TASIS alumna Leslie Sosnowski was recently recognized by the Carma Foundation for her humanitarian assistance after the Hatian earthquake. Click here to read Leslie's account of her decision to help and her experience in Haiti. The Carma Foundation, founded by Welky Jean (sister of performer and current Hatian Presidential candidate Wyclef Jean), works to improve medical care and housing quality for Haitians.
In a 2007 TASIS Today article about her humanitarian work, Leslie said, "TASIS changed my life. When I arrived there, I was angry and confused. It was disturbing to leave the creature comforts of the US and have my habits and thinking challenged on every level. I am eternally grateful for the seeds of change that were planted in my brain during my senior year. TASIS opened my eyes to the world."
Among the returning alumni to be honored May 7-9 at the Grand Opening of the Palmer Cultural Center: Billy Zane.
From Wikipedia: "William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He is best recognized for his role as Caledon Hockley in the 1997 blockbusterfilmTitanic, as the deranged psychopath Hughie Warriner in Dead Calm, John Justice Wheeler in Twin Peaks, as The Phantom in the 1996 film of the same name based upon the comic booksuperhero, and as Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless, the main antagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series. As of 2010, Zane has appeared in over 50 films and numerous TV-series. Below: Billy’s filmography.
In this space for the next two weeks I’ll share brief previews of a few of the honoree alumni and faculty who will be returning to TASIS for the Grand Opening of the Palmer Cultural Center. First up: Jack Savoretti, who graduated from TASIS in 2000.
From www.jacksavoretti.com: The music of Jack Savoretti (TASIS 2000) has been described as having a “raw, soulful, yearning edge” (Daily Telegraph). Burn Magazine notes “Not since Simon & Garfunkel has a gifted songwriter captured the fragility of the human condition so eloquently.”
A few standout tracks from his recent album Harder Than Easy and earlier in Savoretti’s career have been heard on various television shows and films; “One Day” appears on the Post Grad film soundtrack, and “Wonder” will be featured on an upcoming episode of One Tree Hill, airing September 21st on the CW. Songs from Jack Savoretti’s first album, Between the Minds, have appeared in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, One Tree Hill, and The Cleaner.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we give you another scruffy, Bohemian troubadour in a long and sometimes glorious tradition. Maybe you have seen him busking on a street corner, and stopped for a moment, caught by a delicate web of soulful music spun for any passing ear. Think about Jeff Buckley, Ray LaMontagne, Nick Drake, Ben Harper, Damien Rice. Think of the grit and soul of Richard Ashcroft, the raw emotiveness of Neil Diamond. It's the singer and the song.
Jack Savoretti is something special. Just one man and his guitar. This is pure music from the source.”
Please don't play soccer on the lawn in front of the Palmer Cultural Center.
Those who are too busy to read a long message, or those who like to imagine that Headmasters are always spoil-sports, may stop reading now.
As you have probably seen, TASIS Master Architect David Mayernik (who spoke last week to the MS/HS assembly) is painting three large frescoes on the front of the PCC.
Mr. Mayernik designed the Palestra, Library, Aurora, PCC, Fiammetta, and Lanterna. He is now working on the designs for the Science Center, Palestrina, and Art Building. In the coming years, he will design a student center, underground parking lot, synthetic athletic field, and swimming pool for our campus. This is a man who will have dedicated large chunks of 30 years of his life to TASIS. When not working in Lugano, he teaches Architecture at Notre Dame University, splitting the year between their programs in the U.S. and Rome. Click here to read more about Mr. Mayernik.
Mr. Mayernick is donating (for free) an entire month of his labor and creativity for the frescoes. On most days, he works solidly from 7:30 AM until 6:30 PM, standing and painting in the sun, wind, or rain. Among the ways we can show our respect and gratitude:
Offer to help him with clean-up at the end of the day,
Keep all soccer balls and rough play well away from the PCC lawn.
Apart from the issue of respect, here are some of the practical problems with a ball bouncing anywhere near the frescoes:
Each day the plaster takes about 9 hours to cure, the window of time within which Mr. Mayernik can paint. It takes another 12 hours for that layer of plaster to bond well with the support. If, then, a ball hits it before it is fully adhered, pieces will chip off.
Around his worksite are buckets of dirty water, bags of powdered pigment, and dishes filled with pigments and water. You see the dangers.
Balls leave marks on walls.
