The MS Student Council has organized a "Read with Lower Schoolers" service opportunity for middle school students. Eleven older student volunteers traveled to the Lower School every day for two weeks to read with the younger students. After a quick early lunch, the middle school students headed down to the Lower School Library where they met up with their buddy class to read books with their partners. After sharing their love of reading, the older students returned to their classrooms at 12:15 pm.

HS social studies teacher Michelle Gerken writes, "On 23 March, 13 ASL students and three teachers set off on a global expedition to the Dominican Republic and Haiti organized by Global Programs Director Nina DeSimone and non-profit activist organization Global Exchange. The program began with a drive down the DR’s scenic, southern coast to the town of Pedernales just short of the Haitian border. Pedernales served as a lovely base to explore Haiti and the DR.

"Students crossed the border and explored the Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitre, where they toured a local health facility and a sustainable environmental community, Sadhana Forest. At the health facility, the only hospital for a town of 30,000 people, we were warmly welcomed by the medical director, who took us on a tour of the very simple hospital. The commitment of the medical staff was inspiring. This visit gave us much food for thought. Also inspiring was the Sadhana Forest sustainable development project, run by volunteers, which works with the local community to produce indigenous food and soil, and to educate the people on permaculture techniques.

"On the Dominican side, students visited the beautiful Oviedo lagoon and learned from community activists in the town of Oviedo, who volunteer to preserve their lagoon and coastal wildlife. The group then rode back toward Santo Domingo and then north high into the mountains of Altagracia, where they learned from families who grow organic, fair trade coffee on a large farm project established by author Julia Alvarez. There, they connected utilizing their Spanish/French with local families over meals, played with the children, and explored the workings of the farms from community representatives and a local Peace Corps worker. 

"Throughout the trip, the group had some time to enjoy some of the lovely beaches as well. During the months leading up to the trip, the students studied the history, economy and literature of the two neighboring countries in order to draw connections between the past and the present DR and Haiti."

This trip was one of three Global Partnerships trips that ran over Spring Break. The other two saw students travel to China and South Africa.

At this morning's LS assembly, Grade 4 teacher Matt Kish introduced a very special visitor, Elumalai Raj, head of the nursery and primary section at ASL's community partnership organization, the Nirvana School in Pondicherry, India. Mr. Kish explained that LS teachers and students have visited the Nirvana School in Pondicherry, India, for the past nine years.

Mr. Kish told the students, "It's always such an amazing trip for us, but there's just one thing missing. We always wanted someone from the Nirvana School to come to ASL."

The students welcomed Elumalai by saying hello in Tamil, the language the students speak at the Nirvana School. Elumalai showed photos of his school, ranging from students during morning assembly (the "heart of the school") to annual tree planting to sports day. Of course, ASL students were eager to ask him a whole host of questions!

When asked what the differences were between ASL and the Nirvana School, Elumalai cited how classrooms are equipped—the supplies and the technology. He told the students about how the Nirvana School experiences regular power cuts and reminded the LS students how lucky ASL is to have electricity and ready access to water. He was delighted to see that every LS classroom has a tap!

Elumalai finished his presentation with photos of Nirvana students in their new gym uniforms, which were bought with funds ASL students raised in January by doing extra chores around their homes.

Elumalai will be visiting classrooms in the Lower School for the next week. Be sure to say hello! Or "Vanakkam!"

In April, Head of School Coreen Hester and members of the ASL advancement office ventured across the pond to host receptions on the East Coast for alumni, parents of alumni and former faculty members. The first stop on the tour was New Canaan, Connecticut, on Sunday, 28 April, where more than 70 guests gathered in Waveny Park to fly kites, toss Frisbees and savor lunch at an ASL family picnic. The weather was glorious—as was the company! Among the attendees were Lois and Jeff Meyer (P ’07 ’10 ’12 ’16); Kate Flaherty Stimpson ’89, her husband, John Stimpson ’90, and their kids; Diane Discenza (P ’09 ’12); and Marissa Greve Lowthert ’92 and her family. The afternoon was a grand affair for the ASL community in Connecticut.

The following night on Monday, 29 April, ASLers enjoyed a special soiree at New York City’s Union League Club. Former faculty and staff, including Jan Mikrut (ASL 1974-98), Katherine Precht (ASL 1993-2009; P ’08 ’15) and Katherine Snedeker (ASL 2007-09) caught up over nibbles and wine. Alumni families, including Michael and Carmela Molinaro (P ’05 ’09) and Sara Molinaro ’05; and Cynthia Princi (P ’05 ’08 ’13) and her daughter, Alexa ’05, visited with old friends. Among the alumni swapping stories and sharing memories were Marc Watkins ’89, Kimeran Daley ’94 and Jeremy Dworken ’02. Thank you to all who turned out for these regional events; we look forward to future receptions!

