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October 2009

Dear LAS Community,

After the second month of school, new students and staff are getting used to their new environment, and things seem to be moving on quite smoothly. Everyone is working hard to make the best of their experience at LAS, and there is a good atmosphere. Teachers and administrators are full of new ideas that we hope to implement in the near future, and there are many exciting things in the works at LAS.

Students at the Belle Époque Campus are in an intellectually stimulating environment and Mr. Keen, Dean of the Belle Époque Campus, is doing an excellent job taking care of everyone in this beautiful historic building while it is still under renovation. 

The new Junior High program is off to an excellent start under the leadership of Mr. Sloman. Having partially separated the academic and extra-curricular program for 8th and 9th graders has enabled the teachers to better meet the needs of our young junior high students.

Mr. Dexter, our new Dean of Faculty & Academic Affairs, is working hard with his various teams. The Department Heads have joined forces in the implementation of new and exciting changes that will continue to strengthen our academic program. The results of our most recent grading period are out with updated Honor and Deans' lists.

Our new Dean of Students, Mr. Tyler, is doing a wonderful job and continues to strengthen and improve student conduct and residential life programs on a daily basis.

Also in the world of academics, LAS continues to work with an organization called StudyWork who prepare students for the SAT exams. A group of students enrolled in this program mid- August prior to Student Orientation, and another group of students followed a TOEFL preparation course at the same time. StudyWork returned in October to prepare students right before they actually took the test. LAS will also offer the SAT tests in November for those who have already signed up.

On another note, Yearbook students and Faculty attended the annual Walsworth Yearbook conference in Lindau Germany, where they were able to learn more in preparation for our next Yearbook. While away they met with students from other international schools and are confident about creating an excellent Yearbook.

The Fall Cultural Trips take place at the end of October, with 18 trips offered: The Junior High students will travel to Crans Montana and Lugano. The 10th graders will be on Outward Bound trips in Germany and in Switzerland where they will follow leadership programs. The 11th graders can choose from French, German or Spanish homestays, or trips that have a focus on science, music, culture, art, and environment, such as caving or glacier tours. Finally, the seniors will be on several trips in Italy and Switzerland connected to their Theory of Knowledge (TOK) classes.

The sports season has started very well for the LAS Goats. New coaches and new students spell new opportunities for some of our programs while other teams maintain and improve the development that has taken place over the past years.

The Boys Varsity Basketball team, coached by Mr. Weir, is undefeated in 5 games up to date. After a lot of practice and new leadership by Ms. Sommariva, the Girls Basketball team is taking form and has won their first couple of games. The Volleyball program has always been a powerhouse at LAS with Mr. Sloman who coaches the Girls Volleyball team and Mr. Hitchcock the Boy's team. The Boys will be defending their title in November at the SGIS (Swiss Group of International Schools) tournament. Mr. Black continues to coach the Boy’s football team. They have two wins so far in the league and are motivated to go far. Mr. Fomalont is our new Girls Football team coach. Despite a close loss in their first league contest, the girls are enthusiastic and eager to win future games. Mr. Tyler started a new Rugby program at LAS this year so it will be a learning process for the team this year. We hope that they will progress over the next few years with matches in both ADISR (Association des Internats de Suisse Romande) and SGIS leagues. The Tennis and Swimming teams are training twice a week for upcoming tournaments that will take place later in the semester.

A number of additional exciting events are scheduled to take place still this semester. With both students and Faculty performing pop and rock music, Open Mic has been so successful in the past year under Mr. Stephens' leadership that it will take place twice this semester. On Saturday, October 24 the traditional Terry Fox Run will take place. The purpose of this run is to fund-raise for cancer research. On October 31, we will have a Halloween Dance in the new student center called The Cave.

Mr. Ian McLean, Director of Development, is full of fresh and new ideas to find ways to gain and strengthen the support of the school from current families and alumni. He is working closely with Mr. Paul Dyer, Director of Admissions, in order to coordinate our external relations efforts. He will be traveling with me to the Middle East at the end of November to get to know our families living in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

As new Head of School of LAS, I feel privileged to be part of this vibrant and international community and am very much comforted by the family-like bonds felt throughout the school. I wish you an excellent fall and hope to welcome you to the Leysin American School.

Warmest regards,

Dr. Marc-Frédéric Ott
Head of School

 

September 2009

Dear LAS Community:

Just under 400 students arrived from almost 60 countries world-wide during the last week of August. The returning students are excited to be back at the Leysin American School (LAS). A number of them even returned early to help with Student Orientation. While the new students are understandably nervous, they are excited and eager to take full advantage of everything that LAS offers: stimulating academics, diverse and exciting residential life, extra-curricular programs such as skiing or snowboarding in world-renowned alpine resorts and European travel where students will visit places like Paris, Rome, and even St. Petersburg! The Admissions Office under Mr. Paul Dyer’s leadership did excellent work in welcoming a wonderful group of new students and their families to LAS.

A number of exciting changes have been implemented for the academic year 2009/10. This is the first year LAS is offering an 8th grade. Our new Junior High program, which includes the 8th and 9th grade, is a largely separately operated program from the high school designed to best meet the needs of this age group. These young boys and girls have their own dormitory and can also take advantage of some of the extra-curricular programs at the high school. 

