ISSUE # 23

SY1617
MIDDLE SCHOOL

WEEK OF:
Friday Bulletin Weekly Publication for Middle School Parents

FEBRUARY 13 17
Inside this issue:
Dear Parents, Athletics & Activities 3
The Middle School CWW week is always an action-packed event and this year was no differ-
ent! The students are all back in Manila after travelling to over 22 different sites both locally After-School Activities 6
and in the provinces. Many of our Grade 5 students went away from home for the first time
to Camayan Beach Resort and have all returned with positive experiences and tales to
tell. This was also a learning experience for many of the Grade 5 parents as they learned to Parent Community
Athletics & Activities (ATAC)
Association 6
let the kite string out a little and given their child the opportunity to experience greater
freedom, responsibility and independence.
AMIS Honor Band Festival 7
Our CWW experiences depend upon the collaboration of so many different stakeholders -
students, parents, teachers, secretaries, leadership. However, I would like to take the time
in this weeks bulletin to highlight a few individuals who have really played a pivotal role in Athletics & &
Admissions Activities (ATAC)
Advancement 11
the planning, organization and execution of this years CWW trips:

Cory Willey - Student Life Coordinator and Grade 8 Program Leader. ISM Upcoming Events 12
It is Corys role to oversee and coordinate all the CWW events across the mid-
dle school.
He also works very closely with the 10 different teachers who act as individual
site leaders for G8.
Monica Villanueva - Grade 7 Program Leader
Wayne Hamaguchi - Grade 6 Program Leader
GUARDIANSHIP AGREEMENTS
Karoli Melwani - Grade 5 Program Leader
The Grade Level Program Leaders coordinate the different CWW experiences When both parents are going to be
at each grade level and are the logistical masterminds who work tirelessly away temporarily, It is important for
behind the scenes. They start planning the February CWW events in October them to notify the Middle School
and really are the pillars of our CWW program! Office in advance, stating who will be
responsible for the student and who
the school should contact in case of
Over the next week we will be showing our appreciation to these individuals and, if you can
emergency. Domestic helpers or
offer them a word of thanks or a quick thank-you email, Im sure your kind words would emergency contacts in Powerschool
make their day! do not qualify as guardians. For more
information please contact the Middle
Below is a summary of the coming weeks events for MS: school office.

THIS WEEK: E-MAIL:

Monday, February 13th [email protected]
School Photos:
Students will be given their school photo during Advisory on Monday. PHONE:
Please remember to ask your child to share it with you! 840-8550
840-8553
Tuesday, February 14th PLEASE CLICK HERE TO
Deadline for Math Honors Applications: DOWNLOAD THE TEMPORARY
Who: Interested students in G6, G7 and G8 GUARDIANSHIP AGREEMENT FORM
Please submit application forms to Ms. Grace in the MS office or you may pick up from the MSO.
 Friday, February 17th Who: G5 - G8 students - please note that a per-
No School for Students: mission slip will be forthcoming.
This is a faculty in-service day and so there are Purpose:
no classes for students. To celebrate with 85 visiting G7 and G8
AMIS Band Students!
COMING UP SOON: To build MS community and provide a
Tuesday, February 28th safe and fun environment for our stu-
MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Parent dents to socialize with each other.
Coffee
Location: LT NEED TO KNOW:
Time: 7:45 - 9:00 School Photos:
Who: G3 - G10 parents Tino Ley, our official school photographer, will be on campus
Why: To learn more about these standardized on Tuesday, February 28th to take make-up photos of students
assessments and how ISM uses the data. who were absent or who are new to our school. For those
parents who want to place an order, you may still do so.
Yearbook Photo Retakes: Please, just come by the MS Office to drop off the payment
Location: Room 1123 and the form. This needs to be done by Monday at 12:00
noon so we can adjust the schedule for Tuesday if necessary.
Time: 7:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Who: New students and those students who
Grade 8 to Grade 9 Transition (March 2nd):
were sick when the photos were taken last se-
Mark your calendars for a special parent session for the cur-
mester.
rent Grade 8 parents regarding the upcoming transition to
The MS office will inform students if they are on High School!
the photo retake list.
Kind Regards,
Friday, March 10th
Rachel Harrington, Middle School Prinicpal
MS Party: Amanda Pekin, Assistant Middle School Principal
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

