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QSI Quintile • Issue 37 • • • 37

UKrAine

Kyiv International School

blue Shirt day
By Jeff Tempel

On Monday, October 2nd, all staff and students
at Kyiv International School participated in the
Blue Shirt Day World Day of Bullying Prevention.
Blue Shirt Day began in Canada back in 2007, when
teachers asked everyone to wear matching shirts
to support a bullied student. It has since caught
on and spread around the globe. On this day
students at KIS joined more than 800 other schools
around the world to participate in this important
event. Wearing our blue shirts symbolized our
commitment to treat one another with kindness,
and to do everything in our power to keep KIS
bully-free.

While Blue Shirt Day is only one day of to “commit” themselves to a performance—and Québec, Canada. Students learned about the
the year, the KIS community has committed to to cooperatively explore new ideas and innovative francophone side of Canada, and why Canada’s two
working together every day to ensure all students strategies in pursuit of a group goal. official languages are English and French.
feel welcome and are treated with respect. Ms.
Shanna Tempel, school counselor, has presented This experience was not just for our drama buffs On Tuesday, KIS students listened to a
classroom lessons to all middle school students, and literary geeks. Students not normally willing to firsthand report from a representative from the
empowering them to stand up against bullying. participate on stage found a place to develop their German Embassy in Kyiv about the exciting time
Ms. Louise Kampen organized a wonderful Blue talents, and to understand artistic choices made before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Students
Shirt Day program, including school-wide sing- from the inside of a scene. then cut and sliced potatoes and cucumbers for a
along of Bruno Mars’s song “Count on Me,” and delicious German Kartoffelsalat. Later, younger
Ms. Ianova coordinated the high school band’s Many thanks to our drama teacher for her work students were initiated into the secrets of shaping
accompaniment. Elementary students made in organizing this amazing experience for our KIS real Bavarian Pretzels in a baking workshop. Guten
banners and signs, and our whole school joined students. Appetit! German culture for the brains, hands and
together to celebrate our community of kindness. It taste buds.
was amazing to witness the positive energy at KIS! Besides the new auditorium, we have completed
construction of a new music room, designated a On Wednesday, Spanish teachers taught
new space for drama, and expanded and remodeled Secondary Students to dance Bachata. ¡Baila,
our visual arts rooms, including improvements baila! Middle Schoolers made Guacamole and
to workstations for student artists, and other Quesadillas, Latinoaméricanos recipes. ¡Buen
technological enhancements. probecho! The Elementary students watched a
cartoon, El niño de la Espada.

On Thursday, students made dough for their
the week of languages own blini. Blin (crêpes) is one of the most popular
By Lois Bridenback Russian foods. Students learned about different
sweet and salty toppings used by Russians during
This year the week of languages began with the different times of the year or day. One of the big
International Day of Linguists on September 30th, Russian holidays, Maslenitsa, is all about blini.
and ended with International Night on October 7th. Blinis rule!
We focused our attention on cultural aspects: cooking,
traditions, movies . . . since language and culture are On Friday, students had a lesson in Ukrainian
inseparable. When learning a second language, it is doll making (called lialka-motanka). Since ancient
important that students be exposed to its culture. times, these dolls have been made of cloth,
symbolizing fertility and security for Ukrainian
lots of drama At Kyiv International School our Languages people. They also watched a cartoon about a
By Leanne Hume Other than English department offers five languages: Ukrainian hero, Mykyta Kozhumiaka.
French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Ukrainian.
Actors/Educators Bill Buffery and Gill One day was dedicated to each language. Finally, on Saturday, we enjoyed the flag parade,
Nathanson from Multi-Story Theatre Company dances, songs and food of all the nationalities of
spent five school days (from October 4-10) On Monday, the French classes made sucre à the KIS community. International schools erase
making Greek theatre come to life for our Kyiv la crème, a delicious treat that originated in borders and make us all citizens of the World.
International School community, including three
performances and numerous workshops for 7-year-
olds right on through Secondary IV. KIS students
were left with a greater understanding of Greek
theatre, such as how the stories were told, and why
they are still important today. The whole week was
full of students taking risks, asking questions, and
exploring big ideas.

More than 600 students laughed, clapped,
gasped, and rowed their hardest together as the
plays Jason and the Golden Fleece and Medea broke
in our new auditorium floorboards. The rest of the
week was full of workshops, creative exploration,
and imagination overload, as our students got to
play and learn with Bill and Gill, the two visiting
artists from the UK.

The workshops were designed to help students
find and sustain the drama in a situation, understand
the physical and visual aspects of theatre-making, and
create their own scripts, including a reinforcement of
their understanding of dramatic elements, developing
character and narrative, and using cliffhangers.
Besides these obvious curriculum connections to
literature and writing courses, our students had
the opportunity to take risks as they learned how