Second, this school year marks also the opening of the beautiful Belle Époque Campus of the Grand-Hôtel. This spectacular building completed in two phases, 1892 and 1905, welcomed numerous world-renowned people up through World War II such as several family members from the royal courts of Great Britain and Russia, Igor Stravinsky, Marie Curie, and Mahatma Gandhi. The Belle Époque Campus has been under renovation since June 2008.  130 junior and seniors are privileged to be taking International Baccalaureate (IB) classes in this partially newly renovated historic building. The renovation of this building has only been made possible thanks to the generous support of a few families and alumni. LAS is very happy to welcome Mr. Ian McLean as the new Director of Development who will continue working with families for their support in order to complete the renovation and restoration of the Belle Époque Campus.

And finally, a new organizational structure has been successfully put into place. Reporting to the Head of School are the Dean of Faculty & Academic Affairs (Mr. Stephen Dexter), Dean of Students (Mr. Richard Tyler), Dean of the Belle Époque Campus (Mr. Jonathan Keen), and Dean of the Junior High (Mr. Tim Sloman). The new structure emphasizes a team approach to leadership. It will also bring clarity to various roles, responsibilities, and tasks within the school. The Dean of Faculty & Academic Affairs will be primarily responsible for the faculty and academics; in other words, essentially everything within the classroom. The Dean of Students will not only be in charge of student conduct, but also residential matters, health & counseling, student life (afternoon activities, weekend excursions, special events, and school-sponsored trips), and safety & security; in other words, primarily students outside of the classroom. The Dean of the Belle Époque Campus will be responsible for the new campus and act as IB Coordinator. Finally, the Dean of the Junior High will be in charge of the Junior High Program.

The new administrative team has done an excellent job in the busy time of Student Orientation and the beginning of the school. They each have an excellent and positive attitude, bringing in new ideas that will continue to strengthen the school.

In closing, I wish you an excellent academic year and hope to welcome you at the Leysin American School.

Warmest regards,

Dr. Marc-Frédéric Ott
Head of School

June 15th 2009

Headmaster’s message to the class of 2009

We are finally here, in the last minutes of your high school experience at LAS. Your exams and all of the stress they may have brought to you is history now. This is a very emotional day for all of you, filled with the happiness and joy of walking up on the stage in front of your family and friends to receive your diploma, you have worked so hard for; with the sadness of saying your last goodbyes to your friends and to our Magic Mountain, no matter how much you may have disliked this place at times, you will slowly begin to realize that part of you will always remain in this beautiful place in Swiss Alps. With this realization comes the excitement of making your first step into adulthood and independent life, and the fear of being on your own for the first time. As you reflect on your time at LAS, for some as short as just 6 months and for others as long as four years, you will tend to forget all of the bad things, but remember the good, you will forget your enemies, if you had any, and remember your friends. With time, you will continue to respect the wisdom of some of your teachers and will start to understand how much those other teachers you did not like so much, were trying to make you better people. It is without a shadow of a doubt that I assure you that everyone seated behind me did the absolute best every minute of the day to prepare you for your adult life, not only in terms of teaching you math or science, English or social studies, but also in teaching you life lessons, preparing you to enter our troubled world with your sleeves rolled up, ready for the very hard work ahead of you. With your LAS Diploma you are one-step closer to becoming responsible for the future of this planet. It is torn up by wars on just about every continent. Crimes against humanity are committed daily, often by countries, which claim to be democracies.  Hopefully living here at LAS, with people representing over 50 nationalities, gave you an understanding that no one deserves a war and that each story always has two sides. It is the ability to talk out problems and seek solutions together wherein lies the strength of a true international citizen, and not at all in an ability to flex muscles and a hope for brutal force to get the point across. As you move on with your life you will have first and foremost the responsibility to ensure there is a place for your children to live in peace and harmony; the future of this world will soon be in your hands. It will be your responsibility to make our planet a much better place than it is now. Never forget this, no matter where you are and what you do in life.

As I think of what I could say to you as my farewell, I think of the poem by Max Ehrmann 'Desiderata', which means in translation from Latin, 'Things desired'. Here are some parts of it, which I think are the most important for you all to remember as you enter independent life.

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams…
…it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

I would like to finish with my traditional wish for you to:

Be happy,
Do good work,
And stay in touch

Until we meet again,

 

Vladimir Kuskovski

Your, now former, Headmaster.

Leysin American School

 

The LAS Class of 2009 at the Commencement Ceremony

Mr. Hitchcock addresses the Class of 2009

Valedictorian, Janae Anderson addressing her classmates

Guest speaker, Mrs. Karen Kelley

Salutatorian, Alyssa Amparan, receives her diploma from Dr. Marc-Frédéric Ott and Dr. Vladimir Kuskovski

Dr. Steven and Doris Ott with Jae Shrader and family

Congratulations to the Class of 2009!

May 22nd 2009

Dear LAS Community at large,

This letter is a really happy one! I would like to inform you of our end of the year award winners. This week we have had our annual Award Assembly and our final Award Banquet. It is simply impossible to recognize all of the students for their individual talents and contributions to the school and the community in general but we have recognised the best in each subject area and dormitory. These students have been selected by the respective departments and teachers within those departments. This is a rather lengthy process and we take it very seriously. Each award had at least two or more candidates and the winners were selected as a result of many discussions among the faculty. So without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen allow me to present to you the winners of the LAS awards for 2008 – 2009 school year.

