Second Quarter 2012-13 - St. Mary`s International School

ST. MARY’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
1-6-19 Seta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-8668
Tel: 03-3709-3411 Fax: 03-3707-1950
‘Together Along the Way’
St. Mary’s Newsletter
Headmaster
SMA President
ES Principal
MS Principal
Curriculum Coordinator
HS Learning Support
ES Counselor
Nurse
ES Library
MS/HS Library
Athletics
Swimming
Development Office
SMA News
PFA
Dates to Remember
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2-4
4
5
6-8
8-9
10-11
11-12
12-14
14-15
15-16
17-18
19
19-35
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2nd Quarter
4th December 2012
From the Headmaster
Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas is coming. The days are
getting shorter and the earlier setting of the sun gives us a chance
to admire the beautiful decorations all around us. The meaning
and the beauty of this season make us forget the cold and
darkness. It is a time to say thank you, it is a time to offer wishes,
to celebrate, and to share.
There have been many transformations in St. Mary’s over the
past few years, and I believe that we should continue to do
everything possible to maintain a clear vision of who we are,
where we come from and where we want to go. We are a
Catholic school and as such we integrate the acquisition of
knowledge, the establishment of responsible freedom, and the
deepening of personal faith in what we do every day. Our interest
is not only in the subjects we teach but in all that is necessary for
the complete formation of each student.
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, a restful vacation and a New Year ready to fulfill all your
expectations.
Br. Michel, Headmaster
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From the SMA President
The school community, with its students, families, and friends who are very important and dear
to us have to eventually move on …
Brother Michel’s recent announcement that he will retire as school headmaster at the end of
this school year came as a surprise to many of us. Brother Michel has been an advisor to the
SMA Board and a person we can all rely on. Thank you, Br. Michel, and we look forward to
continuing our jobs together to make this the best year ever for the school. We also look
forward to welcoming Mr. Kagei next September as the new school headmaster, and will do
our best to support his transition into his new role.
A BIG thank you to, Mimy Chang and Sherry Hoshi, chair and co-chair of “Cosmic Bingo
Night,” and Lia Kumar and Keiko Fukasawa, Room Parent Coordinators, for the wonderful
job they did in organizing the Bingo Night and the Bingo Bake Sale during the day. A heartfelt
thank you also to all of the parents, school staff members and students involved in helping with
the logistics. Many hours and much effort went into this event! Lastly, none of this would have
been possible without the wonderful cash and prize donations, baked goods for the Bake Sale,
and delicious foods for the Food Court from many families and corporations. It was great to
see the Gym and MPR so animated, and the many happy people taking prizes home!
The SMA is still very focused on raising funds for student programs, but is also working to
promote activities that support the ‘Titan’ spirit among the St. Mary’s community, and to
increase opportunities for parents to meet with each other and with the School educators. So
far, the following events have fulfilled this objective:
1. An ES Parents’ Coffee Morning for all classes. Thank you to all ES Room Parents for
organizing these events!
2. After a long hiatus without Middle School Liaisons, the SMA is delighted to welcome
parents Mie Kayo, Misook Asai, Meeta Chanda, Takako Kuo and Ana Kuruc. Along with
Room Parent Coordinators Lia Kumar and Keiko Fukasawa, the MS Liaisons have organized
well-attended events with Mr. Langholz, the MS Principal. First up was the MS Coffee
Morning with Mr. Langholz on October 9th, and then another event, an Evening with Mr.
Langholz for the fathers on November 29th. Thank you to the organizers and to Mr. Langholz
and Mr. Thiesen, MS Counselor, for successful events and for your time and hard work!
3. At the HS level, on November 6th, another new evening event for juniors, seniors and their
respective parents entitled “Inside the College Application Process” featured a panel discussion
by parents who have experienced the college application process with their children who
attended St. Mary’s or Seisen. In the hour-long session, panelists gave advice to parents who are
new to the process. Thank you to the panelists, Mr. James Parker, Mr. Unryu Haku and Mr.
Jon Tanaka, and to Mr. Aaron Ragon, HS Counselor, for mediating the discussion. Thank you
also to Mr. Kagei and Mr. Ragon for their logistical support.
4. The Japanese Speaker Support Group (JSSG) is also taking an active role in organizing
activities geared for all parents who speak Japanese. A Parenting Workshop for Middle
School/High School Japanese Speaking Parents was held on November 21st and a second one
for the Elementary School parents on November 28th. Thank you to JSSG Chair and CoChair, Yukari Tsui and Risa Osawa, for putting this together!
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LOOKING AHEAD: SAVE THE DATE!
Christmas Craft Fair
Saturday, December 8th, 2012
The next big SMA event is the Christmas Craft Fair, organized by the JSSG’s Yukari Tsui and
Risa Osawa on Saturday, December 8th, only in the MPR, before and after the Elementary
Christmas Concert. This is a great opportunity to shop for your holiday gifts and enjoy the
Christmas spirit with other St. Mary’s families. The SMA will be running a Recycled Uniforms
Sale, a Used Book Sale, and a beverage stand with hot beverages like coffee, cocoa and
wonderful Indian chai. A Child Supervision Area will also be available for you while you shop.
For further information on how to donate your son’s used uniforms and books, information on
child supervision that day, and also this event’s volunteer opportunities, please send an e-mail
to sma@smis.ac.jp
St. Mary’s International Ball 2013: “Prom Nostalgia”
Saturday, March 2nd, 2013
The International Ball is a premier social event attended by St. Mary’s parents, faculty, alumni,
and other friends of St. Mary’s International School. This will be an elegant evening that is not
to be missed, and will feature fine dining, dancing and entertainment. All proceeds from the
Ball are allocated to SMA funded programs. This event will be held in the Gym at St. Mary’s.
For information and volunteer opportunities, please contact Yumi Shigetake and Ruriko
Kojima at internationalballsma@gmail.com
High School Ice Cream Bash
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
Organized by the Room Parent Coordinators, the Ice Cream Bash is a popular event in March
for all high school students. High school parents are invited to serve ice cream and socialize
with their son(s) and classmates. For information and volunteer opportunities for HS parents,
please contact Lia Kumar and Keiko Fukasawa at rpc.st.marys@gmail.com
Staff Appreciation Luncheon
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
Organized by the Room Parent Coordinators, this event is to thank faculty and administration
for their contribution. Room Parents request donations of food, desserts, and drinks from
parents. Volunteer parents come on the day to help as servers. For information and volunteer
opportunities, please contact Lia Kumar and Keiko Fukasawa at rpc.st.marys@gmail.com
Spring Luncheon
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
Organized by the Hospitality Committee, the Spring Luncheon is the second general SMA
meeting and an opportunity to honor senior parents. For information or to volunteer, please
contact Therese Adachi and Aya Iwamoto at smahospitality1213@gmail.com.
Carnival
Saturday, May 11th, 2013
The Carnival is the biggest fundraising event at St. Mary’s. Country food booths run by all St.
Mary’s families, representing the many diverse cultures and people that make up the St. Mary’s
community, offer a variety of delectable foods and beverages. Carnival is also an opportunity to
enjoy the many talents of the boys, who provide entertainment throughout the day. Game
booths keep the younger children occupied. For Country Booth, Game Booth, Entertainment
and Supplies volunteer opportunities and information, please contact Motoko A’De Lima at
mano-yayo@hotmail.com
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Raffle
April-May 2013
The Raffle is our second biggest fundraiser, with results announced at the Carnival. All St.
Mary’s students receives tickets to sell and are encouraged to sell as many tickets as possible.
Wonderful prizes await the winners, while incentive prizes are also offered to the boys and
classes that sell the most tickets. For information and volunteer opportunities, please contact
Keiko Andrews at aoyama_keiko@mac.com or Yu Kobayashi at wonderfulyu@hotmail.com.
Donations
For donation information, please contact Miho Nagano at smassociation@smis.ac.jp.
Should you have any inquiries or suggestions, or if there is anything we can do to help you,
please let us know.
Caterina M. Tanaka, SMA President
sma@smis.ac.jp
From the Elementary School Principal
Christmas is almost here and our holiday preparations are well underway. The hallways are
looking quite festive, so please take some time to come in to see the wonderful Christmas
decorations around the school during the weeks before Christmas break. Your visit will also be
an opportunity to view the great student work adorning our hallways; you will be quite
impressed by the boys’ work! The boys are also practicing hard for our Elementary School
Christmas Concert, which will be held on Saturday, December 8th, at 1 p.m. in our
gymnasium. Please come out and get into the Christmas spirit by listening to music of the
season by our choirs and band. We hope to see everyone there!
This year we are participating in quite a few charity events to help those less fortunate than
ourselves. In addition to our schoolwide Save the Children fund-raising drive (thanks to
everyone for their monetary donations as well as the food donations for the Bake Sale coming
in December), we are also sending donations to the children at the Brothers’ school in the
Philippines and we will be inviting all our students to participate in the Gifts for Tohoku project
whereby they can bring in scarves and face/hand towels wrapped as gifts for young people in
the Tohoku area. These are all great ways to show our boys the importance of giving and
thinking of others, and I want to thank you for the excellent example you give them by your
generosity. Christmas is a time of giving, and this spirit is alive and well at St. Mary’s.
