BULLETIN NO. 8

Upcoming Dates
 

 
General
 
International Fair
We would like to thank all members of our Learning Community who attended our International Fair last Saturday.  We were delighted that so many members of our Community attended and we hope that all attendees thoroughly enjoyed the day.  We would particularly like to thank all those members of our community who worked extremely hard, both before the event and on the day, to ensure that it was such a success.  We are still calculating the total amount that was raised on the day to support our student’s Service Learning projects and will share it in next week’s bulletin.
 
House board Competition
Congratulations to all those involved in the House Board competition that took place this quarter. All four excellent board designs exhibited at The International Fair were judged by the Secondary Staff who had the very difficult task of choosing the winner – Arenal / Barva / Irazu / Poas.  Ultimately the final places were:
 

 
Well done to each of our artists for all of their hard work and dedication in creating outstanding designs for each of the boards.
 
Sports Festival – Change of Date
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have decided to move our annual Sports Festival to the 15^th of May to the 18^th of May (it was previously advertised as being from the 8^th of May to the 11^th of May).  This means that the annual ‘Gran Clásica’ race will now take place on the 18^th of May.  We send our sincere apologies for any inconveniences caused by this change.
 
Dance Festival
Congratulations to Sara Narváez and María Paz Villalobos, from Year 3, and Alisa Kierszenson and Leila Campabadal, from Year 9, on their participation in the Tremaine Dance Convention last weekend.  The dancers achieved podium finishes in 15 different group dances including genres such as ballet, hip hop, jazz and contemporary dance.  Additional congratulations go to Leila Campabadal who finished fourth in the solo Contemporary Dance, Teen Category, meaning that she qualifies for the national finals in July.
 
Neurodiversity and Down Syndrome
During the week of the 18th to the 22nd of March, SDS will promote awareness and sensitization activities on the topic of Neurodiversity and Down Syndrome (it is World Down Syndrome Day on Thursday 21st of March). Neurodiversity includes: autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Tourette syndrome and dyslexia.  To accompany this week, we invite all members of our Learning Community to wear odd, colourful socks on Thursday.  We also encourage parents to talk at home with your children about the importance of respecting differences.
 
Year 1 to Year 9 Festival of Football
On Saturday the 16^th of March we will be hosting a mini-Festival of Football with seven of our football teams playing matches against the Alajuelita Football School.  The games will take place at the British School with the following schedule:
Time                Level               Age                       Length           Observations
8:00 am           Y1-Y2             6-7 years old         3 x 15 min     Fut 7 / half field
8:00 am           Y3                   8-9 years old         3 x 15 min     Fut 7 / half field
9:00 am           Y8-Y9            15 years old            2 x 35 min     Fut 9
10:10 am         Y4-Y5            10-11 years old       2 x 30 min     Fut 10
11:20 am         Y6                  12 years old            2 x 30 min     Fut 9
12:30 pm         Y7                  13 years old            2 x 30 min     Fut 9
1:50 pm           Y10-Y12         17 years old           2 x 35 min     Fut 9

Primary
 
Food Waste Lessons
On Wednesday 13^th of March a group of Global Perspectives students (Sally Fung, Kevin Song, Sofía Morice and Melissa Muñoz) designed and taught a workshop to Year 2 students on the issue of food waste, which connects to their unit on healthy eating. The students were informed about the global impact of food waste (approximately one-third of the total production of food goes to waste and with a carbon footprint of 3.3 billion tons, food waste is a major contributor to climate change) and took part in a blindfolded ‘taste test’ where they were surprised to find that often the ‘ugliest’ fruit tastes the sweetest!  Thank you to the Year 2 teachers and students for their enthusiastic participation in this activity and we look forward to our students enjoying all the fruit in their lunch boxes – even the squished berries!
 
Secondary
 
Transfer of Powers
On Wednesday of this week we said goodbye to the 2023-2024 Student Council (ICE) and welcomed our 2024-2025 Student Council (ULU) in our formal ‘Transfer of Powers’ ceremony.  This ceremony included several excellent speeches as well as the formal handover of power between the two student parties.  We would like to thank all members of the ICE Student Party for the last year, as well as the Student Electoral Tribunal who oversaw the electoral process and we wish ULA the best of luck over the coming 12 months.
 
Global Model United Nations
Last weekend, several BSCR students participated in the Global MUN 4^thEdition 2024 online conference. Congratulations to the following successful delegates and student leaders for their participation in the conference:
 
Delegates
Lina Laurencich (Year 12) representing Russia
Lucia Herrero (Year 9) representing Canada – Honourable Mention
Santiago Calvo (Year 10) representing Russia – Best Delegate
Gabriela Martinez (Year 9) representing the United Kingdom – Honourable Mention
 
Student Leaders
Leonardo Jiménez (Year 11): Under Secretary General
Ankit Patel (Year 12):            Head of Crisis Management
Roberto Zúñiga (Year 11):     Crisis management Team Member
 
International Show Jumping Competition
Last week Marcella Patel (Year 10), Mía Pichanski (Year 6) and Emma Pichanski (Year 8) attended the International Show Jumping Competition in Costa Rica with the Costa Rican team. It was a four-day event from Wednesday until Saturday and all riders did extremely well with Marcella achieving first place overall.   Congratulations to Mia, Emma and Marcella
 
Open Water Swimming
Congratulations to Luciana Castro (Year 6) and Matías Castro (Year 9) on their participation in the 1^st BAC Open Water Circuit in Playa Herradura on the 3^rd of March.  Luciana competed over ½ a mile, finishing 3^rd in the Girls 11/12-year-old category and Matías, who competed over two miles, finished 3^rd in the Boys 13/17-year-old category.  Congratulations to both swimmers.
 
Year 10 Fundraising Activity
Year 10 Global Perspectives students, as part of their Team Project, organised a charity Football Tennis tournament which started on Monday 11^th March. They are raising money and collecting non-perishable food products for the homelessness charity “Pan para mi hermano” which is based locally in San José. The charity’s aim is to feed people in need and support them. Any contributions, which can be donated at the front gate each morning or directly to Teacher Lady, are greatly appreciated and will go to a good cause.  Collections will be accepted until Friday 22^nd March. For further information, contact Juan Carlos Sáenz, Sebastián Alfaro and Diego Quesada. Photo
 
Beach Cleanup
This past Sunday 10^th of March, the Year 10 Global Perspectives Team Project students: Jorge Antonio Quesada, Tomás Lara, and María Fernanda Escalante, travelled to Playa Herradura for their beach cleanup project with the support of 11 student volunteers. The visit had the aim of raising awareness about plastic pollution and encouraging people to not litter.   The students picked up litter from all across the beach, filling more than five full rubbish bags with cans, bottles, bottle caps, straws, and so on. They also interviewed people around the beach asking about their perspectives on the current issue of litter on beaches.  The rubbish bags were handed over to the staff of the local resort, Los Sueños, so they could dispose of it responsibly. Photo