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VOL. 56 JUNE 12 2020
VOL. 56 JUNE 12 2020
Principal's Corner
Principal's Corner
By Pak Andy
The sun never sets on Global Jaya! Teachers, students, parents and alumni are now supporting your learning from their homes all over the world. How amazing is that?! There is literally never a moment when the sun isn’t shining above someone from GJS who is committed to helping you learn. I am awestruck by this amazing fact.
I am so impressed with the advancements in technology that have allowed us to remain in contact. When I was your age, I had to write a letter by hand, find an envelope, lick a stamp, walk out to the street and put the letter in a box and then wait for weeks to get a reply. I also had to use a rotary-dial phone. If any of my friends had zeros in their number, well… let’s just say they weren’t friends for long. It took forever to dial zeros! I could write a letter in the time it took to dial John’s stupid phone number!
You are so lucky you can order food online and have it delivered. When I was your age, I had to walk 5 miles uphill in the snow just to get to the store and find out that the Hostess Company had stopped making Twinkies. I had to turn around and walk 5 miles back home (also uphill in the snow). By the time I got there, the news on the radio – yes, radio – not Satellite or Spotify. I’m talking about the little box with knobs and dials that I thought had a little tiny band inside of it. (I really believed that until I was 6, when I ‘accidentally’ broke one open because I wanted Olivia Newton John’s autograph. Childhood ruined!) The news on the radio said they were making Twinkies again. I like Twinkies, but unless there was a moose parked outside that I could saddle up and ride, I wasn’t going back. OK, I did go back, because… Twinkies.
My point is that these are truly amazing times. Pay attention to that. Be thankful.
Send Twinkies if you have them!
Sincerely,
Andy Dougharty
Secondary Pastoral and Wellbeing Principal
Reflective
Reflective
by pak Steven
Risk-Takers: “We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change (Int’l Baccalaureate Org. 4).” I cannot think of a more fitting IB Learner Profile Attribute with which to close this series of articles and close this unusual school year. Every aspect of that definition is directly applicable to our current situation, and serves as excellent guidance for us all entering a much-deserved holiday.
Rather than relate the IB Learner Profile definition of risk-takers to our lives and offer advice for what lies ahead, I’d like to use my space here to thank all of the Global Jaya School community for living this definition for the last three months. To my colleagues in leadership, thank you for having the forethought to prepare the school for Covid-19 long before it was mandated. Dearest students, thank you for the independence you were thrown into and have since grown into as you have engaged in distance learning. To our beloved and dedicated parents, thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we grew into this endeavor together. To our incredible teaching staff, thank you for continuing to be resourceful and resilient and for always adapting new and innovative ways to reach our students.
To all of you-the entire Global Jaya School community-thank you for the determination and will to succeed that you have shown time and time again throughout Term 4. Going into the break, we are still facing uncertain times and regardless of how Term 1 of the 2020-2021 school year begins, it will again require us all to be determined and forward-thinking, independent and cooperative, and innovative, resourceful, and resilient. I say it all the time, but I say it because I mean it; I am thankful to be a part of this community and I am honored to have the opportunity to serve you. I look forward to another year of taking risks together in 2020 & 2021. In the meantime, be happy, be healthy, and be well.
Steve Spannring
Secondary Academic Principal
WORKS CITED
International Baccalaureate Organization. What is an IB education?. International Baccalaureate
Organization, 2019.
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