close as Basel and as far away as Mexico, Togo, Montenegro, and a handful in Russia and Bulgaria. We will continue to host this event for the rest of the year!

TASISMiddleSchool TASISZooming Covid19 distanceliving
What are your feelings these days as the TASIS school year has been suspended for the high school?
It is incredibly difficult to understand the full extent of what is going on in our society today due to COVID-19. Most if not all of the world is...

What are your feelings these days as the TASIS school year has been suspended for the high school?

It is incredibly difficult to understand the full extent of what is going on in our society today due to COVID-19. Most if not all of the world is suffering from problems due to the virus in their unique way. High school seniors around the world are suffering from the loss of the last three months of what is supposed the best year of their lives. All seniors can relate to this. 

TASIS is an extraordinary place with endless opportunities, and it has something for everyone regardless of where you come from; it is our community, and it is most importantly our home and a safe space for the students to be themselves. I know that I am incredibly grateful and fortunate to have spent the last year and a half attending TASIS. I understand the situation could be a lot worse, and it’s not the end of the world that we aren’t able to finish up our last year of high school on campus. However, I am still upset that I will not be able to wake up again and look out the window and see the gorgeous view of the sun over the lake or walking down the Lanterna steps and seeing all of campus and all of Lugano for miles ahead. 

I am saddened that the community, although still, a community will not be able to come together one last time. I lost the ability to be able to walk across the stage in my white dress and to shake Mr. Nikoloff’s hand and accepting my diploma. I have waited twelve years of hard work, and COVID-19 took away the opportunity for me to celebrate it in person with the class of 2020 who has also worked exceptionally hard to receive their diplomas. We won’t have our senior prom or senior banquet. We don’t even get to sit in the Palmer as a class ever again. 

We the class of 2020 are grieving the loss of months we could’ve been spending with friends who will be going away to university in the fall; grieving the loss of walking across campus or down to Sarah Lee’s, grieving the loss of the last few months of our senior year, a year we worked so incredibly hard for and during but also a year we all looked forward to. So to the class of 2020, although it sucks, make the most of the rest of senior year facetime your friends, spend extra time with your favorite teacher on zoom, look at the pictures of our beautiful campus, and try to connect with one another. We will be together again whether that be at a reunion or just a weird coincidence bumping into a peer on the street. The TASIS community is always there for us. 

So although COVID 19 took away the end of what we thought our senior year was supposed to look like remember all the fantastic times we had this year, last year as many years as you were at TASIS and treasure them, I know I do.

Covid19 TASIS TASISClassof2020
What do you miss most about TASIS? (If you are a senior, please feel free to share what you are feeling as distant learning continues.)
(TASIS Senior) What I miss most about TASIS is the campus vibe. I feel like schoolwork isn’t the same without...

What do you miss most about TASIS? (If you are a senior, please feel free to share what you are feeling as distant learning continues.)

(TASIS Senior) What I miss most about TASIS is the campus vibe. I feel like schoolwork isn’t the same without getting to walk around campus between classes getting to see my friends and teachers. I miss the in-class teaching, the after-school activities, and especially the dorm life. 

As a senior, I feel like the Class of 2020 didn’t get to have a proper goodbye to our high school experience. We didn’t get to have our emotional goodbyes to our friends that we hung our with frequently. We didn’t get to say goodbye to the teachers who have been with us, both teaching and in the dorm. It is a sad knowing that we won’t be able to be together as a full group again, have our prom that we have been looking forward to (especially the ones that didn’t go last year), or be able to walk across the stage and receive our diplomas. 

In the beginning of the year, the tradition of grade level trips was cancelled so our class wasn’t able get a full grade level picture, and now we sadly never will get a group photo. It is a sorrowful feeling to know that our year has ended so abruptly, but I want to remind everyone to stay positive because this is just a little bump in the road, and we all have bright futures ahead of us and we will always have our friends that we’ve formed at TASIS. I miss you Lanterna girls… always remember to wash your dishes ;) 

lanternalove TASIS TASISClassof2020

How was your spring break? Did you have a nice staycation since Covid 19 and the lockdown have prevented travel?
During these unprecedented, uncertain and unusual times, what happened during my Spring Break was inexplicably incredible. This ‘great pause’ provided me the greatest gift, time.

Time for self-care and introspection. Time to reconnect with friends and family in a meaningful way which has been chicken soup for my spirit and soul. Time to explore baking. I baked Russian Easter bread ‘kulich’. I accidentally burned the first batch but the second one came out very tasty!  And time for long walks and hikes.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” - John Muir

Thankfully ,Switzerland has not banned walking outside, which has helped limit developing cabin fever. My husband and I have been hiking and discovering many new trails. It was nice to literally, “stop and smell the roses and tulips and daisies.” It’s so quiet around, you can even hear the bees buzzing.