The Student Voice Council from neighboring school Quintin Kynaston and ASL's Student Council have been meeting regularly to plan events to strengthen bonds between the two schools. Last week, the students held their second annual student council BBQ. More than 50 students gathered on the Waverley Place playground not only for the great food and a fun basketball game, but also for frisbee, soccer, and simply meeting new friends and neighbors.

ASL Student Council President Issy ’14 said, "We consider an event a success if people walk away with new friends. If that happens, just between two people, it's an achievement. The BBQ went really well! At the end, the students didn't want to leave!"

The event was 100 percent organized by students from QK and ASL—from initial planning meetings to collaboration through their joint Facebook group to catering and clean-up. The BBQ is just one event in a long list of ideas on which the schools' student councils want to join forces.

"The BBQ is a tradition we'd like to continue but we're looking at new events, too," said Issy. "If there is an opportunity to involve QK students, we should take it."

In addition to student council events, QK & ASL students work together on a range of activities: the ASL & QK Cooking Club; robotics; ASL Community Service Day; ASL's MS ASP at QK; the program that saw QK student ambassadors teach cricket to ASL Grade 2 students; and the dance team collaboration with Ms. Coulston.

Friday, 3 May, saw the Commons packed with students, faculty and staff, parents and guests, for ASL's annual Middle East Night, brilliantly organized by the HS Middle East Club. For the evening, the student space became a delectable and entertaining Middle East café, with the entertainment program including plentiful helpings of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, a performance from a dazzling belly dancer and a discussion on post-Arab spring developments led by Roger Cohen (ASL P ’12 ’15). In addition, talented ASL alumna Sara Elhadj ’09 sang a solo to raise awareness about the conflict in Syria.

Proceeds from the event benefited the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Associate Director of Advancement for Capital Giving Sandy Mateus was among the many guests who partook in Middle East Night. “It was a wonderful gathering of the ASL community and students,” said Sandy. “They all came together to discuss ways to be involved with the IRC as well as to share their Middle Eastern culture and traditions of hospitality, song and dance, and delicious food.” Alumni Relations Coordinator Libby Jones agreed. “I had a ball!” she remarked. A special thanks to club presidents Tarek ’13 and Mohammad ’13 and to faculty advisor Peggy Elhadj for organizing this special night of Middle Eastern merriment.

More than 50 alumni, parents, former faculty and current members of the ASL community joined HS Performing Arts Director Buck Herron (ASL 1998-present) for a reception to celebrate the success of the HS performance of The Picture of Dorian Gray on Friday evening, 26 April. Michael Benz ’00, Adam Bond ’99 and Andrew Bentley ’83 were among the alumni guests raising glasses and sampling the dessert tray. Other attendees include John Wilson (ASL 1971-2009), Suzanne Brooks (ASL 1972-99) and Christine Rudolph ’85 (ASL 1989-present). Former faculty member Hazel Simpson (ASL 1969-2006) was elated to visit with Andrew Bentley, a third grade student of hers who she hadn’t seen in years. A special reunion at a special celebration! Thank you to all who attended. If you missed the show, you can still watch the performance of Dorian Gray online: http://www.asl.org/media

As you may have read in previous news posts, Ms. Forrester's high school architecture students have been working with Patrick Lee and Lynn Sacks' K1 class on a host of collaborative projects. Rhea ’14 took these super pictures to chronicle how both the older and the younger students had much to learn from each other.

The high schoolers helped the kindergartners hone their interview skills, while the lower schoolers assisted the older students to present their public space projects.

Ms. Forrester says, "It has been a lovely collaboration between our classes and we wanted to share the pictures with the greater community."

Miss Jenny and Miss Michelle’s Grade 1 students are tweeting with excitement over their bird project and are busily working with their Grade 7 buddies in Mrs. Hayward’s advisory class to discover what type of food birds prefer to eat. Together, the buddies followed directions written by the Grade 1 scientists on how to build a popsicle stick bird feeder. Then, with the help of Lower School science teacher Miss Ania, the class thoughtfully hung the feeders around the ASL campus and filled them with different types of food they predicted the birds would enjoy, such as berries, veggie salad, mealworms, birdseed and earthworms. The younger students are still in the midst of collecting data, but as of now, the birdseed and mealworms appear to be the preferred food for the birds around ASL.

Last Friday, the class took a field trip to the London Wetlands Centre in Barnes. There, the Grade 1 scientists observed various species of birds, including newly hatched goslings and ducklings. They also learned about the lifecycle of a bird and were given the opportunity to build their own bird’s nest using the natural resources available around them.

