The students of CM2/grade 5, went on a field trip to Al Sabeel Public library at Bashoura, in line with the planner “How we express ourselves”. The libraries, which are funded by the Beirut Municipality have books, encyclopedias, and magazines for readers of all ages. The students learned about the different activities that take place, and that the library depends on private donations either from individuals or companies. They were also aware about the challenges that the public library faces and were eager to take action in the near future. CM2 students initiated action by announcing a book collection that will take place at our school. These students agree that “The best gift in life is giving”.

 On the occasion of International Women's Day, Dr. Thalia Arawi, founding director of the Salim Hoss Bioethics and Professionalism Program, gave a lecture at the Middle School to raise awareness on bioethics issues that face women, including gender violence, IVF, access to healthcare, early marriage, and plastic surgery. This initiative was incorporated within their language program of studies and the students will produce posters and short videos highlighting the issues. 

On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, IC invited the faculty and staff to dinner at the Phoenicia Hotel.

Retirees 

• Mrs. Alissar Abi Haidar - Ain Aar Upper Elementary
• Miss Mona Bachir- Preschool
• Mrs. Hana Bekdache -Elementary School
• Miss Genevieve Boutros - Secondary School
• Mrs. Najwa Haddad Amin - Elementary School
• Mr. Hassan Joumaa-Middle School

35 Years of Service

• Mrs. Salwa Ashkar - Elementary School
• Mrs. Lina Bitar - Secondary School
• Mrs. Juliette Bikhazi - Middle School
• Mrs. Najwa Haddad Amin - Elementary School
• Miss May Zaitoon – Bookstore

25 Years of Service

• Miss Sawsan Abdel Malak - Middle School
• Mr. Elias Aswad-  Ain Aar Middle School
• Mrs. Nawal Haddad- Ain Aar Middle School
• Mr. André Al Hashem - Ain Aar   Upper Elementary & Middle
• Mrs. Patricia Isaac - Preschool
• Miss Rita Jabbour - Preschool
• Miss Lina Mouchantaf - Ain Aar Preschool & Lower Elementary
• Mr. Tarek Moussally -All College
• Mrs. Rita Nakhle- Ain Aar Lower Elementary
• Mrs. Youssra Salhab  - Business Office
• Mrs. Samar Tohme – Ain Aar Middle School
• Mrs. Maya Zouein - Ain Aar Preschool

AWARDS

• Edmond Tohme Outstanding Educator Award: Mrs. Alissar Abi Haidar
• Randa Khoury Innovation in Teaching Award: Mrs. Carole Katrib
• George O. Debbas Staff Awards: Mrs. Rola Sarrouh - Mrs. Vivianne Toubia
• Albert Abela Distinguished Teacher Awards:  Mrs. Marina Baltikian – Mrs. Hana Bekdache –Mrs. Zeina Dana – Mrs. Ghada Madhoun – Mr. Tarek Moussally – Mrs. Rita Osta – Mrs.Samar Salem – Mrs. Lama Shihab – Mrs. Mireille Tavitian – Mrs. Samar Tohmé

Randa Khalaf is an IC alumna currently living in Canada. Her IC classmate Lara Hajj Salman shared this poem by Randa with us:

Pieces of my Identity

Randa Khalaf

( Background: I am from Lebanon, a country that was under The Ottoman rule for 400 years

and then after wwI it was colonized by the French until after the end of WWII. It's proudly

francophone and in the region its people are known for being highly optimistic. When I was

born a 20 year civil war ripped the country apart and ended the year Said , here , was born.

But it's not a land without internal struggle until today.

In this spoken word I look back upon my life’s journey)

Who am I?

I am the product of war and peace, the quotient of my divided identity!

I am the sum of my experiences, the aftermath of war and betrayal.

Why was I so blind that I let them colonize my mind?

Let's go back in time:

I am ten:

Beirut, Lebanon

“Run down to the shelter”

“Don’t forget your books,” whoosh, boom! “Quickly”

I am 14:

“light the candle, don’t read Shakespeare in the dark, habibi!”

“The shelling has stopped! There is a ceasefire. Good, you won’t miss school tomorrow!”

I am 18:

“Mom, I have decided! I want to be a teacher. I want to teach English!

I want to teach about Shakespeare and Dickens,

about the comma and the paragraph,

about George Orwell and Big Brother.”

I am 23:

Students, listen, read, write

Learn how great American authors are

Learn how awesome British authors can be

I am teaching English, the Language of the world, the ticket to emancipation from first world

oppression.

Teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream,

But what about our dream?

Why didn’t I teach the literature of Jubran Khalil Jubran and Amin Maalouf,

Or Wajdi Mouawad and Zeina AbiRached?

