Letter from Principal Debbie-Sue Blanks
Principals’ Letters
PTO Corner
Solo & Ensemble
Odyssey Leadership Training
Announcements from Student Services
Middle School Science Olympiad
NEHS Short Story and Poetry Contest
Congratulations CDIS Basketball Teams!
CDIS Café
Upcoming Events
Parent Liaisons
Letter from Principal Debbie-Sue Blanks
Dear Parents and Students,
We are winners! Our varsity school basketball team was victorious at the ISC Basketball Tournament last weekend and our girls fought
valiantly to place second against the mighty TIS girl’s team. CDIS not only excels in sports, but we are champions at spelling too. Jeremy
Porter won the CISA Spelling Bee and will be going to Shanghai to compete in the regional contest along with Daniel Lee and Ben
Fistonich, who placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.
A few years ago, I learned a Chinese phrase, chui niu, literally translated as blow up cow. It is used to describe a person who is
boastful and full of self-importance. While it is good to rejoice in our successes, it is never good to be a chui niu. Always remember to show
good sportsmanship when winning or losing.
CDIS actively engages in the community in a number of ways through our participation in CISA events, hosting of the Christmas Bazaar,
providing teacher training for our local district, and most recently in our support of the Bookworm Literary Festival. While CDIS supports the
Literary Festival as an event that encourages the creative writing process, this does not mean we support the views of all the authors. We
are pleased that our limited involvement in this festival permits us to have 2 children’s authors speak to our students about the writing
process.
I encourage you to curl up in front of the heater with a good book this weekend!
Warmly,
Ms. Debbie-Sue Blanks
Principals’ Letters
Dear Parents,
It has been another exciting week for CDIS students. We are proud of the hard work and accomplishments that many of our students have been recognized for in these last few weeks filled with athletic, academic, and artistic events. It is a privilege to work with so many talented and earnest students.
Here are a few things happening at CDIS in coming days - Elementary students are trying to reach a goal of reading 700 books before the end of this school year. We are all working together to meet this goal, and you can help us by encouraging us to read our AR books! Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st graders are working together as a team to read books, while 2nd through 5th graders are reading individual books and taking comprehensive quizzes to show understanding. When we reach 350 books, we will have a “Wear pajamas to school day” and do reading activities to celebrate! When we reach 700 books read, we will have a “Water Day”. We are very excited about this challenge!
This weekend there will be a Solo & Ensemble performance event for Chengdu International School students hosted by CDIS in our auditorium. Next Friday night, the CDIS National English Honor Society will be hosting an evening of poetry written and performed by CDIS students. Secondary students are all preparing for the
upcoming Science Olympiad and Science Fair scheduled for March 7. Winners of this Science Fair will go on to represent CDIS at the ISEF qualifying fair hosted by CDIS on March 21-22. Winners of the ISEF competition will go to the United States in May to compete in an international science fair attended by students from all over the world. CDIS has a proud tradition of having students attend and be recognized for their work in the science and computer science fields.
In May, our school will host CISA Gala Day. This is an event that we have hosted in the past, and last year was a huge success! The elementary students from all CISA schools come to our campus to participate in outdoor activities. There will be over 500 elementary students on our campus. It is a lot of fun, but also one of those events where we want to be sure everyone is safe. So, if you think you may be able to volunteer to help out for this event, please contact us at cmay@cdischina.com to let us know. The date for Gala Day is May 22. Thank you in advance for your help!
Here’s an overview of the dates of some of these events as well as some other things to put on your calendar:
March 1 - Solo and Ensemble
March 7 - CDIS Science Fair/Science Olympiad
March 7 – NEHS hosted Poetry evening at the CDIS cafe
March 13-15 - ISC Choir and Band Festival (Tianjin)
March 21- ISC Science Fair (Chengdu)
March 28 - Third Quarter Ends
March 31 - Spring Break Begins
With your child in mind,
Charlotte May
CDIS Elementary Principal
Josh Keegan
CDIS Secondary Principal
PTO Corner
Please join us for a PTO meeting this Wednesday, March 5th from 1pm - 3pm in the PTO room. We will be discussing some upcoming
events and plans for the semester. All parents are welcome!
