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WAB Students Size Up Australian Athletes
Posted Aug 7th 2008 9:43a.m. by wab (School Matters)

As the youngest volunteer for the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), Lachlan, a Grade 5 student at WAB, has rubbed shoulders with Laurie Lawrence, Grant Hackett and hundreds of other Australian Olympic athletes, coaches and officials.

Lachlan's job? Helping to ensure that every Australian Olympic athlete receives a properly fitted ... Read more »

  • leemack Lachlan looks like he has been permanently shocked by all the action! Go Lachlan!
Club Profile: ISB's High School Newspaper
Posted Jun 19th 2008 10:17a.m. by davidborgonjon (School Matters)

Among ISB's countless clubs, organizations, and publications, is the token high school newspaper: The Break. It comes in an eight-page, black-and-white magazine format and is published on a completely irregular cycle that approximates to a month. With only an hour on Monday afternoon for the publication staff to meet ... Read more »

High School Awards Honour Student Achievements
Posted Jun 18th 2008 1:40a.m. by tiantianzha (School Matters)

After all the work of a school year, the time has come for ISB to recognize its students’ efforts in academics and extracurriculars. On the morning of Wednesday June 11, the High School Awards Ceremony gives parents and students a chance to rejoice.

The event starts off with a congratulatory ... Read more »

  • mhillman I am wondering as I read this post about the culture of student recognition at ISB. Some schools are very good about giving recognition to those kids who play sports ...
Porcelain-Making with the Masters
Posted Jun 8th 2008 10:17a.m. by tiantianzha (School Matters)

At the end of each school year, ISB students take part in a China Link trip to discover the country’s cultural diversity. One such trip takes a dozen of students to Jingdezhen, a small town where everyone, it seems, takes part in the traditional craft of porcelain-making.

Student expectations ... Read more »

Camping with the Miao: A Profile of 'China Links' at ISB
Posted Jun 6th 2008 12:43p.m. by davidborgonjon (School Matters)

Every year after the high-school-wide nervous breakdown that is exam week, ISB holds an event called 'China Links', intended as its cliched name would suggest to deepen students' appreciation of Chinese culture.

Among the eleventh grade's options was a student-led trip to Xi'an, an opportunity to build homes ... Read more »

  • moliver wow the pictures are really beautiful. Especially the one with Simon at the waterfall...I sort of wish I had taken this trip :(
  • tiantianzha I think it would be really interesting (and maybe troubling) if each year, people made a point of photographing one place to trace the changes across the years. Perhaps Mr ...
WAB Kindergarten Students Give a Green Thumbs Up to Charity
Posted Jun 6th 2008 12:14p.m. by wab (School Matters)

With big leafy bunches of fragrant mint threatening to overshadow the pansies and tomato plants thriving in their learning garden, Kindergarten students at the Western Academy of Beijing knew they needed to take action.

For weeks they'd been carefully cultivating a flower and vegetable garden planted outside their classroom ... Read more »

  • pjsheeps how CUTE. oh my gosh, why couldn't the rest of the world be like this? If this is what our future generations are like, it seems we might be ...
Cooking with Faye
Posted Jun 4th 2008 3:49p.m. by wab (School Matters)

For most of WAB's Grade 12 students, the conclusion of the IB Diploma and high school exams brought relief. However, one intrepid (and hungry) group of 20 students faced one of their most challenging learning experiences yet: a full day of cooking class with Faye Cowin, one of WAB ... Read more »

Prom Generates Excitement
Posted May 25th 2008 9:07p.m. by tiantianzha (School Matters)

As the end of the school year approaches, one final event has captured the interest of many students: High School Prom, which takes place right after exam week. Open to only Juniors and Seniors, it is the cause of much excitement. Junior Laura Yang says that she's "excited for ... Read more »

ISB Responds to the Earthquake
Posted May 19th 2008 8:53p.m. by davidborgonjon (School Matters)

Today at 2:28, a week after the earthquake, ISB made an announcement through the PA requesting three minutes of silence. Before the principal had even finished reading out the words, the peals of car horns had begun sounding across Shunyi.

As we all know, the Sichuan earthquake has hit ... Read more »

High School Politics: How to Become a Student Leader
Posted May 11th 2008 9:32p.m. by tiantianzha (School Matters)

As the school year comes to an end, the ISB stress machine has reached new heights. Even with over a month left before summer vacation, student organizations have already begun preparations for next year. Each organization is swarming with opportunities for ambitious students - if they can beat the competition.

Students ... Read more »

  • davidborgonjon My experience is that its mostly just a specific layer of the students that compete so intensively, to which the people you mentioned probably belong. If you're a relaxed ...
May SATs: The Pressure's On for ISB Students
Posted May 9th 2008 9:22p.m. by davidborgonjon (School Matters)

The May SATs have just passed. In what was supposed to be a relaxing week of vacation, many ISB juniors and sophomores felt overwhelmed by the pressure of studying for the most important standardized test for students applying to US colleges.

Chris Krueger, a junior, says that he ‘destroyed his ... Read more »

  • davidborgonjon I think the total range is probably 1700-2400, where the average is 1500. But almost every one tries really hard to raise their score, not just the people with the ...
  • sangzi At least they look at the rest of your application . . . better than taking gao kao like the rest of China. Good luck on your exams!
  • collin What is the average score of SATs for ISB students? Is there a difference compared to other schools?
ISB Dance Team Takes the Stage
Posted May 5th 2008 9:57p.m. by davidborgonjon (School Matters)

With the impending reality of school's end, there has been a wealth of events intended to show off what the various ISB teams and clubs have accomplished this year.

