Geckos Times #9

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April 2015 #sisgeckos Saipan International School- MP, 96950 Upcoming events… 5/1 School Holiday 5/4 AP Chemistry, AP Psychology 5/4 AGM @SIS 5/5 AP Calculus 5/6 AP English Lit & Comp 5/8 AP US History, AP European History 5/13 English Lang & Comp., Statistics 5/14 AP World History 5/22 Commencement Ceremony GET THEM WHILE THEY’RE HOT: SIS 2015 Year Books Into The Sea The school year is almost over, 4 th quarter has begun, and the yearbook is on its way. For some, this would be their first yearbook, and for some, such as the seniors, this will be there last. This year’s 2015 yearbook is rejuvenated with the careful editing of Mrs. Bray and contains a total of 123 pages (back-to- back), 43 more pages than last year’s 80 page yearbook. Like every year, the yearbook contains class photos from elementary to high school, teacher’s pictures, events, sports, extra-curricular activities, and senior portraits. Unlike the past years through, this year’s yearbook contains a wider variety of miscellaneous pictures that capture sentimental and memorable events. The yearbook is set at a price of $45 before April 10th and $55 dollars after April 10 th ; please take into consideration that you will need to place an order before the end of April. The school will place an order for approximately 150 yearbooks or more if more students have placed their order. There will be no guarantee of getting a yearbook if you do not place an order. The yearbook has been produced by Mrs. Aysem Bray using a program called Comic Life. The school would like to recognize Mrs. Columbo for introducing a Hong Kong publishing firm, who have worked with Hyatt multiple times, to us. Please purchase this year’s yearbook to keep as a memorable item for the future. BY: HATSUKO BEARDEN Stormy Tournament Turns into a Great Success! Dark clouds, fierce winds, and droplets of rain were falling when I arrived at Fiesta Beach the morning of the Kid’s Cup. There had been an announcement that a huge storm was approaching Saipan, but the volleyball committee had decided to continue on with the Kid’s Cup anyway. Rain or shine, the island was still determined to make this tournament happen. When I arrived, the wind was blowing so hard that I had to put on a sweater. I was too old to play because the tournament was U17 and U13 so I helped out by being a ref and shagging balls. There were probably about 20 teams that came out, an amazing number, but the wind made the games very difficult because it was blowing balls everywhere. …to be continued on page 2 Entering with a big splash is Saipan’s newest tourist attraction, Fiesta Resort’s Sea Touch, located in Garapan. Sea Touch is an attraction perfect for those who love marine life and its aquatic inhabitants. Sea Touch is an enclosure in the ocean with stingrays living in it. The enclosure allows people, under professional and careful supervision of certified marine trainers, to have close encounters with marine life that they would probably never be able to encounter in normal circumstances. Being able to physically see and touch these animals help people to appreciate sea life and introduces to them a whole new world. …to be continued on page 4

Transcript of Geckos Times #9

April 2015

#sisgeckosSaipan International School- MP, 96950

Upcoming events…‣ 5/1 School Holiday"‣ 5/4 AP Chemistry, AP

Psychology"‣ 5/4 AGM @SIS"‣ 5/5 AP Calculus"‣ 5/6 AP English Lit &

Comp"‣ 5/8 AP US History, AP

European History"‣ 5/13 English Lang &

Comp., Statistics "‣ 5/14 AP World History"‣ 5/22 Commencement

Ceremony

GET THEM WHILE THEY’RE HOT: SIS 2015 Year Books

Into The Sea

The school year is almost over, 4th quarter has begun, and the yearbook is on its way. For some, this would be their first yearbook, and for some, such as the seniors, this will be there last. This year’s 2015 yearbook is rejuvenated with the careful editing of Mrs. Bray and contains a total of 123 pages (back-to-back), 43 more pages than last year’s 80 page yearbook. Like every year, the yearbook contains class photos from elementary to high school, teacher’s pictures, events, sports, extra-curricular activities, and senior portraits. Unlike the past years through, this year’s yearbook contains a wider variety of miscellaneous pictures that capture sentimental and memorable events. The yearbook is set at a price of $45 before April 10th and $55 dollars after April 10th; please take into consideration that you will need to place an order before the end of April. The school will place an order for approximately 150 yearbooks or more if more students have placed their order. There will be no guarantee of getting a yearbook if you do not place an order. The yearbook has been produced by Mrs. Aysem Bray using a program called Comic Life. The school would like to recognize Mrs. Columbo for introducing a Hong Kong publishing firm, who have worked with Hyatt multiple times, to us. Please purchase this year’s yearbook to keep as a memorable item for the future.

