NEWS
The Global Issues Conference has been a yearly tradition for Grade 5 students
Grade 5 Students Successfully Hold Global Issues Conference
Students tackle some key issues, including deep sea mining, equality in the workspace, and the dangers of digital media
By Julie Mok
21 June 2021 -- This year at The Harbour School, on May 31st and June 1st, the Grade 5 students had a Global Issues Conference (GIC) in the school’s own Black Box Theater, where all Gde 5 students gave a speech along with a presentation to talk about a wide variety of global issues. Topics ranged from puppy farming to invasive species to gender stereotypes!
The GIC is a very important Harbour School tradition, and Dr Jadis Blurton, the founder of the school, had mentioned at the start of each session that the Global Issues Conference has been a tradition ever since the school started, which means anyone who’s ever been a fifth grader at THS has participated in this event.
Nicole Shah, a grade 5 student, who had talked about inequality in the workspace, shares her thoughts: “I think (my topic) is very important because if you don't have a job, it could lead to many problems in your life,” she says. “I chose this topic because I believe that women and people of color don't deserve to be treated unfairly for things they can't control.”
To learn more about Nicole’s topic, we spoke to Mrs. Kimber Claeborn, a Grade 5 teacher at The Harbour School, to see what she thought about equality in her workspace. “Equality in the workspace is a problem because if you’re not treating your employees fairly, then you’re not treating them like people, like equal humans,” she shared. “Traditionally, teaching was more of a profession for women or females, so a lot of teachers were always women. But that’s changing, so I know that more men are becoming teachers ... I don’t think you would have seen that a few decades ago. And also, what you would see is men in leadership positions, so principals, vice principals, would usually be men because those are leadership positions.”
Nicole Shah and Mrs. Kimber shared that to help this topic, you can spread awareness and reach out to people of higher levels to help, like the governments. You can also make sure that you aren’t treating people unequally or judging someone based on their gender or looks.
Deep Sea MiningAnother topic that was brought up during the Global Issues Conference was deep sea mining, presented by student Chiara Shih. According to the Marine Science Center teachers, Ms. Maxine and Ms. Sarah, deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals and metals from below the ocean, a thousand meters up to 3 or 4 thousand meters down. The extracted metals and minerals, such as aluminum and nickel, are used to build objects from everyday life, like phones and computers.
Although this can be very useful for humans, deep sea mining can make a lot of noise, and since there aren’t many noises other than clicks or other animals in the deep sea, this can disturb the sea life that live in those depths. Mining can also harm other animals in the ocean, because to access the deep they need to start on the surface, and go through it, disturbing marine life. Miners use seismic surveys, which means they create a sound wave that feels like an earthquake that goes all the way down to the sea floor to see what’s below, and they also have a big boat they use to do seismic surveys, which can disturb marine life as well. It is estimated that more than 500 ocean species are harmed by deep sea mining. According to the International Union for Conservation (IUCN), some of the harmed species include whales, tuna, and sharks. According to the Marine Science Center teachers, everyone can do something to help this cause. "You could do some research to figure out what minerals they’re mining the most of, and use less products that use them,” says Ms. Sarah.
Dangers of Digital MediaAlso discussed in the Global Issues Conference was the dangers of digital media, presented by Jake Choe. The Media Tech teachers, Mr. Bano and Mr. Michelson, shared their thoughts on this topic. They mentioned that they thought some current dangers of digital media include fake news, and how different sites and advertisements can be inappropriate. “Unfortunately, there are people who would like to confuse other people, and will make up news, or give false information that make readers (or viewers) believe it is true,” said Mr. Bano.
“Fake news affects our decision making,” Mr Michelson adds. “It’s a lot harder for students, especially when you are younger and are not able to distinguish if the sites are reliable or not.”
Mr. Bano and Mr. Michelson also suggested ways to help this cause. “Be educated, and be aware of where you get information from is the best way students can help," said Mr. Michelson.