 

2008-2009 Awards

CONDUCT AWARDS

• Alyssa Amparan
• Hui-Hsuan 'Melody' Chen
• Xue 'Tracy' Chen
• Sergio Claure
• Andreea Cocora
• Shoko Furuhashi
• Anna Gainey
• Maya Hanowitz
• Ashley Hickey
• Mary Hillegass
• Min-Young Hong
• Mattias Horseman
• Ebi Igbodo
• Abdoul Rachid Kalla
• Thomas Keen
• Alysa Kehl
• Paige Kehl
• Yung-Chang 'Kurt' Ko
• Yung-Hwei Ko
• Ashley Loft
• Lisa Loft
• Jakub Mardusinski
• Gregory Marks
• Shoko Oguchi
• Emily Prosser
• Gordon Smith
• Pooja Sujit
• Parth Trivedi
• Fabienne Wüst

DORM AWARDS

• Beau Reveil : Mr. Strickland – Rup Sarkar
• Beau Site : Mrs. Meyskens – Ebi Igbodo
• Eden : Mrs. Brown  - Janae Anderson
• Esplanade : Mr. Groom – Sergio Claure
• Savoy : Mr. Hitchcock – James Hoffman
• Vermont : Mrs. Taylor  - Carla Coll Valenti

DEPARTMENT AWARDS

ESL : Mr. Deupree – Yerzhan Beisengaliyev

ENGLISH : Ms. Thompson, Ms. Davis, Mr. Meyskins, Mr. Strickland, Mrs. Brown

• Grade 9 English – Parth Trivedi
• Grade 10 English – Min-Young Hong
• Grade 11 English – Margaret Tait
• Grade 12 English - Yerzhan Beisengaliyev

MODERN LANGUAGES : Ms. Durrenbach, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Stephens, Mrs. Goodman, Ms. Vignard

• Beginner French – Riley Stuewe
• Advanced French – Margaret Tait
• Beginner German – Kristina Ivanova
• Advanced German – Andreea Cocora
• Spanish Level 2 – Parth Trivedi
• IB Spanish – Siri Winter

SOCIAL STUDIES : Mr. Valldejuli, Mr. Hitchcock, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Groom, Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Foley, Mr. Skove   

• ESL Social Studies – Leire Boccio
• Grade 9 Social Studies – Louis Poire
• Grade 10 Social Studies – Yung-Chang 'Kurt' Ko
• Grade 11 Social Studies – Jakub Mardusinski
• Grade 12 Social Studies – Alyssa Amparan
• Business & Economics  – Alasdair Pressney

SCIENCE : Ms. Chaput, Mr. Kane, Ms. Deupree, Mr. Squier, Mr. Huang

• ESL Science – Hui-Hsuan 'Melody' Chen
• General Science – Camille Betts
• Honors Science – Min-Young Hong
• IB Biology – Gordon Smith
• IB Chemistry –  Janae Anderson & Sarah Wilson
• IB Physics – Alasdair Pressney

MATH : Mr. Neyer, Ms. Sommariva, Mr. Keen, Ms. Feldman, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Davidov

• Grade 9 Math – Richard Goto
• Grade 10 Math – Alibek Bishibekov & Min-Young Hong
• Grade 11 Math – Mary Hillegass
• Grade 12 Math – Jakub Sapa
• AMC AWARDS – Min-Young Hong & Sarah Wilson

PERFORMING ARTS

• Drama : Ms. Swanson – George Bouchard
• Vocal Music : Ms. Maguire – Ian Yeats & Mary Hillegass
• Piano : Ms. Maguire – Shoko Oguchi
• Guitar : Ms. Logue – Nnamdi Ekeh
• Instrumental Music : Ms. Logue – James Hoffman & Miao Wang
• Popular Music : Mr. Peterman & Mr. Stephens – Mehmet Coskun & Shane Lory

VISUAL ARTS

• Studio Art 1 : Mr. Hanowitz – Arailym Akylbekova
• Studio Art 2 : Ms. Pinces – Min-Young Hong
• Excellence in Art : Ms. Hotaling– Abdullah Khan

HEALTH/PHYSICAL EDUCATION

• Health/Physical Education : Mr. Lushman – Jan Dröge & Carla Coll Valenti
• Outdoor Pursuits: Mr. Harris – Sarah Wilson

 FOUR YEAR ATTENDANCE : Mrs. Ott

SPECIAL ACADEMIC AWARDS:

• Student Success Award : Mr. Mota – Lukas Anderson

• National Honor Society Scholarships : Ms. Juurlink & Ms. Limberg

SMITH BOOK AWARD : Ms. Feldman – Anely Bekbergenova

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE PRESIDENT'S BOOK AWARD : Ms. Feldman – Mary Hillegass

ATHLETIC AWARDS : Mr. Harris

• Best Male Athlete  - Yerzhan Beisengaliyev
• Best Female Athlete – Christelle Giobellina
• Sportsmanship – Anna Gainey

HEADMASTER'S AWARDS : Mr. Kuskovski

• 9th Grade – Arailym Akylbekova

• 10th Grade – Jennifer Maneffa

• 11th Grade – Soham Panchamiya

• Salutatorian   - Alyssa Amparan

• Valedictorian – Janae Anderson

• MOST IMPROVED STUDENT – Zubaida Akbar

• SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY  - Anna Gainey

• ECIS AWARD – Kristina Ivanova

• FACULTY AWARD – Anna Gainey & Gordon Smith
• FOUNDER'S AWARD  - Sarah Wilson

• EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD – Patricia Ward Cooper

 

On behalf of all of us here at LAS, my sincere congratulations to all of the recipients of the awards and their families.

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

April 29th 2009

Greetings from Leysin,

Yet another month has gone by at the speed of light. So much to tell you! It seems that as the school year nears the end we have more and more going on each day. The results of our most recent grading period are out with updated Honor and Deans' lists. It is the most critical time academically for all students. We are in the final stretch with IB exams beginning on Monday 4 May and a few weeks to go before LAS exams, and it is vital that everyone keeps focused on doing the best they can to achieve the best results they can for the final grade of this school year. Don't forget that the conduct grade will appear on permanent academic records and will be, we hope, evidence of good character and citizenship for your future university applications.