The literature that connects to my students’ lives

Not the Literary canon of a country thousands of miles away

Connected to our lives by the pixels on our TV, and the bandwidths of our cell phones.

I am 39:

Toronto, Canada

The decision to leave them behind was easy.

My students!

My parents!

My beloved country!

My patriotism did not stand a chance against the colonization of my mind.

From the age I could read, I read two languages,

I spoke two languages,

Found difficulty in the literature of my native tongue,

Took refuge in the language of Uncle Sam, the savior, the great.

The residue of colonization still runs in my blood!

Post colonialism gripped me, made me a victim.

I did not fight it!

I embraced it!

I gave my students a gift ,

The gift of a postcolonial identity mired with strife and glorified by false connections

Connections made through watching TV shows

And studying the Eurocentric canon of the wild wild west!

“Think critically,” I would tell my students!

“Analyze the text,” I would emphasize!

“Relate it to your own experience,” I would say!

“Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and marched for freedom.”

I asked, “Won’t he be happy to see Obama in office?”

PAUSE! REWIND!

Martin Luther King stood up for what he believed in.

He broke the status quo!

What my dear students would you stand up for??

What is your dream?

Look around you, change your present! Work towards a future that enables you to be the

best you can be.

Make a sign, draw a banner, walk in that imaginary march.

Stand up for the abused woman, stand up to a patriarchal society that turns a blind eye!

Don’t be a sheep. Don’t follow the herd!

Make your own path. Forge your own road!

I am 40:

Why wasn’t that my message then,

at 23 at 33?

Why was my mind not emancipated from the postcolonial stench

The stench that was a thief in the night,

That robbed me of pride in my culture and of transmitting this pride to my students!

Did I stunt their creativity? Did I stunt their critical minds?

I am 42:

I braved the psyche of my colonized mind.

I took my identity on a reflexive journey into my own biography

I took a leaf from Anthony Giddens to find the ‘ongoing story of my life’

WAIT!

Why should Giddens help me my find my path?

Why I am not Mentioning Jibran or Maalouf?

Is my mind still colonized?

Should I come to terms with the ambivalence of my binary identity?

I find myself in Homi Bhabha’s third space having conversations within myself to come to

terms with the hybridity of my postcolonial

identity.

I will do what Amin Maalouf does and “scour my memory to find as many ingredients of my

identity as I can.” Then, I will “assemble and arrange them.” I won’t “deny any of them.”

(2001, p.16)

I will take a journey on the path of “Selfknowledge” with Jibran and find my soul, my identity.

I will not grow like a reed but will unfold “like a lotus of countless petals”.

Now, I have perspective!

I have started to pull myself out of the quagmire of Western oppression

Now post40 and on the throes of middle age, my true journey begins in a land that

celebrates multiculturalism and is not afraid of difference.

I endeavor:

to teach critically, and to break those barriers between East and West .

To make literacy relevant to the culture and identity of each and every student.

To no longer take anything for granted.

To question the status quo and look deep into myself and my history .

I vow:

To transcend the oppressive practices of my past,

To make sure my students become liberal thinkers, critical thinkers

To bridge the gap between theory and practice,

between ideology and implementation, between East and West.

So, I ask again:

Who am I?

I am a woman, a daughter, a wife, a mother, a teacher, a student.

I am an immigrant, a Lebanese not yet Canadian.

I am an ever evolving-version of myself

For I am a product in the making

My self-study does not end here

As Jibran says “the self is a sea boundless and measureless”

Today, I have not found “the truth” but rather “a truth”

Tomorrow may bring many truths.

My reflexive identity will guide me on my journey of self-discovery

In this multicultural globalized version of our world.

On Saturday, March 19, the ERC organized IC’s second very successful Outreach Training day for this academic year. IC teachers and administrators planned and presented 24 different workshops which took place on the Ras Beirut campus.  They were attended by 454 participating teachers from 106 private and public schools around Lebanon. A diversity of topics and teaching techniques were offered in Arabic, English and French to teachers and administrators from the Pre School to the Secondary levels.

Participants were offered sessions covering technology, classroom management, teaching methods, oral expression, the flipped classroom, assessment, differentiated instruction, and visible thinking. One new workshop of note was “Helping your school become a green school” that dealt with Green Technology. Participants in this session looked at green technologies, innovations and methodology to help the school establish its own sustainability plan and transform their school into a green school. They looked at ways to promote the three pillars of sustainability – environmental, social and economic. 

Workshops presenting theater, art and dance got participants actively moving and tapping into their creativity. Participants found the workshops both helpful and informative with practical and useful hands on activities. The general consensus of presenters and administrators about our Outreach program is that it has become a very useful program based upon its consistency with many workshops presenting practical applications that participants can use in their classrooms.