“If you are going to publish content, it is your responsibility as a good digital citizen to be truthful and not publish fake news. A good digital citizen will present facts, be truthful and be ethical,” Mr. Bano added.
You can help support all these causes above, and support your own topics you’re passionate about as well. We look forward to seeing next year’s Global Issues Conference and hope that you can help make a change too!
How the Les Misérables Production Finally Happened
After moving the performance dates three times, The Harbour School was able to finally move ahead with the play. Director Imogen Taylor offers a look behind the scenes
By Jack Zhang
21 June 2021 -- Les Misérables, a novel written by Victor Hugo and was first directed as a musical by Claude Michel-Schonberg, was meant to be performed by The Harbour School students on March 20 and 21, 2020. However, due to multiple waves of Covid-19, the date of the play was moved three times, finally happening last May 18 and 19, 2021.
Les Misérables is set in 19th century France, with the main character Jean Valjean released after hard labor for 19 years due to stealing one single loaf of bread. The story follow his life. A highlight of the production comes later on, as the French Revolution begins, and street urchins and students perform a song called “Do You Hear The People Sing?,” a symbol of the revolution. Note that during Hong Kong protests in 2019, people used this song in the same way to protest against the Chinese government.
The full cast did an extraordinary job with the quality of the play, pushing themselves to their limits. Most importantly, the star of the play, Alex Campbell, who played the role of Jean-Valjean, did extremely well, and performed his acts without missing a line.
One other person who also contributed largely to the play, was Ms. Imogen Taylor, who directed the production, and who also heads up CenterStage Studios HK. Ms. Taylor started CenterStage Studios HK six and a half years ago, intending to provide an immersive and creative environment that encourages collaboration and innovation. “Seeing our students grow in confidence through performance opportunities is very special and this inspires us to continue producing and directing shows,” she said.
Covid-19, however, was a huge challenge for the cast of Les Misérables and the Centrestage team. Social distancing massively affected rehearsals, and the number of people coming to watch the performances. Ms Taylor shares that despite the 600-day-long practice time, all of the cast adapted to the sudden changes and suspensions and memorized their lines so well. Meanwhile, the teachers learned to be more creative with their teaching practices.
Speaking of teaching practices, the CenterStage team works to create an ensemble (a fun team-working group) by making a safe environment for the cast. The team coaches acting, singing, and dancing, and works to perfect the cast’s stagecraft.
To challenge the cast CenterStage chose to act Les Mis since its modern-operatic style is considered a real difficulty to professionals. The collaboration with the middle school band also made the play more flexible with arrangements and enabled both the younger students and the older students to practice in the play.
While problems, including Covid-19, halted progress a few times, the cast worked hard to perfect the play, and Ms. Taylor and her team did a wonderful job making the event work out. She shares some more insights about the production and acting with us:
How did your partnership with THS start?
CentreStage Studios HK first collaborated with THS during the Arts Interim week in 2016. Working with the senior students we covered repertoire from the popular musical 'Hamilton'. Harbour School has always advocated the power of the arts as a platform to learn, develop new skills and grow in confidence and this aligns perfectly with CentreStage's ethos: Confidence, Courage, Creativity.
How do you coach cast members?
In our productions there is always a strong focus on building an ensemble. Team work, listening and creating a fun, safe, structured space for everyone to have fun and push boundaries is key to creating original performances. During the rehearsal process the students cover a range of disciplines: acting, singing and dance. We work on voice, creating character through physicality as well as honing stagecraft.
What have you learned from Covid-19 limitations?
I think Covid has taught us all to be creative with our teaching practices. In terms of performances it has challenged us to be more experimental with blocking, choreography and stage design to accommodate social distancing regulations for the actors, while also maintaining a visually engaging performance for the audience.
What was your inspiration for becoming a director?
Theatre provides such a fantastic learning platform for young people and this is what is the heartbeat of CentreStage. Seeing our students grow in confidence through performance opportunities is very special and this inspires us to continue producing and directing shows. The CentreStage team were brought up with such a strong theatre culture and therefore we have always been able to see its benefits for students both on and off the stage. We are so lucky to work on a number of exciting projects throughout the year. This provides us with the opportunity to cover a wide range of repertoire and produce showcases on both small and large scales.