With this newsletter, and on behalf of everyone at the
elementary level, I also send our heartfelt best wishes to you and
yours for a blessed Christmas season and a healthy, happy and
prosperous New Year. We have all been blessed in so many
ways, and at this time of year it is a beautiful sight to see so many
sharing those blessings with others. Thank you for all you do for
your son and our school. Have a wonderful holiday season.
Michael DiMuzio, ES Principal
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From the Middle School Principal
As I have communicated in another mailing to you, I have been writing comments about St.
Mary’s International Middle School and I have been adding links of interest on my blog
(stmarysmiddleschool.blogspot.com) that you might want to check out if you haven’t already.
There are so many resources available on the Internet that provide lots of ideas about how best
to meet the educational and social/emotional needs of middle school boys that it becomes
more about organizing the many resources and locating quality resources than it is about
anything else. Linking some of these resources on my blog is my attempt to help provide you
with ideas that I think might be of interest.
Let me just comment further about one topic that has been on mind more recently and that is
the over-indulgence of children both materialistically and emotionally. Some argue that the
inability to delay gratification because of our insistence on quick solutions to life’s challenges is
contributing to a new generation of children who can’t deal with any level of discomfort in their
lives. Over-indulging children (see http://www.tipsonlifeandlove.com/parenting/12-signs-youreoverindulging-your-child) has significant consequences as a child grows older, especially when
the discomfort is a result of situations that nobody has control over. This might be related to
not getting as good grades as they might like, not having the friends they would prefer, liking a
member of the opposite sex who doesn’t share their feelings, not making a team they hoped to
make and not having as many material possessions as others with whom they associate.
We can also regularly over-indulge children emotionally by giving praise over encouragement,
by helping draw attention to a child in superficial and unimportant ways, by praising students
when outcomes do not match effort, by giving in to every desire for something new in their life,
by not expecting them to contribute to the day-to-day responsibilities that come with being a
family unless there are incentives (money) involved, and by accepting inappropriate emotional
responses to uncontrollable events in life. We all think we are doing our children a favour by
trying to instantly make students feel better but, in the end, emotionally over-indulged children
will grow up without the capacity to deal with challenge with resilience, determination and
commitment to meet appropriate goals.
Getting students “outside of themselves” and to think about others is a chief objective of the
STAR Incentive Program that you have all been a part of during second quarter. I appreciate
your efforts on this with the hope that we can collectively better link service, teamwork,
achievement, and responsibility with the goals of an education for the 21st Century for our
students.
Jim Langholz, MS Principal
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From the Curriculum Coordinator
Accreditation and School Improvement
St. Mary’s is fully accredited by two agencies that provide us with standards and procedures for
school improvement: the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the
Council of International Schools (CIS). WASC is one of six regional associations that accredit
public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the United States and East Asia. CIS is a
membership organization of international schools around the world.
Why is accreditation important?
“There are a number of benefits associated with the award of accreditation to a school, but the
main aim of this evaluation programme is to provide an opportunity to improve the quality of
the education offered at the school through a rigorous process of self-examination followed by
an objective external appraisal by a team of peers.” From the CIS Guide to School Evaluation and
Accreditation, 7th Edition
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•
•
The accreditation process assures a school community that a school’s mission is
appropriate and being accomplished through a viable educational program.
The accreditation process validates the integrity of a school’s program and student
transcripts.
Accreditation is a way to manage change through regular assessment, planning,
implementation, and reassessment of the school’s curriculum and programs.
The accreditation process encourages teaching and learning focused school improvement
through continuous self-study and peer visitor evaluations. The school reflects on areas of
strength and areas for improvement, then establishes and implements plans to help support
high levels of achievement by students.
This school year is St. Mary’s mid-term and Five Year Review for accreditation. The
CIS/WASC Five Year Review Protocol provides us the structure for self-assessment in which
we acknowledge our accomplishments and set goals for improvement. The protocol focuses on
three ‘driving ideas’ which urge the school to be:
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Mission Driven and Vision Led (the importance of the school’s own Guiding
Statements)
Heavily focused on Student Learning and Student Well-Being
Committed to Internationalism/Inter-Culturalism to foster Global Citizenship
Our school’s own Guiding Statements are written on the next page for your information and
review.
Our efforts will help to ensure that we continue to provide a quality educational experience for
all students. Teachers are working during our professional development days and throughout
this school year reflect on and write reports for seven areas of the school’s operation: School’s
Guiding Statements, Teaching and Learning, Governance and Leadership, Faculty and
Support Staff, Access to Teaching and Learning, School Culture and Partnerships for
Learning, and Operational Systems. Students are represented on committees by Student
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Council members and parents will be providing feedback and representation through the PFA,
our Parent-Faculty Advisory Group. The PFA meets monthly in the evening, and all parents
are welcome to attend meetings which are listed on the school calendar.
Our Five Year Review will be completed in March and a CIS/WASC Team Visit will take
place in April or May 2013. If you have any questions regarding the accreditation process for
our school, please contact me.
Related websites:
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (www.acswasc.org)
Council of International Schools (www.cois.org)
St. Mary’s Guiding Statements
SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY
St. Mary's International School endeavors to form free and responsible young men. As a
Catholic school, it integrates the acquisition of knowledge, the establishment of responsible
freedom, and the deepening of personal faith. Education at St. Mary's is based on love and
respect for the person, in full recognition of the dignity of humankind created in God's image
and destined to live in union with Him.
Students are made aware of global issues, as well as of the aspirations of people who work for
peace, justice, freedom and truth, in the hope that these may engender beliefs and actions
conducive to the betterment of humanity. In this process, personal development is marked by
empathy and mutual trust.
Academic programs are rigorous and challenging and are designed to prepare students for
higher education within a safe, caring and orderly atmosphere. The all-boy environment
creates a place wherein positive self-esteem can fully develop and where learning is promoted at
a pace appropriate for boys. A comprehensive and enriching co-curricular program is offered,
which allows for individual expression to enhance self-worth.
At St. Mary’s, members of the international community in Japan can establish an identity
respectful of both cultural and religious differences in an atmosphere that values diversity.
SCHOOL MISSION
Our mission is to Instruct, to Educate, and to Impart Christian Values.
SCHOOL VISION STATEMENT
St. Mary’s is committed to educating boys to be lifelong learners of good character who
demonstrate academic, physical, artistic, and moral excellence, respect for religious and cultural
beliefs, and responsibility as international citizens.
SCHOOLWIDE LEARNER EXPECTATIONS
The St. Mary’s community is committed to developing self-directed, life-long learners who are:
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OF GOOD CHARACTER, reflecting values consistent with Christian principles,
KNOWLEDGEABLE, demonstrating a firm foundation in the academic, physical, and artistic
disciplines,
GLOBALLY AWARE, showing sensitivity and compassion toward human and global
concerns in a multi-cultural world, and exhibiting initiative, reliability, and perseverance in their
response to these concerns,
CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKERS, confidently using appropriate resources and
current technology, either independently or collaboratively, to reason, make decisions, and
solve problems in a variety of contexts,
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS, receiving and expressing ideas and information
competently and precisely.
ST. MARY’S CORE VALUES
Respect, Compassion, Honesty, Fairness, Responsibility
Linda Wayne, Curriculum Coordinator
From the High School Learning Support Office
As we prepare to soon celebrate the holiday season, we reflect about the coming together of
friends, of families, of countries, and of the entire world during this time, and imagine the three
wise men that travelled to give homage to the Messiah. These biblical noblemen probably
spoke more than one language and were able to mingle with more than one culture.
Bilingualism (or multilingualism) does confer many advantages. These range from better social,
academic, and employment opportunities; and indeed, even to positive physical changes in the
grey matter of the brain, just to mention a few.
In many parts of the world, such as Asia and Europe, being bilingual and bicultural is the norm
and a necessity for people living there. For them, bilingualism is a way of life, and it develops
naturally as a matter of course. In fact, having only one language is unusual in these places.
But for other people and families, bilingualism is a choice. With these families, bilingualism
can be more of a challenge; and even then, we need to realize that the road to being a bilingual
is never smooth. It has bumps and potholes, hills and plateaus, sharp curves and sudden dips.
Experts have agreed that the process is never trouble-free, in spite of good intentions and even
meticulous planning.
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In our school community, we have many bicultural families. The children of these families can
acquire one language from one parent and a second language from the other. We are also in a
country where the dominant language outside of school is Japanese, and the language of
instruction in school is English; so children may also learn one language at school and another
outside. An international school, by its very nature, makes it possible to acquire more than one
language and, subsequently, to learn about more than one culture.
To be perfectly bilingual is a goal most parents have for their bilingual children. But it is an
idealized concept; a myth, in fact, that is totally unrealistic and can generate untold anxiety and
stress. We often forget that the only thing that really matters is this: our children just need to be
very well-grounded and successful in one language, most especially if we want them to be good
in other languages.
