Artwork By: Isabela Cuisana Fall 2020 Edition · 2020. 11. 23. · En tal marco filosófico, el...

Fall 2020 Edition

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Artwork By: Isabela Cuisana

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+ Health & Wellbeing / Salud & Bienestar

+ Special Features

Fall 2020 | School Views fcaq.k12.ec 3

Contents

+ Arts + Culture / Arte + Cultura

+ Academics / Académico

6 The Adventures Inside my Bookshelf

10 A New and Exciting Program

12 Extras Online

14 New Teachers Bios

22 History vs. Global Politics, Why did it change?

24 How To Stay In Touch With Culture During the Pandemic

26 The Rise of Bedroom Pop

28 The Making of Conditions of the Wounded

31 Instagram Shoutout: Talented Photographers

36 A healthy body and a healthy mind

38 Renewed Opportunities to connect with nature and our bod-ies

40 How to sleep correctly and why you need it?

42 Interview: Laura Sarmiento, mental health tips

44 Los beneficios de la salud social

46 "El vegetarianismo y la sostenibilidad"

48 3 consejos para la mejor aplicación a la universidad

50 Born a crime- book review

52 SATurated Testing

4 Mensaje de honor y homenaje al Colegio Americano de Qui-to, en el 80 aniversario de su fundación

Artwork By: Ananda Williams, Martina Laso

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Sobre su fundación, comparto y destaco lo que, con razón, señaló nuestro amigo y compañero César Benítez Arregui: “El Colegio Americano en sus primeros años fue el primer colegio mixto en Quito. ¡En ese entonces, un escándalo! El primer colegio privado laico, con estudiantes de todas las religiones, cuando la educación privada era confesional. Sin inspectores atrás de los estudiantes. Los estudiantes opinaban y elegían Consejo Estudiantil y editaban el School Views. ¡Ejemplos de democracia! Sin duda, gracias a sus inspiradores, que imprimieron un cambio en la educación”.

Su esencia fue y es, en el marco del humanismo, el desarrollo equilibrado y armónico de la person-alidad de los educandos a través de la observancia de los principios de convivencia y de respeto de todos sus semejantes y, con mayor razón, de sus diferentes tanto más que nadie en el mundo debe amar, servir, enseñar y aprender por ser igual sino por ser diferente. Ahí arranca el respeto y la tolerancia entre todos los seres humanos que nacemos iguales en dignidad y derechos y que in-tegramos la sociedad humana, individual y colectivamente, formada por seres singulares, únicos, irrepetibles e irreemplazables, que nacen solos y mueren solos, pero no viven solos. Seres con una sola huella digital estática en el índice y muchas huellas dinámicas en la conciencia.

En tal marco filosófico, el Colegio nos enseñó a amar el bien y a desechar el mal y a predicar lo que practicamos. A vivir y demandar el ejercicio de los derechos humanos, de las libertades y de las instituciones de la democracia y de la República. A sentir, desde nuestro uso de la razón, el com-pañerismo fraterno y el amor y admiración al Colegio, junto con nuestro sentido de pertenencia. Fue el prólogo de la conciencia de Patria y de la Humanidad en su conjunto. Nos enseñó a que aprendamos a aprender y a pensar con juicio crítico. A que seamos librepensadores porque el li-brepensamiento precisa de argumentos y de oposición para subsistir, al punto que cuando carece de ellos se transforma en fanatismo, embrión de los totalitarismos de verdad única e inapelable. A respetar más las preguntas y a ser humildes con las respuestas y con nosotros mismos, de tal manera que también podamos sentirnos orgullosos de nuestra propia humildad. A proyectar nuestro amor propio en el amor a los demás. A trabajar en equipo y a vivir la inteligencia emocional en la relación intrapersonal e interpersonal, comenzando por respetar y enaltecer a la mujer y a la lealtad ética de la amistad y de los principios trascedentes, que tornan posible una vida cualitativa, digna de ser vivida, con actitud optimista, sentido positivo de justicia y capacidad de convertir el yo egoísta en el nosotros solidario.

En definitiva, nos enseñó que la vida, en sí misma, es cambio incesante y es un aprendizaje per-manente que sólo termina con la muerte y que, para vivir sin principios, valores ni honor, no vale la pena vivir. Por tanto, aprendimos la dignidad de la vida y en la vida misma y el significado de la sublime grandeza de la condición humana.

Entonces, en el ocaso de mi vida, como ex alumno del Colegio y como padre y familiar de ex alum-nos y abuelo y pariente de actuales alumnos, rindo justo homenaje al Colegio Americano de Quito, a la memoria de sus fundadores y a su historia en su 80 Aniversario y, a través de ella, a todos quienes fueron y son educados en él, en especial a mis compañeras y compañeros de la Promo-ción 1960, a las autoridades, a nuestros maestros, al personal docente y a los padres de familia que confiaron y confían en el Colegio y, en función de su fértil y primaveral pasado, le augurio un brillante y promisorio porvenir en la línea recta que, en las dos próximas décadas, le conducirán a un siglo de existencia, de siembra fecunda y de cosecha cualitativa.

En este año 2020 –hoy lunes, 5 de octubre– se conmemora los 80 años de la fundación del Colegio Americano de Quito, resul-tado de la concepción y la obra del notable ciudadano y gran demócrata, Galo Plaza Lasso, ex presidente de la República del Ecuador, y cuyo proceso de creación y trámite administrativo consiguiente, desde sus meses iniciales, apoyó con convicción y entusiasmo el gobierno constitucional de mi abuelo Andrés F. Córdova (1939-1940).

El Colegio Americano fue concebido como una institución edu-cativa para hombres y mujeres en función de una formación hu-manista e integral de los estudiantes en valores, en moral, cívica y ética y en su capacitación académica bilingüe a fin de forjar ciudadanos de bien y de sentar en ellos las bases cognitivas que promuevan una amplia cosmovisión. A esa cosmovisión se refería Plaza al concebir la idea de “formar ciudadanos del mun-do”, calidad que conlleva la esencial y trascendente respons-abilidad de ser ejercida con Honor. Así, Galo Plaza se adelantó visionariamente al advenimiento del proceso de globalización logrado en gran parte por los avances de la ciencia

MENSAJE EN HONOR Y HOMENAJE AL COLEGIO AMERICANO DE QUITO, EN EL 80 ANIVERSARIO DE SU FUNDACION.

(QUITO, AÑO JUBILAR DE SU 80 ANIVERSARIO)

Fernando Córdova Bossano

El siguiente texto, escrito por Fernando Córdova Bossano, es un mensaje en honor y homenaje por los 80 años de fundación que el Colegio Americano de Quito cumple el 5 de octubre del presente año. Fernando es un ex-alumno graduado en el año 1960.

y la tecnología, la creciente interdependencia de las comunicaciones, pueblos y países, el nacimiento de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas y la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos, siendo estas últimas, a mi ver, las dos obras cumbre de la Civilización Humana.

Y entonces, la fundación del Colegio Americano en Quito sobre la base de las virtudes de la democracia y la libertad, fue necesaria, urgente y oportuna -en plena explosión de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, iniciada por el fascismo brutal y demencial.

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Academics / Académico

THE ADVENTURES INSIDE MY BOOKSHELFAndrea Rodríguez

Books can be a source of information or an assignment from a teacher. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines books as “a set of pages that have been fastened together inside a cover to be read or written in”. But books are so much more than that! They contain stories which we read, but those simple words cannot define the experience and the impact they have in our lives. Books can make us feel a range of emotions, they can make us laugh, cry, become en-raged, and even help us dream.

Books can have positive effects on people such as:

Reading could help you live longer. Yale University studies show that when you read, you are more likely to live 2 years longer than others who don’t.

It makes us more empathetic. Deep reading promotes emotional intelligence which helps you see other perspectives in different situations.

It builds up our vocabulary.

By reading you are more likely to reduce your risk of dementia. Challenging yourself mentally builds up the brain’s ability to cope with disease. One way to think about it is ‘Use it or lose it’.

Reading regularly reduces stress. This is very important for students and adults because stress can bring sickness and other health problems.

Fact: Most successful people are readers.

With technology advancing nowadays, e-books are very popular. Below you can find some pros and cons of e-books and printed books that may help you find the best option for you.

One can enjoy their reading a lot more when they have pages to touch, which creates memories.

It is much easier to keep up with the plot and twists the books have.

They are healthier than e-books

They are a cause of deforestation.

You need a lot of space to keep your books.

You don’t need space to keep books, you only need an electronic device.

It is easy to carry around.

They are cheaper.

E-books can be more comfortable because they are flexible to which position you want to read and the size of the letter of the books.

If you are reading an online book it might stop working anytime. You might run out of battery, or your storage space might be full so you can’t download or buy more books.

They are unhealthy because you are staring at an LCD screen which hurts and damages your eyesight.

There’s piracy and plagiarism.

As we know, our school has provided a library for us even during the pandemic. I had the opportunity to interview our librarian, Patricia Goering, with some questions about her and the library. Patricia ex-plained she has always liked reading books. Mostly because of her mother, she took her everyday to the library and read her stories when she was little. For her, reading is like escaping from the world we live in and forgetting about our worries. She states that reading opens our vocabulary and we devel-op intellectual abilities. Patricia states that what’s fascinating about reading is seeing other peoples stories and their perspectives about different things. You are able to experience and be open-minded while reading how other people live. Additionally, I asked her why she thinks that students don’t like reading. She explained that students feel it’s an assignment and that later there’s work to do. Later on, she tells us that this year the library has a new website, and that they are trying to make sure the pro-cess of getting a book is as easy as pie. Furthermore, we learn that there’s a new book club. One for seventh to ninth graders and another for tenth to twelfth graders. In the club, every month they read a book chosen by the members, and during the meeting they discuss the text. “To every student their book, and to every book their student,” Patricia says, “I firmly believe that there is a book for everyone, and if you don’t like reading it means you haven’t found the right book yet.”

Printed Books

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For the people that don’t like reading books, do you actually know why? Here are some reasons that might be why you don’t like reading and some tips to help you:

The place where you read affects your concentration and your comfort. Try different places where you feel like you will enjoy your reading.

The time that you read at. Maybe you read in the morning and you don’t like reading books, you can try reading at night or in the afternoon.

The idea you have about reading. If you think and say “I hate reading and it is boring”, you are never going to like it because every time you read your brain is going to remind you that you don’t like reading books.

Lack of concentration.

Afterall, someday if it’s your case, you will find the perfect book for you. It might take time, but it's worth it.