How did challenges, like moving the date of the play three times, affected the production?
We have been so impressed with how adaptable and understanding the cast have been with the changing production schedule. We were also very lucky that the cast remembered the blocking, dialogue and songs so brilliantly as this helped so much with the recreation of the show.
Why did you decide to act out Les Miserables instead of other books/films?
Les Mis is such an iconic musical with a breathtaking score by Claude Michel-Schonberg. It's modern-operatic style is a real challenge, but we all wanted to raise the bar. The collaboration with a live band also provided us with flexibility in the musical arrangements, which allowed us to make the material accessible to the junior students, as well as the senior cast.
Tell us about the props and costumes that were used in the play.
The props department, led by Ms Greenberg and Ms Stroud was amazing! They sourced and created authentic props to the 19th Century, which was really impressive.
Are any acts in the play that were difficult and perhaps dangerous?
The musical takes us through quite a journey! So we had to be creative with our blocking for the barricade scenes. The lighting, aerial silks, fog machine and music always helps to create a certain theatricality in the performance space.
What tips would you give to a beginner actor?
I would suggest joining as many workshops, productions and showcases and to work with as many different directors and choreographers as possible to expand your knowledge of the arts. Each director/acting coach has an unique approach towards bringing script, character and stories to life. Listening and watching are the best tools as an actor/performer. You can learn so much from watching your peers, performances and most importantly being brave enough to 'take centrestage'.
Students from Grade 3 decorated succulent pots and gave them away to elderly mothers in Ap Lei Chau Estate
A happy mother receives a succulent plant from the Project Hope team.
Project Hope Supports Mothers
The heart of The Harbour School organises event for Mother's Day to bring happiness to moms
By Debbie Lau
11 June 2021 -- Last May, Project Hope had a Mother’s Day Event. Grade 3 teachers Mr. Van Tengga and Mr. Rafi Cristobal got succulent plants from iFlorist, a flower shop that helps people with disabilities. On May 5 and 6, the Grade 3 students decorated the pots and also helped deliver the plants to the elderly women who live in Ap Lei Chau who may not be able to spend time with their children and grandchildren.
Mr. Cristobal said, “Ms Rebecca and her Team at iFlorist were very excited preparing the potted plants they lovingly made, which we distributed to selected moms from organisations advocating women’s welfare.
The mothers who received the plants were very happy and thanked the Project Hope team and the students who participated in the event.
“I think it’s also important for students to think of more than one way to help the community,” said Mr. Van, one of the Project Hope leads. Another event is coming up soon. On June 13, there will be a blood donation activity. Each bag of blood will save 3 lives. People who are ages 18+ are allowed to donate.
Mr. Rafi Cristobal started Project Hope. It helps spread awareness and teaches empathy.They help the Hong Kong community and they host an event every month. Workshops are held in THS.
Some examples of these workshops include farming, pet ownership and recycling. Project Hope has also created soaps and candles to give to the elderly in Hong Kong, and Christmas cards for sick children in the Philippines.
Project Hope is important so people can learn to be kind, compassionate and have empathy for others.
Jordan Rivet Teaches the Art of Novel Writing
The Hong Kong-based fantasy fiction writer comes to The Harbour School to teach us some tips and tricks on how to create memorable stories.
By Ella Choe
7 June 2021 -- Have you ever wanted to write your very own The Hong Kong-based fantasy fiction writer comes to The Harbour School to teach us some tips and tricks on how to create memorable stories. By reading this article, I hope you pick up some important information because these ideas could help you in the future when writing a book.
Originally from Arizona, Ms.Rivet is an author who writes fictional adventure stories for teens and adults. She has lived in Hong Kong for about eight years and has been writing and publishing books since 2014. She decided to become an author because reading was always something she enjoyed and moving to Hong Kong gave her lots of new experiences and adventures that helped her start her writing career.