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Our Bearcat athletes and coaches had a great IASAS experi- community support to host student athletes for IASAS Bad-
ence last week, bringing back 3 gold and 2 silver medals. minton (April 5-9 need 80 beds- online badminton housing
registration ) and for IASAS Golf (April 8 need 60 beds one
Thanks again to all at ISM who housed visiting basketball night only- online golf housing registration ) Please assist if
athletes and to our parent/community supporters and facul- you can help house for these upcoming IASAS events in
ty who supported by bringing classes to watch the basket- April. Online housing form links for these events are availa-
ball. ble as listed above and are at IASAS housing and hosting
In 3,4,5,6 years time I have no doubt there was a few mini tabs on ATAC blog or under the helpful shortcuts on ATAC
bearcats in the stands watching and cheering that will have blog main page. Should you require further information
set their mind to be a part of ISM basketball when they get about hosting for IASAS events go tohttp://atac.ism-
to HS and to represent ISM at IASAS. There are many direct online.org/iasas/iasas-housing/ or contact ATAC office or
benefits to hosting IASAS and there are also so many intangi- email [email protected]
ble benefits for our community and for our young ES/MS
bearcats to see what is possible to be a part of in future Upcoming events:
years. Our athletes on display today light the fire for the (full match schedule available at ATAC Game schedule)
young Bearcats watching in the stands for tomorrow Feb 11 MS Tennis at ISM
Feb 11 HS Academic Bowl at Brent
Great results from our teams and well done to all our faculty Feb 12 Baseball at Brent/Softball clinic at ISM
coaches/AICs who attended the tournaments: Feb 13,14,15 MS S3 tryouts(Badminton/Track)
Swimming: Holly Chapman, Hazel Benipayo, Rod Sun, Feb 15 HS S2 Sports awards for all S2 teams.
Carly Relf Lofthouse 5:30pm.
Tennis: Wayne Hamaguchi, Dave Allen, Kim Cheah, Jen Feb 18 Track meet at Brent
Saret, Czarina Arevelo Feb 18 Badminton at Brent
Rugby: James Doble, Andy Brown, Bill Brown and ISM Feb 18-19 Philippine Cup Gymnastics meet
Athletic trainer Cy Gonzaga Mar 4 Track meet at Brent
Touch: Steve Dodd, Mj Durkin, Fran Howarth Mar 4 ISM Chess Invitational
Basketball: Carey Nourse, Mark Thompson, Eric Walde, Mar 4-5 Bangkok Splash swim meet for Sailfish
Jason Juteau, Doug McQueen Mar 10-12 Pre IASAS exchange weekend
Mar 18 British School Gymnastics meet
RESULTS: Mar 18 Golf team at Mt. Malarayat
Boys Rugby Gold Mar 24 ISM twilight track meet
Girls Touch Gold Mar 25 Golf team at Mt. Malarayat tbc?
Boys Tennis Gold Apr 1-2 ISB Bangkok Gymnastics meet
Girls Swimming Silver April 5-8 S3 IASAS Championships Badminton/
Girls Basketball Silver Golf at ISM, Track at ISB, Baseball/Softball at
Boys Swimming 4th SAS
Boys Basketball 5th Apr 22-23 Sailfish International meet at ISM
Girls Tennis 6th May 6 ISM Goodwill Gymnastics Meet
May 12-14 Jakarta MS Mixed Touch tourna-
ISM HS SPORTS AWARDS FOR ALL HS S2 TEAMS IS WED FEB ment
15TH 5:30PM AT THE LOFTHOUSE.
To find out details of all the Bearcats matches mid week and
Tryouts and practice schedule for S3 sports are posted. S3 on weekends go to the ATAC game schedule page- link is
HS sports are (Golf, Track and Field, Baseball/Fast Pitch Soft- provided below and follow the instructions to find out when
ball, Badminton) and where our Bearcat teams will be playing. The ATAC
(Athletics) Game schedule is housed within the parent portal
S3 MS sports are (Track and Field, Mixed Touch and Badmin- to ensure secure access for ISM parents http://atac.ism-
ton) S3 tryouts for MS will take place after CWW week! online.org/schedules/
Please take the time to navigate the ATAC blog http://
Please note a Baseball and Fast Pitch Softball development atac.ism-online.org/ as it is our one stop shop for all infor-
program for MS boys and girls will take place during S4 from mation related to the competitive ISM sports program.
end of April until end of May.

Housing requests for future IASAS events- We are calling for

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For our All Year Round teams- Wall Climbing, Chess, Judo, Parents and students please take some time to peruse the
TKD, Aikido, Table Tennis -As these programs are year round ATAC blog it has a wide variety of information and links to
it is possible for students to join during the year as long as our sports and activities program. If you have any questions
space is available. See link to information and schedule to regarding the competitive program of sports at ISM after
attend and meet the coaches. All year round sports reading the information on the blog please send an email
teams See schedule for our All year round to [email protected] and I will endeavour to assist you
teams program here as best I can.