Here are some book recommendations from students:

Adventure

20.000 Leagues Under the Sea - Julio Verne

I Survived - Lauren Tarshis

Amulet - Kazu Kibuishi

The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart

Autobiography

Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank

Stay Alive - Matt Haig

Biography

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand

Ugly - Robert Hoge

Esperanza Rising - Muñoz Ryan Pam

Comedy

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kiney

Bad Dad - David Walliams

Mystery

Masterpiece - Elise Broach

The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues - Elle Raskin

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Daniel Handler

RomancePride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

SuperheroHearts of Ice - Adi Rule

Fantasy

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling

The Witches - Roald Dahl

The Girl Who Drank the Moon - Kelly Regan Barnhill

Historical Fiction The Boy in Striped Pajamas - John Boyne

Historical Non-fiction

What was the Holocaust? - Gail Herman

HorrorThe Outsider - Stephen King

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A New and Exciting ProgramAndrea Landazuri

This year, a new program for seventh and eighth graders was implemented at the school. It is called the Advocacy Program. It is a class that helps students feel more comfortable in the school environment, so they can feel better around teachers and classmates. Every class has their own mentor, who is also a teacher from another area. The advocacy program is new to everyone; therefore, everyone is trying this program for the first time. This program is meant to help students with any problems, including school work. It helps students connect with the school. For example, if you are having difficulties with school work or need to catch up on something, reach out to your mentor. Your mentor will always be willing to help you so don’t feel that you may be some sort of inconvenience. Even if you just want to talk to an adult you trust, communicate with your mentor since they want to hear all about you, the bad and good stuff. To communicate with them, send them an email or send them a message through Google Hangouts. Your mentor is there for you, but it is your responsibility to ask them for help. Teach-ers are not fortune tellers, so they can’t guess whether or not you need help. Your mentor should be the first person you talk to when you have a problem so don’t hesitate to reach out for help!!

I interviewed Omar Ramirez, teacher of Design Tech and mentor for seventh grade parallel B. During the interview, he allowed me to have a better understanding of the program. In the inter-view Omar states,“the main goal of the program is to create a sense of community. This pro-gram will also help us to get to know each other better and get to know better certain values,''. He continued, “We, as advocates, are going to be the first contact you have with school, so if you have any problem with school, ask your advocate for help”. Omar also helps us understand what to do if we have a bigger problem. He says he will guide us to another adult that can help you find the best solution. “If you need to reach me or your mentor, send them an email or talk and schedule a meeting during one of your classes”, clarifies Omar. Additionally, Omar tells us that advocates use a book called Tribes, which helps them give the advocacy class. The book provides tips, suggestions, and topics, the teachers use that book to get ideas for the class. At the end of his interview, we can conclude that we shouldn't be afraid of asking your mentor for help. It is very important that you share your problems with your mentor so they can help you. It can be from little problems to big problems, but you have to talk to someone, and your mentor is the indicated person.

This new program has the purpose to help you fully enjoy school and be more confident with your classmates, teachers and even school work. Talk to your mentor when you need support or a piece of advice because they will make you feel better. It’s a class that has a different environment and a different goal, so remember to enjoy it. This class wants to make you connect and meet new people, so be open minded and kind to everyone. Enjoy this new opportunity the school has given us! If you have an issue, talk to your mentor and they will help you decide the best way to act. They are here to help us!

Emilio Cuesta

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Extras Online Emilia Serrano

Empezaron las clases, sin duda de una forma distinta. Cada colegio busca adaptarse al nuevo sistema intentando que ninguno de sus estudiantes se quede atrás, pero el Colegio Ameri-cano de Quito nuevamente está un paso adelante a pesar de la crisis, implementando extra-curriculares online. El lunes 7 de septiembre, el colegio implementó extracurriculares online de 2:40pm a 3:30pm continuando con las extracurriculares que ya sé ofrecían el anterior año e implementando nuevas actividades como: fitness, zumba, entrenamiento muscular, baile y fitness de combate. Cristina Gandara, la profesora de educación física y voleibol del colegio, nos cuenta cómo se ha adaptado a este nuevo método online al colegio siendo accesible para todos los estudiantes.

El objetivo de extras online que el colegio provee a sus estudiantes es para poder mantenerlos activos y con una buena condición física. Cristina Gándara planteó: “ El objetivo primordial de las clases es de mejorar su condición física para así afrontar de mejor forma el sedentarismo que se está presentando en los hogares debido a esta pandemia.”. es importante tener una buena organización para que las extras cumplan su objetivo: “ Para esto, los profesores hemos organizado las clases dirigidas a que todos puedan hacer los diferentes ejercicios y actividades acomodándose en su lugar de trabajo y nosotros convirtiéndonos en entrenadores muy creati-vos para mantener la atención y entusiasmo de los chicos y chicas” (Gandara). Sin embargo, este trabajo ha sido desafiante , especialmente para los profesores ya que han tenido que orga-nizarse para que todos los estudiantes se beneficien de la actividad física. También han habido cambios en los deportes ya que por ahora los ejercicios se tienen que adaptar a los espacios y recursos de los estudiantes: “En cuanto a los deportes, siempre nos enfocamos en el fortalec-imiento muscular y en el mejoramiento de la técnica de cada deporte” (Gandara ).

Es importante añadir que extras online aparte de traer varios beneficios a los estudiantes, ha traído beneficios a los profesores. “Las actividades planificadas para los estudiantes benefician en todo sentido a la comunidad de nuestro colegio. Ya que reduce síntomas de depresión y ansiedad y así los estados de estrés. Mejora el sistema muscular, pulmonar, cardiovascular y controla el sobrepeso. Sin dejar de mencionar que nuestro sistema inmunológico se fortalece.” afirma Cristina Gandara. Pero, ¿cómo beneficia a los profesores? Durante la entrevista habló sobre las ventajas que ha sacado gracias a esta modalidad. “ Esto ha hecho que elaboremos planes nuevos de acción para ser mejores profesionales. Los cambios nos mueven el piso, hace que salgamos de la zona de confort y eso nos lleva a un crecimiento personal: nos for-talece, estimula nuestra creatividad, mejora nuestra autoconfianza y mucho más” (Gandara). Así es como los extracurriculares han ayudado a crecer no solo a los estudiantes, sino también a los profesores que lo hacen posible.


Implementar el modo de extras online no es fácil, se requiere de mucho apoyo y soporte de parte de ambos los profesores y alumnos. El Colegio Americano de Quito cuenta con varios equipos para que todas las actividades puedan ser realizadas. La actividad de fitness la enseña Ana Lucía Falconí, Ma. Augusta Rodríguez, Gilma Carcelén y Paola Caamaño. La extracurricu-lar de basket enseña John Escalante y Jaime San Miguel y fútbol dirige Hanz Ortega, Rolando Chávez y Luis Jáuregui. Por último las actividades de voleibol son realizadas por Richard Sala-zar y Cristina Gandara.

La pandemia fue un golpe mundial que nadie venía venir, pero cada institución de educación está haciendo lo posible para sacar lo mejor de esta experiencia. Así el Colegio Americano decidió implementar extracurriculares de manera virtual para promover una mejor educación y salud de sus alumnos.

Isabela Cuisana

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New Teachers Bios Teachers

My name is Halona Chai and I am one of the second grade International Teach-ers this year! I am from Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated with my Bachelor and Master's in Early Childhood Education in December 2019. This is my first year teaching, and I couldn't be more excited! I studied abroad in Ecuador during my last semester of student teaching and fell in love with the school, the people, and the country. Aside from shaping young minds, I love to take hikes, cook vegetarian meals, and practice the little Spanish I know!

My name is Denisse Sarzosa; this is my first year teaching at secondary at FCAQ but my third year overall in the school. I am thrilled to be coming back to the community after leaving to finish my MA in Art and Design in Education at UCL London. I am so excited to share all the things I learned both studying abroad and working in the education department in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Aside from being an educator, I am an artist. Most of my work is video art, and now a bit of writing. In my free time, I enjoy boxing and watching all sorts of movies, especially superhero ones.

Soy Elisa Ruhrig consejera estudiantil para 8vo y 9no grado. Trabajé durante 7 años en el Nursery del Colegio Americano. Ahora tengo un nuevo y emocionante reto por delante; trabajar, aprender y conocer a los adolescentes.

Soy ex alumna del Colegio Americano, después de graduarme, viví 5 años en Alemania. Aprendí el idioma, inicié mis estudios y conocí a mi esposo; y ya hace 10 años que vivimos en Ecuador. Tengo 3 hijos pequeños, y ¡mi primera hija ya comenzó el preescolar en el colegio Americano!

Estudié Psicología Clínica en la Universidad San Francisco de Quito, obteniendo el diploma con honores (Magna Cum Laude). En el año 2015 obtuve mi título de posgrado en Educación Inicial y Especial en la Universidad Técnica Equinoccial.

Fall 2020 | School Views fcaq.k12.ec 15Academics / Académico

Antonio Satryan -I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but I came to Quito after three years of teaching ninth and eleventh grade English in Miami, Florida. I'm a percussionist, and I like to climb and read. I played for Indiana University's ulti-mate frisbee team while studying U.S and Latin American history. This year, I'm excited to be joining the community at Colegio Americano, where I teach English to 10th graders.

Chelsie Galo -This is my first year at Colegio Americano, and I am currently teach-ing 10th-12th grade IB Biology for the International section. I studied Biology at Ohio State University, where I obtained both a bachelor of science and a masters in science education degrees. My hobbies include reading, writing, dancing, trying new foods, and spending time outdoors. I am happy to be here in Quito!!

Kerrin Ahern Grade 3 International -This is my first year teaching at Colegio Amer-icano, and I am so excited to be here. I am from Boston, MA, where my family still lives today. I went to the University of New Hampshire, where I got my Bache-lor’s and Master’s degree in Elementary education. During university, I was able to study abroad for one semester in Ireland, where I was able to learn a different education system. After I graduated, I taught second grade at an international school in Japan. Now I am here and excited to be in Ecuador. I am in love with teaching and extremely excited to be teaching third grade at Colegio Americano. I enjoy running, cooking, and chatting with my mom on the phone in my free time.

Jamie Padilla -This is my first year teaching English Lan-guage Arts at FCAQ, and I’m thrilled to be able to join the community! I was born in Quito, but my family is completely bi-cultural. I studied Education at Universidad San Francis-co de Quito with a specialization in English Literature. I am also about to finish my Master’s Degree in Educational Fam-ily Counseling. I was a social studies teacher for nine years, so I am very excited to be an ELA teacher this year! I love to write stories and novels when I have the time, playing board games with my family (we are quite competitive!) and cook-ing dishes from around the world.