If you are a bird expert or know of anyone who would be willing to share their knowledge, or have a pet bird you’re willing to lend the class for a few days for observation, please contact Miss Jenny and Miss Michelle’s class in room 103, jenny_seeds@asl.org.

The ASL PCA Join Together Auction, which took place in March, was a resounding success! The two-day celebration saw the PCA raise £532,605 to fund their operating budget for the next two years as well as to make a generous donation of £382,605 for Endowment and the Community Spaces projects in the Commons and the LS playground at ASL.

The Join Together 2013 Auction team extends its heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all for the generous gifts of time and talent in making Join Together a spectacular weekend.

View a selection of photos from the Join Together Auction.

This month, ASL alumna Aadrita Mukerji ’09 will be graduating from the University of Southern California as a recipient of the Emma Josephine Bradley Bovard Award, a prize granted to graduating USC students who have attained the highest scholarship average of all undergraduate women. She maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her college career. Only days away from earning her diploma, this accomplished economics major reflects on high school, college and the creative adventures that await her in the next chapter.

“Right now, it’s about celebrating your time at USC,” Aadrita said in a phone interview this week. “You start college with four years ahead of you, and now it’s down to about four hours. That’s a little horrifying.” In fact, it doesn’t seem possible that almost five years have passed since she arrived, fresh from northern California, to start her senior year at ASL. Landing in a new high school required some adjusting, but Aadrita weathered the transition like a seasoned expat. “ASL was a much smaller community than my public high school. It was really close-knit, and the teachers cared a lot about getting to know you as individuals,” she explained. It also didn’t hurt that Aadrita’s family had previously lived in Portland, Oregon, where the grey, blustery weather rivaled London’s. “I moved around a lot as a kid, and I found that was the norm at ASL,” Aadrita recalled. “It was nice to meet people all over the world who had those experiences.” When prompted to share which class was most memorable for her, Aadrita couldn’t decide between English or economics.

Registration for high school Alternatives is due tomorrow, Tuesday, 21 May, at 3:05 pm! The Alternatives Fair took place today, Monday, 20 May, and so time is running out for high schoolers to sign up for their trip of choice.

Register now

High school students participate in the Alternatives program at the start of the school year. Four days are set aside from the regular school schedule to provide a wide variety of service-learning, cultural, academic and recreational activities for students, whose participation is required. Programs are offered by faculty members, often in conjunction with outside specialists. Students specify their preferences and a lottery determines student placement. A significant benefit of Alternatives is the social interaction that takes place between students and their teachers, new and veteran ASL students, and older and younger students. London-based programs may include cultural and service-learning opportunities. Alternatives around Britain may include biking in Scotland, environmental work in the Channel Islands, and yoga in the Cotswolds. Alternatives farther afield may include tours to Greece, discovering Madeira and outdoor adventures in Spain.

Contact Travel Coordinator Nancy Sinreich, nancy_sinreich@asl.org, with questions.

ASL is proud to welcome Project Zero to the School 4-6 October 2013. Project Zero is an educational research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education composed of multiple, independently sponsored research projects. ASL faculty will attend the conference on Friday, 4 October, with many staying on to take part in the rest of the weekend's activities. The conference is open to educators worldwide.

Acting Middle School Principal Pete Lutkoski says, "The research of Harvard's Project Zero has been enormously influential in the field of education. Their focus on the nature of thinking and understanding, creativity and global competence are particularly relevant to our work at ASL, and we are thrilled to be hosting the first Project Zero conference outside of the United States."

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Roberto d'Erizans adds, "Project Zero is a world-class educational research group from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, comprising the top scholars in our field. We are lucky to have them on campus, and to learn from their current work. So exciting—Howard Gardner, David Perkins, Ron Ritchhart, and many more, will be in attendance!"

Find out more.

At ASL, she was known as Sarah El Hadj ’09, a spirited member of the dance team who loved hanging with her friends, playing the clarinet and writing for The Standard. Now the 21-year-old singer/songwriter goes by her stage name, Sarah Zad, and produces and performs music to raise money for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in support of Syrian refugees. Her music is inspired by the conflict in Syria, a cause close to her heart. “I want to help educate other young people about the situation faced by millions of ordinary Syrians,” she explained during a recent interview. “I hope my songs will inspire people to find out more.”