Solo & Ensemble
Solo & Ensemble will be held on March 1st from 1:00-4:00 in the CDIS auditorium. The student performances are open to the public. Feel free to come for all of the performances or just a few.
Odyssey Leadership Training
This Tuesday, March 4th, a leadership training group is coming in from Tianjin to offer two student development opportunities for 9th -11th graders. Students can sign up for one or both of the trainings, though they will have to miss a few classes in order to attend. The descriptions are as follows:
Character/Competence - 8-11 AM (Cost: 50 RMB)
This is for students who are seeking to understand themselves better in order to ultimately use their gifts and talents to impact the world. They will be going through Strengths Finder to discover their unique abilities and talents, and how to best steward these gifts.
Community Initiative- 1-4 PM (Cost: 20 RMB)
This is for students interested in becoming influencers on their environments, and will help give practical ways on how to step up into more roles of leadership and impact.
Please contact Kirsten Rodgers at krodgers@cdischina.com for registration information or questions.
[tab title="From the Nurse’s Office"]
From the Nurse’s Office
The school nurse will be checking all students and staff for hair lice in early March. There are several reasons for our child to have this check: the Chengdu weather, frequent travels, sleepovers with friends, hair not dried completely after washing, etc. In the meantime, please check your child’s hair thoroughly in the light, especially behind the ears.
Announcements from Student Services
Calling all U.S. Citizens! Your Consulate representative wants to meet with you to discuss the resources they have and to answer any questions about how the U.S. Consulate serves you in Chengdu. We will meet in the multipurpose room located in the back of the cafeteria after school on Monday, March 3rd from 3:15pm -
4:30pm. This includes CDIS staff, parents and U.S. friends. The representative is excited to meet and greet fellow expats.
To all high school students and parents: The Student Services Department is hosting a visit of representatives from the University of Warwick, Hong Kong campus. The university is a UK school and known for their research and teaching. Please come to this brief meeting from 8:00am-9:00am on Wednesday, March 5th in the
multipurpose room located in the back of the cafeteria. There will be time at the end of the session for questions.
Middle School Science Olympiad
The CDIS Middle School Science Olympiad and High School Science Fair will be held on March 7th. You may view Science Fair projects in the CDIS gym during the public viewing time from 12:30pm - 2:00pm. The Science Olympiad Awards Ceremony is at 1:40pm in the CDIS Auditorium and the Science Fair Awards Ceremony is at 2:30pm in the CDIS Auditorium. Contact Mr. Walenda at gwalenda@cdischina.com with any questions.
NEHS Short Story and Poetry Contest
NEHS (National English Honor Society) will be sponsoring a short story and poetry competition for Middle School and High School students. All submissions must be original work and in MLA format. Poetry can be either free verse or formal verse and short stories should be kept to 1000-5000 words. Please label all documents properly before submitting them electronically to Mr. Brian Miller at bmiller@cdischina.com. Deadline is March 17, 2014. Prizes will be given to the winners.
Congratulations CDIS Basketball Teams!
The CDIS boy’s team came in 1st place and the CDIS girl’s team came in 2nd place at the ISC Basketball Tournament.
Congratulations players and coaches!
CDIS Café
The school café is open everyday from 10:00am to 1:30pm. There is a selection of tea and coffee for your enjoyment while at CDIS. Come, delight in your favorite cuppa with free Wi-Fi.
Upcoming Event
March 1 Solo and Ensemble
March 7 CDIS Science Fair/MS Science Olympiad
March 13 – 15 ISC Choral and Band Festival
March 15 CISA Basketball Tournament
March 21 ISC Science Fair (Chengdu)
Parent Liaisons
Korean
Shinie Lee: slee@cdischina.com or 6517-5228 ext. 3122
Japanese
Tang Hua: htang@cdischina.com or call 6517-5228 Chinese – Elementary
Juno Deng: juno.deng@cdischina.com or call 6517- 5228
Chinese – Secondary
Linda Yang: lyang@cdischina.com or call 6517-5228
2-28-2014 English