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Andrea Pozo - This school year is my first year teaching at Colegio Americano. I am a 4th grade English teacher. I was born and raised here in Quito but had the fantastic opportunity to study both my un-dergraduate and a graduate degree in the U.S. I studied psychology at American University in Washington, DC, and I have a Master's degree in Childhood Education and Special Education from NYU. I recently returned to Ecuador from NYC, and I am so happy to be back in my country after many years. I have a passion for teaching, and I love be-ing around kids. That is why I believe I have the best job in the world! In addition to teaching, I love to spend time with my friends and family, travel around Ecuador and the globe, and do yoga.

Jacqueline Bolduc - This is my first year at FCAQ, and I am loving my 7th Grade English position. I have lived in the United States for the past 8 years, but I grew up internationally in Canada, Belize, Argentina, and Nicaragua. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, and my Master's in Secondary English Educa-tion from Fairfield University in Connecticut, where I've been working in Middle School for the past eight years. In addition to teaching, I am very passionate about the arts. I also love to travel; I had the oppor-tunity to study abroad for a semester in Bologna, Italy, and it was in-credible! My family is very important to me and even though we have grown up and lived geographically far apart for most of our lives, we are super close.

Ms. Gow

Compassionate, strong, mindful, knowledgeable

Teacher of Science and life

Lover of nature, adventure and iced chai tea lattes

Who feels concern for our planet

Who craves sunlight, fresh air and laughter

Who gives her heart and time to all in need

Who fears heights a wee bit and crawdads

Who wonders if her students know how much she cares about them and their success

Born and Raised in California, living it up in Quito!!


Mi nombre es Ana Belén Carrillo Velástegui, soy ex-alumna del Colegio Alemán de Quito y al finalizar mis estudios secundarios tuve la oportunidad de hacer prácticas en los laboratorios de Roche en Alemania, lo que confirmó mi pasión por las ciencias y la biología. Obtuve mi título de Bióloga en la PUCE donde fui parte de varios laboratorios, que me permitieron participar en algu-nas investigaciones relacionadas a biología molecular y embriología. Además, siempre me preocupó la conservación de la biodiversidad y el medio ambiente y decidí estudiar una maestría en Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático.

Aparte de la biología, disfruto mucho del arte y de hacer caminatas en la montaña. En febrero de este año comencé enseñando ciencias en el Colegio Americano, lo que ha sido una de las mejores experiencias que he tenido y estoy muy emocionada de poder compartir todos mis conocimientos con los alumnos.

T Denver Lego - this is my first year teaching at FCAQ, and I am the 5th grade international teacher. This is also my first year of teaching. I graduated in May from John Brown University with my undergraduate degree in Elementary Ed-ucation. I am very excited to spend the next two years here. I grew up in San Antonio, Texas but I love to travel to different places. I enjoy baking, reading, playing board games, kayaking, and practicing my calligraphy skills.

¡Hola! Soy Laura Sarmiento y estoy encargada de una nueva clase en la Se-cundaria Nacional: Social Emotional Learning. Soy Psicóloga, especializada en Psicología Clínica y en Psicología Infantil y Adolescente - Transcultural, en la Universidad Sorbona Norte de París. Me encanta trabajar con adolescentes y colaborar en un ambiente educativo vanguardista y dinámico como es el Colegio Americano. He vivido en cinco países diferentes; viajar, conocer per-sonas y lugares nuevos ha sido lo que más falta me ha hecho durante este tiempo de pandemia. También me gusta mucho el montañismo, bailar y pasar tiempo con mis perros Lua y Coco. ¡Les deseo a todos un excelente año y es-pero que disfruten mi clase!

Ms. Kate Troutman - This is my first year teaching 4th grade at FCAQ, and I am extremely excited to be here in Quito! I grew up in Bellingham, Washington, and got my Bachelor of Elementary Education and Special Education from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. For the last three years, I taught special education in Snohomish, Washington. In addition to teaching, I enjoy traveling, playing fun board games, hiking, and sports!

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Elizabeth Reed - Hola! This is my first year teaching at FCAQ, and I'm really happy to be here in Quito! This is my first time in South America. I grew up in Minneapolis, MN, but I have also lived and worked in Boston, MA; Jinan (Shandong), China; and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. I have a M.A.E. and ESL Teaching degree from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN, and a B.A. in Philosophy and International Relations from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA. I love helping students with reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, hiking, dancing, photogra-phy, yoga, and watching movies. See you soon!

Peter Rudholm - I couldn’t be happier in my first year of teaching 11th grade literature at FCAQ! I grew up in Los Angeles, California, and did many things there before I decided to dedicate myself to teaching. Since I arrived here in Quito, Ecuador, I have taught 2 years of high school and 5 subjects at CMS-FQ, 2 years and 3 subjects at the USFQ and 11 years at the UIDE as Professor of Languages, Political Science, Automotive Engineering and Athletics, and I also worked in an administrative capacity as Dean of Languages. I am an avid cyclist and collector of bicycles. My Ecuadorian wife is a graduate of Colegio Americano, and I have 3 children who attend there, as well. I am looking forward to soon meet all of you in person.

Greetings! My name is Calla Gudheim, and I am very happy to be the newest member of the 6th grade team. I am one of the English classroom teachers and have really enjoyed getting to know my students during the first month of school. I am from the United States and have lived in Quito for two years with my husband, who is from Quito and my son who recently graduated from high school. I have a master’s degree in education from Boston Univer-sity and have been a teacher for over 15 years. I really love living in Quito and enjoy practicing yoga and working to improve my own Spanish in my free time. I look forward to meeting all of you in person soon!

Maria Veronica Roman Endara -This is my first year as a substitute teacher in Colegio Americano. I was born in Ecuador and studied and lived in Mexi-co for 5 years and in New Zealand for 1 year. I have a bachelor’s degree in communications and two master’s degrees in innovation and Psychology of education. I love to hike and spend my free time with my family and my dog enjoying nature.

Tom Krause - I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the United States, and I at-tended Abington Heights High School. I did my undergraduate work at New York University and obtained a Bachelor's in Fine Arts in Theater. I worked as an actor in New York City and Los Angeles, where I lived for 10 years, and I worked as a college admissions counselor at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los An-geles. I have a Master's Degree in Teaching, specializing in both secondary English education and English as a second language education from Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There, I graduated with a 4.0 average and was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education. I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, and I taught English to refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Every morning, I look out my window at my view of Guápulo and the ex-pansive valley below, and its beauty humbles me. I am extremely grateful to be in Ec-uador, and I am honored to be a new member of the Colegio Americano community.

Dorenis Mota - Licenciada en Educación Matemática, con una maestría en Matemática Educativa; apasionada por lo que hago, trabajo incansablemente por la democratización de la matemática en la sociedad, comenzando por mi aula de clases, actualmente trabajo con la matemática de 1ro BGU y con cálculo Diferencial e Integral en la Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Astrónoma aficionada, madre de un niño de cinco años, tengo como filosofía de vida ser feliz sin que eso implique dañarse a sí mismo o al entorno.

Hi! My name is Saskya Fun Sang; I am an artist and educator from Guayaquil. I've worked with different media along the years, things such as painting, collage, print-making but for the last couple of years I've been focusing mostly in sculptural work using ceramics and fiber-based materials. Before joining the school, I worked as an art teacher at Universidad San Francisco de Quito where I taught weaving classes. Before that I lived in Chicago for almost six years where I was working and study-ing. I am very happy to be part of the FCAQ team and I look forward to sharing and exchanging creative ideas with all of you!

Mi nombre es Luis, soy profesor de Lengua y Literatura en 3BGU. Estudié Letras en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, en Argentina, país donde también hice mi maestría. Volví el año pasado a Ecuador y estoy muy contento de haber empezado en el Co-legio Americano. Llevo algunos años siendo profe y es una actividad que disfruto mucho. En mis ratos libres me gusta leer, ver películas, cocinar y salir con amigos.

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Fabiana López - This is my first year teaching at FCAQ and I am so happy. I am half Venezuelan and half Nicaraguan! When I was 13 years old I moved to Paris, France, and studied my High School years in the American School of Paris where I graduated. I loved my experience as a student in an American School! Then I moved to Boston and did my B.A. and M.A. at Boston College. Where I had the opportunity to teach Spanish 101 two years and I loved it! That is when I realized I wanted to be a teacher. After that, I taught a History course, Spanish and French at Ransom Everglades in Miami, Florida for 3 years to 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Then I moved to Quito where I taught literature at El Colegio Menor for a year to 8th graders. Then, I taught essay writing for 7 years at USFQ. Now, I am here at FCAQ teaching 6th graders and I am so excited!!! I love music and spending time with my family. :) !

My name is Matthew Kramer. I am from Delaware, USA. I love watching maths vid-eos and cycling. I love traveling and exploring countries by bicycle. This is now the fifth country I am teaching at and am having a great time. Oh how good it feels to be back in Latin America! From my humble roots in small-town Tennessee, USA I've been fortunate to call many places home including Vietnam, Mexico, and Oman. My professional life is divided in half, with years spent as a scientist doing everything from researching cures to making genetically modified plants. The other (most re-cent half) has been spent teaching around the world. I'm super lucky to be able to combine both passions (science and teaching) into one here at FCAQ.

Martina Cocios- Hello everybody! I am thrilled to be teaching English Language and Literature here at FCAQ. I graduated from Colegio Americano 7 years ago and sadly never won a Carnaval. I graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a Bachelor of Science in Economics & I am currently pursuing my master’s degree in Education at "Universidad de Salamanca" in Spain. I have a chihuahua called Valentin that I take with me everywhere I go. I also love to bake, mountain bike, and yoga

Thomas Brandenbug - Oh how good it feels to be back in Latin America! From my humble roots in small-town Tennessee, USA I've been fortunate to call many places home including Vietnam, Mexico, and Oman. My professional life is divided in half, with years spent as a scientist doing everything from researching cures to making genetically modified plants. The other (most recent half) has been spent teaching around the world. I'm super lucky to be able to combine both passions (science and teaching) into one here at FCAQ.

Hugo Muñoz - Este es mi primer año en el Colegio Americano de Quito, y estoy sumamente contento por este nuevo reto en una institución tradi-cional y de altos estándares educativos a nivel nacional e internacional. Llevo unos 20 años como docente y gran parte de ese tiempo enseñando Matemática en la Escuela Media y el Diploma del Bachillerato Internacion-al. Siempre he considerado que la enseñanza implica una oportunidad de aprendizaje contínuo para nosotros los maestros, por esta razón y con las oportunidades que brinda el bachillerato internacional a los docentes de todo el mundo, pertenezco a esta enorme comunidad de aprendizaje global de manera activa como docente, como examinador en Matemáticas y tam-bién como miembro de la red de Educadores. Llevo muchos años viviendo en la hermosa ciudad de Quito, soy de una bella región del sur del Ecuador, exactamente de la parte alta de la Provincia de El Oro, soy un apasionado por la Educación y por el Ajedrez el cual jugué por muchos años. Disfruto mucho aprender de nuevas comunidades y de reconocer los rasgos, las similitudes y las diferencias que nos unen como seres humanos.