Case in point: the Dance Showcase hit the theater on Thursday with a half-hour long set of performances that had ... Read more »

  • stonebanks Cool blog. So, this is what it's like to be a high school student these days: "commitment, tights and a positive attitude." Just like in my salad days.
Mine Is More Charitable Than Yours
Posted Apr 30th 2008 9:06p.m. by tiantianzha (School Matters)

Most kindergarten students are taught that we should help others simply for the sake of helping others. But in a campus where competition thrives on the bent backs of stress-burdened, sleep-deprived ambitious teenagers, even community service can become tainted.

I started noticing competition between service organizations last year when Soobin ... Read more »

  • tiantianzha Yeah I think that looking at the reasons for service (and any other activity, for that matter) would be interesting. Maybe we could even see trends crop up among different ...
  • moliver I think you have to look at the reasons most people in our school are joining these charitable organizations to begin with: fulfilling a service requirement for their IB diploma ...
  • stonebanks As a laowai Beijinger who recently skipped out on his ten year high school reunion, I can safely say that these petty competitions will stay with you for the rest ...
WAB Rock in the Park
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 3:50p.m. by wab (School Matters)

HS students from across Beijing are invited to rock out with talented bands from WAB and other international schools at the 2008 Rock in the Park, Saturday May 24. WAB's Peace Park will be transformed into a festival of the arts, with two stages for music, art exhibits, interactive ... Read more »

WAB Rock in the Park
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 3:49p.m. by wab (School Matters)

HS students from across Beijing are invited to rock out with talented bands from WAB and other international schools at the 2008 Rock in the Park, Saturday May 24. WAB's Peace Park will be transformed into a festival of the arts, with two stages for music, art exhibits, interactive ... Read more »

WAB Athletes Claim Team Championship at ACAMIS Badminton Tournament
Posted Apr 15th 2008 3:31p.m. by wab (School Matters)

WAB's High School Badminton Team claimed the Team Championship at last weekend's ACAMIS tournament in Suzhou. WAB was one of the many international schools competing in this competition, which took place April 10 - 13 and included 16 teams representing 10 different schools from around China.

After winning three ... Read more »

Chinese Film Forum
Posted Apr 14th 2008 9:42a.m. by wab (School Matters)

WAB is holding a Chinese Film Industry Forum on Thursday night, April 17, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Blu Theatre (HUB).

Distinguished speakers will include the following: 嘉宾简介:

Gu Changwei is internationally renowned as a cinematographer, director, actor and producer for works which include Farewell My Concubine, Peacock and The Invisible ... Read more »

  • wab I've attached a map!
  • juhuacha Looking forward to this (are there directions on where the event is going to be held?)
Earth's Hope
Posted Apr 8th 2008 2:08p.m. by wab (School Matters)

The Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) welcomed over 300 students and teachers from over 40 schools in ten different countries for the EARCOS Global Issues Network (GIN) Conference, April 4 - 6. This global event, the first of its kind to be held in Asia, brought together young people from international ... Read more »

WAB JV Girls Soccer Team Evens Out the Sides
Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:23p.m. by wab (School Matters)

The JV Girls Soccer team played against YCIS this week in a thrilling match ending in a WAB victory. YCIS arrived with 8 players and in order to have an 11-a-side match as scheduled, WAB players volunteered to fill in the spots for YCIS. It was a good experience for ... Read more »

Debut Goals, Confidence Gained for WAB Varsity Boys Soccer Team
Posted Apr 3rd 2008 4:06p.m. by wab (School Matters)

This week, WAB's Varsity Soccer Team secured their first clean sheet of the season against a young Dulwich College side, on account of a great peformance from Henri. Team player Arie opened the scoring in the first half before adding another in the second. Connor made it 3-0 with ... Read more »

Spring Break 2008: Mexico and Volleyball--Minus the Sun
Posted Apr 1st 2008 8:35a.m. by kmitchell (School Matters)

At the tail end of WAB's spring holiday, a group of student athletes returned to school early for the opportunity to watch international level men's volleyball and to participate in a friendly match with all ten members of Mexico's Junior National Volleyball team.

Fresh off an intense ... Read more »

Does turning off the tap while you brush REALLY matter?
Posted Mar 21st 2008 12:23p.m. by kmitchell (School Matters)

Saturday March 22 is World Water Day. It's a day to reflect on the current affairs of the world's water supply and to consider how we can employ water conservation efforts in our everyday lives.

Below, a staff member from Western Academy of Beijing shares a few thoughts ... Read more »

  • terrykern This is only slightly related, but all the talk about the water not being drinkable in Beijing is wrong. In fact, three or four glasses takes you on a magical ...
  • vinnyw It's great to hear about some of the initiatives going on a WAB! Over here in the Marshall Islands, we've been getting the students in the cast of ...
Go, Speed Racers, Go
Posted Mar 19th 2008 4:51p.m. by kmitchell (School Matters)

Grade 8 students at the Western Academy of Beijing aren't old enough to drive, yet age hasn't stopped them from researching, designing and manufacturing their very own model Formula 1 race cars, as part of the official "F1 in Schools Technology Challenge".

WAB is the first school in ... Read more »

  • kmitchell One of the WAB advisors provided a live report from KL on the progress of WAB's first foray into the F1 in Schools Challenge. "Both teams did well in ...
  • jhaagen I wish I was still in highschool. I wish it everyday.
  • gwatkins F1 in Schools sounds like a fantastic programme and very authentic. How cool that the kids are involved in all the different facets of putting the car together from researching ...

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