When Ms. Rivet was in the USA, she taught literature to high school students and when she moved to Hong Kong, she taught English as a second language to students. She soon realized writing science fiction and fantasy books was something enjoyable for her to do. Right now, she is a full-time author who has published 19 books and plans to write tons more!
Ms.Rivet led two writers’ workshops at THS and taught LEAP students about what to add when writing a novel and some good things to know as an author: Firstly, when you are brainstorming ideas or drafting, you should think about some of the worst things that could happen to the character or their biggest fear and make them experience it. This helps because now you would know what the problem would be in the story and you can work from there.
Secondly, you should figure out the main idea of your novel by doing a rough draft of your ideas and what you envision to happen during the story. If you enjoy reading a book, you could also try to write like that book. Choose something you would enjoy writing, just to make sure you are writing something you love.
Lastly, no one needs to read your first draft because you shouldn't focus on what other people are going to think. You can let others read the third or fourth draft later. You can re-write or cross out anything but have a solid plan before getting into details and sentences. Once you finish this, try focusing on adjectives, verbs, and punctuation to make your story come to life, but most importantly, just have fun!
Ms. Rivet reminds everyone that any and all ages can write books but it really depends on you and your imagination:
When did you know that you wanted to become a writer?
I’ve always been an avid reader, and I wanted to work in book publishing as an editor or literary agent. I didn’t think I had any stories of my own to tell. When I moved to Hong Kong in 2010, I started writing to help make sense of my experiences in such an exciting and overwhelming new place. I learned that I enjoyed the writing process and soon moved on to writing the kind of books I love to read most—fantasy and post-apocalyptic science fiction.
What was the first book that you published?
My first book was a post-apocalyptic adventure called Seabound, which is about a scrappy mechanic who has been living on a cruise ship for sixteen years. When the water system is destroyed on her watch, she sails to a mysterious floating city for help. I had so much fun coming up with the details of her world at sea that I couldn’t stop writing after that.
What do you think makes a good story?
A good story involves characters the reader cares about trying desperately to solve problems in an interesting and unique world. I give bonus points for snappy dialogue, vivid world-building, surprises, and mortal peril. A great story sweeps you up in the adventure so completely that you forget you’re reading.
Which of the books you wrote is your favorite?
I have written nineteen novels, and the twentieth is in progress. My most recent books are usually my favorites because I think I’m becoming a better writer with each book. My current favorite is Stone Charmer, which is the sequel to Curse Painter, a Robin Hood-inspired fantasy adventure about a girl who can do magic by painting special designs on things. In Stone Charmer, she meets a mysterious recluse who can bring fantastical statues to life, and she gets into exciting magical battles, which are a lot of fun to write.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Robert Jordan, Sabaa Tahir, Samantha Shannon, SA Chakraborty, Lindsay Buroker, and Leigh Bardugo. This list could go on for a long time! I highly recommend An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. This YA fantasy novel, which was inspired by ancient Rome, is about a young slave girl who becomes a spy at a military academy. The book has lots of action and magic that will keep readers turning pages. The characters are loveable and flawed, and you'll be rooting for them during every heartrending scene. Five stars!
THS battles Covid-19 while G3s are quarantined
The two weeks leading into spring break where challenging ones for the school, with three teachers testing positive for the coronavirus, and more than 30 students required to go on quarantine.
By Jack Zhang
15 April 2021 -- The Harbour School had a small Covid-19 scare affecting three teachers, which was triggered by the Ursus Fitness outbreak. Due to these teachers being in close contact with Grad3 students, all three classes, along with their teachers, were asked to go to quarantine for 14 days from the day of contact.
During meetings with the Centre of Health Protection (CHP), THS staff expressed their worries about students getting quarantined, like what happened to students from Kellett School, when a teacher there was confirmed Covid-19 positive. In a CNN interview with THS Managing Director Daniel Blurton, he explained the reason for their concern. “Children between ages 8 and 10 are physically able to withstand quarantine, as long as dietary and physical needs are accommodated for," said Mr Blurton. "But the potential damage is psychological. These children may feel guilty about any negative consequence, whether or not it was a direct result of their actions.”