Kerienne (Kerry) Lederman - After a year off for various adventures, I am thrilled to be back with my FCAQ family in the International section teaching Chemistry once again. I was born and raised in Charlottesville, VA and at-tended Christopher Newport University for both my undergraduate degree and my master's degree. Although I majored in Biology and spent my first teaching job in Honduras devoted to biological studies, I found my true pas-sion when I transitioned to teaching Chemistry here at FCAQ. I love Ecuador for its ecological diversity and can be found on the weekends biking, hiking, and exploring with my dog. I am looking forward to another great year - and am especially looking forward to winning the cuarenta tournament this year (even if virtually!!) :)

Daniela Vasquez - I’m Dani, and this is my first-year teaching at FCAQ. I am very excited and happy to be part of this amazing community. I was born in Quito, and I had the opportunity to live in England and the USA for four years. I have a Master's Degree in Bilingual Education, and I have been teaching for six years. In my spare time, I really enjoy spending time with my family and being outdoors. My favorite sports are soccer, mountain bike and running. I also have a sweet tooth for desserts, especially the ones that include chocolate. I am sure that we are going to have an amazing year full of new and exciting experiences

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As a global politics student, I can say the class is completely worthy of its reputation. I’m very interested in pursuing communications or international relations majors in university, both of which are closely connected to the skills developed in this class. Vicky has proven to be an amazing teacher, giving her students the ability to thoroughly understand the content taught in the class, rather than just focusing on covering whatever the syllabus mandates and moving on. Even though I haven’t had the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the subject, I’m sure over the two years it’ll take I will enjoy all of the benefits it has. Both the IB coordinator and the Global Politics teacher agree this class has a tremendous potential to make students thrive, and the school will take this opportunity and make the best out of it.

History vs. Global Politics, Why did it change?Victoria Gangotena

The International Baccalaureate Programme offers a variety of courses around the world from which each institution can choose to incorporate into their curriculum. Colegio Americano has managed a diverse range of topics from arts, to human and natural sciences. History has been a strong class due to the popularity it has amongst 11th and 12th graders. However, the school decided to exchange it for Global Politics starting this academic year. Many students question this decision, what led to the change? Who or what influenced the decision to be made? How will students be affected by this sudden change? Both David Weaver, the school’s IB coordina-tor, and Vicky Lalama, the national section Global Politics teacher, gave their insight on the new course and their thoughts upon the decision.

For starters, David Weaver stated that the school has pondered upon making this change of course for several years, but never had the push to do so. Colegio Americano is characterized by the constant interest it’s students have shown for political affairs, ensuring its students are well rounded and have a strong attachment towards global engagement. These attributes are well represented in the Model UN and the variety of debates each course handles frequently. This was one of the strongest arguments that pushed the IB coordinators to change the course. Our school administrators believe that this class will allow the students to develop more criti-cal thinking skills than in history class. While history mainly focuses on exploring past events, students in Global Politics are encouraged to participate in discussions while evaluating their individual perspective on present issues. The transition between these two manners of teach-ing permits each learner to focus more on how they process information, and the expression of said knowledge to their peers, rather than memorizing and analyzing events that have no pres-ent effect on their lives. Plus, the class’ syllabus offers a bigger variety of working opportunities related to a world engagement, forcing the students to better understand current events and political affairs.

Both Vicky and David agree on the matter that the course is much more interesting, and the students would enjoy the course much more than history. Vicky conveyed a deep interest in the course’s topics, explaining she was very excited to teach this new class as it would en-courage students to have a higher engagement with their environment. David also stated that the Internal Assessment for this specific program is much more flexible than history’s, allowing students to develop skills in a manner that provides more individualized benefits. History’s in-ternal assessment focuses on talking about historical events which have been studied by the people in the course throughout the two years. Global Politics has a community activity which essentially means that students will have the opportunity to explore their surroundings in order to complete this assignment. This type of learning can lead students to grow as learners, peo-ple, and global citizens due to the fact that they will learn from personal experience rather than text only.

Domenica Valdivieso

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Arts + Culture / Arte + Cultura

The pandemic has hindered several of our activities; ordinary events such as visiting a museum, going to a concert, and watching the movie theater's latest film have become either dangerous or entirely impossible. However, culture finds ways to flourish, even in the most unexpected situations–such as coronavirus. For instance, several museums offer virtual tours, concerts take place online, and producers sell virtual tickets to watch new movies via platforms, all within the home's comfort and safety. In this article, you'll find ways to stay in contact with art despite the current circumstance.

Several established art museums have opened their doors globally, presenting their exhibi-tions through online tours. For example, the Louvre has launched multiple virtual shows, displaying a diversity of artwork ranging from Egyptian antiquities to Renaissance pieces. Similarly, if you are looking for something more modern, the Guggenheim Foundation has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to present its virtual tour. There you can find the latest avant-garde art pieces. Further-more, the Van Gogh Museum also has an online display, and there you can find several famous works of one of the most renowned artists of human history: Van Gogh. Indeed, most instituted museums offer virtual experiences, so if you want to see something from a specific museum, check out their website.

Additionally, virtual concerts have gained popularity during the quarantine: well-known shows such as Lollapa-looza and Tomorrowland hosted online experiences in the past months. Likewise, other festivals are taking place. For instance, the Monterey Jazz Festival is launching a free show that is on Youtube. Besides, count-less bands and artists are doing their displays via platforms. The Billboard’s website lists the most recent live streams announcements so far, so check out if a musician you like is making an appearance.

The pandemic has also affected the film industry; COVID-19 pushed several release dates to next year. For instance, The French Dispatch had to postpone its release by half a year. Nonetheless, some movies are going according to schedule: Disney's Mulan is available for Disney+ users plus an additional thirty-dollar fee. Like Mulan, other films are attempting to release virtually. Recently, theaters have been allowed to open to a limited extent, so you could technically watch a movie there, though it may be unsafe.

These experiences aren't the same as witnessing art firsthand, but they help keep in touch with culture. Trying out these options helps stay culturally active in a time of confinement.

Sebastián Portilla HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH CULTURE DURING THE PANDEMIC

Alejandra Pacheco

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THE RISE OF BEDROOM POPSara Nuñez

Quarantine has been a time for us to discover our authentic hobbies, talents, and passions in life. However, for others, finding inspiration or any source of creativity has been challenging during the lockdown. Well, there is good news for all the music lovers out there! Bedroom pop is becoming more and more popular with listeners around the world. That means there is a chance for you to put all that creativity to work and begin to make music!

If this new "genre" is unfamiliar to you, here is the definition: creating low budget music that has a distinct lo-fi or 80s and 90s vibe. The process is so simple that you can record and create a song in your bedroom (hence the name given to the genre). Just compose your piece using your phone, post it on the web, and done! If you produce something catchy or popular, there’s a chance you could take off in the music indus-try. It might come as a surprise, but many recognized artists began making music in their bedrooms. You might've heard of them before: Gus Dapperton, Cavetown, Conan Gray, Clairo, CUCO, Steve Lacy, and many others. Of course, fame and recognition do not come instantly; these people have worked hard on their music and are very passionate about it. They decided to create art in the first place because they wanted to express themselves authentically, without regard for the promise of stardom or money. Take Clairo and her well-known song "Pretty Girl" as an example. She confessed that she made the song using ordinary objects found in her bedroom: indeed, "a little keyboard," as she told The FADER in an interview, was the principal instrument to her masterpiece. Despite its simple origin, "Pretty Girl" has approximately 55 million views on Youtube.

Another “bedroom pop” artist you might've heard of is Gus Dapperton. His song “Prune, You Talk Funny” currently has 9.1 million views on YouTube, along with 2,543,577 monthly listeners on Spotify. The 23-year-old artist began his music career when he was a high school student. Along with his friends, Gus used Ga-rageBand to produce music or, as he called it in his interview with The Formula, “loops and things.” Growing up in a conservative hometown, Gus found release in art. Ever since receiving a Logic Pro (a digital work-station) for Christmas in his teenage years, Gus has produced music independently. The artist’s unique 80s and 90s influenced music has caught the attention of many, which has allowed bedroom pop to become more popular amongst listeners.

How does this new "genre" help your creativity during quarantine? As previously stated, we have a lot more time to ourselves; how about experimenting a little with music? Who knows, maybe you can release your next single on YouTube and be recognized for your talent!


Ananda Williams

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Do you have any particular authors or books that made you want to write COTW?

Yeah, indeed, I don't feel like the book found its narrative arc until I started reading a lot of fiction, and one writer that I was really into at the time is called Annie Proulx. She is a western writer in the US. Reading this genre from her anchored me in a particular place and taught me how to elongate descriptions and think more about character development. Another writer I was looking at was James Galvin and his short story collection called The Meadow.

What is the book’s genre?

It's poetry, but the kind of poetry that is lyric narrative confessionalism. So there is a contrast between lyricism and narrative poems.

Why did you choose to write it within this genre?

The master’s program I was in was specific for poetry, so I was required to write a lot of poetry all the time. I was already kind of going down that genre in the first place. I've always wanted to experiment with short fiction, but poetry was my comfort zone for a very long time.

What is your target demographic/audience?

My target demographic is anyone who enjoys reading poetry, people who like to come to the page, or explore books with a lot of imagination and music to the language. Readers of poetry and people familiar with (or want to know more about) communities affected by PTSD would enjoy this book.

When did you start writing your book?

The first poem I made is about seven years old. So I started in 2015.

How long have you been writing in general?

I have; actually, it hasn't always been good writing. One of my favorite poets of all time, his name is Charles Wright, says that “before you can write anything good, you have to write a lot of bad stuff first” and I spend my fair share of time writing bad poetry, but it was when I was younger. I liked to doodle in my picture books, which was just something I did for fun, and then it grew into something much bigger.

What was the most challenging part of writing this book? The easiest? (If applicable)

The easiest part was knowing myself and knowing what I need to write about. The hardest part was just the writ-ing; writing is hard, especially writing something that you want to be right. I went through 30 drafts of one poem sometimes. The process of writing is challenging and lengthy.