Just so you know, the lower two frescoes represent 4 of the 9 Muses. In classical Greek culture, the Muses were the goddesses or spirits who inspire artists. Our words "amuse," "amusement," "museum" and "music" all come from the Muses. Click here to learn more about them and see other pictures.
Mr. Mayernik has chosen to paint the Muses representing "Tragedy" and "Comedy" on the left side of the building, and those representing "History" and "Music" on the other. You see the connection between these 4 Muses and the plays, musicals, concerts, and lectures that will happen inside.
Thanks in advance for the respect and gratitude you show to Mr. Mayernik.
Three students in the AP Microeconomics class of TASIS Business Manager and Faculty Member Max Gygax were recently selected as award winners in the Swiss National Bank’s Annual Iconomix competition. Iconomix is an educational tool created and produced by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and intended for use by teachers and students at Swiss upper secondary schools. The objective of the programme is to help improve the basic economic literacy of the population at large.
From among the thousands of entrants, three TASIS scholars wil accompany Mr. Gygax to Bern for the awards ceremony on May 8. Click on the titles to read more (in Italian) about their projects:
Tomorrow (Monday, March 8th) is the beginning of the 2009-2010 TASIS Environmental Awareness Week.
The Environmental Club (or eClub) has been busy preparing for a week's worth of events to mark the occasion. Click here to see a detailed schedule of this week's events. Additionally, this week's daily events will be described in each of the TASIS Daily Bulletins.
The main eWEEK highlights include...
A week-long photographic contest of the local TASIS environment
A dynamic presentation during Tuesday's assembly
A Wednesday advisor dinner food waste challenge
A thought provoking feature film in Aurora on Thursday night
A No-Dress Code Day on Friday to raise money for the Bellinzona branch of the World Wildlife Fund
The Environmental Club is a small club at TASIS consisting mostly of Day students, but we hope to have a significant impact the TASIS community this week, as well as in the weeks to come.
Best,
Brett & Kelly Merritt (and members of the TASIS eClub)
As a new season springs to life, I want to share a few updates regarding the ES faculty, leadership, and campus.
Teacher retention and hiring – ES Head Nyman Brooks and I collaborated on all ES contracting and recruitment this year. We are very pleased with the results. Teacher retention school-wide (Pre-K-13) is strong, with only 16 of our 111 teachers departing. Elementary School retention is especially impressive; only 4 of 28 teachers will depart in June. Given that some part-time teachers will move into full-time roles, we expect just 3 new faces next year. They include a full-time Music Teacher (who will instruct students in Grades Pre-K-4 and lead after-school music activities) and a new Technology Specialist to teach computer skills to students and integration strategies to faculty.
Administrative support and integration – Aiming to link the ES (and Focolare in particular) more integrally with the rest of the school, we have made several recent changes in our leadership structure and practice:
Nyman teaches a reading lesson in Focolare every morning. This puts him on that campus to start each day and gives him a good perspective on the work of our youngest learners and their teachers.
Blair Anstey has been appointed Assistant Elementary School Head. Her deep experience at TASIS, strong relationships with parents, and excellent organizational skills make her a natural for the role. Blair spends at least half of every day in Focolare.
Nyman is now supported by a formal ES Administrative Team. It includes Blair Anstey, Guia Berera, Sara Soncina, Jutta Mauro, and Judy Williams (who spends her entire day in Focolare).
Starting in August, Blair will join the school-wide TASIS Administrative Team. This group now includes the Admissions Director, Academic Dean, Dean of Student Affairs, Business Manager, Associate Academic Dean, IB Coordinator, and the Heads of the Middle and Elementary Schools. Blair will add another strong voice from the ES, an additional female perspective, and one more smart and energetic person to our team.
Campus improvement – With the active support of the TASIS Board of Directors and in collaboration with the Middle and High Schools, we have been working aggressively to improve the settings for our ES learners.
Since November, students in Hadsall have enjoyed the use of our beautiful new theater in the John E. Palmer Cultural Center (PCC). More quiet, comfortable, and civilized than the tent, it has played host to Friday morning meetings and several other events.On Wednesday, March 10, the Hadsall tent will be dismantled, given to the comune as an appreciated gesture of goodwill, and cleared such that students in Grades 3-6 will have use of their own field for recess. Grass seeding will start immediately. The field should be ready for play by April. The ES music classes will move next Monday to a fully-equipped (and much less noisy) classroom in Aurora.