After some days of compromising and rearranging, both organizations agreed to quarantine the G3s at Dorsett Kwun Tong, a hotel, instead of the government quarantine centre in Penny Bay to make the students be more comfortable.
The G3s had a variety of feelings about their quarantine experience. For instance, Zahaan Bhappu, a 3A student, shared that he missed his mum very much during quarantine, but he enjoyed watching one movie a day during the time he was there. Meanwhile, 3C student Emerald Lee described that her hotel room included two beds, a table, and a small toilet and shower. She thought that the experience was somewhat sad because she got homesick. Most students also agreed that food was not great.
While those two weeks leading into spring break was an unsettling period of challenges, all three teachers have officially recovered and are out of hospital, and all the students are safe, without Covid-19. After finishing his quarantine, Gaius Campbell from 3A said, “I like adventures, and this experience was a new adventure!”
Green Geckos Aim to Make The Harbour School More Sustainable
Students from Grade 4 and 5 lead the school's green effort in saving water and electricity, recycling and composting.
By Julie Mok
5 February 2021 -- This school year, a team of 17 students from Grades 4 and 5 formed the Green Geckos, a group that meet every Tuesday at 12:30pm for 30 minutes to discuss what they can do to make the school more green.
“I think being green is important because our Earth is dying, and I think everyone has to do their part to help save our planet,” says Grade 5 member Eva Jonker. “Going green is important because it helps our ecosystem here at The Harbour School,” Grade 4 member Katya Soklakov adds.
Earlier in the school year, when Valentina Giannella, author of We are All Greta, came to talk about her book, Grades 4 and 5 in particular showed interest in discussing and talking about environmental activism. The author suggested as an idea that the school could have a student eco committee. According to Mrs. McGowan, one of the Green Geckos mentors and Grades 1 to 4 literacy coordinator, “There has been a staff eco committee for a number of years, and in that we have discussed having a student committee, so that students could have a say in how we become more environmentally conscious as a school.” While the Green Geckos are only for Grades 4 and 5 this year, Mrs. McGowan and Mrs. Dunn, the other Green Geckos mentor and teacher of the 4C Cakepups, hope they can expand to include the rest of the school thereafter.
The Green Geckos have four groups: electricity, recycling, composting and water. Each group has an aim. “I am in the composting team so we take all the (compostable) garbage and put it to good use and make fertilizer out of it,” says Eva Jonker. THS has arranged for composting bins, so students and faculty can compost. Anything that can be eaten or grown in a field or garden can be composted, like banana peels and leftover fruits and vegetables.
Everyone can do their part by using the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Grade 5 member Chiara Shih shares some ways students and the faculty can help. “You can turn off the lights and the smart board when you leave the room; not use as much air-conditioning, and just open windows; try not to bring or use plastic packaging and utensils; and don't leave the tap on.”
We look forward to seeing the future impact brought by the Green Geckos and wish them the best of luck!
Booktober 2020 a Success
Students enjoy a series of fun literary challenges, as well as a parade to cap off an exciting month of reading.
By Ella Choe
20 November 2020 -- Booktober is a time for schools around the world to celebrate reading books. Every year during the month of October at The Harbour School, the teachers and librarians have multiple fun book challenges for students to complete.
Mrs. Crickenberger, our teacher-librarian says, “This year Ms. Julia and I selected weekly themes we felt were important and could easily be adapted to all grade levels. They are Environment and Plants, Around the World, Biographies and the last week will end with the Booktober Parade.”
During the parade, teachers and students walk around the school in costumes from book characters. This year, among the highlights were seeing our librarians, Mrs. Crickenberger and Ms. Julia, dress up as Matilda and Ms. Honey! The Parade was on October 30th across all three THS campuses. Fifth-grade student Kiran Esvaran suggests that next year we should have a “costume contest,” where we could win prizes for the best costumes.
