CSIHSIS Beads For Life!

On January 30, 2008, thanks to the Burgos Advisory, through a bead party, the CSIHSIS community helped to raise money for BEADFORLIFE. By selling beads and beaded jewelry made by Ugandan woman from colorful recycled paper, we helped impoverished African women leave poverty behind.

Each bead is handmade and unique. Beaders are woment living with HIV/AiIDS as well as refugees displaced by a devastating civil war in northern Uganda. Many are widows caring for their own children as well as AIDS orphans. In spite of what seem to be insurmoutable challenges, the beaders are resilient, hard working, and resourceful.

Beaders are hopeful that with people like those from our school community, they will "eradicate poverty one bead at a time." All proceeds from our sale of beads and beaded jewelry, as well as from the lunch sale (with delicious food cooked by our very own Mr. Aziz) will help to support community development projects in health, education, employment, and housing to the impverished in Uganda.

To help our community eradicate extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished Africand and our students, who are concerned world citizens, join us on February 7, 2008 at Report Card Night where our BEADFORLIFE party continues!

To learn more about BEADFORLIFE and how you can help, visit their website: http://www.beadforlife.org/index.html

WELCOME TO THE NEW SEMESTER!

Our new semester began today with an abbreviated class schedule so that we could have time for a BIG TEACH! Teachers planned a BIG TEACH so that our whole school could gather together to celebrate our students' first semester achievements, discuss the special programs and events we are looking forward to second semester (international travel to Costa Rica and Europe and an exchange with Germany; French students visiting our school; the start of the CSIHSIS Chapter of National Honor Society; a Craft Club; our annual Talent show; and more!) and so that our staff and students could share words of wisdom, encouragement and inspiration.

For this BIG TEACH staff was asked to select a favorite quote, poem or original writing to share with our school community. I would like to share with you some of our words to students. We welcome students, parents, friends to share additional thoughts, quotes and poems with us as we embark on what we hope will be a fun, interesting, and successful semester for each of our students.

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."
-Henry David Thoreau

"I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to something that I can do."
-Edward Everett Hale

"It is hard to fail. It is worse to have never tried to succeed." -Teddy Roosevelt

"Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children."
-Albert Einstein

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away."
-Anonymous

"Every million mile journey begins with just one step." -Lao ZiI

"Minds are like parachutes, they only work when they are open."

Mrs. Krikorian

She saved me. When I arrived in 6th grade,
a known criminal, the new teacher
asked me to stay after school the first day, she said
I’ve heard about you. She was a tall woman,
with a deep crevice between her breasts,
and a large, calm nose. She said,
This is a special library pass.
As soon as you finish your hour’s work—
that hour’s work that took ten minutes
and then the devil glanced into the room
and found me empty, a house standing open—
you can go to the library. Every hour
I’d zip through the work in a dash and slip out of my
seat as if out of God’s side and sail
down to the library, solo through the empty
powerful halls, flash my pass
and stroll over to the dictionary
to look up the most interesting word
I knew, spank, dipping two fingers
into the jar of library paste to
suck that tart mucilage as I
came to the page with the cocker spaniel’s
silks curling up like the fine steam of the body.
After spank, and breast, I’d move on
to Abe Lincoln and Helen Keller,
safe in their goodness till the bell, thanks
to Mrs. Krikorian, amiable giantess
with the kind eyes. When she asked me to write
a play, and direct it, and it was a flop, and I
hid in the coat-closet, she brought me a candy-cane
as you lay a peppermint on the tongue, and the worm
will come up out of the bowel to get it.
And so I was emptied of Lucifer
and filled with school glue and eros and
Amelia Earhart, saved by Mrs. Krikorian.
And who had saved Mrs. Krikorian?
When the Turks came across Armenia, who
slid her into the belly of a quilt, who
locked her in a chest, who mailed her to America?
And that one, who saved her, and that one—
who saved her, to save the one
who saved Mrs. Krikorian, who was
standing there on the sill of 6th grade, a
wide-hipped angel, smokey hair
standing up weightless all around her head?
I end up owing my soul to so many,
to the Armenian nation, one more soul someone
jammed behind a stove, drove
deep into a crack in a wall,
shoved under a bed. I would wake
up, in the morning, under my bed—not
knowing how I had got there—and lie
in the dusk, the dustballs beside my face
round and ashen, shining slightly
with the eerie comfort of what is neither good nor evil.
-Sharon Olds

