RoboHack 2020 culminated Friday evening, Oct 30th, with 20 student presentations on how to code, build, and make a more sustainable Latin America. Students tackled the three design challenge objectives of Climate Action, Sustainable Cities, and Quality Education by using a toolkit of digital modeling/coding programs in groups. A comprehensive judging panel made up of volunteer parents, teachers, and chaperones from all four schools gave feedback to students on how to improve their design challenge creations. The event was a huge success with nearly 100 participants in total, including students, mentors, coaches, and volunteers.

ASA is a Common Sense School which we actively teach digital citizenship as part of our curriculum and are invested in a safe and secure online environment for our learners. This year during the month of October our counseling team and specific classroom teachers emphasized the need for digital citizenship skills, especially during our period of virtual learning. Staying safe, smart, and secure online requires digging deeper into your digital habits and asking yourself questions such as: "How can I keep my private data safe and secure?" or "How can I use media in healthy ways that give meaning and add value to my life?"

Students from grades 7th to 12th participated in The America 4All Music Festival and shared a unique experience joining fellow students from countries such as Honduras, Brazil and Panama. This virtual music festival event took place over four days and was hosted by our partner school Avenues Sao Paulo. Reviews from teachers shared only praises from our student’s performances, talent and commitment throughout the event and exceeding all expectations. ASA is excited and looking forward to hosting this event next school year.

ASA students regularly participate in the OMAPA National Math Olympics and 2020 is no exception. This year the competition was entirely virtual and participants had two separate opportunities during the first semester to qualify for the final round. In the end, nearly 20 ASA students, from grade 2 to level 3, advanced to the final round. The more math and science we know the more we can reshape our future. ASA helps lead the way for our community by providing our first-class facilities to national STEM competitions and events.

Every year during the month of December the focus is on computer coding. ASA participates in the global Hour of Code where every student spends an hour learning the basics of coding through fun and engaging activities. This is to demystify ‘code’ and show that anyone can learn the basics of computer science. It’s a necessary skill for the future, has great earning potential, and kids love it! ASA is onboard and opportunities are already scheduled for students from grades K-12. Computer science is a key piece to the STEAM program initiative we are developing and as always we appreciate the community support.

The American School of Asunción participated in the TCS “Art Without Borders” 2021 Virtual Festival. This International event allowed students to share moments of pleasure through different artistic expressions, in an atmosphere of union, collaboration and creativity. Different representatives of our community have joined forces to offer the best of ourselves and be able to enjoy a festival that is characterized by learning, integration, and fun in a healthy and safe environment.

The American School of Asuncion, in collaboration with the Paraguayan Space AgencyAgencia Espacial del Paraguay, invited Dr. Jorge Kurita Nagasawa, engineering director at the Paraguayan Space Agency, to speak to our student body regarding space sciences and the current state of the Paraguayan Space Agency. As one of the Paraguayan Space Agency’s missions is to motivate students in the field of space science, we reached out to Dr. Kurita to share his experiences and insight regarding the recent successful launch of the Guarani SAT-1 and subsequent successful deployment from the International Space Station. These classroom visits targeted students who study space science as part of their grade-level curriculum.

ASA students participated in UABLE, a virtual competition that empowered teens to thrive in the future by converting their passions into career pathways through real-world learning. Through this, UABLE help teens discover their respective career paths. The Global Schools Challenge took place on Saturday, May 8, 2021, and students chose and participated in 8 different challenges across 4 areas: SPACE EXPLORATION, CLIMATE CHANGE, HEALTH AND WELLNESS, TECHNOLOGY. Students were mentored by industry leaders from Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Shell, ROSCOSMOS, Slack, ANZ, and Global Founders Capital.

ASA is developing partnerships with several community organizations that support and endorse STEAM learning. These partnerships are ongoing relationships that are slowly developed through collaborative event planning, such as the STEAM Expo and the Maker Faire, student participation, and promotion.

With Arbolito in 3 years we have planted approximately 2,800 trees in Asunción, from this group we had an average of 2,200 trees that were in the growth stage.

In Habitat, 5 houses were built until March 2019 and 2020, until March, 58 volunteers collaborated and we donated Gs. 4,930,000.

In TECHO between 2019 and 2020, until March we built 4 houses, 44 volunteers and a donation of Gs. 28,000,000 million.

In 2020-2021, with Habitat and Techo in the financing of soup kitchens and hand washes for the periphery of Asunción

ASA emphasizes STEAM learning and this culminates as a STEAM Accolade during graduation for students who complete necessary STEAM elective course requirements. These elective course requirements are in addition to normal graduation requirements and courses that are used for normal graduation requirements are not counted as part of the STEAM Accolade. Students who earn the STEAM Accolade will received a special accolade certificate to recognize their accomplishment.

The ASA Design Cycle was selected by the STEAM Team committee in November 2019 to serve as the unifying approach to making, engineering, and design at ASA. This model is by no means perfect, but it does represent a common language and framework that teachers of all disciplines can use to guide students in making projects, collaborate together, and build transdisciplinary making experiences for our students.

Maker experiences and the ASA Design Cycle are based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) engineering framework of Define, Develop and Optimize. Teachers utilize the Understanding by Design (UbD) lesson philosophy and planning approach to ensure that there is a clear emphasis on standards and a vision of the assessment. Maker experiences are typically integrated units that fuse standards from multiple disciplines and are developed in coordination with the established curriculum at ASA