The topic during week one was the Environment and Plants. The challenge was that students had to read a book to one of their plantsat home. During this first week of Booktober, THS also welcomed a guest author, Valentina Gienella, who read students the book she wrote called, We are All Greta. It is a book about climate change and how Great Thunberg is trying to help and stop Global Warming by going on strikes with classmates and people from all around the world.
Students from The Harbour School thought that this was a great book and a good way of showing what is happening to the world. This inspired some fifth-grade students to start an eco council and try to do their best to help the community and the environment.
For next year's Booktober, fifth-grade students Eva Jonker and Julie Mok suggest a trick or treat per floor, or making a haunted house in the Black Box theatre.
FSA and LEAP students share their work at second annual L-Exhibition
Students showcased STEAM projects and their best writing during June 22 exhibition.
By Ella Choe
24 June 2020 -- The Harbour School's L-Exhibition, or Learning Extension Exhibition, happened on June 22 coinciding with Pop Blitz, the school's Passion Project Presentation Day. The exhibition gave students the opportunity to present Full STEAM Ahead (FSA) projects that they had been working on, or to share the best work that they have done for the Literacy Extension and Acceleration Project (LEAP) during the school year.
Learning Extension Coordinator Bernie Green said that the L-Exhibition, now in its second year, is all about “sharing your curiosity with the world.” About twenty students from FSA worked on projects after completing their online Math courses. Project mentors included marine science teachers Maxine Cutracci and Sarah Taylor, as well as foundry teachers Wouter Van Marle and Ming Lau.
Several students found very interesting and relevant topics for their projects, with real-life applications. Kiran Esvaran, a Grade 4 student said, “I wanted to help stop oil spills and do engineering, both in a project. I needed motors, a toolbox, propellers, and spare metal to build a remotely operated vehicle, a way to make oil booms to clean up oil spills.”
Grade 5 student Neel Iyer worked on a website that helps doctors identify if their patients have Covid-19. “My project takes x-rays from a person and determines if that person's lungs show effects of the Novel Coronavirus,” he said. “For this project, I needed to build a web app as well as train a machine-learning model.”
LEAP students also shared their favorite pieces of writing. Chiara Shih believes that her story, Pathway to Freedom, was her best work yet, because “I was able to experiment, and after I read one the stories I finished, it inspired me to write a better one.”
The project presentations happened on June 22, and because of the need to stay socially distant, were all done in the classroom while parents watched their children present online via Google Meet.
THS HOLDS FIRST VIRTUAL TALENT SHOW
Parents, students and teachers were treated to more than 20 acts, from singing and rapping to aerial yoga.
By Jack Zhang
24 June 2020 -- The talent show is a yearly event at The Harbour School where students showcase their talents to parents and teachers. This year, it happened on June 8. Normally, the talent show takes place at the Black Box Theatre, where the audience sees the acts in person, but for the first time, due to social distancing requirements by the Education Bureau, this year’s talent show was done virtually through a pre-recorded video shown on the THS Parents Group on Facebook. The acts included singing, rapping, piano and violin-playing, drums, dance, and even aerial yoga!
“The talent show is not competitive, so there are neither judges nor winners,” said music teacher Selana Kong. However, a group of teachers who are part of the Talent Show Committee evaluated students’ work and gave suggestions so that performances met the requirements for the show.
Other teachers were involved as well. “Mr Bano, the media tech teacher, will be putting all the performance videos together into a movie,” Ms Kong said.
When it came to their preference of a live versus virtual show, students gave different opinions. For example, Maeve Schorzman from Grade 4, who sang Par Avion said, “The virtual talent show was harder because my dad's phone (the thing we were recording with) wasn't recording in high quality, and I kept singing the wrong notes, so we had to record over and over again.” Meanwhile, another performer from Grade 6, Miles Fiteny, said that his act, aerial yoga, actually required him to film from another place that was not in school, so he preferred the virtual version of the talent show.