BY: HATSUKO BEARDEN

Stormy Tournament Turns into a Great Success!

Dark clouds, fierce winds, and droplets of rain were falling when I arrived at Fiesta Beach the morning of the Kid’s Cup. There had been an announcement that a huge storm was approaching Saipan, but the volleyball committee had decided to continue on with the Kid’s Cup anyway. Rain or shine, the island was still determined to make this tournament happen. When I arrived, the wind was blowing so hard that I had to put on a sweater. I was too old to play because the tournament was U17 and U13 so I helped out by being a ref and shagging balls. There were probably about 20 teams that came out, an amazing number, but the wind made the games very difficult because it was blowing balls everywhere.

…to be continued on page 2

Entering with a big splash i s S a i p a n ’s n e w e s t t o u r i s t attraction, Fiesta Resort’s Sea Touch, located in Garapan. Sea Touch is an attraction perfect for those who love marine life and its aquatic inhabitants. Sea Touch is an enclosure in the ocean with stingrays living in it. The enclosure allows people, under p r o f e s s i o n a l a n d c a r e f u l supervision of certified marine trainers, to have close encounters with marine life that they would p robab ly neve r be ab l e t o encounter in normal circumstances.

Being able to physically see and touch these animals help people to appreciate sea life and introduces to them a whole new world.

…to be continued on page 4

#sisgeckosSaipan International School- MP, 96950

A Break From SchoolStormy Tournament…continued from page 1 Zena Demapan commented, “I play a lot of volleyball, but when there is wind like this, it’s tough for everyone. You have to adjust to it and not many people can do that.” Balls were flying, rain was falling, and equipment was blowing away. Finally, the volleyball committee made the smart decision and decided to end the tournament and move it to the next weekend because the storm was getting stronger and they had to make sure that all the teenagers and children got home safely. FLASH FORWARD TO THE NEXT WEEK…

I was in Thailand when the actual Kid’s Cup happened, so I wasn’t there to witness any of it, but I heard it was a great tournament. There were many tough teams to beat, but the team to beat was Zena Demapan’s team, “The Eagles,” composed of Zena, Billy, Danica, Allen, and James, all very experienced players. And this team proved it in the tournament, going through their pool play and double elimination undefeated, never once losing a game. Sources told me that the day had been extremely hot, which is the perfect weather to play volleyball. For hours the tournament went on, teams fighting for survival, trying to beat each other to try to get into the championship. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and people were just having a great time. Finally three teams made it into the semifinals, these teams were composed of many different people from many different schools. Zena’s team was strictly a GCA team, all members from Grace Christian Academy. The second team was an MHS team with a few other people from different schools. The third team was an SIS team, but there were a few members from different schools. Because Zena’s team was undefeated, they waited in the championship seats for the 2nd place and 3rd place teams to battle it out to play them. The 2nd was a team called “Spikers” made up of MHS students, and the 3rd team was called “Maile’s Beaches” composed of SIS students with extra people. These teams battled, and thee “Spikers” won, so they challenged Zena’s team. The championship was amazing, with many great plays and the winner of that game and the who le Kids Cup was Zena’s team “The Eagles.” 1. The Eagles 2. Spikers 3. Maile’s Beaches Each team won new volleyballs and shirts and coupons. The tournament was a huge success! A huge number of teenagers and kids came out and played brilliantly. It’s very nice to see and know that the game is growing and prospering. We play because we love the sport, the skills we build, and the friends we make.