Nurturing the growth of languages has been compared to growing a garden. Like a garden,
there is a lot of effort involved in raising bilingual children. It needs a lot of thought and
creativity. One does not simply scatter seeds and expect a garden to grow out of it. A garden
needs to be fertilized and tended lovingly.
I remember one of the Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel. In that story, Toad had just
planted seeds, and was waiting impatiently for them to grow. He wanted them to grow right
away, and so he tries many different things to speed up the process (including screaming at
them in frustration). In the end, he gets tired, goes to sleep, and discovers that the seeds have
sprouted while he was asleep. Parents might learn a lesson or two from the story. Much like
seeds, language acquisition follows a developmental progression, and will blossom when it is
ready, as long as the right conditions are there. Inordinately high expectations of steady growth
and performance at all times can sabotage success in language learning. Therefore, parents
have to strike a balance between planning and expectation, and remember that they need to
provide a stimulating environment for language to grow, together with adequate practice. But
most of all, children need to be encouraged by their parents. And these days, thanks to
technology, this mingling of languages and cultures has exponentially accelerated. That gives us
even more reason to make sure our children are proficient enough to use languages in the right
way, at the right time and place, comfortably and confidently.
Happy Holidays!
Mitos Molina, HS Learning Support Coordinator
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From the ES Counselor
Mistakes are good!
"In life, there are no mistakes, only lessons."
I often hear students making statements such as, “My mom is going to be so mad at me,
because I missed a problem on my Math test”; “My dad’s not going to be happy since I didn’t
do too well at the swim meet”; or simply a grumble out of a child’s mouth followed by, “Ahhh,
I messed up!”
No matter how hard we might try to always do things right, making mistakes is just a fact of life.
It is important to teach children that making a mistake isn't the end of the world, and that they
can use their mistakes to learn and grow.
The age-old adage, “learning from our mistakes,” is true. When kids make mistakes they learn
not only about themselves, but also about the people around them. If you're able to let and
encourage your child to make mistakes, then he knows you'll still support him when he's not
perfect or doing well.
As a parent it may seem like a bad idea to let your children make mistakes. After all, isn't it
your job to protect them, build them up and help them learn how to do things — perfectly? But
kids need to learn how to fail as much as they need to learn how to succeed.
How to Let Kids Make Mistakes: Letting your kids make mistakes means learning to back off a
little and bite your tongue at the little imperfections. Here are some ways to practice that:
-Monitor, but don't do, your child's homework. One of the main reasons for assigning
homework is to allow the teacher to see what the student has learned. A second reason is so
they develop independence in their learning and good study habits. Make sure that your child
is doing his homework, but try to let him struggle a bit on his own. This forces the child not to
give up so easily, and also helps him learn how to approach his teacher and ask for further help
and explanation when it’s needed.
-Let your child do his own thing. Whether it's a math problem, a big project or simply drawing
of a picture of a house. Let you children come up with their own ideas. Then they can
experience the satisfaction of creating and doing something on their own (even with its
imperfections)
-Don't be so quick to jump to the rescue. Your child needs to learn how to be a problemsolver. For example: Maybe he forgot to bring his lunch or homework to school. Instead of
hopping right into the car and bringing it over, let him come up with a solution on his own.
You’d be surprised how resourceful kids can be when they have to, and you won't know what
they can do until you let them try. Worst-case scenario: they have to eat some kind of lunch
that they don’t like, or perhaps miss a recess to make up their homework. But what great
motivation to help them remember those things in the future!
-Be a guide. Using phrases like, "What do you think?" or "How could we figure that out?" can
help your child learn “how to learn.” In school, they are learning by inquiry, that is, being led to
find the answer rather than just straight memorization or being told what to do.
-Let them lose at a game. It's very tempting to purposely lose when playing a game with your
child. It makes your child happy to win and sometimes avoids a big, unpleasant scene. This,
however, usually backfires in the long run. Children don’t learn how to control their
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disappointments and often grow up with poor sportsmanship. Beyond that, children are like
sponges, and if you are playing well, chances are they’ll observe your strategies and later
incorporate them so they can actually beat you!
Overall, and maybe most important: Try not to scold or punish your child for their mistakes
(especially academic ones). Discuss what happened and ask them to come up with ways to
avoid the mistake in the future. Share some mistakes that you have made and how you learned
from those mistakes. Celebrate what they have gotten right. And remember the famous words
of Albert Einstein, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
Julie Gordon, ES Counselor
From the School Nurse
Influenza Season
Unfortunately, Flu (influenza) Season, November through April, is upon us! Now is the time to
start taking preventative measures against the flu and to make plans in case it does strike.
Plan to Get the Seasonal Flu Shot
The best way to protect against influenza is to get the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine is available
through many physicians and clinics throughout the area. If you need advice in finding a
location to be vaccinated, please feel free to contact me.
Teach Your Children Healthy Habits:
• Cough and sneeze into a sleeve or elbow, not hands.
• Wash hands frequently with soap and water, especially after using the toilet and before
eating. Use a hand sanitizer if water is not available. Children need coaching (rub and
scrub all surfaces for 20 seconds) on proper hand washing.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.
• Wipe down surfaces in your home that an ill family member comes in contact with
(preventing the spread of the infection).
• Be sure your child knows to tell you or their caregiver if they feel sick.
Keep Your Child Home if They Are Sick with the Flu or other illnesses:
• If diagnosed with influenza, please keep your son home for 5 day from the start of the
illness and at least 48 hours fever free without fever reducing medications (3 days for
RP students)
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Do not send a sick child to school. This is for their health and the health of others.
Signs of flu include: fever, cough or sore throat.
Call your health care provider for advice on caring for an ill child or family member.
Remember to contact the school when your son will be staying home.
Plan Now For the Flu Season:
• Make plans NOW for home care for children that become ill with the flu.
• Talk to your employer about how you will manage if you or your child becomes ill.
• Discuss with friends and family who would care for your child if you become ill. Update
emergency contacts.
• Discuss special plans with your health care provider for your child or household
members who have chronic medical conditions like asthma, heart disease, kidney
disease, etc., because they are at higher risk of severe illness and complications from the
flu.
Jennifer McCoy, Nurse
From the Elementary School Library
Reading Celebration Day
On November 8th, we held our 3rd annual Reading Celebration Day, to
celebrate the spectacular readers we have at St. Mary’s and their summer
reading record of 639,201 pages read. It was truly an inspirational day,
starting out in the school’s first floor atrium with our students, teachers,
administrators and many others reading quietly for about 10 minutes. It
was fun to see and hear everyone reading, both to themselves and the younger readers
confidently reading out loud.
Throughout the week we held a bookmark contest, a door decorating contest and for our 4th
and 5th grades a Mission Patch contest, based on the NASA mission patches. The judges had
their work cut out for them. We have many talented artists at St. Mary’s and as far as we are
concerned everyone was a winner.
Congratulations to our bookmark contest winners: Hiroki in RPM, Liam in 1T and Bill in 4C.
Please take a look at our winning bookmarks and see who made the top 10 bookmarks for
each category. http://library.smis.ac.jp/elementary/award/bmcontest.html
Congratulations also go out to 2H their spectacular winning door display. 1C took 2nd place
and 1J came in 3rd. http://library.smis.ac.jp/elementary/award/door.html
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Congratulations to 5L for creating Mission Patch worthy of a NASA mission. Stop by their
room to see their winning patch.
This year we asked all our new students in RP to grade 5 to participate in a month-long reading
challenge in October. We challenged them to read 200 pages each. They added a total of
74,587 pages to our summer total, bringing our grand total to 713,788 pages.
We thank all the parents for supporting your sons’ reading and for taking the time to read
together as a family.
Reading Programs
Currently all of our Elementary School students are involved in either the St. Mary’s Book
Award Program or the Sakura Medal Reading Program.
The St. Mary’s Book Award (SMBA), a children’s choice award, is an important part
of our library program. All students in RP to grade 3 hear the five short-listed titles
during their library classes and vote for their favorite title at the end of the program.
They are encouraged to evaluate the books for both the story’s content and the illustrations.
This year’s short-listed books are: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by
William Joyce, Tweak Tweak by Eve Bunting, The Emperor’s Cool Clothes by Lee Harper,
Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D. B. Johnson and Yuko-chan and the Daruma Doll by Sunny
Seki. Voting will take place in January 2013.
Books are flying off the shelves as students in grades 4 to 5 embark on their six-month
journey into the world of the Sakura Medal Reading Program. This exciting reading
program, which was dreamed up by a group of teacher-librarians from international
schools throughout Japan in 2005, is a big part of the international school library programs in
Japan.
At St. Mary’s, students in grades 4 and 5 are currently reading books from the Chapter Book
List and grades 2 and 3 will begin their journey with the Picture Book List in January. The
Japanese Picture Books and Chapter Books are more popular than we had dreamed. It’s
fantastic to see so much reading going on. For more information about this exciting reading
program, please check out our website.
http://library.smis.ac.jp/elementary/award/sakura.html#list
Thank you to the SMA for your generous support to keep this exciting program going.