Theo Wong on the drums
Jazz dance by Chianti Flores
Miles Fiteny's aerial yoga routine
Crystal Guo on the piano
THS HOLDS ITS FIRST VIRTUAL SPORTS WEEK
Students, teachers and parents take part in five days of fun fitness and health challenges.
By Jack Zhang
24 June 2020 -- The Harbour School held its first virtual Sports Week from May 4 to May 8. Each day, the THS community was given a fitness and health challenge to do at home. Participants would take videos of themselves doing the challenges and at the end of the day, the teachers posted a highlight reel to show which students, teachers and parents did excellent jobs.
The week started with a really fun and engaging video posted by the PE teachers, with Ruprah Silvio and Julian Buck hosting, and edited by Media Tech teacher Jetro Bano.
One of the most popular activities was Monday’s Ninja Challenge. The challenge had students make an obstacle course using things they had at home. “I liked the ninja course best because it gave my sister Holly and I an excuse to jump on the furniture,” said Grade 4 student Maeve Schorzman.
“I set up a course of crawling in circles, jumping from a bunk bed, hitting a box with a pillow, and many more,” said Grade 4 student Chiara Shih. Grade 3 student Katya Soklakov and Grade 6 student Zeke Chan also liked this challenge the best.
Another favorite activity was Thursday’s Paper Airplane Challenge. “I folded paper planes and threw them into a basket,” said Grade 4 student Kiran Esvaran. “It was so much fun.”
While the virtual version of Sports Week was a hit with many of the students, others still preferred to do the challenges face-to-face. Grade 4 student Nathalie Ho said, “I like the real Sports Day because we get to be together as a family.”
As Sports Week came to an end, Mr. Buck shared some thoughts about the event’s success:
“I'm not going to lie, I was skeptical when the idea (of a virtual Sports Week) first came up,” he said. “Mr. Michelson actually brought it up to Mr. Silvio, which started the whole conversation. However, now that it has happened, I am so thrilled to have been a part of it. Students have had so much fun with the challenges, and the whole process has reminded me why I love teaching at THS. Frankly speaking, it has been way more successful than I imagined. I knew it would be fun, but I had no idea people were going to enjoy it so much!”
Sports Week was an optional activity, but it was great to see many students, teachers and parents joining the event and showing their support for the school and for keeping healthy!
VIRTUAL ARTS INTERIM TO START ON MAY 18
Art and music appreciation, cooking, and video production are among the 20 new classes offered this year.
By Ella Choe
24 June 2020 -- Since Arts Interim began at The Harbour Village in 2011, it has evolved into a week of creativity and learning for all students at The Harbour School, where they get to pick fun, artistic classes to participate in and learn new and exciting things. Over the years, Arts Interim has become a very popular event that both students and teachers like and enjoy. Artists from different fields are invited to participate or lead workshops.
This year’s Arts Interim will be happening virtually from May 18 to 20. Instead of one whole week, the schedule has been updated to allow for eight hours of arts learning from home. Some of the classes offered for primary and middle school students include songwriting and music video-making led by Lucia Marco; a pasta-making class by Marine Sciences teacher Maxine Cutracci called Eat Pasta, Run Fasta!; and a balancing sculpture class led by Makerspace manager Wouter van Marle.
There are a total of 20 classes to choose from, available for prep, primary and middle school students, and sign-ups end on May 12.
THS vice-principal Natalie Mierczak assures students that while different classes are offered this year, “these are still being totally and authentically dedicated to everything the Arts has to offer.”
Even teachers who aren’t leading classes during Arts Interim assist and enjoy working with different groups of students and teaching new and creative artistic skills and techniques.
“My favorite thing about Arts Interim is that it’s all about creativity and learning,” says high school art teacher Katt Lee. “I also love working with a whole new set of students.”
Despite the delay caused by Coronavirus pandemic, Arts Interim is definitely going to happen, and we should all look forward to it!