The Lebanese “Under 14”, tennis team reached 4^th position at the ITF World Junior Championship (Junior Davis Cup), after a 2-1 defeat against Iran. Anna Maria Hayek was part of that team of three girls. It was the first time a girls’ team from Lebanon participates in over 20 years! Congratulations! 

Dr. Abdel Rahman Bizri, a proud father of Jalal and an IC alumnus himself, volunteered to share his expertise in infectious diseases at AUBMC with grade six students in Ras Beirut who are currently learning about disease microbes. Not only did Dr. Bizri’s lecture help students to think across disciplines of microbiology, geography, environment and public health, but it also taught them how to take care of their health and well-being in a world haunted by many health threats as Zika, Ebola, Malaria in the wake of open dumping of garbage. The highlight of the lecture was Ben Franklin’s advice: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. After the talk, grade six students commented: “I learned how to cough into my elbow to prevent the spread of my germs”. “It never occurred to me that climate change could increase the spread of infectious diseases”. Dr. Bizri congratulated Mrs. Kibbi on “students that revealed a very good level of knowledge and maturity.”

After a preparation that lasted two months, Youmna Bissat, Yasmine Blanford, Yara Chami, Aya Ghutmi, Yara Melki, and Enora Mohsen travelled to the Festival of choirs in Budapest.

Apart from visiting the Enchanting City of Brahms, Liszt , Kodaly and Orff the school’s hospitality and the high standard of music education were incomparable.

Our students were commended for their excellent behavior their manners and their ability to communicate with everybody.They were engaged and ready for the long 8 hours of daily training, proving to be ambassadors for music culture at IC.

Au Collège Protestant Français s’est tenue la finale de Questions pour Jeunes Champions et pour la 2^ème année consécutive Makram Bekdache a remporté la finale dans la catégorie des juniors en s’imposant dans toutes les manches du jeu. Ainsi, il a cumulé le score le plus élevé en demi-finale (31/40), il a terminé premier dans les neuf points gagnants puis a asséné un 4/4 dans les quatre à la suite, avant de remporter la finale haut-la-main.  Makram affûte déjà ses armes pour se préparer à la catégorie Lycée et il est bien parti pour conserver sa couronne. L’administration de la Middle School l’a aussi récompensé pour tous ses efforts en lui  remettant un cadeau. 

The Preschool and Lower Elementary Training Modules are a series of workshops, organized by the ERC and offered to teachers from different schools in Lebanon and surrounding countries. Each Module consists of three coherent workshops designed to present the most recent educational theories and to create change in teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning in the 21^st Century. Our professional team of teachers and coordinators – Samia Boulad, Riad Chirazi, Dima Mneimneh, Ghada Mdhoun, Lina Jaroudi, Sana Kaedbey, Doha Berjawi, Carla Oud, Rosie Khalil, Solange Khoury, Eliane Lteif, Dania Baghdadi, Asma Doughan, and Fatme Kammoun – are the capable leaders and presenters of this program. They design their workshops with systematic efforts to help teachers bring about change in their classroom practices, in their attitudes and beliefs, and in the learning outcomes of students. Teachers who attend a whole Module are offered a one day observation in IC preschool and elementary classes to see the flow and harmony of teacher and student practices that make a classroom an active learning environment for all. 

Saturday, March 12 brought 41 preschool and lower elementary teachers from 24 schools to the Ras Beirut campus for the first workshop session in Module C, “Educational Theories in Practice.” Rosie Khalil presented “Visible Thinking Routines” offering participants practices and resources to enrich classroom learning and develop learners’ thinking. These practices help teachers make student thinking visible to both themselves and others. Fatme Kammoun introduced the participants in her Arabic workshop “New Methods for Teaching Arabic Lessons” to various methods used in constructivist teaching. 

Mr. Raed Charafeddine, First Vice-Governor at the Central Bank of Lebanon talked to our graduating class about leadership lessons learnt from the sinking of the Titanic. An active Q&A ensued.

Mr. Charafeddine is a holder of degrees in Business Administration from University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and continues to be student for life through his participation in various leadership and strategy executive education programs at Harvard and MIT. 

February 8 was a busy day for IC teachers on both campuses as they attended workshops and meetings, and worked on curriculum writing in a day-long In-Service. A variety of activities were planned for each level of the college.

Led by PYP Coordinator Alexandra Khawaja and Preschool Director Lina Mouchantaf, Pre- and Elementary teachers at Ain Aar spent the day sharing and finalizing the Self-Study report and plan of action for PYP Evaluation Visit. They finalized the collection of evidence and updated all Plans Of Inquiry as well as units outside the POI.