St. Mary’s has 60 students from the 4th and 5th grades who are participating in the Sakura
Book Bowl, which is similar to the Brain Bowl. We have 12 teams competing in our three
internal competitions, culminating with the two highest scoring teams joining forces to compete
in the All-Japan Sakura Book Bowl competition which will be held in March 2013. We wish all
our teams the best of luck as they read, read, read Sakura Medal Books!
http://library.smis.ac.jp/elementary/award/bookbowl.html
Christmas Checkout
December 6 marks the start of our special Christmas Holiday checkout period. Students will
be given the opportunity to check out extra books during their classes. Please send a bag for
them to carry their books in.
13
Grade
Number of extra books
RP
3 books
1st, 2nd, 3rd
5 books
4th, 5th
10 books
Parents
20 books
As we move into this holiday season, remember to take time out from your busy schedules to
read together as a family. Just a few minutes a day can really make a difference toward your
son’s academic achievements and can foster a love of reading that will help them reach their
potential, not to mention all the great holiday memories you will make.
Happy Reading and Merry Christmas!
Tammy Hays, ES Librarian
From the Middle School/High School Library
Middle school and high school students eagerly look forward to the month of November as the
start of the reading period for the Sakura Medal Award’s short-listed books. They will not be
disappointed with this year’s lists — the selection in all four categories we participate in is
outstanding! You can see the lists up on our website
http://library.smis.ac.jp/mshs/sakura_award2013.shtm
We have multiple copies of each title on hand, but it is
hard to keep up with the heavy demand in some of the
more popular titles, so for the time being we are restricting
Sakura Medal book check-outs to one book at a time. We
do plan, however, to lift this restriction before the
Christmas holidays, so that the boys can take home some
extra good books to read over the break.
A lot of middle school students came up winners in the MS/HS Library’s Teen Read Week
horror writing competition last month. Be sure to check our website at
http://library.smis.ac.jp/mshs/teen-read-week-2013.html to see if your son’s work and picture
appear there. The boys seemed pleased to receive their certificates, books, notepads, pens,
pencils and bookmarks, and other small treats as a thank you from the library for their
participation. Many thanks to middle school English teachers Mrs. Striegl, Mr. Van Den
Bossche, Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Lamb for submitting their students’ works.
14
With Christmas approaching, we have gathered a very nice collection of
materials related to this joyful holiday, including recipe books, home
decorations, crafts, novels, mysteries, short stories, poems, and other
Christmas miscellanea. You can preview the Christmas books as a
resource list in our Destiny catalog, if you like, and then come into the
library to check the books out.
Wherever you spend your holidays, the Library Staff wishes you and your
family a peaceful and restful break and all the best for the New Year.
Merry Christmas!
Anna Fernicola, MS/HS Librarian
From the St. Mary’s Athletics Department
The Titans end the fall season on a successful note with the high school cross country team
winning both the Kanto league and Kanto tournament championships. They also took second
in the Asia-Pacific Invitational in Guam and fourth at the Far East. The middle school runners
were also competitive, placing second in the league and taking third at the Kanto Finals. JV
tennis brought back the Kanto Plain travelling plaque that they lost to ASIJ last year, while their
varsity counterparts remained in contention for the league and tournament titles until the very
end. The varsity netters fell just short of winning and ended up in second place in the league,
tournament, and the Far East. Meanwhile, middle school soccer reached the finals in the Kanto
tournament but fell to a strong CAJ squad. Congratulations to all teams!
Below is a partial list of awardees for the fall season:
HS Cross Country
Most Valuable Player: Masanari Yoshida
Coach’s Award: Koh Terai
Most Improved: Taishi Misumi
Most Dedicated: James Parker
Kanto League All-Stars: Masanari Yoshida and Koh Terai
Varsity Tennis
Most Valuable Player: Kent Shikama
Coach’s Award: Alistair Kershaw
Rookie of the Year: Juan Borga and Ken Senkoff
Kanto League All-Stars: Kent Shikama, Juan Borga, and Ken Senkoff
15
MS Soccer A
Most Valuable Player: Ranmaru Yamamoto
Coach’s Award: Tokio Takai
Most Improved: Ryutaro Inui
Top Scorer: Thomas Wood
MS Soccer B
Most Valuable Player: Yutaro Sahara
Coach’s Award: Jino Arai
Most Improved: Sebastian Equiarte
Top Scorer: Anmol Shah
As soon as fall season ended, varsity basketball and varsity soccer launched the winter season
with pre-season tournaments overseas. The December calendar is already full of sporting
events scheduled every week in the middle school and high school levels, so please come out
and support the Titans!
A complete list of winter sports and their respective coaches is listed below.
Ball Hockey — Coach Nicholson
Mind Sports — Coach Klein and Coach Craney
Grade 2 Activities — Coach Hagenson and Coach Tierney
MS Basketball 8 — Coach Willis
MS Basketball 6 & 7 — Coach Molina
MS Wrestling — Coach Yabui
Varsity Basketball — Coach Clarkson
JV Basketball — Coach Thiesen
Varsity Soccer — Coach Van Den Bossche
JV Soccer — Coach Twohig
HS Wrestling — Coach Harlow
Swimming — Coach Moodie
A schedule of games is included in the Sports Roundup which is posted weekly at the St.
Mary’s website. For those interested in watching road games held at any of the U.S. bases,
please fill out the base security sign-up form online in the Resources section of the Athletics
page of the St. Mary’s website.
Good luck to all winter sports teams!
Let’s Go Titans!
Tom Molina, Athletic Director
16
Swimming
Citicorp Taipei American School Invitational Swim Meet at Taiwan
Once again the Swim Team had a very successful trip to the Citicorp Taipei American School
Tigershark Invitational. This year marked the fifth time the Bucs have participated in the event.
Fifteen teams throughout Asia competed in the annual classic.
The Buccaneers took 4th overall in team scoring. In boys scoring, SMST finished in 3rd place:
Taipei American School was first with 2,330 points, Shanghai American School second with
1,811, and St. Mary’s third with 1,810. The Taipei American School fielded a team of 145
swimmers. Shanghai American School and The International School of Beijing brought 65
swimmers and 55 swimmers, respectively. The coaches were very pleased that the team scored
so well against very large contingents, with just 35 swimmers from the Bucs entered.
SMST swimmers established six new individual and three relay meet records. Swimmers
establishing new individual records were Mokhtar Al-Yamani (4) — 800 Free (8:28.18), 100
Free (52.20), 100 Fly (57.88), 200 Free (1:56.68); and Nicolas Flint — 200 Individual Medley
(2:22.17) and 400 Individual Medley (4:38.10). The Bucs 15-18 relay teams set new meet
marks in all three relays. Mokhtar, Nicolas, Junwoo Moon, and Masaya Takeda combined to
set three meet relay records in very close races with Taipei sports academy’s Nangan High
School. The Bucs took the 200 medley relay in 1:51.70, just .44 ahead of Nangan. Nangan
finished .42 seconds ahead of the Bucs (1:40.04) in the 200 Free Relay and 1.58 seconds ahead
in the 400 Free Relay with SMST finishing in 3:37.15 in the final race of the competition.
High Point trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age group.
Mokhtar Al-Yamani captured the 1st high point for 15-18 boys. Yutaro Sahara took the 2nd
high point for the 11-12 age group. Swimmers finishing in the top 8 in scoring were: Nicolas
Flint (4th), Junwoo Moon (8th), Ryan Fenwick (8+Under — 4th), Bien Bagui (8+Under — 6th),
Neo Matsuyama (8+Under — 8th), Takashi Kanazawa (13-14 — 6th), and Stefano A’De Lima
(13-14 — 8th).
Kudos to Julin Takenaka for helping the folks at Fang’s restaurant provide great Taiwanese
cuisine for the entire team after a long day at the pool on Saturday. After the events finished on
Sunday, an awards banquet for swimmers, coaches, and families was held at the school before
the dash to the airport to catch the late flight back to Tokyo.
Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet
The annual Buccaneer Invitational Swim Meet is a showcase for excellence in the pool and has
a tradition spanning more than 30 years. The meet always features competitive Japanese teams
— more than a decade ago, Yasuko Tajima swam in the meet 10 months prior to winning the
Olympic silver medal in the 400 Individual medley at the Sydney games. This past weekend
was no exception as six new records were established. Buccaneer swimmers produced 21 US
Swimming AAAA times and 26 AAA standards.
The Bucs played host to 12 teams from throughout the Kanto Plain on Saturday and Sunday.
There was a lot of activity around the pool, with 402 athletes attending and a total of 1,506
individual entries and 106 relays. The Bucs do not count themselves in the team trophy race
but, amassed 1,375.5 points over the two days of competition. Setagaya-ku’s Kibogaoka Swim
17
Team took 1st place with 760 points, followed by Nittai Ebara High School (488), and the 3rd
spot went to the Mishuku Sakura Swim Team (417.5).
