What's Up Cobras?

Week 11, November 4th- November 8th

Special Guest Speaker

John Randolph (Left), William Florance (Right): The student and teacher reunited in Casablanca!

We had the pleasure today to welcome one of Mr. Randolph's former students, Mr. William Florance, who attended and graduated from the American School Foundation in Mexico City where Mr. Randolph taught. Mr. William Florance is Head of Google Education Programs, Asia Pacific Google Inc. William met with the IT Department and had discussions about Google's directions and our IT Department personnel had many questions regarding current and future Google Educational software. He also met with the Upper School and Grade 6 students in the Anne Osman Theater for an informational and Q&A session. His speech was inspiring, and the questions asked were well targeted and the responses at times witty and full of humor.

Hereafter is William's Biography:

William leads Google’s education and training program efforts in the Asia Pacific region, where he and his team are responsible for empowering educators and students with the tools, skills and knowledge to enhance and extend learning. William champions open and equal access to information, the web as a learning platform and the ability for technology to help mankind reach its full potential. Previously, William led the Google for Education sales team in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) where he launched Chromebooks for Education and supported the growth of G Suite for Education in both schools and universities throughout these regions. Prior to joining Google, William was Head of International Sales and Marketing for Blackboard Collaborate, a leader in education technologies. At Blackboard Collaborate, William and his team were intimately involved with the growth and widespread use of real-time collaboration solutions around the world with leading institutions such as The Open University in the UK, the National eLearning Centre in Saudi Arabia, and many schools and Universities in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Throughout his career, William has had experience providing technology solutions for a broad range of industries. Home is currently in Zurich, Switzerland where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

ACADEMIC NEWS

CAS Staff Presenting at MAIS ROME

From Left to Right: Elizabeth Phillips, Brittney & Brian Hedrick, Sean Smith, Louafi El Mahfoud, Eric Rose

Last weekend, several instructional staff members and our Lower School Principal represented CAS at the annual MAIS conference held in Rome. The conference included sessions on literacy, leadership, campus safety and security, child safeguarding, leading change as well as numerous others.

In addition to learning, three of our CAS attendees presented. Elmahfoud Louafi presented on the use of Google apps in the Arabic classroom, which was very practical and useful for teachers. Brittney Hedrick's research-based presentation was about play in early childhood and its effects on a child's future academic achievement. Elizabeth Phillips's session was about leadership, targeted for those new to leadership roles.

The Mediterranean Association of International Schools (MAIS) is an organization that promotes excellence in education in its member schools. MAIS is currently composed of schools from 17 countries including Austria, Cypress, Egypt, France, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Athletic News

Go Cobra swimmers and represent us with all your might!

Swim Team Students: Lyazid Alaoui El Hassani (12), Edem Klousseh (9), Emefa Klousseh (7), Soulaymane El Jerari (8), Houssam Akhassi (7), Wiam Aichour (7), Myriam Mohemmane (7), Lina Tamani (7), Rasmus Olsen (8), Joanas Klimas (6), Hyun Chang Kweon (11), Corbin Maud (10), Corbin Margaux (6), Rayan Raad (9), Neil Safieddine (7), Yann Safieddine (6), Ryan Mandre (11), Mahdi Essekelli (11), Ghita Benani (7)

For the second consecutive year, our swim team departed yesterday for Tunis to represent CAS at the swim meet, and compete against the Cooperative School of Tunis and Rabat American School.

My message to my Cobra Swim Team: Be bold; be determined as you will encounter adversity and resistance. These are only opportunities for you to show that you are capable, and that you are strong. Most importantly as you dive, remember to strive to be a team player above the waters and under the waters, caring for yourself and for one another. With a strong team spirit, your fears will be ushered away.

Community News

Zero Tolerance for Bullying

Please let's all remember that our goal is to be a free-bullying school and as such let's all make sure we talk, we raise awareness, we report, we inform and we address any bullying issues. Bullying takes many forms and its effects can result in very negative consequences. It is very important that we care for each other, that we treat each other with respect and kindness. Consequences for anyone who bullies at CAS will be swift and severe!