Sarah, an ASL student for 12 years, gives credit to the ASL dance team for first nurturing her talent for the performing arts. “The team opened my eyes to do something more creative,” she recalled. “I really liked promoting school pride.” As a dance captain during her junior year, Sarah and her teammates earned first place at an international championship in Florida. Her commitment to the dance team, coupled with writing feature stories for the school paper, kept Sarah pretty busy in high school. “My journalism class taught me about global issues and helped me to develop opinions,” she said. Sarah eventually left One Waverley Place for the BRIT School to further pursue dance and music studies. The two-year program was a real confidence-booster for Sarah, and it helped foster her great interest in music production. These days, Sarah can be found working on her project, Sing for Syria, and performing singing gigs in and around London—the Sing for Syria launch raised more than £1,000 last month. Sarah can also be found around campus; she spent the past winter giving back to ASL as the dance team’s coach. Earlier this month, Sarah sang at the School’s Middle East Night in an effort to raise awareness for the Syrian conflict with students and parents. Though she left ASL some time ago, Sarah feels a special connection here. “I really enjoyed ASL,” she reflected. “It’s such a supportive environment.”

To find out more about Sarah’s project, Sing for Syria, please contact Alumni Relations Coordinator Libby Jones, libby_jones@asl.org.

Assistant Athletics Director John Farmer ’97 writes, "Over the weekend, ASL hosted the Middle School LSSA (London Schools Sports Association) Baseball Festival at Canons Park. We had five teams competing in a friendly round-robin tournament. The weather held out nicely as the teams played games from 9 am through to late afternoon on two beautifully manicured fields, thanks to Dan Bingle's preparation of the facility. Additionally, there was wonderful food provided by BaxterStorey, served in the pavilion kitchen. Bob Carter, as always, was instrumental in making sure the day ran smoothly.

"Often, there's a great discrepancy in strengths among the various teams, yet in this case, all of the teams were evenly matched—not a single game of the 10 played was won by more than three runs. That's pretty amazing, frankly! The tightness in scores made for a great day of hard-fought games with a fantastic atmosphere. The ASL boys went into the festival with an undefeated record, often winning by large margins, so it was a pleasant surprise to see them play some challenging games with tough competition. The Eagles ended up winning two and losing two, and all would agree that despite losing two games, it was better to have close games with strong opponents than to sweep the tournament without being challenged. The players and coaches from all teams displayed real sportsmanship, evenly distributing playing time and allowing boys to play in different positions. That is the spirit of the LSSA festivals, and it was wonderful to see that come through last Saturday at Canons Park."

Grade 6 Team Leader Jennifer Towleh writes, "At the end of last week, Grade 6 students returned from five days learning more about Ancient Rome and extending their social studies class work in the field. Students learned about GSPEC (geography, society, politics, economics and culture) during the year in social studies and were then able to apply these skills on their recent trips to Italy, Spain and Roman Britain. They were able to learn more about the various aspects of GSPEC for both Ancient Rome and modern Britain, Italy and Spain through their activities that included touring the ruins of Pompeii and Merida, and visiting Hadrian's Wall."

View slideshows from the various trips:

Italy A

Italy B

Roman Britain

Spain A

Spain B

Benjy Mercer-Golden ’11 is ending his sophomore year at Stanford University on a high note. On 22 May, he attended a ceremony to accept a Hoefer Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Writing. The political science major was recognized for his essay, “Explaining Endless War: International Intervention and Centralized Power in Afghanistan.” When asked if his talent for writing was nurtured at ASL, Benjy was quick to credit two influential teachers. He writes, “Whatever skill and interest in writing I've developed, I owe primarily to two people. The first is my English teacher of many years, Mr. Potchatek (ASL 2004-present), and the second is my journalism adviser throughout high school, Ms. Miller (ASL 2004-present). Mr. Potchatek is, to this day, the greatest teacher I've ever had. He's fiercely intellectual, a thoughtful interlocutor and a wonderful supporter of argument, rhetoric and writing when it's good and a helpful critic when it needs work. Working on The Standard for four years was a tremendous gift. I'm convinced it is the single most valuable opportunity anyone at ASL can pursue. Ms. Miller was always a big part of that for me, not least because she taught me how critical it is to be precise and concise in language. I think every writer always strives to be a little tighter and more rigorous, and that's what Ms. Miller preached.” Well done, Benjy!

Benjy is pictured below with sister and ASL alumna Zoe ’08.

Wednesday, 22 May, saw the welcome return to ASL of poet, humorist, voiceover artist and teacher Taylor Mali, who was ASL’s 2005 Bergeron Fellow. The Fellowship is an honor bestowed annually on a writer who works with either middle or high school students over the course of a week. On that occasion, Mr. Mali spent time with Colin Bridgewater’s Grade 7 students.

First and foremost, Taylor Mali is a New York City performance poet, one of the most well-known to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam.” He is a four-time National Poetry Slam champion and the author of three books, most recently, “What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World,” in which he devotes an entire chapter to his experiences as the Bergeron Fellow at ASL.

In addition to performing at the middle school assembly, Mr. Mali returned in the evening for another recital to an eager audience in the School Center.