There were plenty of close races:
The finale to Saturday’s schedule, the 4 x 100 Freestyle relay, featured three nationally ranked
teams: St. Mary’s, Nittai Ebara High School, and Komaba High School. The Bucs squad
finished just .41 seconds behind Nittai Ebara with a 3:34.38. Komaba came in 3rd at 3:37.26.
Other races that went down to the wire. Mokhtar Al-Yamani touched out Ebara’s Takumi
Yoshida in the 50 Free by .01 seconds for the gold, going 24.68. In a race to decide the 2nd
overall High Point for the 13-14 Boys, Kazuki Martin nipped Stefano A’De Lima in the 100
meter Backstroke by .01 with a 1:06.29 swim. The last event contested was the 200 meter
Individual Medley; Toshiki Takahashi held off a fast-finishing Joshua Brown to take 1st with a
2:17.43 to Josh’s 2:17.50.
High Point trophies are awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in each age group
based on six events over two days.
15–18 — This group was easily the most competitive at the meet: close finishes and unexpected
results were the norm. Sophomore Mokhtar Al-Yamani took 3rd place overall with a 41 points
over two days. Nittai Ebara’s Hayato Mimura impressed the crowd, taking top honors.
13+14 — Ninth grader Toshiki Takahashi captured the High Point with a perfect 54 points.
Toshiki also broke his own Open + Area record in the 200 meter Breaststroke (2:23.38).
Kazuki Martin and Stefano A’De Lima finished in a tie for the 2nd High Point with 46 points
each. Joshua Brown garnered the 3rd High Point trophy. The SMST 400 Free Relay team —
Kazuki, Joshua, Toshiki, and Stefano — set a new Open + Area record with a combined effort
of 3:50.19.
11-12 — Seventh grader Naoki Nomura captured the High Point for Boys 11-12 with a perfect
54 points. The 2nd High Point went to 7th grader Yutaro Sahara with a 46 point total.
9+10 — Fifth grader Naoki Martin finished with six individual wins for 54 points for the top
spot. Fourth grader Keigo Hayashi took the 2nd High point with 48 points.
8 + Under — This age group was also hotly contested with plenty of upsets. Third grader Ryan
Fenwick netted the High Point, tying with Shinsaku Isshiki of Kibogaoka. Bien Bagui finished
with the 2nd High Point, followed by Neo Matsuyama for the third spot.
Other swimmers finishing in the top 8 in overall points for their age groups were Shane Brett,
Nicolas Flint, Riki Motoyama, Takashi Kanazawa, Ren Hiraishi, Kaitlin Rossman, Ryan
Shimizu, Kota Uchino, Sophie Mitchell, Sarah Omachi, Mayank Bhandari, Kai Henri Atobe,
Aaron Wenk, Takanobu Kanda, Roland Bridgman, Lisa Purcell, and Natsuki Uchino.
The coaches would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the meet a success.
Dave Moodie, Swimming Coach
18
From the Development Office
Since the Annual Giving letter went out in October, we have received a number of generous
contributions. We would like to thank all the contributors who have been very supportive of
our school. This year, to make donation easier, we have established an online credit card
donation. Please check the following link:
https://alum.smis.ac.jp/Giving/CardDonation.aspx
The furnishing of the interior of the Multi-Purpose Hall is an urgent issue. This Hall will be
used for shows, the school musical and various concerts performed by our students, as well as
athletic events and other activities. Once furnished, it will become the perfect venue to
showcase our students’ many fine talents.
Your contributions are needed to help this dream become a reality. We appreciate any
donation, big or small.
If you have any questions, please contact the Development Office at 3709-3411 or e-mail
development@smis.ac.jp.
Development Office
SMA News and Events
SMA is a volunteer organisation whose aim is to provide opportunities for parents to meet on a
common platform. It encourages parents to develop ideas in partnership with the faculty and
administration to foster a spirit of learning, harmony, creativity and joy.
SMA invites all parents to participate in this process of learning and be involved. You can help
by donating your time, sharing your skill or providing a donation for any of our events.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
19
Cosmic Bingo 2012
Dear St. Mary’s Families and Friends,
We would like to thank you all from the bottom of our heart for making Cosmic Bingo 2012 a
Big Success! Cosmic Bingo would not have been possible without immeasurable help from the
St. Mary’s administration staff and faculty, the SMA board members, volunteer parents,
boosters, students, and most of all, the amazing Cosmic Bingo 2012 Committee. Our heartfelt
thank you to you all!
We would also like to recognize and send our deepest gratitude to all of the corporations,
alumni, parents, family and friends who generously donated prizes to this year’s event. Without
your support, Cosmic Bingo 2012 would not have been possible, and on behalf of the entire
school, we thank you for your continuous support to Bingo!
Please acknowledge the following people who helped us lead Cosmic Bingo to success:
☆Food Court Food Donation
Mrs. Yuki Shimizu, Mrs. Kumi Ito, Mrs. Miwa Yu, Mrs. Hiromi Soh, Mrs. Likako Takeda,
Mrs. Itsuki Hiramitsu, Mrs. June Tateno, Mrs. Suju Toyokawa, Mrs. Lia Kumar.
★Food Court Team
Mrs. Rika Atobe, Mrs. Sandie Jones, Mrs. Aya Bedi, Mrs. Itsuko Nogami, Mrs. Risa Osawa,
Mrs. Akiko Inamine, Mrs. Misook Asai, Mrs. Kikue Saito, Mrs. Yukiko Yoshida, Mrs. Mie
Kayo, Mrs. Izumi Ryan, Mrs. Satomi Degami, Mrs. Victoria Morehouse, Mr. Sho Sen, Mrs.
Yasuko Kitajima, Mrs. Satomi Kataoka, Mrs. Akemi MacNamara, Mrs. Dolores Esquiarte,
Mrs. Yayoi Yoshii, Mrs. Kanae Nakaya, Mrs. Chiko Hori, Mrs. Jeany Khan, Mrs. Mami
Komatsu, Mrs. Priti Kochhar, Mrs. Suju Toyokawa, Mrs. Mizuho Akiyama, Mrs. Chigusa
Miura, Mrs. Aya Iwamoto, Mrs. Viji Sriram, Mrs. Yumi Shigetake, Mrs. Keiko Fukasawa, Mrs.
Lia Kumar, Mrs. Mineko Inoue.
★Decoration Team
Mrs. Jennifer Yamamoto, Mrs. Aya Bedi, Mrs. Akiko Inamine, Mrs. Risa Osawa, Mrs. Misook
Asai, Mrs. Kikue Saito.
☆Donation Team
Mrs. Miho Nagano, Mrs. Yukari Ko, Mrs. Chigusa Miura.
★Boosters
Mrs. Motoko A’de Lima, Mrs. Shoko Strawn, Mrs. Trupti Shah.
☆Prize Team
Mrs. Sherry Khetan, Mrs. Miho Nagano, Mrs. Therese Adachi, Mrs. Misook Asai, Mrs. Shoko
Prescott, Mrs. Chanta Meeta, Mrs. Kikue Saito, Mrs. Christine Lawlor, Mrs. Motoko A’de
Lima, Mrs. Satomi Kataoka, Mrs. Tomoko Ajeesh, Mrs. Rei Ueno, Mrs. Satomi Degami.
★Pre-Sale and Entrance
Mrs. Keiko Andrews, Mrs. Mineko Inoue, Mrs. Josie Schmidt, Mrs. Yukari Ko, Mrs. Bunsei
Tanaka, Mrs. Sinhwa Lee, Mrs. Hiroe Murakami, Mrs. Mieko Mizoroki, Mrs. Therese
20
Adachi, Mrs. Stefanie Heyn, Mrs. Ulrike Wenk, Ms. Eun Ha Park, Mrs. Wendy Choi, Mrs.
Shigeko Nishimura, Mrs. Satomi Kataoka.
☆Treasury Team
Mrs. Tomoko Ajeesh, Mrs. Rei Ueno, Mrs. Kiyomi Kunida, Mrs. Yasuko Takahashi, Mrs.
Etsuko Lam, Mrs. Midori Kosaka, Mrs. Shurei Nagaoka, Mrs. Etsuko Tanaka, Mrs. Miki
Repeta.
★Publicity Team
Mrs. Noriko Takahashi, Mrs. Naomi Takahashi.
☆Bake Sale
Mrs. Lia Kumar, Mrs. Keiko Fukasawa, and their team.
Special thanks go to:
Mr. Tierney for being the MC, Mr. Martens for printing the pre-sale tickets, Mr. Kubo and his
team for the maintenance and set-up, Mrs. Linda Wayne for coordinating faculty member
volunteers, Mr. DiMuzio and Br. Michel for their guidance, Mr. Takamichi, Mr. Langholz,
Mr. Kagei and Ms. Suyama for their support.
Thank you to booster leaders Ricky Dasdeb and Kazuya Ogino,
STUCO Treasury, Alistair Kershaw for their leadership. And last
but not least, kudos to Mrs. Hyosook Shim and her amazing
Korean Booth Team!