On Wednesday, March 10, the Hadsall tent will be dismantled, given to the comune as an appreciated gesture of goodwill, and cleared such that students in Grades 3-6 will have use of their own field for recess. Grass seeding will start immediately. The field should be ready for play by April. The ES music classes will move next Monday to a fully-equipped (and much less noisy) classroom in Aurora.
This summer, nearly all classrooms in Hadsall and Focolare will be equipped with LCD and document projectors. This was the highest-priority preference of the ES faculty. Your support of this project through the Parents Annual Fund is much appreciated.
Starting in September, our 5th and 6th Grades will be housed in Aurora (pictured below). The class sizes and audio/video tools there are optimal. Nyman and the teachers are ecstatic at the prospect of uniting the American and Italian sections in what is currently the best-equipped building at TASIS.
Moving the upper ES grades to Aurora makes room enough to unite the 3rd and 4th Grade American and Italian sections in Hadsall. It also creates space for classrooms dedicated to EAL, Learning Support, and Counseling.
Our new Capannone (nicknamed everything from “the Ark” to “the Air-nasium,”) provides dry, covered play space for students aged 4-19. Mr. Volpi and his PE teaching colleagues are happy to have one more reliable space in the sometimes-rainy spring and fall.
All six of these changes have been made possible in part by the M. Crist Fleming Global Village deposits, paid once by returning parents and refunded in their entirety when their students leave the school. These deposits help fund construction of Fiammetta and Lanterna - which in turn makes room for the expansion and improvement of ES facilities.
In his monthly letters to the ES parent body, Nyman has done an excellent job of describing the real heart of the TASIS experience: our curricula for academic and character development. Those letters are accessible on the TASIS web site, or through this link.
Nyman and I both offer our thanks for your recent responses to our online evaluations. Among the unsurprising findings of the surveys so far: I ought to spend more time in the Elementary School. I dearly wish I had more time in Hadsall and Focolare. The Monday and Friday morning assemblies, the weekly faculty meetings, some classroom observations, and as many special events as I can attend - these have been wonderful for me but insufficient for all constituencies in the ES. I look forward to carving out more time with the ES as the year goes on. My wife Beril and I also look forward to becoming TASIS ES parents next year; our son Kenan will enroll in September as a 6th Grader.
On behalf of Nyman and our ES faculty, I thank you once again for continuing to entrust your children to our care. We never forget the enormity of that responsibility, and we look forward to strengthening our school with continued collaboration and increased vigor.
TASIS alumnus Henry Weiss '09 hoped his personal statement on his college application might help his chances of admission. Little did he know that this "college essay" would be published and seen in schools and colleges all over the world!
In an article for American Colleges and Universities magazine (published by the Council for International Schools), Keith Gramling, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Loyola University New Orleans, chose to include Henry's essay as an inspiring example of how the personal statement can help an applicant jump out of the pile.
Congratulations to Henry (whose work can now be read by over 200,000 in more than 175 countries) and thanks to TASIS Director of College Counseling Stacey Einhorn, who helped Henry find his voice - and his collegiate future.
On Thursday, TASIS Board Chairman Lynn Aeschliman hosted 120 men for an elegant dinner in the Villa De Nobili. Why? These were the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, landscapers, and laborers who built the Palmer Cultural Center.
Just as she did after the construction of the Palestra, Library, and Aurora, Lynn sought to show her deep gratitude for the excellent craftsmanship of those who do the actual building of the Global Village. Thanks to Lynn for conveying gratitude from all of us who will use the PCC for decades to come.
In case you haven't yet seen the work of TASIS alumna filmmaker Michele Josue, click to the TASIS Video Library to see her recent posts on "Remembering Mrs. Fleming," "The New York Reunion," "The Global Village Vision," "Happy Holidays" and more.
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A few standout tracks from his recent album Harder Than Easy and earlier in Savoretti’s career have been heard on various television shows and films; “One Day” appears on the Post Grad film soundtrack, and “Wonder” will be featured on an upcoming episode of One Tree Hill, airing September 21st on the CW. Songs from Jack Savoretti’s first album, Between the Minds, have appeared in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, One Tree Hill, and The Cleaner.
Dear colleagues and students,
Tomorrow (Monday, March 8th) is the beginning of the 2009-2010 TASIS Environmental Awareness Week.