There are 24 hours in a day. Do what you have to do with 8 of them (school). Do what you want to do with another 8 (homework and fun) Do what you need to do with the remaining 8 (sleep) and you will find that your life will run smoothly. TRY IT.

I Never Said I Wasn't Difficult -Sara Holbrook

I never said I wasn't difficult,I mostly want my way.

Sometimes I talk back or pout and don't have much to say.

I've been known to yell, "So what,"when I'm stepping out of bounds.

I want you there for me and yet,I don't want you around.

I wish I had more privacy and never had to be alone. I want to run away.

I'm scared to leave my home. I'm too tired to be responsible.

I wish that I were boss.

I want to blaze new trails. I'm terrified that I'll get lost.

I wish an answer came every time you asked, "why?"I wish you weren't a know-it-all.Why do you question when I'm bored?

I won't be cross-examined. I hate to be ignored.

I know. I shuffle messages like cards, some to show and some to hide.But, if you think I'm hard to live withyou should try me on inside.

“Prayer For The Children”

We pray for the children who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks, who through tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead in, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children who sleep with the dog and bury the goldfish, who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And we pray for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can't find any bread to steal, who don't have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser, whose monsters are real.

We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub, who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone, whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren't spoiled by anybody, who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must, who we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance. For those we smother and...for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

-Ina J. Hughes (an American school teacher)

Pause and Reflect

Conversation is the natural way we humans think together.
We can't be creative if we refuse to be confused.
It's not differences that divide us. It is our judgments about each other that do.

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

Am I becoming someone I respect?

Reality doesn't change itself. We need to act.

Please inspire our community by sharing your thoughts with us!

WE'RE PROUD OF OUR STUDENTS' SUCCESS!

Share in our joy as we celebrate our students' success on the January Regents Exams! 96% of our juniors passed the Regents Examination in English Language Arts, a two day, 6 hour exam, with two students achieving scores of 100% and 30 students achieving scores of above 90. All of these students were first time takers. We had an 82% passing rate on the Living Environment Exam, with 88% passing for first time takers. On the Regents Examination in Math A we had 65% passing with 71% of first time takers passing. Congratulations to all our freshman, sophomore, and junior students who took and passed Regents and RCT Examinations and to all of our teachers who support their learning everyday.

We thank both our students and our teachers for all of their hard work and look forward to more success in June. Please congratulate your children on their success and continue to support them.

CSIHSIS Wins World Savvy Grant!

World Savvy, an organization whose mission is to educate and engage young people in community and world affairs, has just gone national with its Global Youth Media and Arts Program. World Savvy is currently building partnerships throughout the Big Apple and, thanks to our very own Clara Gagliardi, they are building a partnership with CSIHSIS. The 2008 Media and Arts Program, which will be implemented in our sophomore art classes, focuses on Immigration and Identity. Throughout the Spring, our sophomore students will create new works of art based on the global theme and will then showcase their work in the culminating Festival in June, 2008.

Through this program Ms. Gagliardi will be supported with professional development, our students will have the opportunity to work with World Savvy educators and other guests who will visit their art classes, and will deepen their knowledge about immigration while creating their works of art. We are very excited about the rich learning opportunities our participation in Global Youth Media and Arts Program provides and about having our students participate in this program.

For more information about World Savvy visit http://www.worldsavvy.org/.

PHOTOS FROM PERU: CATHERINE'S VISIT TO OUR SCHOOL!

Catherine having dinner with one of the Peruvian families she lived with while on exchange. Family time is sacred in traditional Peruvian families. It is important for all family members to eat dinner together.