Mimy Chang and Sherry Hoshi, Bingo Chairs
From the Room Parent Coordinators
Thank You from the Room Parent Coordinators!
Dear All,
The Bingo Bake Sale was a tremendous success, thanks to the huge response from the school
community! The boys were thrilled to see the assortment of food for them to buy. Thank you
for your generosity!
We are very grateful to the volunteers from the Elementary class rooms who worked to set up,
collect and sell the baked goods on the day. We really appreciate your effort. Thank you!
Ms. Mayu Terada (RPK), Ms. Ryoko Washio (RPK)
Ms. Vivian Ouellet (RPM), Ms. Mari Harito (RPM), Ms. Naomi Richter (RPM)
Ms. Ieka Nakamura (1J), Ms. Eri Omachi (1J)
Ms. Yoko Kadoi (1R), Ms. Hiroko Haller (1R)
Ms. Yukari Tsui (1T), Ms. Mari Guckian (1T)
Ms. Riki Mano (2H), Ms. Mieko Mizoroki (2H)
Ms. Noriko Rampinini (2J), Ms. Ji-Young Kress (2J)
21
Mrs. Attwood (2W), Mrs. Higgins (2W)
Ms. Keiko Igarashi (3A), Ms. Shoko Prescott (3A)
Ms. Adachi (3C), Ms. Kang (3C)
Ms. Rie Yoshida (3K), Ms. Naoko Hostetter (3K)
Ms. Hiromi Wittman (4B), Ms. Yuko Lee (4B)
Ms. Karen Okano (4C), Ms. Junko Matsuki (4C), Ms. Haruna Namba (4C)
Ms. Iwori Arai (4K), Ms. Itsuko Nogami (4K), Ms. Hiromo Kim (4K)
Ms. Ulrike Wenk (5B), Ms. Ana Paula Shiota (5B)
Ms. Takako Fenwick (5L), Ms. Viji Sriram (5L)
Ms. Akiko Inamine (5W), Ms. Aki Isobe (5W)
Ms. Bunsei Tanaka (5W)
Thank you to Mrs. Caterina Tanaka for donating the pancakes for the Pancake Breakfast. We
could not have done it without your support. Thank you to Mrs. Aya Iwamoto and Mrs. Risa
Osawa for helping sell the pancakes all through the morning!
We are very grateful to the office and the maintenance staff for all the help and support we got
from you. Thank you!
It was a joy to see so many smiling faces.
Lia Kumar and Keiko Fukasawa, Room Parent Coordinators
22
Hospitality Outing
On Tuesday, October 23, despite the inclement weather, 34 parents and friends of Seisen and
St. Mary’s boarded the school bus for our first outing of the year to Tsukiji Fish Markets.
Participants, many equipped with cooler bags and ice packs, wandered around the bustling
inner and outer markets, sampling fresh produce and savoring the exotic aromas of this
fascinating place. We were happy to have the opportunity to visit Tsukiji as the markets will be
moving to a new location in the near future. A big thank you to all who took part in this outing
and a very special thanks to our bus driver, Mr. Saito.
Therese Adachi and Aya Iwamoto, SMA Hospitality Chairs
23
Dear Friends of St. Mary’s,
We are delighted to report you that COSMIC BINGO was a huge success. As you can see from the
attached photo collage, the excitement in the crowd of about 1,000people was palpable as they
played to win.
This success has been made possible by the various support and generous contribution from the
kind donors. We would like to show our appreciation to all listed below in alphabetical order.
The funds raised from this event will provide financial support that directly benefit St. Mary’s
students, such as field trips, student transportation for athletic events, the Sakura Medal Award
program and the publication of the SMIS calendars and Mind’s I journal, just to name a few. The
SMA’s mission is to assist in providing an enhanced educational experience for our students with a
future.
We hope to have your continued support in our endeavour.
Thank you again and warmest regards
Miho Nagano
Donations Chairperson 2012-2013
St. Mary’s Association
Email: smassociation@smis.ac.jp
Cosmic Bingo could not have happened without your
kind, generous, and heartful donations. Thank you, everyone!
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
A Cut Above
AJINOMOTO GENERAL FOODS, INC.
Mrs. Keiko Andrews
Mr. and Mrs. Araya
Armani Exchange
ASIAN REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE - Tokyo
ATELIER NIKITIKI CO., LTD
Barbacoa Grill Aoyama
Basi Pilates Roppongi Studio
Beauté absolue
Mr. and Mrs. John and Antonia Boardman
BREEZBAY HOTEL co., ltd.
BRILLIAGE
Build-A-Bear Workshop
CAFE COMPANY INC.
Mrs. Kazuko Choi
Discover Japan
Disney
Dogwood Plaza
Domino's Pizza Japan, Inc.
Elio Locanda Italiana
ELLEVI Ltd.
FUJI-TORII CO., LTD.
Funroots Co., Ltd.
GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL & JUKU
Green Eight Tennis School
Mr. Unryu Haku
Heinz Japan Ltd.
Mrs. Mineko Inoue
Mrs. Aya Iwamoto
Dr. Kaku
Ms. Keiko Kamata
Mr. and Mrs. Kataoka
KCJ GROUP INC. KidZania Tokyo
Keiki Intercultural Preschool
Mr. Duil Kim
Mr. and Mrs. Shinta Kiyonaga
Mrs. Yu Kobayashi
Mr. and Mrs. Komatsu
Mr. Jeffrey Koo Jr.
Legato
*In alphabetical order
LEGO Japan Ltd.
Mexican Restaurant LA JOLLA
Miele Japan Corp.
Mrs. Mieko Mizoroki
MONOPIA CO., LTD.
Mori Building Co.,Ltd.
Mr. Yoshiaki Murakami
Mr. Tun Aung Myo Thein
Mr. Tatsuji Nagano
Mr. Toshiya Nagata
NAGATANIEN CO.,LTD.
NATIONAL Den-en
Nepalese Restaurant KHUMBILA
Nivea-Kao Co., Ltd.
Mr. Seijiro Nozaki
QUIKSILVER JAPAN Co., Ltd.
R Supply
Rivera Japan Co. Ltd.
Scoragen Co., Ltd.
SENBADO CO., LTD
Seta Modern Golf
Seta Onsen Sanga-no-Yu
Mrs. Yumi Shigetake
Mrs. Miyuki Shimizu
SIGNA
Mr. and Mrs. Smallwood
Mr. Tom Stanley
Tableaux
TAKE FIVE CO.
Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka
The Foreign Buyers' Club
The Gotoh Museum
THE KING CLINIC
[Leo King, MD (SMIS Class of 1988)]
Tokyo American Club
Warner Entertainment Japan Inc.
Wendy’s Japan LLC
Mr. Taichi Yamazaki
and Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki
Mr. Makoto Yoshii
RP and ES Parents
…and all the Friends of St. Mary's who anonymously and generously supported us… Thank you!
28
From the SMA Treasurer
We perform our duties, as outlined in the SMA Constitution, to “coordinate, control and
monitor the collection and disbursement of all SMA funds” with the aim of maximizing our
efforts to ensure transparency in all SMA treasury transactions.
Accordingly, the Treasury Report is presented, beginning on the following page.
We are pleased to work in our capacity as the SMA Treasurer and appreciate the support of all
SMA members. Please feel free to provide us with your comments. We will be more than
happy to hear from you!
Tomoko Ajeesh and Rei Ueno, SMA Treasury
smatreasury@gmail.com
St. Mary's Association Treasury Report as of November 22, 2012
SMA Income from September 27 to November 22
Donations
Bingo
Hospitality Outing
Newsletter Adv.
Pocket Calendar Sales
Recycled Uniforms
Others
Total
Carnival
Ball
Bingo
Raffle
No preference
60,000
10,000
5,000
10,000
20,000
2,256,323
40,000
5,000
41,000
86,610
87,150
¥2,621,083
SMA Expense from September 27 to November 22
Hospitality Welcome Tea
Bingo
SMA folder
ES/MS/HS Library Allocation
Students Allocation
Sports Allocation
Total
500 copies
ES Library
MS School Trip (8th Grade)
RP Field Trip
1nd Grade Field Trip
2nd Grade Field Trip
Cross Country(Guam)
Power lifting
MS Wrestling
-10,410
-283,362
-84,420
-194,170
-153,000
-93,000
-165,000
-186,000
-150,000
-31,538
-150,000
¥-1,500,900
29
Bingo 2012 Treasury Report
Bingo Pre-Sale Ticket
Bingo night Entrance Ticket Sales
Bingo night Extra Card Sales
Bingo Bake Sale
Bingo night Food Court Sales
Bingo Drinks Sales
Bingo Prize
Bingo Decoration
Bingo Others
Bingo ES Supervision
Total
Income
677,150
282,750
284,150
174,080
567,681
133,012
0
0
7,500
130,000
¥2,256,323
Expense
0
0
0
0
-157,978
-98,744
-26,640
0
0
0
¥-283,362
Thank you so much to everyone who helped in the treasury room on Bingo Night!