April marked the last Open Mic of this school year. Although the student turnout was less than usual, the kids put out a great effort and pulled off yet another successful show. The faculty VIP lounge, on the other hand, was full to capacity, and many of the faculty in attendance gave positive reviews of the show. The set list was the most varied of the year, including everything from solo acoustic numbers and blues to thrash metal by bands like Soundgarden and Godsmack. Three faculty members took the stage to augment the show, including Ms Dena Feldman (math) and Mr. Mike Brinkmeyer (French). Our departing Dean of Students, Mr. Tim Stefanishyn also returned to the Open Mic stage for his farewell performance at LAS. All in all, it was a tremendous display of musical talent by the students and faculty of LAS.
Continuing the topic of the Arts at LAS I must take some time to tell you about this year's IB Art show..  The exhibition was the culmination of two years of creativity, self-exploration and certainly hard work.  Each of our nine IB HL II students created a personal gallery space. It was in this space that the students hosted faculty and friends, expounded on their artwork and spoke of their personal journey.  The opening was such a success that the students hosted an encore reception the following week! To view images from the show and to read about the individual artists, please visit: http://las0909.blogspot.com
Our IB HL II artists are Benjamin Clark, Robert Dean, Briana Edwards, Neal Hertzke, Abdullah Khan, Konrad Plaikner, Lukas Schlicht, Valerie Servais and Tino Troska. 

The National Honor Society organized its annual Earth Day clean-up on Tuesday, April 21st. We were lucky to have sunshine and a group of enthusiastic students and faculty participating. To give back to our Earth, we had all 34 faculty families out cleaning various parts of the community of Leysin for an hour after school. Two of the families participated in a planting project, one planting trees and the other planting flowers on school property. This year, NHS also had a motivation committee, a group of NHS members who traveled throughout Leysin encouraging and helping students and faculty in their efforts. Overall, it was seen as a very successful afternoon. Students, who were nominated by their faculty parents as being excellent participants, will be invited to a chocolate fondue party as a thank-you.
As I write this letter our current play "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" is in its last minutes of rehearsal and premiers tonight.
With one month of school left I, as always, stay open for any communication from you. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the graduation ceremony.

Be well,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

March 20th 2009

Happy Spring to the LAS Community at large,

The spring has come to Leysin in full force as we bid "goodbye" to our winter season, which has been filled with fun, snow, skiing, snowboarding, skating and tons of other outdoor activities.

The grand finale to our winter season was The Cowbell Games, a competition where the classes competed with each other in 12 different events over the course of the week.
The even pit one class against another (Seniors vs. Juniors vs. "Freshmores") in four days of fun, competitive and goofy events. School spirit peaked when the spirited rivalries determined which Class would have their name etched into history on the massive cowbell that is the symbol and trophy of the Games. Some of the more heated battles were the girls and boys soccer and basketball events, when former teammates played against one another for pride and honor. The obstacle course races and tug-of-wars also provided spectator entertainment. As contested as they were, the points won were equal in value to some of the rather silly yet combative events held during school assembly, such as the Human Wheelbarrow, 3-Legged and Rivella-chugging contests. The final day consisted of the traditional LAS Race for the Sun events held on our local ski mountain. Events included ski and snowboard races and terrain park and jump contests. Stand-out students Christelle Giobellina (Switzerland, 11th grade) and Karl Boasson (Norway, 12th grade) won the races and cross events for their classes, and this year the conditions were perfect with warm weather and sunny skies. At the end of the week, the Junior Class of 2010 took top honors, consisting of many of the same kids who won title last year for the Freshmores (the Freshman and Sophomores combined). The same Class will be going for the three-peat next year. No matter who wins, the Games show that our students can have fun and support each other, taking pride in their school and respective Classes. All the rivalry and gloating has been settled until next year.

Another recent event, which usually comes right before the spring break, was our now famous Evening with the Stars. The stars were shining on Friday, March 13th when students from the Music Department presented the fifth annual Evening with the Stars. The audience was wowed by performances that featured students from the Guitar Class, Concert Band and Men's and Women's Choirs. Songs included familiar tunes like My Girl, Stand By Me, Matchmaker, Your Song, Yesterday, The Entertainer, Canon in D and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, among others. A delicious dinner was prepared by Chefs Tony and Sutha and served by students from the Beginning Band class - a treat for students and faculty alike. Congratulations to the following students who performed either as soloists or members of a small ensemble: Alyssa Amparan, Brianna Amparan, Hong Yi Bin, George Bouchard, Jennifer Brinduse, Josh Camp, Melody Chen, Jae Seong Cho, Min Choung, Mehmet Coskun, Michelle du Toit, Char Fu, Christelle Giobellina, Richard Goto, Mary Hillegass, Rishad Hiridjee, James Hoffman, Hyung Bin Lee, Ashley Loft, Keisuke Miyako, Sami Mourad, Hannah Narcross, Mai Nozaki, Roberto Paras, Rumi Onoyama, Jeremy Renaud, Alex Sadler, Aya Shimura, Khalil Touré, and Miao Wang. With a record number of tickets sold this year (180!) we are already looking forward to what next year will bring. Thank you for your continued support of the performing arts at LAS!

As students are getting ready to leave school for the spring break, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that the second semester is far from over. For our IB students April and May are the most critical months of their high school career when the moment of truth arrives and students are asked to finally show what they have learned over two years of the programme. For the rest of the students the last two months of the school year are really important in order to secure better grades for the semester and thus for the school year. I must also remind you that every grade (be it academic, activities or a conduct grade) received for the semester counts, since all of these grades will be submitted to universities during the application process for consideration.