Anna Knowles has been a great contributor to the English department in Colegio Americano for three years. Apart from her prominent role as an educator, Knowles has also accomplished one of the most challenging tasks in a writer's career – publishing a book. We want to take this space, not only to congrat-ulate this fantastic effort, but to explore how this book came to fruition, the inspiration behind its pages, and the advice Ms.Knowles has to share with aspiring writers.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Conditions of the Wounded is a book that took approximately five to seven years to create. It focuses heavily on the effects of trauma and the PTSD a town has to go through after a violent tragedy occurs. Poetry is this book’s primary genre, but it also combines elements from many different others, such as creative narration. The process of creating a book that sprouts from personal experiences can be very challenging. After interviewing Ms.Knowles about the book, she explained some of the recommended steps she considers essential to creating a literary work. The purpose of this article is to inspire up and coming writers and give them crucial tips for writing their personal stories. INTERVIEW: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Interviewers: Daniela Chiriboga and Alejandra Pacheco, 11th-grade students. Interviewee: Anna Knowles IB Literature teacher from 11th and 12th grade.

What is “Conditions of the Wounded” about?

It’s a coming of age story set in a town that is backdropped by a lot of violence and PTSD.

What inspired you to write and develop your book?

I was in a master’s program for poetry. That program encouraged us to write about some sort of trauma; in the process of developing that aesthetic, you kind of dig back into the past and put your writing tools around pressure points that were more traumatic than others. It was a fruitful process for me to think about where I grew up and what happened when I was younger with the Columbine High School shoot-ing.

Alejandra Pacheco, Daniela Chiriboga.

THE MAKING CONDITIONS OF THE WOUNDED

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This article will show you various talented students within FCAQ who want to give people an insight into their aesthetics. From small entrepreneurship to landscape photography, these creations will enlighten you by showing the skill your fellow peers present. Not only will you be entertained by the mesmerizing feeds, but you will learn about the potential that rests in this country’s youth. There is hard work, passion, and a unique view of our country's beauty behind these photographs. Through photography, artists capture the magnetic moments unforgettable to their human experience and share it with others. The following artists deserve to be recognized and promoted, for they represent our country and school honorably. You may help these artists by sharing their art so that many more can enjoy it and become inspired by it.

INSTAGRAM SHOUTOUT: TALENTED PHOTOGRAPHERS

Pedro Jacome |Ana Paula Pozo

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I wanted to do things aside from writing, but I think part of that is because I never knew that you could write and do that for a living. After all, I believe so much of what society tells us is not to do that. For a long time, I went down a few different routes where I accepted jobs and financially sound positions but they were artistically blocking. I wanted to do something much more artistic, and eventually, I figured out that it is not so bad to be a writer.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Don't be afraid to write. Don't be scared to invest your time in it, even though the world says not to.

Do you plan on writing more books in the future?

Yes, I'm writing my second book right now. I want to experiment with short fiction. I also write creative nonfiction, so I'm also working on a few essays.

Has your role as a teacher helped you write this book?

Not this book since I finished it before I came to Americano. For the past two and a half years, I've been looking for a publisher, and when that happened, I already wrote the book. But I think teaching does influence what I write now, especially teaching poetry in my classes and going over different nuances and exciting techniques that I forgot about, so it is an excellent refresher for me. It's beneficial for my process.

Where can we find it?

It's not going to be distributed in Ecuador because it’s complicated. I think it will be available for pre-or-dering on Amazon and Kindle so you can get electronic versions. The publishers haven't told me a spe-cific date yet, but I know it will be spring 2021, and I also have a website so you can go there and check out anything old that I've written and new fun stuff going on too.

As a community, we are incredibly proud that one of our teachers has accomplished such an admirable task. Not only has Ms.Knowles invested time and effort into writing something essential and touching, but she has also managed to teach hundreds of students at the same time. This interview gave us an insight into the experiences writing a book can provide and ways to improve as creators. Ms.Knowles has taught us how writing is not a linear process but a life-long endeavor we are continually learning. We are looking forward to supporting and reading more of her riveting work in the future.

dondesescondelsol:

Bernarda Chavez is a 12th-grade student who en-joys capturing everyday aesthetic, playing with light and shadows, and depicting scenarios in which movement and exposure make up unique shots. Bernarda brings out a uniquely artistic side to every-day scenes and objects.

verde_cosmos:

Ana Paula Pozo is a 12th-grade student who focus-es on nature photography; she attempts to canvas the beauty of Ecuador and its natural assets so that others can enjoy it and get a taste of the country. She offers a unique perspective on the relevance of nature to our culture and everyday life.

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efimmerah.ph:

Ananda Williams is a 10th-grade student who uses photogra-phy to create beautiful scenarios in which people, props, and unique spaces come together to create art. Ananda started efimmerah.ph as her project, but it seems such beautiful imag-es have transcended the project itself.

above_land:

Martina Espinosa is a 12th-grade student who conveys Ecua-dor’s beauty, capturing picturesque landscapes and character-istic elements of the Ecuadorian culture and nature. Martina’s account is a great place to go sightseeing.

1.37am___

Martina Moncayo is a former student from Colegio Americano who gives us insight into her mind’s workings. Her photos cap-ture what seems like ordinary everyday life scenarios that bring out the significance of these situations; her photos allows us to see beauty through her eyes.

Illust.mp

Maria Paula Andrade is a senior student at FCAQ, she takes art to a whole new level by creating digital art out of her photog-raphy. Her content varies from illustrations of other people’s images to her own photographs as well as images found on-line. Her creativity and wonderful talent in digital art is definite-ly worth supporting.

capture_aesthetic:

Renata Garces is a 12th-grade student who began her Instagram ac-count as part of her 10th-grade project. However, the amazing content she created prevails to this day, and she keeps on creating aesthetic art. Renata combines photography with body paint and collage to create beautiful art through different mediums.

_photography.martina:

Martina Laso, a 10th-grade student, takes photography to a whole new level by using various photography techniques and applying them to natural and cultural landscapes to create unique pieces. Martina uses lengthy exposition, different focus types, and a great photographic eye to capture art-worthy moments.

velaa.a

Adriana is a former student from FCAQ who makes her content worthy of admiration due to her talent and originality despite not being a photographer. Adriana has her clothing brand, through which she expresses her style and canvases her ideas; she is working towards a career in fashion design. Adriana is a small scale entrepreneur worthy of supporting, and her beautiful art-works (clothing pieces) sell themselves!

antonioespinelc:

Antonio Espinel, 11th-grade student, takes photos of something not so common. He captures aircraft. More commonly known as "spotting" he enjoys going out and taking images, of mostly milli-tary airplanes and helicopters. Antonio's goal is to encourage peo-ple into thinking better of the aviation industry and for more people to join it.

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Vic.to.ri.aaa

Victoria is an incredibly talented and artistic student who expresses her attractive aesthetic through her Instagram. She includes vibrant colors that combine perfectly to create a cool looking feed. As one of the two students who won the spot for the SAAC arts festival, it is no surprise that she has a fantastic artistic taste with her social media.

Patiotek

Run by FCAQ senior Andrea Najas, Patiotek is a small business ac-count that collects donated electronic devices and helps people in need. This impressive account supports people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and gives fair use to ownerless devices. This ac-count may not be artistically directed, but it deserves recognition as it’s a good cause.

Sweetest_uio

This account, run by Juliana Flores, a senior student in FCAQ, rep-resents a small business offering dessert pick-up and delivery. You can enjoy amazing desserts from butter cookies to lemon pie.

Phtspdr

Pedro Jacome is a senior student who runs the account of phtspdr. His Instagram truly embodies aesthetic and visually pleasing imag-es. Dating back to 2017, he has taken many photos from his adven-tures, such as a European adventure, beach days, and even parties.

Ju.lia.alva.rez

Julia Alvarez is a senior at FCAQ who’s photography ac-count includes many beautiful and intriguing images of animals, views, people, and nature. The editing of her pho-tos is impressive. Overall, this account is an expression of her artistic style with the use of her own photographic and editorial abilities.

Sweetology_uio

Sweetology is a small business that offers delivery or pick-up dessert boxes. Run by Mikaela Droira, a senior student in FCAQ; this account is excellent for people who have a sweet tooth and an appetite for delicious des-serts.

_ac_accessories

Run by FCAQ senior Antonella Castelo, this fantastic small business offers very stylish handmade jewelry. Our fellow peers model for her products. She also takes amazing pictures of her creations. There are many ar-tistic and aesthetic earrings, necklaces, and even horse bracelets.

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In headspace you have many options, It helps you with the things that make you feel the most comfort-able. You can change the time of the voice and how you want the session to go because with this type of meditation you can go through a long or short session with someone telling you what to do. Another example for an app could be the mindfulness app which lets you have multiple choices in time when us-ing the app. You can do a quick 5 minute meditation or a long half an hour session, much like Headspace. Every time you over or under sleep your mood is affected and your motivation to do things diminishes. So try to keep a good sleep schedule, it will help to maintain a healthy mind.

Health & Wellbeing Salud & Bienestar

Quarantine, a word we all know about by now. It is my understanding that a lot of people haven't been maintaining a good routine, and I'm here to help.

When I think about a healthy routine I think of two very important things: a healthy mind and a healthy body. For the past 4 months I've been keeping a schedule that cured my boredom. You have probably heard or tried meditation and maybe you liked it, or maybe you didn't and you think it doesn't work. But there will always be a glimmer of hope that teaches you the way of understanding these concepts.

Jordan MarxHealthy Mind Healthy Body

Healthy Mind

If you are part of the group that does not meditate and think it's awful or you just don't like it, here are some ideas that help and are awesome. First, meditation is not just closing your eyes and letting a random voice you are hearing talk you through some steps. Meditation is a process of achieving a calmer state of mind which allows you to let out all your bad emotions and express how you feel. When practicing meditation we are connecting to our inner selves, the inner selves that we truly are, that we believe in.When you discover what meditation is actually about, you will love it. There are apps and web-sites online that help with meditation. There are very cool apps that you have to pay for and others you don't, some examples are: Headspace, the mindfulness app, Calm and many more. A personal favorite of mine is Headspace, which is one of the most recommended meditation apps that you can get. Yes, headspace costs money and for some people that's not an option which is alright because there are plenty of free and good meditation apps out there.