Please note the practice times for ATAC programs for SY 16- Bearcat Den- drop by our fantastic spirit store. There is a a
17 are as follows: ATAC all year round teams- 3:15-4:30. For range of products and items to purchase including items
our Sailfish swim team program please check the Sailfish from our service partners. Bearcat Den hours of operation-
blog for information http://sailfish.ism-online.org/ 7am-4pm Mon-Fri.

ATAC Gymnastics team practices 3:10-4:50 M/W/F Best Regards,

Mark Pekin
All HS seasonal teams practice from 3:05- 4:50pm on their Director of Athletics and Activities
respective practice afternoons. MS seasonal teams practice
from 3:15-4:45pm.In order to clear the campus prior
to 5pmall after school programs will conclude by 4:50pm or
earlier. The last bus is 4:55pm this is due to the ever in-
creasing traffic concerns in our area.

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 Upcoming visit of USA Collegiate Fast proudly shares, "My passion and commitment to the sport, and
pitch/Baseball coaches to ISM the next generation of female athletes, empowered me to open
Pro Form Camps & Training, Pro Form Fastpitch and Pro Form
With the wonderful support and contacts from ISM Softball Apparel. Since May 2015, Pro Form Fastpitch teams have had
Coach Angela Respecki ISM has been fortunate to secure the 17 athletes who have been granted college scholarship commit-
services of three outstanding fast pitch coaches, one of which ments. Our coaching staff continues to do an amazing job de-
also has an extensive baseball coaching background. The vis- veloping softball players into great players, as well as produce
iting coaches from Texas will be at ISM to work with our HS powerful and confident women in our society."
players throughout the week from Feb 12-16 at practice ses-
sions and in some PE classes to get the new IASAS sports of Fast Coach Bruce is a well-rounded softball/baseball coach with al-
Pitch Softball and Baseball off to a solid start for our Bearcat most 20 years experience. He has coached every age group
athletes. from 10u Coach Pitch to 18u and has coached many athletes
currently playing at the collegiate level, Coach Bruce's strengths
Below is a brief bio of the visiting coaches. It is going to be a are hitting and fielding instruction. Upon meeting Coach Bruce
great learning experience for our players and coaches and we it is evident that his "passion for this game burns as bright as
look forward to giving them a big Bearcat Welcome! ever".
Coach Gay McNutt
- a decorated collegiate player as well as a veteran with 32 Coach Shawn Andaya-Pulliam
years of coaching experience. Of those 32 years, 22 were spent - is originally from Stockton, California. She was recruited and
as a Division I college coach. She spent 6 years as the head earned a scholarship to attend/play softball at Texas A&M Uni-
coach in the Southland Conference with Northwestern State versity in College Station, Texas. Coach Shawn pitched all four
years and led her team to win the 1987 NCAA National Softball
University before taking the reins at University of Southern
Championship. Coach Shawn earned honors as a three Time
Miss for seven seasons, and nine seasons at Stephen F. Austin
State University, in all, McNutts teams have won eight confer- NCAA All-American. She is a member of the Texas A&M Softball
ence championships and finished in the leagues Top 3 on 10 Hall of Fame as well as the First Softball player inducted into
other occasions, with four NCAA Regional Tournament Appear- the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. She is a member of the
ances. NCAA Division I Softball 25th Anniversary Team along with
NCAA Division I All-Decade Team
McNutt has been honored numerous times in her coaching .
career. She was named Conference Coach of the Year at Ste- At Texas A&M University, Coach Shawn served as the Assistant
phen F. Austin in 2010, and was a three-time Southland Confer- Softball Coach from 1992-1994 and the Director of Major Gifts
ence Coach of the Year at Northwestern State and took Confer- from 1996-2017.
ence USA Coach of the Year honors in 2004.
Coach Shawn has a strong sense of community service. Cur-
McNutt was a four-year starter behind the plate at Texas A&M, rently Coach Shawn is the United States Liaison for VOOM
starting for the Aggies from 1982-1985. She was named to the Foundation, a humanitarian medical organization that travels to
all-region team each of those four years and earned All- Nigeria several times a year conducting open-heart medical
American honors in 1985. McNutt, who served as team captain missions.
in each of her last two seasons at A&M, helped lead the Aggies
to a national title in 1982 and 83, and a second-place finish at Coach Shawn is excited to travel to Manila and shares what this
the Womens College World Series in 1984. McNutt was induct- trip means to her: "I cannot begin to express how grateful I am
ed into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 2011. for this opportunity to visit the Philippines and to be able to
share my gift and softball knowledge in my grandfathers native
McNutt now works for Schutt Sports as the Business Develop- land. Both of my grandfathers came to America from the Phil-
ment Manager for Baseball/Softball. ippines as children in search of a better life and opportunity. I
grew up in Stockton, California and through softball I was able
Coach Kenny Bruce to rise above my difficult circumstances and be the first in my
-is currently a girls fastpitch coach and operates a softball or- entire family to obtain a college degree from a top 10 universi-
ganization in Texas. Coach Bruce has had a passion for and be- ty. I have also achieved athletic success surpassing my wildest
gan playing baseball at a very young age. He was fortunate to dreams. I have been a NCAA Division I National Champion, All-
have the ability to have played at the collegiate level, as well as American and nominated the first woman softball player in-
in the DBA and NABA. Coach Bruce recognized that his interest ducted into the Texas Sport Hall of Fame. None of this would be
for fastpitch softball began out of curiosity to help his possible without the courage, strength and wisdom of my
daughter McKenna, now 17, when she started playing at age 4. grandfathers and their plight to move our family forward. I live
He remembers falling in love with the game from the very first my life trying to create these same type opportunities for oth-
pitch. Coach Bruce quickly began coaching, giving private hitting ers. Opportunities change lives!
lessons, as well as assisting at camps all over USA.Coach Bruce
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 ISM to Host AMIS MS Honor Band Festival- Host Families Needed
What is AMIS?
ISM is pleased to host the Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) Middle School Honor
Band Festival between the March 8th and 12th, 2017. AMIS is a by-audition orchestra of 86 students
and the 2017 participants come from a mix of 17 different international schools in East and South East
Asia. The festival involves workshops for AMIS students run by an international conductor and culmi-
nates in a wonderful concert, which you are invited to attend at 5pm on Saturday, March 11th in the
ISM Fine Arts Theatre.