Very soon you will be receiving information for the upcoming school year. As always we will be offering a SAT preparation course for students entering 11th and 12th grade. We will are also introducing a new TOEFL preparation course, which will be offered at the same time, for students who are entering 11th and 12th grade and are not native English speakers. You can find out more details about both courses in an informational leaflet, which is coming to you shortly via mail or by contacting our admissions office at admissions@las.ch

Have a great Spring Break and I wish you fruitful times with your children, who are returning home as I am writing these lines. To those who are travelling to Nepal and Thailand on school trips, I wish you safe and happy travels and hope this experience will be one for the books.

As always I stay open for any communication you may be willing to send my way.

Until next time,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

 

January 28th 2009

Greetings from sunny and snowy Leysin!

The month of January is almost behind us. It is very true that winters, and especially ski season, fly by in Leysin very quickly! We are off to a very good start this semester and this calendar year. As I am writing this grades and comments are being inputted for the first marking period of this semester. Please check here for the results of the first marking period and the Deans’ and Honors lists based on academic achievement so far this semester. We are entering a very important time for all grade levels as far as academics are concerned. Second semester is very important and the students should show academic progress as compared to the first semester, or, in case of very good grades, the same level of academic achievement. The period of adaptation and getting used to a new system, new classes (the first semester is often viewed as such) is over and now is the time to really show what can be done in classes.

Lots of events have already taken place at the school this month. Ski season is off to a very good start with the weather gods cooperating by providing us with both good snow and sunshine, and all our beginners getting up-to-speed with their lessons and showing great progress. It is great to see our students taking full advantage of our beautiful surroundings and the winter activities available here. Awesome showing by the LAS swim team, taking 3rd place at the SGIS meet in Basel this weekend. LAS swimmers took home 13 medals, including Silver for the Senior girls medley and freestyle relays.

Our ski schedule started Monday 12 January and continues until Friday, 13 March. During this time it is only possible to schedule parent-teacher conferences on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. We still ask for at least 1 week's notice. If you are planning to visit LAS and would like to arrange meetings, please contact Emma Dixon at edixon@las.ch

            On Wednesday, January 21, the students involved in the Modern Language program held an Open House after school, inviting all to come visit the classrooms, taste international delicacies, see presentations made in the different languages, and participate in activities the students created while learning. There were improvisational sketches, games, short films and interviews, riddles, songs, and posters covering the walls with student work. The "food court" at the entry to the building was the center of activity for the first half hour with people lined up to taste the culinary delights. It was a lively afternoon that was fun for the participants and visitors alike. All of the students in the language classes worked to make this a great success. Sergio Claure, Mikhail Lesman, and Gordon Smith take the award for the day, helping in everything from planning to clean-up and staying well after the other students left to help teachers put Beau Réveil back into shape. In assembly preceding the event, Anna Gainey and Mattias Horseman told jokes in Geman and French,  Emily Colarte and Abdullah Khan sang a beautiful French song, and Mr, Brinkmeyer's IB HL2 students performed a hilarious sketch about French class. Melissa Rubio deserves recognition for flipping crepes until she couldn't flip anymore, and Mariia Yelizarova for working even while she was out sick on posters to help advertise the Open House

There are a lot of rumors about the changes that are coming next year to LAS. Just to keep everyone informed, here is the latest information. Next year LAS will open the doors of its new campus addition, The Grand Hotel, which will be a new home for our IB students in grades 11 and 12. We are adding grade 8 which, in combination with our grade 9, will form the new LAS Middle School. We believe that this is the best pedagogical approach for our younger students in order to provide them with the best possible education. All of our current elective courses, such as Visual and Performing Arts, Theater, Photography, Band, will remain on offer to all students across the three campuses. While any change puts people out of their comfort zone for a time being, I am convinced that the changes will make LAS an even better school and will put us closer to achieving our long term goal of becoming one of the top ten boarding schools, based on university acceptances.

In my next letter I will be able to let you have more details of the new structure of LAS and its benefits.

As always, please e-mail or call with any questions and/or concerns. I am always looking forward to any communication from our community at large.

Be well,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

 

December 17th 2008

Greetings from very quiet Leysin!

The sun is shining, the mountains are covered with a blanket of fresh snow and it is really quiet here in Leysin with all of the students and faculty having left for the Holidays.
The month before this break was anything but quiet with many events taking place, such as the play, the Athletic Awards assembly, the Holiday Concert, Holiday Banquet, Open Mic and of course the exams.

I am proud to report that we finished this semester on a very high note with overall academic accomplishments higher than in previous years. While there are some students who will need to spend the break thinking how to bring up their grades and may be even doing some review studies in order to catch up with the rest of their classes, our senior class for the most part has done well completing their college applications and some have already heard back regarding early decisions for acceptance. As I am writing this letter all three of our college counselors are putting final touches to every single application and shipping them out to the universities.

The end of November marked the first production of the LAS Theatre department. We had almost thirty students involved in Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy, Twelfth Night, set in the 1920’s. The play encouraged a real ensemble atmosphere – from leads, supporting roles, singers, piano players (improvising 1920's jazz standards), flappers and keystone cops – so it’s just too difficult to single out any specific performers. One of the most exciting things was to see students from over a dozen different nationalities and language backgrounds performing Shakespeare and yet setting such a fun, festive and creative atmosphere for the audience. The play had a great deal of support from the faculty and staff including a new Technical theatre class who helped build the sets and costumes, lead by new art teacher Neal Hanowitz and new English faculty member, Glenda Thompson. Thank you to all who helped with this production, first and foremost Ms. Swanson! Read more and view media from the twelfth night production.