WE DO IT ALL FOR THE LOVE OF VOLLEYBALL ☺

BY: PHALAI FRINK

It is normal for people to get stressed from school. Taking a vacation once in a while is a must! Saipan International School therefore holds a very special event every two years where students are given the chance to tour a very beautiful country named Peru. The event is called “Destino Peru”, and every year, many students participate. School faculty members follow so concerned parents do not need to worry about getting lost or having any problems during the event. In my o p i n i o n , t h i s i s a v e r y meaningful event because after students graduate, most will scatter to new colleges. This trip allows students to make meaningful memories before it is too late. Bob Kim, a current senior who was a participant of Dest ino Peru during his sophomore year, said that: “Destino Peru was the most fun I have had because I got to see beautiful things and most importantly, was together with my closest friends for the whole trip. If students are thinking about whether or not if they should participate in the event, I recommend they participate because it is a memory that I will not forget for the rest of my life.” Seoung Hyun Lee, another current senior that participated in the event during her sophomore year, said: “It was much better than what I thought it would’ve been.

…to be continued on page 3

#sisgeckosSaipan International School- MP, 96950

A Break …continued from page 2 I thought it would be not much different than the vacations I have been taking but it was a completely different story. Since throughout

the whole trip, I was with my friends, it was twice the fun. I got to take a lot of pictures that I would keep for a very long time, possibly for the rest of my life.” One downside that many participants had was that the weather was too cold. Since students are adjusted to the tropical weather in Saipan, the mountain climate of Peru was too cold for them. Students who are going to participate in the future should keep this in mind and bring thick clothing.

BY: BRIAN LEE

SIS will be holding Spirit Week on the third week of April from April 13 to April 17 (Monday through Friday). Each day is designated with different themes, and people must dress up accordingly to the theme to earn points. Students may check with any teachers to earn points, and the class with the most points will be awarded a pizza party for the whole class. Monday is Matching Day. Students must wear matching clothes with another student (preferably from the same class since this is a competition between classes). Students can choose to match with one or more students. Tuesday is Color Day. Students must wear clothes of one color from head to toe. Wednesday is Fashion Terror Day. To get points, students must wear unordinary match of clothes like high heels and socks or training pants with formal shirts. Thursday is Local/Tourist Day. Students can either dress up as a local or a tourist. Friday is Class Shirt Day. Students must wear their class shirts to earn point on this day. Cathy Han, a member of STUCO, commented, “I hope many people participate in this event. Hopefully, this event will bring out our school’s spirit.” Spirit Week is a great way to show school spirit, and I hope that the school will become more unified through Spirit Week. Geckos let’s show some spirit!

BY: JEE HYUN LEE

As the end of the year approaches, it is inevitable that the seniors feel some remorse that they are soon to leave their fellow classmates, as well as friends and family. In order to ease the pain of saying goodbye (because everyone knows that’s hard to do), the SIS Herald has decided to open

a section of the newspaper just for this subject. Do you hear the drum roll? SENIOR DEDICATIONS. To kick things off we have three SIS seniors who have been here since they were bouncing around in kindergarten, Chris Cepeda, Sophia Tenorio, Andrew Johnson, and Yuta Kitami. Chris: “I dedicate the shoes in the back of my truck to Allen, because after I graduate he’ll be cleaning out the trunk of the almost runner up to the salutatorian.” Andrew: “I dedicate my whiteness to Banana Boat.” Sophia: “I dedicate my brain to Peter. He’s going to need it” Yuta: “I dedicate my go-karting skills to Marianas Resort for training me.” We also have dedications from William Fong, Tiana Ranjo, and Hatsuko Bearden: William: “I dedicate my clean haircut to Subway, because when you eat fresh your bozu is fresh.” Tiana: “I dedicate my not-so-impressive-not-half-bad art skills to all the little kids that take the time to participate in Ms. Peterson’s art classes after school.” Hatsuko: “I dedicate my loud boisterous and cheerful personality to all the shy kids and teens in SIS. I want to help open those enclosed ‘social butterflies’ to the world.” As one can probably tell, this year’s seniors, even with the pain of having to say goodbye, still have space for some humor. Goodbye seniors!

BY: VICTORIA CHENTSOVA

Last Words…

Pizza For Showing Spirit? YES!

Into The Sea …continued from page 1 It inspires people to want to learn more about marine life and to take away any fears of

the ocean that they may have. Luckily, many Saipan International School students, such as the elementary and middle students, were given the wondrous opportunity to take a field trip to experience Sea Touch.