Catherine also worked with Peruvian children to teach them English. Aren't they beautiful?

Check out the prize winning sheep!!!

Catherine really helped all of understand what it is like to live as a member of another culture and truly experience it as opposed to just being a tourist and seeing the sights.

We hope that you too will be willing to share your international experiences with our community. b

CSIHSIS EXAM HONOR CODE!

The following Honor Code will be in place for all in-class, final, and Regents Examinations. We are confident that all students will abide by the code and complete their exams to the best of their ability with integrity.

CSIHSIS EXAM ADMINISTRATION HONOR CODE

All CSIHSIS students who participate in exams must agree to the following policies, as originally laid out by the New York State Board of Regents.

· Students must agree to show proctors all materials they bring into the examination room as they enter, or at any time during the exam. At no time may students use or obtain any unauthorized notes or printed material that would give the student unfair advantage.

· In other words … DO NOT, FOR ANY REASON, ATTEMPT TO USE ANY NOTES OR OTHER MATERIALS DURING THE TEST.

· Students are not permitted to obtain information from or give information to other students in any way during the examination. If you suspect that such an attempt has occurred, warn the students that any further attempts will result in the termination of their examinations. Students may be moved to a different location if necessary. If these steps fail to end attempts to obtain or give information, the principal will be informed immediately and the students’ examinations will be terminated … No score may be earned by a student who has attempted to obtain aid from or give aid to another students or has otherwise committed fraud during an examination.

· In other words … DO NOT, FOR ANY REASON, TALK WITH ANOTHER STUDENT OR COMMUNICATE IN ANY WAY WHILE IN THE EXAMINATION ROOM.

· Students may not use any communication device while taking an examination, either in the room or while on a break. This includes, but is not limited to cellular telephones, pagers, MP3 players, etc. If you have a device that rings or vibrates during the exam, DO NOT ANSWER IT or look at it. You must turn these devices off and store them away from you for the duration of the exam. Your examination will be invalidated and no score may be earned if you use any such device while in a testing room.

· In other words … DO NOT, FOR ANY REASON DO ANYTHING THAT COULD LOOK LIKE YOU ARE USING A TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICE WHILE IN THE EXAMINATION ROOM.

· Students must only turn in their exams if they are able to honestly state “I do hereby affirm, at the close of this examination, that I had no unlawful knowledge of the questions or answers prior to the examination and that I have neither given nor received assistance in answering any of the questions during the examination.”

· In other words … DO WHAT IS RIGHT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN HONESTLY SAY YOUR EXAM IS YOUR WORK, AND YOUR WORK ONLY.

Please sign and print your name below to record that you have reviewed this honor code and will abide by these expectations at all times during exams throughout your time at CSIHSIS, including finals, class tests, and Regents Exams.

__________________ ___________________ ____________
Printed Name Signature Date

JANUARY REGENTS SCHEDULE

January 22 Tuesday	January 23 Wednesday	January 24 Thursday	January 25 Friday
9:00 am	9:00 am	9:00 am	9:00 am
Global History & Geography RCT in Writing	Spanish Earth Science RCT in US History & Government	US History & Government RCT in Reading	Living Environment Mathematics B RCT in Global Studies
1:00 pm	1:00 pm	1:00 pm
ELA Session One RCT in Mathematics	ELA Session Two RCT in Science	Mathematics A Chemistry Physics

JANUARY FINAL EXAM AND SCHEDULE

January 2^nd – January 16^th - Regular Classes

January 17^th

8:30 – 11:15 – English Final (with review time)

11:15 – 12:30 LUNCH and studying

12:30 -3:20 – Science Final (with review time)

January 18^th

8:30 – 11:15 – Social Studies Final (with review time)

11:15- 12:30 LUNCH and studying

12:30 – 3:20 Math Final (with review time)

January 21^st – NO SCHOOL

Please remember that in order to help you prepare for Regents exams, all final s contain Regents style questions. You will need to bring both #2 pencils and pens to each of your exams.