It has been an eventful month for the Music Department as well!! The new A Cappella group performed for the first time at assembly and wowed the crowd with their fun rendition of Johnny Schmoker. On December 3rd, the entire department performed a concert for a jam-packed audience in the Black Box Theatre. The Beginning Guitar students played two holiday tunes, while the Men's and Women's Choirs performed pieces in Spanish, Hebrew, Yoruba, French and English. The band played the familiar theme from Pirates of the Caribbean along with two other pieces. The jazz band performed two standards, including one by John Coltrane, and the Percussion Ensembles peaked the audience's interest with Mambo Para Seis. Along with the ensembles, several soloists were featured, including Hannah Crockett, Elisa Lim, Charlotte Squier, George Bouchard, Min Choung, Ian Yeats and Mary Hillegass. The following day, the A Cappella group was featured again at the annual Holiday Banquet where they performed a medley of holiday carols and an energetic Nigerian carol called Betelehemu, accompanied on conga by Josh Camp and Brianna Amparan. In the months ahead we're looking forward to Evening with the Stars, the musical How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying and another Music department concert at the end of the year. The Music Department is alive and well and Ms. Logue and Ms. Maguire are thrilled to be working with such talented students this year!

In conclusion I would like to wish each and every one of you a very happy and joyful Holiday Season. Enjoy this precious time with your children. I wish us all a more peaceful world and the brighter future for our children. This future will be up to them to shape!

Have a nice and relaxing Holiday Season.
Be well,

Until 2009!

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

November 3rd 2008

Dear LAS community at large:

As the school year moves on our lives here in Leysin get busier and busier with a great variety of events taking place every day. As I write this letter students are returning from their fall cultural trips. I am sure you will all hear from your children about their experiences, be it exploring caves or taking in the history of Florence and Rome; learning a language while staying with families in France, Germany or Spain; overcoming a number of challenges in the woods and mountains of Austria. I would like to remind everyone, that these trips are not a holiday but rather an educational experience, since true education neither begins nor ends in the classroom alone. Thus the grade for these trips will appear on everyone’s transcript without affecting GPA, but adding something special for consideration during the university application process.

Speaking of GPA’s, we have just completed our second marking period and I am very happy with the progress our students are making. Please check our Honor and Dean’s lists for the latest update.

The month of October has been marked with a few significant events. The Acoustic Show presented on Saturday, 18 October, was the first Open Mic event of the year and an unqualified success. Over 20 student musicians took part, playing for an audience of around 150 students and faculty. The set list included a wide variety of styles and genres, ranging from classic artists such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young to more current material from Jack Johnson and The Kooks. Highlights of the show included an a cappela men's choir headed up by Mr Andrew Neyer (a math teacher) and student singers Ian Yeats, Min Choung, Abdullah Khan and Bassem Kaddour, a beautiful duet of '9 Crimes' (by Damien Rice) performed by Shane Lory and Brianna Amparan and finishing up the night, a rockin' rendition of "The General" (by Dispatch) sung by Abdullah Khan and Robert Dean, accompanied by Konrad Plaikner on guitar and Mehmet Coskun on drums. All in all, the evening was great fun and everyone left the Black Box with their spirits lifted and a song in their hearts!

The National Honor Society organized LAS's sixth annual Terry Fox Run on October 19th. Terry Fox was a young Canadian man who, after losing his leg to cancer, began to run across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although he passed away in the middle of his journey, every year Canadians and people world wide run in his memory to raise awareness for cancer research. LAS has held Switzerland's only Terry Fox Run for a number of years and this year we were lucky to have a sunny and warm fall day for the event. It was great to see so many faculty and students out for the event. To add a little fun and competition to the Run, the class with the largest percentage of participants was told that they would receive a reward for having so much school spirit. For the second year in a row, the Freshmen had the most participants and will be receiving their reward of an extended curfew when we return from culturals. On behalf of LAS Chapter of NHS I would like to thank all of the parents who generously donated to this worthy cause. Although the total is still being calculated, well over 2000 CHF was raised for cancer research, which will go to a cancer research project at the University Hospital in Zürich.

The month of November is a critical month for our seniors. With the December deadline for university applications I would like you to encourage your students to take this next step in their lives very seriously and make sure to get all of the paperwork on time to our College Counseling office. Ms. Galbraith, Ms. Bleeker and Ms. Alexander are always happy to help with any questions students and/or parents may have and can be contacted at college@las.ch. Please keep in mind that putting things off to the last minute will compromise the quality of an application and thus may cost a potential acceptance to a University of your choice. Also our IB students will have to make a firm commitment to the program and sign up for the exams. Mr. Keen, our IB coordinator will be able to answer any questions in regards to IB program and all components of this program and can be contacted at ib@las.ch.

As I always, I would like to conclude with a reminder to keep the lines of communication open and stay in touch with us. I am always looking for feedback, constructive suggestions and comments from you on any subject. I stay committed to addressing all of your concerns immediately. Having said that, I must mention that I will be traveling for most of November visiting with current and potential families in China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Belarus, thus I may not be able to reply to your e-mails or phone calls right away, but I will do so at my earliest convenience.