“It was so cool. I had so much fun touching the stingray,” commented Shion, a seventh grader of Saipan International School.

Clearly, as seen in the photos on Facebook, Sea Touch received much positive feedback among the students in our school. Many of the students enjoyed the experience and of course had the opportunity and excuse to leave the school and learn in a totally different environment. Being able to learn in an environment other than a classroom is a refreshing change of scenery and an enriching way to introduce and interest students to new topics. Hopefully, other schools will take this opportunity and introduce their students to the fascinating world of marine life.

BY: SOPHIA TENORIO

On April 1st this year, most westerners were preoccupied with deliberate pranks for their friends and families as a way to celebrate April Fool’s Day. In April, the Chinese people, on the other side of the earth, were celebrating the traditional Chinese festival Qing Ming Festival (written as清明节 in Chinese), as known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English. By hearing the name, you might immediately be gently scared by the name of Tomb-Sweeping, apparently associated with dead people and afterlife. Nevertheless, instead, the great magnificence of the cultural event is the dominant reason why Chinese people

continuously and highly value this traditional festival that’s closely affiliated with our cultural identity. Originating from the ancient customs of showing people’s great reverence and respect toward their ancestors, the

Qing Ming Festival has successfully conserved those traditions and Chinese people consciously inherit the spiritual essence by following them. As the 15th day after the Spring Equinox comes, people start commemorating this meaningful festival by visiting their ancestors’ graves, sweeping off the dust, and offering food, tea, wine, incense, joss paper, etc. Being a great opportunity to remember and glorify their ancestors at grave sites, the festival spiritually deepens the young’s adherence to their cultural roots and highlights the undoubted importance of respect they consistently believe and live with.

Interestingly, the Qing Ming Festival is also called the Taqing Festival. Taqing (踏青 /ta-qing/ ‘tread green’) means spring outings. Traditionally, people would like to fly kites in a cloudless sky and fully enjoy the mellow climate in spring. As the spring blossoms magically beautify the world, people have a chance to get in touch with nature and sense the positive energy it conveys. The Qing Ming festival, therefore, is also the mark of the beginning of the season when people spend more time outside as the weather warms up.

The Qing Ming Festival is the beginning of the pureness and brightness of the spring where everything comes back to life. To Chinese people’s credit, they have ceaselessly carried on this culturally profound festival for thousands of years. Moreover, I think it enlightens us not only in the way that we respect people but also in a sense of perceiving positive energy. Seniors, forget the burdens on your shoulder in Qing Ming, and let’s extend our ancestors’ will to the hope of the future, the hope of the luminous sunlight of spring that we were persistently pursuing in the winter.

BY: JIABAO XU

Qing Ming Festival, Leading the Brightness of Spring

Now that we are all back in school for our fourth quarter, there is one thing that seniors are talking about: college acceptances. Most schools have already sent their acceptance letters during the spring break and now most of the seniors are making their final decisions. Here are some colleges that our seniors have gotten accepted to: Portland University,

University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Washington, University of Boston, New York U n i v e r s i t y, e t c . I interviewed a senior that how does she feel af ter she received

decision letters from colleges and she responded, “ I feel pretty happy! It’s a relief because I finally know their decisions”. The other thing is that the seniors are feeling happy and worried at the same time. I asked another senior how she feels about getting accepted to colleges and leaving high school. She responded, “It’s scary because I’m finally independent, but it’s also exciting because I’m starting to live alone”. College is where we can study what we want to know more about broadly, thus it is important to get accepted to college where we like to be at.

BY: ESTHER JIN JOO

College Acceptance Ever wondered what it would be like to travel through time? Then you should have been at the SIS Annual Musical! Organized by Music teacher Mrs. Jang, this year each class danced to a song that represented a certain decade. The music selection went way back to the 1900’s with “Take me out to the Ball Game”, presented by the Fourth and Fifth graders, up to the modern “Uptown Funk”, presented by the Senior class. The audience this year certainly enjoyed “dancing through the decades” – arguably the number one crowd-pleaser being “YMCA” presented by the adorable Kindergarten and First grade classes.