Healthy Body

In quarantine you may not be motivated to exercise or you might be doing it, but not a lot of it. It's okay to not feel motivated, not being motivated is not a bad thing but you will always have to come back to a closing point in which you must confront what you don't like. In my opinion coming from someone who wasn't motivated, to the person I am now, that keeps a regular schedule everyday, you might be willing to listen to what I have to say. When you start exercise you can't keep thinking exercise is just a way to be fit, that's wrong. Exercise is a community, many people do exercise to be happy and keep being motivated for other activities in their daily lives. If you really don't think exercise works for you and keep having excuses for not doing exercise, here are some things that helped me overcome laziness. Don't go too fast and don't try to just get it over with. Appreciate how your exercise is benefiting you, enjoy it, try to focus, and breathe. The first 2 weeks to 1 month are going to be challenging but just remember that you can't let your brain think you're done. Having machines to exercise is not the only thing you could do. Yoga could be a way of exercising, you could be doing weights or an exercise routine, but you can never let the enemy win. You might have guessed that the brain is your worst enemy, and you are right, it tells you, you are tired but you are not, just keep fighting. And finally, always remember you are always going to have support, whether it's your family or friends. And hey, it could be an excuse to take a warm shower afterwards.

Exercise and meditation are not only tools to make you more fit or calm, they are also ways of relaxing and being proud of yourself. It's a way of treating your mind with respect and your body with inner and outer strength. And you don't need to be paranoid because you feel like you are still not motivated, just remember anything is possible if you put your mind into it, hard work and dedication. If you work hard and dedicate yourself to it, a sweet treat never hurt anybody.

So if you ever need to let out some anger sadness or anything like that you can let your anger out on exercise or let it out in a more relaxing way by meditating. You just have to embrace it and let it out in any way that helps, the best thing about it is that with the coronavirus you have so much free time it's a lot easier to do all these things. So if you ever need to lose some steam or feel very relaxed do it, because after a good session of exercise or meditations you will 90% of the time feel better. P.S if you want to know why is because if you're forced to do exercise which is not fun you may be a little mad at the end.

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Renewed Opportunities to Connect with Nature and our BodiesIsabella Aliyev

Getting out in the sun, having contact with nature, traveling, and exercising are great op-tions for staying active during the quarantine. After being locked up in our houses for 7 months, it is necessary to be able to regain and maintain our mental and physical health.

As many of us are exhausted from constantly hearing the words “COVID-19”, the moun-tain range of Los Andes offers each person a great opportunity to stay active while keeping our mind off current problems. Taking this into consideration, various mountains have reopened for tourists to enjoy the different flora and fauna while taking an energetic hike. Tourism agencies are working alongside citizens in order to arrange visits to the grounds; meanwhile, visitors are being made aware of the safety precautions before performing any activities. Locations such as Quilotoa, Cotopaxi, and Baños follow all the safety measurements provided by the WHO and have a time limit for each stay based on arrival times. Regardless, some destinations demand an early reservation, while others start and close at a specific hour depending on the place. Overall, the mountains are a great place to have a stress-free day away from the daily monotony of quarantine.

On the other hand, resorts and expeditions provide an alternative for citizens to ap-preciate Ecuador’s rich biodiversity and indulge in cultural delicacies. It is no doubt the coun-try has a great variety of beauty and nature; Mashpi, Galapagos, Casa del Suizo, and Cuenca are some destinations worth visiting. Since reopening these destinations, citizens are able to have a healthy break from their daily routine. In the same way, most of these destinations have protocols that are organized by tourism agencies in order to facilitate reservations; such as, Metropolitan Touring a company that offers traveling at economic prices. Additionally, tourists are able to enjoy their stay, in a stress-free vacation that follows all the COVID-19 precautions. Having the opportunity to relax and relish life to its fullest helping the human body to reduce anxiety and depression.

With this in mind, there are multiple activities that provide a healthy and enjoyable time to escape the ordinary routine of quarantine which has been forcefully introduced into our lives for the last couple of months. It is fundamental to organize new goals, activities, and needs to reconnect with our inner peace and restore our mindfulness within our community. Life has changed drastically with COVID-19 thus, we must adapt ourselves to this new reality in the best way possible. Outdoor activities ensure stabilized mental and physical health for all; not only creating support for one’s self, but it’s completely safe to go out in this type of activity and fill up personal needs.

Salomé YepezMartina Laso

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By drinking I mean all kinds of liquids like: water, juice, milk, etc. When you drink at nighttime, the likelihood of needing to go to the bathroom will increase and you will need to go to the bathroom in the middle of your sleep cycle. To prevent this, you should avoid drinking too much liquid 1-2 hours before going to bed and try to go to the bathroom before going to bed to have a less probability of waking more later to do so.

Using Electronics/Blue Light at Night

Electronic devices like tv, phone, computer, and others affect your sleep time because they stimulate and release blue light . The blue light produces melatonin and that confuses your body from the sunlight. Try to avoid using electronics or any type of light if possible, at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Being in bed awake

If you can't sleep easily, don't worry. What you can do is to get up from the bed and do an activity that can help you relax. For example: meditating, breathing, or reading a book until your eyes are closing by themselves, you should avoid screens as they stimulate the eyes and brain. Then you are prepared to sleep.

Alarms

The human body has sleep cycles that determine when you are going to sleep and wake you up. The alarm doesn't recognize when your sleep cycle is going to finish; so it can wake you up in the middle of it. If it's possible, try to avoid alarms.

Day Naps

Napping on the day can be harmful for your sleeptime. Depending if you are sleepy on the day or not, you can take a nap (15-20 min) if you feel tired. But if you're not sleepy on the day, you should try to avoid it because it is taking up your sleep time. So when it's night time you won’t be able to sleep as easily.

Eating food

Eating food that has sugar can be bad for your sleep because it can make you stay awake at night. Also, you need to eat something because if you don't eat anything before sleeping, your body will want to wake you up and get some food so you don’t starve. However, you need to avoid eating too much because it can cause bad digestion and affect your health.

These are some basic tips of what to do and what to avoid in order to sleep better at night. Sleeping makes your brain organize the memories you have and to be prepared for another day. Try to avoid all those things if possible, some you can't avoid one or two it's fine, you can still have a good rest.

Andrey Ortega

If you aren’t sleeping well and you need a solution for that, you came to the correct place. Here you will find why you need to sleep, bad habits that affect your life because of not sleeping well, and things you should and shouldn’t do to improve your sleep quality.

Why is sleeping important?

Your brain can organize the memories you receive during the day

You will be more focused the next day and be able to do mental and physical activities more effectively

You can have difficulty memorizing some daytime experiences

The cerebrum (part of the brain that helps you think) has 4 lobes (parts) that occupy an important part of your life.

Frontal lobe (Learning and Decision making)

Temporal lobe (Hearing and Memory)

Parietal lobe (Sense of touch)

Occipital lobe (Sight)

If the cerebrum does not receive adequate rest, it can't work as it should in the day. Some effects are: Slow decision making, forgetfulness, and inattentiveness.

Things that affect your sleep time in a negative way:

Caffeine and Drinking:

Drinking caffeine is totally fine, but when you drink more than 2 cups of coffee in a day, the caffeine stays for many hours in your body, making you sleep lightly and incorrectly. What you can do is to drink your last cup of coffee 8 hours before going to sleep.

How to sleep correctly and why you need it

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En este tiempo mucha gente ha encontrado nuevos hobbies y entre estos se encuentran los videojuegos. Laura nos dio su opinión sobre estos, “ Son buenos pero con límites.” Según Laura la tecnología puede crear adicciones, el abuso de este puede generar problemas en los estudiantes. Por parte es bueno debido a que nos emociona y es una manera de interactuar socialmente con amigos, sin embargo hay que tomar en cuenta qué tipos de videojuegos son buenos para ciertas edades y también cuanto tiempo hay que pasar en ellos. No es saludable jugar por muchas horas en exceso debido a que nos puede generar problemas de salud a corto y a largo plazo. Jugar videojuegos de noche no es saludable debido a que nos genera adrenalina cuando se supone que deberíamos estar descansando.

En conclusión, la clase de Social Emotional Learning tiene un buen objetivo y propósito y se conforma de la participación de los estudiantes debido a que es un espacio para compartir nues-tras ideas. Estas recomendaciones están diseñadas para ayudarnos en esta cuarentena a manten-er un buen estado de salud socio emocional. Esto es todo lo que tienes que saber sobre la clase de Social Emotional Learning y cómo mantener una mente saludable durante esta pandemia.

El colegio ha tenido muchos cambios este año, entre estos se encuentra la implementación de la clase de Social Emotional Learning (SEL) enseñada por Laura Sarmiento. ¿Pero de qué se trata esta clase, cómo nos ayuda? Laura nos dió información sobre esta materia y también recomendaciones para la salud física y mental durante estos tiempos de pandemia. En este artículo cubriremos todo lo que tienes que saber sobre Social Emo-tional Learning y cómo mantenerte en un estado saludable.

Laura nos explicó que el enfoque de esta clase es ofrecer un aporte en el crecimiento socio emocional de los estudiantes. Durante las clases ella piensa hablar sobre el manejo del estrés, las emociones. Nos dijo “La idea es generar un espacio en donde los chicos puedan hablar sobre lo que está pasando”. Para ello, la clase se basa en seis pilares: Relaciones, Autoconstrucción, Bienestar, Futuro, Prevención y Comunidad. Futuro se refiere a cómo el estudiante se proyecta y cómo sus decisiones afectan su futuro. Autoconstrucción se enfoca en cómo el estudiante se conoce a sí mismo y construye su identidad. Bienestar se refiere a cómo mantener una buena salud social, mental y emocional. Prevención es sobre adicciones, violencia, sexualidad entre otras. Comunidad es el pilar que nos enseña como tener un buen impacto en los que nos rodean y formar buenos líderes. Según Laura,“basado en estos seis enfoques la idea es que haya un espacio para reflexionar y que los chicos puedan desarrollarse en esas áreas.”

La siguiente parte de nuestra entrevista con Laura se trata de la implementación de esta clase. ¿Esta clase fue adherida debido a la pandemia? Laura nos explicó que el colegio ya había pensado en incluir esta materia y la habían contratado antes de la pandemia. Nos explicó que, “se necesitaba otro integrante en el departamento de consejería estudiantil.” Eso es porque había mucho trabajo para el número de consejeras en el colegio. Laura también nos explicó las diferencias entre esta clase y la de orientación grupal. Aclaró que las clases de SEL iban a tratar temas parecidos a los de orientación grupal, pero que la diferencia es que en esta clase Laura se va a poder enfocar únicamente en planificar esta clase con el fin de que sea interesante para todos. Este espacio de social emotional learning es un lugar para compartir ideas y hablar sobre las emociones, mejorar nuestro estado emocional y nuestra salud mental.