Be well,

Until next time,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

October 3rd 2008

Salutations from the Magic Mountain,

As I write this letter it is snowing outside! Between classes students are celebrating the first snow with cheers in anticipation of a snowy winter. And while the real snow is still a little way off, our first marking period is already behind us. I am happy to report that about 48% of our students have a GPA of 3.4 or higher. I know it is early in the year, but it is exciting to have so many students doing so well in their classes. Please check our most up to date Deans' and Honor lists.

Academically our seniors are entering an important phase, since the grades they earn this semester will be carefully examined by the universities they choose to apply to. For the remainder of the student body, this first marking period should serve as a benchmark for future improvement and/or an indicator of how their efforts have translated into grades and GPA. I trust everyone has received and reviewed the letter regarding the new Conduct grade. While this grade does not affect GPA, along the same lines as the grade for Activities or Cultural trips, it will show up on the transcript for each semester and potential universities will see the grade.

Our Student Council has recently conducted elections for class representatives and
the following students were elected:

9th Grade
Luiza Kononenko

10th Grade
Daria Vasilieva
Anely Bekbergenova

11th Grade
Bader Al-Mulla
Alexandra Fulton-Vicuna
James Hoffman

12th Grade
Carolina Carmenes
Tracy (Xue) Chen
Guillermo PlazaRoche

Congratulations to all of the new class reps and we look forward to their hard work in making the lives of our students fun and exciting.

Speaking of fun, the Student Council has run its first event of the school year, a Dodgeball Tournament. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the tournament, which raised 562chf  towards the Nepal Trip at Spring Break.

LAS sports are off to a fantastic start this fall. A record number of students have tried out for team sports, selections have been made and the teams have been formed, with over 150 students participating among various teams.

The boys' varsity basketball squad, led by Genc Berisha and Jakub Mardusinski, has won their first two contests against local rivals Aiglon and Kumon, and are looking to represent the Mountain Division of the ADISR Athletic Conference when the play-offs arrive in November. The boys' volleyball team, led by Robert Dean and Alex Canning, had a thrilling come-from-behind victory in 3 sets over Champittet of Lausanne on October 1. Fabienne Wust, Anna Gainey and Christina Bouri are the captains of the girls' soccer team. Despite losing to LGB of Geneva 0-2, the team played extremely well in their first match and show lots of promise for the season. The boys' soccer team shut out Kumon in their first ADISR game of the season. The final score was 2-0, with goals scored by Gustavo Rossi and Rafael Calcagniti.  In tennis, coach Loft says he has the best group he's seen in years. The players will be competing in the Leysin Open Tennis Tournament this weekend in their new uniforms.

Many more matches are scheduled for the upcoming weeks, both home and away. Check the online parents calendar for times and results. You can access the calendar via the same portal as PowerSchool.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that I am always open to any communications and/or suggestions. We do like to see parents here in Leysin should your business or pleasure travels bring you to our part of the world. If you are planning to visit Leysin and would like to meet with your child's teachers please contact Emma Dixon (edixon@las.ch) to make the arrangements. We ask for at least 1 weeks notice but are also happy to plan further ahead. Meetings take place during the school day.

Until next time,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

September 3rd 2008

Greetings from sunny Leysin,

What a whirlwind of events it has been over the last few weeks. Our Summer in Switzerland program ended and the following day we welcomed the new LAS faculty, followed a few days later by the returning faculty who went straight to work preparing for classes and arrival of new students, who were closely followed by the returning students during orientation week and finally we're off!!

The first week of classes is now behind us. The start of this school year has been relatively smooth with all schedules now sorted out and students in their classes rolling up their sleeves in order to tackle their new subjects.

For our extracurricular activities we had a great start with an all-school Berneuse challenge. I am proud to report that 97% of the school conquered the mountain on foot, walking from LAS at 1400m to the summit of the Berneuse at 2048m. While it was  tough going for some, celebration and the satisfaction of the achievement took over once they reached the top, in part thanks to the hardy lunch we all enjoyed at the top of the mountain. Please click here to see pictures of the event.       

We are in the process of selecting teams for our major sports, so that we are ready to start after-school activities next week. We look forward to a successful season for all our teams and individuals competing in the wide variety of sports that we offer here at LAS.

One of the highlights of orientation was our Headmaster's Guest Speaker Michael Fryer. This is his second visit to our school and, as always, he did an excellent job teaching students about internationalism, tolerance and intercultural understanding as well as covering some of the basic issues such as getting along and dealing with the peer pressure that can often arise in a boarding school environment.

Another important event, which concluded our orientation, was the Honor Convocation, where students pledged to be honorable citizens of the school community. The Convocation was organized by LAS Honor Council and led by Mr. Brislance and LAS Student President Batu-kan Maslakhatov. The LAS Honor Pledge was read out by members of the Honor Council in 10 major  languages and is now posted in every classroom. It is my sincere hope that all our students live up the LAS Honor Code.

In conclusion I would like to remind everyone that I always welcome any communications from parents, be it constructive criticism or suggestions for improvement or simply to say hello. Either way it is always good to hear from you. As I plan my travel schedule for the year I will notify you when I am in your area, so we can possibly touch base to talk about the progress of your child and about life at LAS in general.

My very best wishes to all of you.

Until next time,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

 

The Berneuse Challenge

Click here to return to Headmaster's letter

 

 

June 2nd 2008

Greetings from the Magic Mountain,

It is only a little over a week ago that we bid goodbye to our class of 2008. Just over one hundred students graduated and joined the growing ranks of LAS alums as they entered a brand new phase of their lives. It is with mixed feelings of happiness and sadness that graduates, their parents and friends and LAS faculty said their last goodbyes to each other with promises to stay in touch over the years to come. Looking back at the class of 2008 I must say that they have been academically very strong, and boast some outstanding university acceptances. This serves as a testimony to our continuously improving academic standards.