Headmaster Mr. Bray said in his introduction to the Musical, “the musical wouldn’t have been successful without the effort of the students,

faculty, choreographers, and parents” – a statement I believe in, as well. Without the support of our parents, choreographers and faculty, students wouldn’t have had the spirit to dance as amazingly as they did. And believe it or not, almost half of the performances were choreographed by students! We might not have had the opportunity to listen to the talent of our students, but we definitely saw it through their dances. Yet the most unique aspect of this year’s musical would be the surprise performance by the teachers - they certainly moved with the musical.

BY: MINORI YOSHIDA

Moving with the Musical

Are you looking for interesting books to read during spare time? Are you tired of reading long, boring books just to gain AR points? Believe it or not, reading can be fun! I am here to recommend two special books that will make your reading time more enjoyable. The first book I’m recommending is “The Red Pyramid” by Rick Riordan, which is a novel entirely based on Egyptian mythology. In this book, two brothers, Carter and Sadie, during their visit to the British Museum, accidentally release five imprisoned Egyptian gods. Their magical journey begins when the Egyptian god of chaos, Set, imprisons Carter and Sadie’s father, and left remarks to Carter and Sadie. As they continues their adventure, the two siblings are brought closer by the challenges they are facing. “This is a pretty good teenage book,” SIS senior Hatsuko commented, “it actually appeases to the readers.” The second book I am recommending is “Eon” by Alison Goodman. Eon has been studying ancient art of Dragon magic for four years, but she is actually a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragoneye, because girls are forbidden to practice dragon magic. As Eon faces her powerful enemy, Lord Ido, her hidden secret comes to light …“This is pretty interesting to read because it isn't like typical teen books” Hatsuko says.

The two books I am recommending are both fictions about adventures. If you are running out of books to read for AR classes, try reading these books. I promise you won’t be disappointed! Once you start reading these books you won’t stop turning the pages!

BY: YUQING XING

Books That Would Help You Spend AR Time Wisely

Named in honor of the famous debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglass in 1858, the Lincoln-Douglass debate is one of the handful of extracurricular activities SIS offers. Many upcoming freshmen and sophomores may look for extracurricular activities to boost their resume to get into the selective colleges. If you would like to explore these opportunities, you should consider Lincoln-Douglass (LD) Debate. In order to help students who might want to know about LD, I Interviewed Mr. Tessen, who provides guidance to LD debaters.

“What is Lincoln-Douglass Debate?” “It is an affirmative and negative competition, so you have one person arguing the affirmative of a particular resolve and you have one person who argues the negative. Each side gets to give their contentions—their arguments. After the contentions the opponents gets to cross examine them. After the both had the chance to cross examine, you then go to rebuttals. In rebuttals, you should build up your argument and knock down the opponent’s argument. The affirmative [side] gets two rebuttals and negative gets one. At the end, one or more judge will fill out a ballot, and it will indicate to the debaters how well they did, and announce the winner. “What do you want to say to the prospective debaters?”

“It’s hard. It’s definitely not easy, but it’s very rewarding. On the first day, about 2/3 of the people who want to find out about LD leave. The 1/3 like it a whole lot. We had several people win the nationals, several people win the covenant day debate. So we’ve been very successful, but it is time consuming and it is intellectually difficult… I don’t want any juniors joining if they haven’t done it before.”

Not so long ago was the last Lincoln-Douglass Debate competition for this school year. Congratulations to Stephanie and Cerinn who won second and third place in the Regionals. It is an activity highly appreciated by the colleges as it is an academically inclined activity and I advise freshmen and sophomores to try out. Keep up the good work debaters!

BY JINY YANG

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

There are many movies come out during this month, such as: Cinderella, Get Hard, American Sniper, Run All Night, and Furious 7. These movies are the top five movies for the students in middle school and high school.

A l l o f t h e s e movies are great, but there is one m o v i e t h a t everyone likes the most, Furious 7. I

think many people have already seen the Furious series numbers 1 to 6, and I know a lot of people are waiting for this movie. I strongly recommend everyone to watch Furious 7. It is a very good movie.