Laura también nos dió sugerencias e ideas sobre cómo mantener una mente saludable. Nos dijo que hay que tener en cuenta nuestra salud mental lo que significa tener una alimentación balanceada. También es impor-tante hacer ejercicio, esto nos ayuda a liberar tensiones y nos hace sentir mejor y con más energía. Explicó que es importante recibir sol y estar en contacto con la naturaleza ya que está comprobado que ayuda a impulsar las endorfinas. Es importante cuidarse debido a que estamos expuestos al virus y al estrés. La interacción social también es importante durante este periodo y especialmente en adolescentes es debido a los cambios emocio-nales que están experimentando. “La pandemia rompió nuestro sentido de control”, para retomar esto hay que tener rutinas porque eso nos devuelve ese sentido, debido a que antes podíamos tener manejar nuestras vidas la pandemia nos hizo hacer cambios drásticos y perdimos ese sentido. .

Social Emotional Learning: ¿De qué se trata? y ¿Cómo nos ayuda?

Camilo Flores y Sofía Ordóñez

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La salud social es la capacidad que los seres humanos tenemos para interactuar con otros, estableciendo relaciones demostrando cómo nos adaptamos en situaciones que requieren capacidad social. Aunque muchos no se den cuenta, el bienestar social es muy importante para nuestra salud personal ya que nos ayuda a prevenir algunas enfermedades y a recuperarnos rápidamente de ellas, si fuese necesario. A continuación, se encontrarán formas para mantener la salud social y razones para entender la importancia de la misma. También se podrán encontrar algunos de los beneficios de mantener una buena salud social y formas para mejorar nuestra sociabi-lidad.

¿ Que es la salud social y cómo podemos incrementarla?

La sociabilidad es un aspecto muy importante de nuestro día a día ya que no solo es la capacidad de hacer amigos sino es nuestra habilidad de interactuar con otras personas de manera respetuosa y apropiada. Para incrementar la salud social, uno debe participar en actividades e intentar pasar más tiempo con familiares y amigos.

¿ De qué maneras nos beneficia la salud social?

La salud social, tiene también beneficios para nuestra salud mental. Las amistades son importantes ya que, como lo demuestra Natalia Castejón una periodista especializada en vida saludable, “estar cerca de amigos en los malos momentos aumenta el cortisol, otra hormona que planta cara al estrés”. El estar con amigos tam-bién ha demostrado reducir la depresión en algunas personas, según un estudio realizado por la Universidad de Queensland. Ésta también hizo un estudio en el cual se descubrió que a las personas con amistades duraderas tienen una mejor salud mental y su riesgo de desarrollar demencia se reduce

Los beneficios de la salud social

Martín Burgaentzle


¿Qué efecto tiene la falta de interacción social?

La falta de interacción social también es un problema ya que se ha demostrado que, cuan-do las personas no reciben suficiente interacción social, tienen mayor probabilidad de desarrollar diferentes tipos de problemas psicológicos. En un artículo llamado El aislamiento social afecta a los humanos y otros mamíferos, se muestra un estudio publicado en la revista Science, un grupo de científicos intentó comprobar cómo la falta de interacción social nos afecta, realizando estudios en animales. Éste reveló que cuando los animales mantienen distanciamiento social, su riesgo de muerte aumenta. Aunque este no sea el caso con los humanos;el coronavirus es muy probable que nuestra salud mental resulte afectada. Aunque el riesgo de tener una enfermedad mental sea alto, esto se puede prevenir manteniéndose en contacto con amigos y seres queridos porque, aunque no nos podamos ver en persona, el hablar en línea y comunicarse con ellos puede disminuir el riesgo drásticamente.

Mantenerse en contacto:

Se puede incrementar la salud social participando en actividades y pasando más tiempo con amigos y familiares jugando con ellos a través de la computadora o jugando con la familia. Al mantener una salud social alta nos podemos beneficiar de tener menos estrés,así la depresión y disminuimos el riesgo de desarrollar demencia. La falta de interacción social podría llegar a ser peligrosa y causar daños mentales graves. Hay que mantenerse en contacto con amigos y famili-ares durante la cuarentena para prevenir problemas serios, así sea hablando con tu familia en casa o con amigos desde el celular es necesario mantener una interacción social racional y no salir de casa para evitar enfermedades mentales graves.

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le para todos. Sin embargo, no es necesario cortar completamente el consumo de productos animales para vivir de forma más sostenible, simplemente es recomendable reducir su consumo. Si una dieta privativa de productos animales no es lo mejor para ustedes, se puede tomar pequeños pasos como comer carne única-mente una vez por semana, o alternar tu dieta regular y una dieta vegetariana en el transcurso de la semana. Al final, todo esfuerzo, por más pequeño que sea, contribuye a un cambio mayor hacia una vida sostenible.

Para que todos puedan aplicar una dieta vegetariana en su vida diaria, esta es una receta completamente vegana, libre de gluten, y saludable. Este risotto es realmente delicioso y es bastante fácil de hacer. ¡Espero que lo prueben!

Risotto Vegano de Champiñones

Tiempo total de preparación: 55 minutos Sirve a 6 personas aproximadamente

Ingredientes:

Para el Risotto:1 cebolla blanca (aprox. 250 gramos)3 dientes de ajo 2 cucharadas de aceite de coco una pizca de sal marina1 ½ taza de arroz arborio 5 tazas de caldo de verduras½ taza de levadura nutricional

Para los Champiñones:16 onzas de hongos cremini 2 cucharadas de aceite de coco una pizca de sal marina 1 cucharada de vinagre balsámico

Sustituciones:El aceite de coco se puede cambiar por cualquier otro aceite sin sabor (ej. aceite de girasol, etc)La levadura nutricional se puede sustituir por queso rallado Al realizar este cambio la receta ya no sería vegana pero si vegetarianaLos hongos cremini se pueden sustituir por hongos porto-bello

Special Features

Con el pasar del tiempo, la sustentabilidad se ha vuelto un tema de extremada relevancia dentro de nuestra sociedad. Con esto, han salido bastantes modificaciones o posibles cambios que podemos realizar dentro de nuestra vida cotidiana, tales como reciclar, cambiar el tipo de productos que compramos por unos producidos de forma ética (producción de bienes enfocada en el bienestar, salud, seguridad y compensación justa de los trabajadores), o incluso convertirnos en una persona vegetariana. ¿Pero qué implica ser vegetariano? Pues este término simplemente se refiere a una persona que no consuma ningún producto que sea carne animal. Es decir no consumir pollo, res, cerdo, pescado, entre otras carnes, mientras continúa con un consumo regular de otros productos animales tales como lácteos y huevos. Se podría decir que el vegetarianismo es un paso hacia la sustentabilidad un poco menos radical que el veganismo, e incluso uno más fácil de aplicar en nues-tras vidas.

Probablemente se pueden estar preguntando cuáles son los beneficios de aplicar estas restricciones alimenticias en nuestras vidas. La verdad es que una dieta vegetariana tiene una gama enorme de beneficios ambos ambientales y referentes a la salud. En realidad, para tener una dieta saludable y balanceada no es necesario consumir carne. Con una dieta vegetariana es probable que uno consuma más fibra y antioxidantes comparada a dietas basadas en el consumo de carne, lo cual lleva a varios beneficios de salud. Estos incluyen menor riesgo a tener: enfermedades cardiovasculares, algunos tipos de cáncer, obesidad, diabetes tipo 2, y generalmente niveles más bajos de colesterol. Adicionalmente, una dieta vegetariana es más favorable para el medio ambiente que la de una persona que consume carne. Según la página oficial de P.E.T.A, Personas por el Trato Ético de los Animales, la industria de productos animales es responsable del uso de una gran cantidad de recursos naturales, incrementar los niveles de contaminación en el agua y el aire, además de promover el maltrato animal; es decir, al reducir o eliminar el consumo de productos animales en nuestra vida cotidiana, dejamos de contribuir a estos problemas que son de gran relevancia en la actualidad. Centrándose más en la sustentabilidad, hoy más que nunca es necesario que veamos qué podemos hacer nosotros para vivir de mane-ra más sustentable. De acuerdo a Green Journal, un periódico dedicado a reportar noticias acerca de la sus-tentabilidad, un estilo de vida sostenible ayuda a ahorrar dinero, cortando aproximadamente $750 anuales de los gastos alimenticios por persona, tener un ambiente más saludable y generalmente consumir comidas más sanas. Al realizar pequeños cambios hacia la sustentabilidad podemos ayudar a conservar recursos naturales y a contrarrestar el cambio climático lo cual es una prioridad para la sociedad moderna. Para tener una idea, la industria de productos animales es el segundo mayor contribuidor a las emisiones de gases de efecto inverna-dero, y es la mayor causa de deforestación, contaminación al agua y al aire, y a la pérdida de biodiversidad. Pero, ¿qué cambios podemos realizar para poder ayudar a la situación? Mientras yo personalmente recomendaría adoptar a una dieta vegetariana, es verdad que esto no es accesib

Isabella Ferro

EL VEGETARIANISMO Y LA SOSTENIBILIDAD

Instrucciones:

Picar la cebolla y el ajo en pedazos muy pequeños y añadir a una olla con aceite de coco y sal. Cocinarlo a fuego medio, moviendo constantemente, hasta que la cebolla se vuelva translúcida. Aprox. 10 minutos

Añade el arroz arborio y tostarlo por aprox. 2-3 minutos hasta que los granos estén un poco perfumados. Em-pieza a añadir el caldo de vegetales, empezando con dos tazas, añadiendo poco a poco mientras la mezcla se espesa. Cocina por aprox. 20-30 minutos, o hasta que el risotto llegue a la consistencia deseada, este debe ser suave. Añadir la levadura nutricional y mezclar hasta tener una mezcla homogénea. .

Mientras el risotto se está cocinando, prepara los champiñones. Corta los hongos y añádelos a un sartén con el aceite y la sal. Cocínalo a fuego medio por aprox. 10 minutos, y luego reduce el calor a fuego lento o bajo. Añade el vinagre balsámico y cocina por otros 2-3 minutos.

Finalmente añade los champiñones cocinados al risotto junto con el perejil picado. ¡Mezcla para combinar todo y disfruta!

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El proceso de aplicaciones a las universidades muchas veces es un proceso que suele provocar estrés e incer-tidumbre. Especialmente en el año que estamos, es muy difícil estar seguros de cómo se van a evaluar las apli-caciones. Esto, sumado a los trabajos del colegio, extracurriculares y pruebas como el SAT provocan que esta sea una época abrumadora para todos los aplicantes. Por eso, queremos proporcionarles tres consejos que les ayudarán en el procedimiento de aplicaciones.