How can your family help?

One of the most important aspects of hosting a successful festival is providing home stays for the vis-
iting Middle School musicians. We are hoping your family is happy to host students from the visiting
schools. There are several benefits to hosting:
This is an excellent opportunity for ISM students to forge international friendships. These often
last well beyond MS into HS and even College where international students often connect in vari-
ous social and musical organizations.
Musicians benefit from hosting an AMIS student because they gain a clear perspective of what the
festival involves, hopefully inspiring them to work hard at their own musical talents.
Hosting keeps the costs of running the event at a manageable level for families. Many ISM stu-
dents have already benefited (or will do so in the future) from home stays in other countries for
events such as ISTA, AMIS and IASAS trips. Therefore, hosting an AMIS Band student is a chance to
repay past and future kindnesses!

If you think you can help with hosting, please read the attached information, fill out the hosting form
and return to the Fine Arts Office, either in person or via email to [email protected].

Link to AMIS Band Hosting Information and Sign Up Form

If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact me using the following infor-
mation:
Marsha Hillman
Fine and Performing Arts Director
International School Manila
[email protected]
+6328408400 ex 631
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 Rustic Pathways Summer Trips 2017
Dear Students and Parents,

ISM has now worked for three years with Rustic Pathways to offer students, unique exciting, educational, adventurous and ser-
vice based trips in Thailand, China and Morocco over the ISM summer holiday period. This year we will be offering amazing trips
to China, Thailand and this time Tanzania! The Rustic Pathways experience is now running under the auspices of the rebranded
and expanded Bearcats Summer Academy.

Here are the websites with the details, costs and payments.
Password is - ism

HS/ MS Shanghai Mandarin Immersion:

http://groupsarchive.rusticpathways.com/trips/ismchinese2017/

HS Tanzania Service and Safari:

http://groupsarchive.rusticpathways.com/trips/ismtanzania2017/

HS Thailand Medical Service:

http://groupsarchive.rusticpathways.com/trips/ismmedical2017

MS Thailand Elephants:
http://groupsarchive.rusticpathways.com/trips/ismelephants2017

Questions about the programs should be directed to our rep-

resentative at RP
Nikita Prabhakar [email protected]

Next week we will offer a number of opportunities for you to

meet and discuss the trip with RP representation Evan John-
son, however the critical meeting will be the evening of
Wednesday, January 18th, in the AMR from 6pm.

HS Parent Coffee 17th January, LT, 10.30 am 17th January

Lunchtimes, outside the Kantina, 11 am to 1 pm 17th to
the 18th January
HS Whole School Assembly, FAT, 11 am to 11.35 am 18th
January
Rustic Pathways Parents Meeting, AMR, 6 pm to 7
pm 18th January

Regards,
William Brown
Assistant Superintendent

Bearcat Summer Academy

International School Manila
University Parkway, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 1634
T: 840 8448; 840 8400 loc 448
E: [email protected]

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