Ms. Kiyomi Kunida, Ms. Yasuko Takahashi, Ms. Etsuko Lam, Ms. Midori Kosaka, Ms.Shurei
Nagaoka, Ms.Etsuko Tana
Tomoko Ajeesh and Rei Ueno, SMA Treasury
30
Upcoming Events
Japanese Speaking Support Group (JSSG)
JSSG presents Christmas Craft Fair
December 8th, 2012
The SMA Japanese Speaking Support Group (J.S.S.G) invites
you to the St. Mary’s Christmas Craft Fair, to be held on
Saturday, December 8th, in the Multi-Purpose Room, the day
of the Elementary School Christmas Concert. The fair will be
open from 11 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. and from 2 to 4:30 p.m.,
before and after the concert. The fair will be closed during the
concert time.
No child should go unsupervised during the Craft Fair hours. There will be a supervised child
play area in the MPR and out in the school field, available for a fee of ¥500. Proceeds will be
donated to the Student Council’s “Save the Children” fundraising drive and Ms Ono’s
“Kesennuma Relief effort helping those in need Project.” Please note that the school field will
be closed on that day to all other activities.
The planned Vendors' Booths are: Embroidery Kits, Ribbons, Thread, Children Books,
Brand Name Apparel, Luxury Bags, Scarves, Summer camp, Preserved Flowers, Christmas
Wreaths, Acute puncture pierced earrings, Kimono/Obi cushions, Christmas Cookies, Muffins
and Pies, Featuring ISCA Snack and Eating Area, Stuffed toy sale for Kesennuma. In addition,
the SMA will hold a Used Book Sale and Recycled Uniform Sale.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
Yukari Tsui and Risa Osawa, JSSG Chairs.
31
Christmas Craft Fair Hot Beverages Stand
Come and join us in a cup of Christmas Cheer at the Christmas Craft Fair! The SMA will be
manning a Hot Drinks Stand all day. The menu is as follows:
Regular coffee
100 yen
Tea
100 yen
Hot chocolate
100 yen
Hot soup
100 yen
Vienna coffee
200 yen
Masala chai tea
200 yen
Hot chocolate
200 yen
(with marshmallows, whipped cream and sprinkles)
Come and toast the festive season!
See you there.
Therese Adachi and Aya Iwamoto, SMA Hospitality
St. Mary's Kesennuma Relief Effort
Dear St. Mary’s Community,
Thank you very much for your continued support of the Tohoku Charity Sale. Thanks to your
kindness, we raised over 200,000 yen this year. Many boxes full of items requested by our
friends living in temporary housing have been sent to their homes in Ofunato. The profits from
our sale have helped cover the costs. We also have been supporting a volunteer “reading
aloud” group in Ofunato, and the money we send them is being spent on books from a local
book store.
We will publish a report soon on how these profits have been used for people of Tohoku.
Profits from all of our charity activities in 2012 by the St. Mary’s Kesennuma Relief Effort —
helping those in need:
10/06/2012
11/23/2012
11/28/2012
11/29/2012
11/30/2012
Seisen Festival
Seisen Cafe Noel
Tohoku Charity Sale at St. Mary’s
Tohoku Charity Sale at St. Mary’s
Post-Bazaar Sale
114,240 yen
30,400 yen
122,620 yen
61,973 yen
3,000 yen
Total
332,233 yen
St. Mary’s Kesennuma Relief Effort — helping those in need 2012
32
*Volunteers needed for Recycled Uniform Sale on
the day of Christmas Concert/Craft Fair*
If you are interested in helping us, please contact Keiko Andrews or
Mineko Inoue at recycleduniforms2012@gmail.com. The deadline is
Thursday, December 6th, 2012. (Selling used uniforms. We have 2
shifts: 11:00-12:50, 14:00-16:30)
USED UNIFORM COLLECTION
Please drop used uniforms off at the Main Office. The
collection dates are Monday, December 3rd, through
Thursday, December 6th, 2012.
RECYCLED UNIFORM SALE
Date: Saturday, December 8th, 2012
Place: Multi-Purpose Room
Time: 11:00-12:50, 14:00-16:30
Keiko Andrews: Recycled Uniform Chair
Mineko Inoue: Recycled Uniform Co-Chair
Contact: recycleduniforms2012@gmail.com
33
*Volunteers needed for Used Book Sale on the day
of the ES Christmas Concert/Craft Fair*
If you are interested in helping us, please contact Caterina Tanaka at
sma@smis.ac.jp. The deadline is Thursday, December 6th, 2012.
(Selling used books. We have 2 shifts: 11:00-12:50, 14:0016:30)
USED BOOK COLLECTION
Please drop used books off at the Main Office. The collection
dates are Monday, December 3rd, through Thursday,
December 6th, 2012.
USED BOOK SALE
Date: Saturday, December 8th, 2012
Place: Multi-Purpose Room
Time: 11:00-12:50, 14:00-16:30
Contact: sma@smis.ac.jp
34
SMA Announces the International Ball 2013
“Prom Nostalgia”
The St. Mary’s Association (SMA) announces the St. Mary’s International School’s Annual
International Ball. It will be held on Saturday, March 2nd, 2013, from 6 p.m. at the St. Mary’s
International School in Tokyo. Proceeds will benefit St. Mary’s athletic and music programs,
school libraries and the publishing of the school calendar and Mind’s I.
The International Ball program, entitled “Prom Nostalgia,” celebrates dance, art and music.
Ever wondered how would it feel to be in a prom? Pick-up your dress and tuxedo and prepare
to relive the ’70s and ’80s with a fun evening of DJ, dance, food and nostalgia.
Internationally famous artists in their respective media, including painter Yuki Ninagawa,
sculptor Len Makabe, jewelry artist Mayumi Yasugi, and graphic pop artist Sei Shimura have
donated artworks for auction. Also, world-renowned athletes including baseball player Hideo
Nomo, footballers Hidetoshi Nakata and Kazuyoshi Miura, and golfer Isao Aoki kindly
donated autographed balls for auction.
A musical performance from the St. Mary’s Jazz Band, and a DJ spinning songs from the ’70s,
’80s and ’90s for guests to express themselves artistically as well will round out the evening’s
entertainment.
Tickets go on sale January 2013.
For further information, please contact the International Ball Committee.
Yumi Shigetake & Ruriko Kojima: internationalballsma@gmail.com
(Artists mentioned for this event are subject to change without prior notice.)
35
From the Parent Faculty Advisory (PFA) Group
The Parent-Faculty Advisory Group (PFA) provides parents a unique opportunity to
communicate with the school’s administrators and faculty in an open and informal atmosphere.
The PFA contributes by serving the administration in an advisory role.
All parents of St. Mary’s students are welcome to attend. A range of topics is discussed, such as
school campus facilities, curriculum, the community at large, school calendar, etc.
St. Mary’s parents are welcome to raise topics for discussion at the meetings by sending an email to pfa@smis.ac.jp. If you would like to request to receive the monthly meeting agenda, you
may do so by sending an e-mail to the same address.
PFA Meeting Dates for 2012 - 2013
December 6
February 7
March 7
April 4
May 16
All meetings are held from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in room 263, the Maple Room.
Every St. Mary’s Parent is Welcome!
Dates to Remember
8 December — Christmas Craft Fair and ES Christmas Concert
9 December — SMIS/Seisen MS/HS Choral Christmas Concert
14 December — Christmas Holidays Begin
7 January — School Reconvenes
12 February — 3rd Quarter Newsletter publishing!
Advertising Section
St. Mary‘s has no direct relationship with service or events advertised in this section of the newsletter. Please
contact advertisers directly for more information.
36
Fresh Ｘ’ｍａｓ
Ｗｒｅａｔｈ
Ｍａｋｉｎｇ
Ｃｌａｓｓ
フレッシュクリスマスリース手作りクラス
1DayClass
1 日クラス
Or
又は
Order made Wreath sale
オーダーメイドリース販売
Fresh X’mas wreath making class will be held the studio in Denenchofu.
We will only use fresh natural materials such as fresh Christmas tree branches,
holly berry, mini-apples and so on. It will last at least 1 month on your door without
any water. You’ll definitely enjoy the making processes and also the work on your door
giving out their fresh scent. Even if you don’t have any experiences, don’t worry
you’ll be satisfied with your work when you finish it.
It will take a few hours to complete the wreath.
Please sign up for the class in advance.
Date: 12/7(F)、12/11(T) Time: 10AM ~
Fee :
¥6,000
(include materials)
Place: Studio
Please sign up by E-mail / phone. If you prefer other day or having lesson at your place
or simply purchase the wreath, we’ll make it for you , please ask.
Images of works
A
A
Atelier Hara
Atelie Hara is whre you can learn & enjoy Flower Arrangement, Handicafts and
Traditional Japanese Flower Arrangements.
The studio is only 3 minutes walk from Denenchofu station of Toyoko-line.