Moonshot Youth Festival

Are you are keen on Space Facts and Space News? Here is an opportunity for you. The U.S Embassy in collaboration with other partners are honoring the spirit of the first moon landing through the Moonshot Festival. Please refer to the flyer and note that registration is mandatory if you would like to attend.

Have an enjoyable time to the moon and back... where Neil Armstrong's "footprints, roverprints, spaceship prints, and discarded materials will stay preserved on the moon for a very long time".

Sources: Space.com

National Honor Society donates

The National Honor Society CAS Members would like to donate clothes from our lost and found to Lalla Hasna Orphanage. If there are items that your child has lost, please ask them to look in the Lost and Found before we collect the items and donate them to the orphanage on Friday, November 22nd.

This action brings back a good memory of the late Great, Mohamed Ali, who paid a visit to Lalla Hasna orphanage back in 1996 when he honored us also with his presence at CAS.

Thank you to the NHS team:

Abdelsadek, Hania
Adnani, Sijal
Azmi, Mohamed
Azmi, Ibrahim
Basuyaux, Oscar
Bonzom, Yann
Bouacida, Leith
Chaoui, Neil
El Madnaoui, Achraf
Essekelli, Mahdi
Gallichio, Malek
Khaldoune, Ikrame
Kweon, Thomas
Rahmouni, Mohammed Yahia
Sabil, Imane
Siouffi, Leith
Taouba, Ismail
Zraidi, Fatine

Admissions 2020- 2021 at CAS have started!

The end of Trimester I is just around the corner, and it's time to roll out, spread the word, and start attracting students for the next academic year. We are thrilled to announce that Admissions for 2010-2021 have begun for prospective families and, as CAS parents are our primary network and our essential partners in our educational journey, we count on you to share this info with friends and family interested to join CAS.

LS Art Spotlight

Banishing school bottles from CAS Project

We have informed our community in one of our editions that 3 of our Seniors are looking into leading a tremendous project; banishing all plastic bottles from CAS. Like any big project, this one requires good planning. The school did the first part of the planning by analyzing the school drinking water by la LYDEC. As more tests are necessary, we are conducting other analyses so that Yann, Leith and Thomas can carry on with their project that we will update you about in the next editions.

If you click on this link you will be able to access the test results we conducted on our drinking water.

Now we know from where the Magic in the air is coming

The Upper School Arts Department is pleased to announce that we are working on the production of a very popular Disney musical title this year, Aladdin Jr.!

We chose Aladdin for the recognizable cultural commonalities between Moroccan culture and the fictional city of Agrabah where the story takes place:

- The outfits worn by the residents of Agrabah are similar to the colorful and intricate traditional Moroccan attire.

- The marketplace in Agrabah and overall architecture of the place is akin to the one in Marrakesh's medina quarter and its lively atmosphere.

- The collective celebrations in Agrabah are reminiscent of traditional Moroccan weddings

Auditions are already open for grades 7 to 11. They began to take place on Thursday and Friday of this week in the Anne Osman Auditorium at 3:15. Callbacks are on Monday, Nov 11, but we may still consider extending auditions to the following week if we are short of candidates for any of the enlisted roles.

The opening performance is on April 6th, followed by two additional performances on April 7th and 8th. Save the dates and join us to celebrate our students' love and passion for the arts!

American Universities in Qatar Fair- RSVP please !

For all those interested in joining the Fair please click here to RSVP

KEY DATES

Monday, November 18

No School in celebration of

Moroccan Independence Day

Wednesday, November 20

Professional Development

Students Early Dismissal

Thursday November 28 and Friday, November 29

No School

Thanksgiving Break

News from our Alumni

Arabic for Dummies

Amine Bouchentouf (class of 1999 ), and author of Arabic for Dummies paid a visit with his wife to CAS last week. What a pleasure to see former students when they visit CAS. Amine is another example of students whose ambitions and hard work led to successful outcomes. It is with pride that we say again that Amine has been publishing books, notably Arabic for Dummies.