Evita Procrastinar

Muchas veces parece que las fechas límites para enviar las aplicaciones están lejos y que sobra el tiempo para re-alizar todo el trabajo que estas aplicaciones ameritan. Sin embargo, dichas fechas llegan mucho más rápido de lo esperado. Es por esto que el primer consejo (y probablemente el más importante) es no procrastinar. Estudia con tiempo para tus exámenes de admisión, empieza sus ensayos con anticipación y crea un calendario con fechas importantes. Puede parecer que los ensayos no ocupan mucho tiempo, sin embargo, dichos ensayos incluyen un proceso de reflexión y evaluación de ideas, obviamente el proceso de redacción y finalmente una parte de edición. Además es esencial que te reúnas con tu consejero universitario de manera anticipada, agendando reuniones periódicas. Ellos tienen la experiencia necesaria y te van a guiar de la mejor manera. Ray Marx y Todd Johnson, los consejeros del colegio, trabajan en busca de las mejores opciones para los futuros de los estudiantes y ponen como prioridad sus aspiraciones y sueños.

3 CONSEJOS PARA LA MEJOR APLICACION PARA LA UNIVERSIDAD

Juan Diego Riascos


No solo debes trabajar en tu aplicación anticipadamente, también debes fortalecer tu perfil académico y en el ámbito extracurricular. Recuerda que tus notas de secundaria van a ser enviadas a las universidades y estas son fundamentales para el proceso de admisión. Además, trabaja en actividades extracurriculares las cuales te apasionan. Se constante e involúcrate en la comunidad del colegio de la manera que más te guste. Si ya estás en 5to curso, sería una buena idea pensar en el camino que quisieras tomar en términos de tu carrera universitaria.

Investiga bien sobre las universidades que te interesan y asegúrate que sean afines con lo que buscas

Es muy tentador aplicar a universidades solo por el prestigio y la fama; sin embargo, esto no es lo más importante. Sin embargo, es esencial encontrar un país para estudiar donde vayas a estar có-modo y feliz. Sea quedarse en Ecuador o mudarse a otro país, tu decisión debe proveer satisfacción y expectativa sobre los próximos años de tu vida. Después de decidir la ubicación de preferencia, analicen las universidades disponibles. Deben revisar cosas como el tamaño de la población es-tudiantil, ubicación, ambiente de la universidad, precio, instalaciones y todo aspecto que compone la experiencia de esa universidad. Es muy importante que logres conectar con la institución y que sea el lugar para ti. De igual manera, considera tus posibilidades financieras al momento de buscar universidades. Trata de establecer un presupuesto base para buscar universidades que se apeguen al rango de dicho presupuesto. Muchas de ellas ofrecen ayuda financiera o becas por excelencia las cuales pueden alivianar el peso económico que un título universitario puede llegar a involucrar. Habla con tu familia e involúcralos en tus aplicaciones. Esto ayudará a que tengas un soporte en un momento estresante al mismo tiempo que te pueden ayudar a buscar universidades y a discutir la cantidad de dinero disponible para pagar la universidad. También debes decidir si la universidad es el siguiente paso que quieres dar. Puedes contemplar ideas de trabajos, pasantías o un año sabáti-co antes de empezar tu carrera universitaria si es lo que deseas.

Relájate y trata de disfrutar

Es probable que todo el proceso de universidades sea abrumador y parezca un paso demasiado grande. Sin embargo, trata de tomar cada día con tranquilidad y toma este proceso poco a poco sin perder de vista tu objetivo final. Mientras tanto, disfruta del colegio al máximo y relájate. Si estás en los primeros años de secundaria, haz un plan general para tu futuro. Si ya estás por acabar el cole-gio, especialmente si estás en sexto curso, empeñarse en cumplir tus metas académicas y disfruta cada segundo en tus clases, con tus amigos y con tu familia que seguramente estará ahí para ti en tus aplicaciones a la universidad.

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“Born a Crime” is a novel that tells comedian Trevor Noah’s story as a child of color growing up during apartheid in South Africa. Despite the array of stories about racism and its effects, this novel cap-tures its reader from the first word to the last.

Apartheid was a legal system that reinforced segregation between white citizens and others in South Africa. As Noah outlines in the book, this system included separation within schools, living areas, jobs, transportation, and more. It forced Blacksand other non-white groups to move to segregated areas designated for them, and they were not allowed to interact with white citizens. This system continuously and gradually strengthened, until it became the law by 1950 (History.com).

It was during these times that Noah’s mother, Patricia, developed her own life independent from her family and continued to raise Noah. She raised her son with a free mind, even though they weren’t completely free at the time. She taught him to be brave and to be strong so he could, later on, confront the harshness of the world. For this same reason, she was also very strict, to make sure she could prepare her son for the same adversity that she had to go through alone.

Throughout the novel, there are many references to Patricia’s past, and how that shaped her and Noah’s life today. The author tells his story in such a way that the whole novel ends up being an oath to his mother. It ends up telling how Noah’s life is all it is today because of the way Patricia was with him during his whole childhood. It creates a special connection that can be felt through the novel by the audience. Through a comic tone and first-person narrative, Noah is able to create a piece similar to a satiric drama in the theater. He explores a theme that is delicate, intricate, and serious through comedy, evoking a mix of feelings for the readers.

This also makes it possible for Noah to tell his story truthfully and through his own voice. It is an authentic biography, one that includes everything from historic details about Apartheid and racism to the momentary thoughts that the author has while writing this piece. This technique makes the novel unique and original, engaging a younger audience to learn about racism and its ramifications on society. It as-sures laughter, tears, anger, and compassion all at the same time. This creates a special bond between Noah and any reader, making every word of the novel enjoyable.

Born a Crime Book Review

Maria Paula Andrade

Antonio Espinel

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Nonetheless, self-sustained opportunities still find a way to arise in the midst of this turmoil in the urge of helping students uphold the requirements to get into certain universities. Passion projects are certainly a great way to enhance a resume. By taking initiative and creating something new, students are able to harbor and explore multiple interests. Some projects may include getting a book published, or starting a business. This not only displays imagination and authenticity but also, a willingness to generate an advantageous commodity to be at the disposal of society. As a result, the people opting for this kind of activity will flourish and thrive; both as aspiring college applicants, as well as individuals.

However, the usefulness of the SAT and ACT shouldn’t be entirely discredited. Along the years, standardized testing has allowed students to show their aptitudes and develop a variety of skills. From mathematical thinking all the way to reading comprehension, these tests harbor a broad array of essential tools that shape up the ideal student. Nevertheless, in a world where social injustices and inequalities have long been persistent, sometimes test results tend to come up short. Instead, a movement is emerging which encourages students to rise up to the occasion and think beyond their comfort zone to benefit the overall community, as previously mentioned.

Given the tough situation the world is struggling to deal with, high school students must take a long hard look in the mirror to figure out what matters most. They should seize the moment, and assemble the resources bestowed upon them to build a profile worthy of entering any university. Although standardized tests have been a recurring determining factor when separating daunting admission piles; nowadays, circumstances have changed. Instead, there is an urgency to take initiative with the purpose of benefiting one’s entourage. That way, students will be pushing all the right buttons to get into a college of their choice due to an element of uniqueness befitting of their persona that makes them stand out; thus, not ending up being simply one out of the bottle.

Be smart, step out of the bottle.

“We All SAT down for Nothing: Why the SAT Is Useless for College Admissions.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, highschool.latimes.com/port-of-la-high-school/we-all-sat-down-for-nothing-why-the-sat-is-useless-for-college-admissions/.

SATurated Testing The global pandemic has affected all social dynamics, including academic ones. As high school seniors embark on the long awaited endeavor of applying to colleges, many struggle to find ac-tivities worthy of being placed on their resumes. One of the main focal points of this process has centered around standardized test results, and for good reasons.

Due to extensive measures of social distancing being carried out around the world, several schools have faced serious logistical challenges at the time of assigning testing centers for both the SAT and ACT. For various years now, grounds of questioning have been established regarding the va-lidity of standardized testing. USA Today recently published a report where Harvard School Grad-uates argue that college admissions should be “focusing on meaningful causes and community service activities that students engage in, and on contributions made at home, with less emphasis on standardized tests.” Their analysis suggests that the intellectual benchmarks set by standard-ized tests such as the SAT are highly ineffective; given the wide variety of alternative activities that prove to be more worthwhile to engage in. Essentially, some people show a propensity to stand out on exams; while others don’t. Consequently, this measure shouldn’t be utilized as a criterion for determining one’s college admission.

As colleges and universities begin to adopt an ‘SAT optional’ policy to the application process, a lot of students have been forced to deal with anxiety and severe disappointment. All those countless hours condensed into marginalized periods of study not being allowed to be put into practical use, must surely be overwhelmingly frustrating for anyone who’s put in the effort. Furthermore, it’s of the utmost importance to mention the difficulties that improving one’s SAT score entails. Students find themselves in a position of high levels of stress in the process of improving their previous test scores. Even more during these times where opportunities are limited, and collaborative resourc-es are mostly restricted.

Ananda Williams

Luis Yépez

Our MissionOur MissionThe mission of our journalism club, School Views, is to connect the diverse voices of our school

community including students, teachers, administrators, parents, staff, and other stakehold-

ers. Our team consists of secondary students from all grade levels. Through collaboration, re-

spect, open dialogue, and purpose, our team strives to be open-minded, motivated, inclusive,

and informed. We aim to shine a light on all aspects of the school faction including the lesser

known achievements that frequently go unnoticed, entertaining, and giving a platform for stu-

dent voice and discussion. It is our hope that these goals and values will become a common

thread upon which the disparate members of our school community can connect and progress.

Nuestra MisiónNuestra MisiónLa misión de nuestro club de periodismo, School Views, es conectar las diversas voces de nuestra

comunidad escolar, incluidos los estudiantes, maestros, administradores, padres, personal y otras

partes interesadas. Nuestro equipo está formado por estudiantes de secundaria de todos los niveles

de grado. A través de la colaboración, el respeto, el diálogo abierto y el propósito, nuestro equipo se

esfuerza por mantener una mente abierta, motivados, inclusivos e informados. Nuestro objetivo es

dar proyección a todos los aspectos de la facción escolar, incluidos los logros menos conocidos

que con frecuencia pasan desapercibidos, entretenidos y brindando una plataforma para la voz y el

debate de los estudiantes. Esperamos que estos objetivos y valores se conviertan en un hilo común

sobre el cual los miembros dispares de nuestra comunidad escolar puedan conectarse y progresar.

Ana Paula Pozo

Luciana Salgado

Andrea Rodriguez

Maximiliana Salinas

School Views June 2020

Artwork By: Naomi Velasco

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