Please refer HP for more informations. http://home.s00.itscom.net/hara/
2-45-7 Denenchofu Ota-ku, Tokyo
E-mail hara.sue@gmail.com
Tel
090-6030-8039
Maximize
世界で活躍する
Your
国際人になるために
Potential
1
2
インター面接対策・編入コース
インターナショナルスクールへの編入を目指される親御さま
生徒さまの面接対策をサポートします。
編入後の英語対策も。
インター生・帰国子女コース
インターナショナルスクールに通われている生徒さまや
帰国子女の生徒さまの勉強面・生活面をサポートします。
BILINGUAL
ACADEMY
☎：03-6868-4086 9:00∼18:00
バイリンガルアカデミー
検索
2 creative Courses from keiki This Winter
L>CI:G
;JC
6I@:>@>
6I@:>@>
MONDAY 17th - FRIDAY 21st
December 2012
9:30AM – 2:30PM
4 - 8 years old
Join us at Keiki Intercultural Pre-school for a week of non-stop fun
to keep children active and excited during the cold, cold winter holiday !
From 2 to 9 years old - 9:30am to 2:30pm
December 17th – 21st
Activities
Group art projects, winter collage, decorations, snow globes, shortbread and pretzel
cooking, looking at winter celebrations from around the world, ice and snow science
experiments, winter scene art, ...
Daily schedule
9:30–10:30
10:30–11:00
11:00–12:00
12:00–1:00
1:00–2:30
Circle time/ morning activity/ music and movement
Snack time
Activity time (park, outdoor)
Lunch, book reading
Special activity (different every day)
Would like a little extra help for your
child to really find their voice?
Mr. Kevin has the answer!
A special 5 day workshop aimed at helping children find confidence when communicating and finding the encouragement to
share their ideas and opinions with a LOUD voice.
Through games, questions and discussion we will be looking to
“raise the roof” to bring out
a more confident and independent
approach to every social environment.
**There may be changes due to weather
NO REGISTRATION FEE
¥ 52,500 (including tax, material and insurance)
Tuition and Fees
(Session 1 48,000 yen
Including tax, material and insurance fee
10% sibling discount available
No registration fee!
Nakamachi 4-5-8, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-0091
Telephone & Fax: (03) 3703 8778
admin@keikipreschool.com
www.keikipreschool.com
DISCOVER SKIING IN JAPAN
information
Green
For more
at 090
7716 0102
callor David
email.
WWW.DISCOVERJAPAN.CO.JP
with DISCOVER JAPAN
INFO@DISCOVERJAPAN.CO.JP
since 1984
Mr. Green’s Ski/Board Camps
for elementary and MS children
Community Ski/Board Adventures
for the Family
December 16 - 19
February 9 - 12
January 3 - 6
Our winter camps allow beginners to learn to ski and
snowboard in a safe environment with our professional
instructors. Students with experience will see their skills
and confidence increase. There will be opportunities for
supervised “free” skiing/boarding for those who get the
“OK” from their instructor and parents. Elementary
middle and high school students welcome.
Lessons begin just outside the lodge, at the top of the
first chair li'. Classes return to the lodge for lunch and a
rest before heading out again in the a'ernoon. Videos,
bingo, games, sledding and more in the evening. We’ll
stop at Jigokudani on the way to the Shiga Kogen to see
the famous “onsen” monkeys. Our staff consists of
international school teachers and staff from Nanbo
Discovery Camp.
Our Camps include
- round trip transportation by Shinkansen / bus
- lodging for three nights
- all meals while at lodge and healthy snacks
- ski or board lessons for three days
- visit to the monkeys at Jigokudani (tent.)
- activities include board games, sledding, journal
writing, bingo and more
- professional ski and board instructors
- excellent counselor - camper ratio
Please go to our Photo Gallery to see images of our
activities. Learn more about Discover Japan at
http://discoverjapan.zenfolio.com/nanbo
February 20 - 23
We have organized two very special winter vacations
for students, parents, families and friends of the
international community. Our trips take place during the
midwinter breaks in February. The trips take us to
Yokote-yama in Shiga Kogen, home of the 1998 WInter
Olympics. For the 29th straight year, we will return to
the New Yokote Lodge for our community trips.
Designed for the family, children in grades five and below
must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Middle
school students and above may come with the
permission of their parents.
Shiga Kogen is the largest ski area in Japan. Visit
Yakebitaiyama, Oku Shiga and Giants, ski the Olympic
runs and be back for dinner at the lodge. Visit Jigokudani
and the “onsen” monkeys and spend time relaxing in the
hot springs. Please join us this season!
Our Community Ski/Board Trips include
- round trip transportation by Shinkansen / bus
- lodging for three nights
- delicious and plentiful meals served
- three full days of skiing
- professional ski and board instructors in English
- tour information in English for Shiga Kogen
including bus times and more
- inexpensive rental packages available
- ski/board and pack delivery service to and from
Tokyo and the lodge
- Sayonara Party on Friday evening for all
- great snow, great skiing, possibly good weather
but definitely great company
- thousands of satisfied participants
- experienced, smiling and helpful tour guides to see
to most of your needs
Twenty-eight years of experience help to make
these camps and trips safe, educational and fun for all.
DISCOVER
JAPAN
Nanbo Kokusai Mura - our Lodge
Family Bicycle Adventures
Nanbo DIscovery Camp for Children
Mr. Green’s Ski/Board Camps
Ski/Board Adventures for the Family
and much more!
FOR INFORMATION - Contact us at info@discoverjapan.co.jp or CALL 090 7716 0102
Organizing and leading outdoor adventures for
Japan’s international community for over 30 years.
Mr. Green’s Ski/Board Camps
December 16 - 19 January 3 - 6
For elementary, middle school and higher
(parents may also join).
Community Ski/Board Trips
for the Family
Feb. 9 - 12 / Feb. 20 - 23
every year since 1984
5th Annual
Chikura Music Festival
Sunday, April 21, 2013
noon - 17:00
at our lodge
Our two Winter Camps in Shiga Kogen allow beginners and
higher to ski and snowboard in a safe, relaxed environment
with our professional instructors in English. Daily lessons
begin just outside the lodge. There will be videos, journal
time, bingo, games, sledding and more in the evening. We will
stop to visit the “onsen” monkeys at Jigokudani also.
Our trips take us to Shiga Kogen in Nagano, home of the 1998
Winter Olympics. This will be the 29th year of our Family Ski/
Board Trips. Great snow, great skiing and boarding, possibly
good weather, but definitely great company. Ski or board from
the door of the lodge high on the mountain. Ask any of the
thousands of participants why this is such an incredible trip.
Blues, Rock, Jazz and More - Live music all a4ernoon from
local bands and groups from Tokyo and beyond!
100% of profits go to help the rebuilding following the
Higashi Nihon Daishinsai and local charities.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, Thai and Myanmar food, beer, juice
and much more! No admission charge! Donations accepted!
Nanbo Kokusai Mura
NANBO DISCOVERY CAMP
July 21 - 24 (mini-camp)
July 28 - August 2
August 4 - August 9
August 11 - 14 (mini-camp)
August 18 - 21 (mini-camp)
We offer an English residential summer camp program for
elementary and middle school students. Our campers enjoy an
adventure of swimming, snorkeling, cycling, sports, hiking,
science, cooking, discovery, cra4s and much more. A strong
emphasis on personal growth, positive development and fun.
Five-night sessions and three-night mini-camps in July and
August. Please contact us for more information.
(schedule is tentative at this time)
Please go to our Photo Gallery to see images of our
activities. Learn more about Discover Japan at
http://discoverjapan.zenfolio.com/nanbo
since 1999
OUR 15th SEASON
Contact us at info@discoverjapan.co.jp
Over thirty years of experience help to make these
camps and trips safe, educational and fun for all.
The only juku for
international students!
FREE Trial Lesson
FREE Evaluation
 1 minute walk from Meguro Station
International School Students
Course
インターナショナルスクール生向けコース
英語（文法、リーディング、ライティング）
数学 Mathematics
International Kindergarten
希望校（インターナショナルスクール）選び、受験から
入学決定までのトータルサポート
Emphasizing life & social skills.
Language arts, math, science, social studies,
art, computers
Private tutor course
家庭教師 派遣
Adult classes
家でも塾内でも OK.
大人向け英会話コース
初心者から オーダーメイドレッスン
University Preparation Course
SAT / PSAT preparation
College application essays
2012 年 12 月 17 日～28 日
Homework Assistance Area
Winter Study Camp
ウィンタースタディーキャンプ
See website for details
詳しくはウェブサイトへ
www.juku-inter.com
E-mail: info@juku-inter.com
Tel: 03-6408-5206
Fax: 03-6408-5207
自習室完備（専任講師１名）
宿題、自習等、好きな時間に来て行う事が出来ます.
担当講師が常時いますので分からないところが
あってもすぐに解決できます.
St. Mary’s Newsletter Desk
Editor — Sherry Khetan
If you have any suggestions or comments please contact me at:
sherrykhetan@yahoo.com