Good Luck!

ABORIGINAL ART AT CSIHSIS!

If you have been fortunate enough to visit our school recently, I am sure you have noticed the beautiful new displays of student art work. Recently, under the tutelage of our talented art teacher, Ms. Clara Gagliardi, our freshman students learned about aboriginal art, the art of the indigenous people of Australia. Throughout this unit students not only learned about the typical images and colors the Aborigines use in their art and why they use these natural images and colors, but also learned about and discussed the concept of social justice and how it relates to indigenous populations using the Aborigines of Australia as a case study. Interestingly, during this time, on two different occasions our school was visited by Australians; first by a group of 16 superintendents and other educators and then by a girls basketball team from an Australian boarding school. This also gave our students an opportunity to engage in discussions with Australians and have some of their questions about the land down under answered.

This is just one example of how our teachers internationalize the curriculum in each subject area and of how our students are delving into important global issues and learning about them from diverse perspectives. If you have not as yet seen this beautiful display, please come in and visit when you drop your child off in the morning or when you pick him/her up in the afternoon.

I invite our 9th grade students to share with us what you learned or what you enjoyed about this unit and creating "aboriginal" art . I thank Ms. Gagliardi for beautifully exhibiting our students' works of art, for empowering and motivating our students to be creative, and for helping them learn about the concept of social justice.

INTERNATIONAL HAPPENINGS AT CISHISIS!

This has been an exciting time for CSIHSIS!

Recently our girls basketball team hosted a visiting team from a girls boarding school in Australia. Our visitors shadowed girls in classes and had a chance to speak with our students about life and school in Australia, what it is like to go attend a boarding school, the similarities and differences between their school and CSIHSIS, and to just share teenage experiences before participating in basketball games with our girls and boys teams.

Our junior student, Kasey Fausak just returned from her Students on Ice scholarship trip to Argentina and the Antarctic. Kasey was accompanied by four other students from New York City (one from each borough) as well as students from many other countries including Israel and Palestine and scientists from all over the world. Kasey will be sharing her experience with our school community at an upcoming Global Seminar, which we hope you all will participate in.

Some of our advisories as well as Spanish classes were recently visited by a friend to CSIHSIS, Catherine Schwenkler, who recently returned from a year long exchange in Peru. While there Catherine had the opportunity to live with two different Peruvian families, to study and learn the indigenous language, and to work with children, teaching them English. Through a beautiful slide show, Catherine shared her experience of living in Peru and how living with a family in another country, from another culture really helped her to experience the culture and the country in deeper way than she could have as a tourist. Our students in Spanish also benefited as Catherine presented to them in Spanish and they asked questions in Spanish.

We are excited as we look forward to the many additional international experiences our students will have this year including our upcoming trips to Costa Rica, where students will be involved in service learning, to Germany, where each student will live with a German family for two weeks and then host the student who s/he lived with when the German students come to the United States, and to Europe, where students will experience Spain, France and England. In the Spring we will be hosting a delegation of thirty students from France. Then, next February, our students will have the opportunity to live with the students we host from France. There are still a few openings for hosting the French students and traveling to France next year. If you are interested in experiencing French culture by participating in this exciting two way exchange program contact Nancy Kaplan at our school.

Student Parliament is Looking for Student Voice

Students ... have you ever wished that your student government would listen to what you have to say? Please use the new blog, csihsisparliament.blogspot.com, to post your suggestions, comments, and questions of your student leaders.

Parents and other community members ... what do you think Student Government should do for a school? What experience do you all have with successful Student Government?

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! ASIA SOCIETY PUBLISHES INTERNATIONAL INSIDER REPORTERS!

Good news. International Insider reporters Dominique, Ann, Ashley A., Ashley F, Sarah and Veronica are published reporters! The articles these reporters wrote covering Asia Society events have been published on Asia Society's website.


Read their articles by going to: www.askasia.org/students, then select the news and resources link on the left.

Congrats! We look forward to more great articles from all of our reporters!