Pre- and Elementary teachers at Ras Beirut spent the day visiting a variety of museums around the city, including Wonders of the Sea, the Sursock Museum, Planet Discovery, the Archeological Museum and Natural History Museum at AUB. Teachers were given a choice of two tasks including Visible thinking routines, using a favorite artwork in teaching and learning, creating a movie/photo journey of the day using an app on their cellphones, developing creative questions…

 Middle School teachers from both campuses attended a Multimedia presentation by Mimosa Arawi, and one Atlas Rubicon by Connie Hadba including requirements necessary for informative curriculum units. Teachers worked online with Atlas.

Teachers of the Grade 9/Brevet classes met with Secondary teachers of the Grade 10 t for coordination meetings to facilitate the transition between middle and secondary. Teachers of other levels met in departments to work on IT integration and media literacy.

Selected teachers from the Science Department attended a workshop dealing with the Lebanese Official Exams.

Teachers at the Secondary School worked on curriculum units in Atlas. IB teachers attended day-long sessions dedicated to the gathering of evidence and action plans for the IBDP Authorization Self-Study report. Instructors met with TPE Coordinator Souheil Zarifeh as they reviewed and planned presentations. Secondary School Chemistry, Physics and Biology teachers attended an extensive workshop dealing with the Lebanese Official Exams. During this workshop teachers looked at the characteristics of the official exam, test items and the skills being addressed by the exam.

Les élèves de la 6^ème ont disséqué pour la première fois une fleur de lilium dans le laboratoire de l’école. Chacun apporta une fleur et la classe se retrouva embaumée d’un parfum agréable aux saveurs délicieuses. C’est l’occasion pour les apprenants de s’entraîner avec enthousiasme à manipuler correctement les outils de dissection: Ciseaux, pinces, loupe…tout en découvrant les différentes parties d’une fleur.           

                                                                                              Nady El Haddad, 6^ème A

Dans le cadre de notre thème transdisciplinaire « Qui nous sommes » qui a pour idée maîtresse « Notre santé est affectée par les choix que nous faisons » les apprenants du CM1 et du Gr. IV de Ain Aar ont fait des recherches sur les différents systèmes du corps humain et leur interaction. Ils ont développé une compréhension des facteurs contribuant au développement et au maintien d’un style de vie sain et équilibré, de l’importance d’avoir une activité physique régulière,  de l’importance de la nutrition et une compréhension des causes des maladies et des éventuels moyens de les prévenir. Et pour compléter leurs recherches, ils ont eu la chance d’accueillir  Dr Patrick Choueiry, Dr. Abou Jaoudé  et Dr. André Aoun  pour répondre à leurs questions et les aider à découvrir les droits et les responsabilités qu’ils ont envers eux-mêmes et les autres pour favoriser le bien-être.  

Once again, the students of IC - Ain Aar marked the AUB Science, Math, and Technology Fair with their remarkable presence and participation. With a total of seven projects, five science projects and two math projects, IC Ain Aar students were able to win five prizes.  With their exceptional creativity and presentation skills, our students secured three First Prizes and two Third Prizes. We are very proud of their achievement and their high competitive performance. Congratulations!

Under the guidance of their Art instructor, Mrs. Samia Nasr Boulad, and the efficient help of the Physical Plant team, the International Baccalaureate Visual Arts students exhibited their artwork at the Jewelry Souks, Downtown in both galleries: the Black Gallery and the White Gallery. This event which represents part of the students’ official exam has been taking place for ten consecutive years. Great attendance from the IC community was much appreciated. Major features this year: the variety of techniques and digital works but also the presence of many children who came with their parents.

Depuis février, les élèves de M.S. de Ras Beirut ont réfléchi sur le thème « comment nous nous organisons ». Ils se sont lancés dans la découverte de différents systèmes en analysant comment ceux-ci fonctionnent pour servir la communauté. Ainsi, pour leur présentation de fin de thème, les élèves du groupe  vert ont décidé de traduire leurs apprentissages des différents concepts à travers la création de leur propre système. Après le vote, ils ont décidé de créer un restaurant. L'interdisciplinarité de ce travail a fait sa richesse: en maths, ils ont estimé puis compter le nombre de "parents-clients" qu'ils vont accueillir. Ensuite, ils ont fait un travail de décomposition pour décider comment les installer. En langue, ils ont acquis un nouveau vocabulaire, ils ont écrit le menu et l'ont illustré. En art, ils ont créé la décoration de leur restaurant avant de se transformer en chefs. Le jour de la présentation, ils ont tous assumé leurs rôles et leur responsabilité en accueillant leurs parents, les laissant éblouis face à leur implication et leur engagement pour "bien expliquer ce qu'on a appris et gagner de l'argent pour aider les enfants à payer leur scolarité et venir à l'IC".