BY: LIZHOU XU

A MUST WATCH MOVIE On April 11, 2015 Saipan International School hosted its annual prance at Charley’s, PIC. This year’s theme was “Hollywood,” and STUCO decided to award students with Grammy’s for best dancers, best couple, and

best dressed. Many students attended. We had a great photo booth with Greg as our photographer. Held from 6pm-9pm the students started by getting into their seats and then going to the Magellan where the buffet awaited. The girls were pretty with their dresses and the boys handsome in their suits. Congratulations to

Yuta Kitami and Jiny Yang for winning best dressed! Minori Yoshida and Allen Cepeda for winning as the Hollywood couple and John Stewart for getting best dancer. This year’s prance has been a success! Not only did the seniors dance like there was no tomorrow but many other students participated.

BY: LYNETTE VASQUEZ

PRANCE 2015

A party is not a real party if there is no music. “Without music, life would be a mistake” was a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche describing the importance of music to him. Hunter S. Thompson said to show how inspirational music was to him, “Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.” These quotes show us the importance of music to some people and how music has various meanings to individuals.

To make this year’s Prance more enjoyable, I read through the Prance survey from last year to come up with a Prance playlist that everyone will enjoy. Some comments from last year’s Prance were to “not play inappropriate ghetto music,” “more music from other countries,” “do not repeat songs” “play music that you can actually dance to,” and “fewer slow songs.” I used the Google form to gather information by sharing it on our Saipan International School Facebook Page, as well as individually asking and messaging students in the high school to get their input into the song list that I was forming. I gathered a list of about 155 songs and the songs that all the grades in the high school picked at least once were “Sugar” by Maroon 5, “Lay Me Down” by Sam Smith, “Like I'm Gonna Lose You” by Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend, “Goin’ Down For Real” by Flo Rida ft. Sage The Gemini, “Four FiveSeconds” by Rihanna And Kanye West And Paul McCartney, “New Thang” by Redfoo, “Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding, “Animals” byMartin Garrix and “I’m Not The Only One” by Sam Smith. This survey clearly showed how the high school students have similar tastes in music.

BY: SEOUNG HYUN

Grooving with Tunes at Hollywood

The only season that occurs on Saipan is a hot, humid summer. Unfortunately, people on this island do not experience the phenomenon of four seasons, the varying rollercoaster of temperatures throughout the year, the beauty of watching the earth blossom with new life, shed its autumn leaves, and sleep under a white blanket of snow. Despite our single season climate, Saipan experiences a hint of spring in its atmosphere, especially around Easter holiday, just like other cities around the world which have four seasons. As we have just closed March and commenced April, we are blessed with a total of thirty one spring birthdays at Saipan International School, birthdays that not only bring pure happiness but the blessing of a new life and hope.

Spring commences around the end of March, blossoming in its true form in April and May. For many people in the world, the first thoughts of the word spring is either of blooming flowers, the frozen grass turning green, and the birds chirping and flying in the warm sunlight. With these thoughts, spring represents the blessing of birth and new life. As ice-covered flower buds and snow-flurried bunnies wake to the first rays of spring sunshine, families are also blessed with a new child – you. Birthdays in March and April are reminders of a joyous blessing many families felt when someone as special as you finally entered the world and into their arms. Spring also represents a time of hope, relief from the extreme frigidness of winter. Winter brings about bitterness and restlessness in people because of the plummeting temperatures, and thoughts of a warm spring is hope to red-nosed, thickly bundled beings. Birthdays in March and April remind us what American author Hal Borland had said, “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” Just as many look forward to a beautiful spring, we look forward to a special day meant solely for you! Your birthday is the blessing of a new life and the hope for better. Smell the flowers and breathe in the new air; your day is here! Let us celebrate with our fellow classmates! In March, there were seven birthdays in the high school, three in the middle school, and five in the elementary. This April there are ten in the high school, three in the middle school, and three in the elementary. The faculty also celebrates the birthday of fourth grade teacher Mr. David Steinberg. Congratulations to all of our spring birthday celebrants! Thank you for reminding us all the blessings of a new life. !

BY: TIANA RANJO

March & April Birthday Shout outs: Springtime Blessings