How was your spring break? boring, fun, spent sleeping?
It was certainly unusual. We, as family, are used to travel far from home every chance we get. This year it was very different. We couldn’t travel, visit new places or even go back to the same...

How was your spring break? boring, fun, spent sleeping? 

It was certainly unusual. We, as family, are used to travel far from home every chance we get. This year it was very different. We couldn’t travel, visit new places or even go back to the same places, however, this did have some advantages. It normally happens that before leaving for spring break in Lugano the trees are still leafless and the grass is plain, and when we come back it’s all colorful and summery. This year we got to see it happening, day after day we could see flowers bloom, daisies growing, leaves appearing, and hawks flying. 

We also took the time to throw away things we didn’t use and replace them with old things we liked and couldn’t find. I went for some walks in the green which really helped take my mind somewhere else. Being surrounded by nature and having a garden was probably the best gift. 

Of course I’ve seen new movies, nearly 15, mostly Italian from the 1960s and mostly with Vittorio De Sica, Marcello Mastroianni and of course Sophia Loren. I would of never chosen to stay home rather then travelling, but now that I was forced to I must admit that it was not as bad as I imagined, certainly more productive! 

StayingHome staycation TASIS
This photo says it all! Skiing in Crans Montana…how is the week going so far?
Great! We have started our ski lessons, it isn’t too cold, and there is snow in the forecast. We just hope the winds and amount of snow that comes doesn’t keep us off the...

This photo says it all! Skiing in Crans Montana…how is the week going so far?
Great! We have started our ski lessons, it isn’t too cold, and there is snow in the forecast. We just hope the winds and amount of snow that comes doesn’t keep us off the slopes!

(As it worked out, there was part of one day during the week that conditions closed down the mountain, but the new snow was great!)

Link to TASIS High School Ski Adventure Photo Gallery!

There is a hint in this photograph that you are about to start a school trip somewhere! The white sack lunch bag is a telltale sign of impending travel. Where are you two going today?
It is High School Ski Adventure time! We are going to Crans...

There is a hint in this photograph that you are about to start a school trip somewhere! The white sack lunch bag is a telltale sign of impending travel. Where are you two going today?
It is High School Ski Adventure time! We are going to Crans Montana for a week of skiing and snowboarding.

Are you excited?
Definitely. It is time for a break, and what a great opportunity to be able to ski in the Swiss Alps for a week!

TASIS HighSchooltravel
Looks like an adventure about to start! Where are you all going?
We are the WISER Global Service Group, and we are about to board a bus for the airport! We are going to Kenya to work with WISER.
WISER is a girls-only boarding secondary school in...

Looks like an adventure about to start! Where are you all going?
We are the WISER Global Service Group, and we are about to board a bus for the airport! We are going to Kenya to work with WISER. 

WISER is a girls-only boarding secondary school in Muhuru Bay, Kenya, a struggling rural community on Lake Victoria. We will be assisting at local primary schools, educate the community on the benefits of purified water, visit local medical clinics, and work closely with the WISER school.

Are you nervous? Excited?
Both. Everyone is a bit nervous, but our trip leaders have been there, and a couple of the students are returning for a second visit. See you in a week!

Your mother, Sara Rosso Cipolini, was the speaker for the TASIS Speaker Series last night wasn’t she? 
Yes, she was. I thought she did a great job!

Background information for Sara Rosso Cipolini - Since 2008, she has served as the president of Planhotel SA, a company for which she was Managing Director from 1997–2007 and which specializes in resorts ownership, management, supervising, planning, and development of new projects. This group now comprises 10 resorts, hotels, and spas in Kenya, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Maldives, Italy, and Switzerland. Ms. Cipilini also sits on the TASIS Board of Directors.

Were you surprised by her presentation or had you heard all of her stories before?
Actually, it was a curious thing, I did hear some new stories. Questions were asked that I would not normally ask since I live the life with my family. Someone asked her ‘What were the challenges of being a woman in the workplace when you were just starting out?” It was not a question I had ever really thought about and it made me think.

Were you proud?
Yes, of course. She has big dreams, and there is still a long way to go, but it will happen.

What are you two up to? You are always standing here outside the MS Art Room!
We have French in the art room, and today we have a big test. It is quiet here, and we are able to study our French together. Sometimes it is raining or cold, too, and so...

What are you two up to? You are always standing here outside the MS Art Room! 
We have French in the art room, and today we have a big test. It is quiet here, and we are able to study our French together. Sometimes it is raining or cold, too, and so we wait here for class to start.