In the last week I can’t help noticing how quiet and still Leysin has become without our students and faculty bringing their energy to the life of the village. This is a sure sign that the summer has come to Leysin. I would like to congratulate everyone on yet another successful school year and wish all students and their parents a great summer.

To all of the returning students I would like to remind you to take a few moments of your summer to fill out all of the re-enrollment forms, which you should have received by now and check our orientation schedule at http://www.las.ch/parents/orientation.html

All students who plan to participate in the SAT Preparation course, please be advised that the arrival date is August 15 with classes starting on August 16. Transportation will be provided on August 15 from Geneva airport, so please notify us of your arrival time. It is not too late to register for this course, so please e-mail admissions@las.ch  to register for the course and provide your arrival details.

I wish you all a great summer full of excitement and adventure or just some quality family time. I am looking forward to seeing you back here at LAS in the last week of August full of energy and ready for the 2008-2009 school year.

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

 

May 1st 2008

Salutations from the Magic Mountain,

Spring has finally arrived in Leysin, with snow giving way to spring flowers and green grass, with some spring rain, but mostly sun. As mother-nature wakes up from its winter slumber and greets the spring sun, our students are already working at full capacity as they are working hard towards a successful finish to the year. Please don’t forget to check our website for the most up-to-date list of students who are on the Deans’ List and on the Honor Roll. While most of our students have a few weeks to go until the exams, our IB students start their exams on Monday. The time has come for them to show what they have accomplished in the last two years of taking various IB courses. IB exams are the most objective form of examination and include both internal assessments done by the classroom teachers, and external assessments done by IB trained and certified examiners. The grades are then moderated by completely independent moderators to assure the objectivity of both internal and external examiners. For the purpose of the IB Exams students used individual codes issued by IB, so the examiners don’t know who the students are, what school or even what country they are from. All of the above provides for the most objective exam at the high school level today.

While on the subject of IB, our IB Art students recently held their first exhibition which was also their external exam. This year LAS had 13 students studying IB Art at both Higher Level and Standard Level.  This was the largest group in the school’s history.  Each student created a unique exhibition space to display 12 pieces of work.  An examiner from Germany evaluated the exhibition.  In a 40-minute interview, each student explained and defended his/her unifying theme or concept.

Nica Mayer examined the environment and the social world of LAS students.  She hung a copper pipe and wire door at the entrance to her space, and inside she wove wires into words and incorporated them into her large-format environmental paintings.  Iana Martini’s space lead the viewer right into the artist’s mind.  Her portraits and exquisite drawings and paintings captivated her audience and brought them back again and again.  Solveig Suess designed a world of dreams and nightmares all held together by 3 dream catchers.  Kayleen Fulton made a womb-like structure enclosing archetypal human figures and a native drum suspended from the ceiling.  Cherry Chu used self-portraits to illustrate her personal connection to traditional Chinese folk tales.  Shayan Vakil mesmerized viewers with his installation depicting a car wreck.  He included masks and altered traffic signs and lights.  The faces of the anguished victims and their stories written on the black wall behind the installation made the viewer feel as if she were the first person on the scene.  Anastasia Lavrenteva traced society’s preoccupation with ideal beauty and the price it exacts from some women.  Tiina Gaasedelen used large format paintings to illustrate the various influences in her life.  Her centerpiece was suspended from the ceiling - a full-sized purple mannequin laced together with red ribbons and enclosing a suspended golden heart.  Sandra Savic’s female figures showcased her personal struggle to define her boundaries.  José-Maria García-Planas used his Catalan roots to describe his search for his own identity within his family.  He created sculptures showing mannequins tempted by alcohol, tied up in a confusion of wires, and calmed by the sandman.  Tony Yu’s examination of the various aspects of time included a copper wire hourglass, a paper weaving, and a sculpture made from computer parts.  Kris Wiitala hung photographs taken in Bosnia, India, and other locations in this photo journalism study.  Katy Eveland’s hands, figure paintings and sculptures made poignant social and political comments.

A number of student-organized events have recently taken place here at school.
Prom 2008 was an exciting night in the beautiful Château d'Aigle, held on Saturday, April 19th. A special thank you to the chair people for the Prom, Nica Mayer & Annikka Frostad-Thomas.  They organized and inspired the twelve other Event Planners to decorate the Château and make the evening a wonderful time for the whole LAS family.
Another big event, was our famous International day, which concluded a whole variety of events of International week, including the Parade of Flags of 58 countries represented in our student body. International Day has attracted a lot of visitors from the local community. I would like to especially thank all of the parents who came for this event and provided help in setting up booths for various countries, as well as parents who shipped a lot of items to help students represent their native culture. The food, the national costumes, the decorations…. everything was absolutely incredible! There are too many people to thank individually, but Student Council and its sponsors Mr. and Mrs. Deupree, as well as Event Planners along with tireless Ms. Field Keenan and Ms. Chaput deserve a special thank you.

This week we celebrated Earth Day with the assistance of the NHS. We spent an afternoon as faculty families in different locations around Leysin picking up rubbish and planting trees. We received very positive feedback from local residents and all enjoyed the experience as the sun shone down on us.

I would like to take a second of your time to share my congratulations to several faculty members. Ms. Joelle Durrenbach just defended her thesis and was awarded a Masters Degree in French Literature from Miami University in Ohio. I am confident that our students will benefit even more from academic achievement of their teacher.

On 16 April 2 faculty members completed the annual Patrouille des Glaciers race, an extreme ski race that goes through the night from Zermatt to Verbier, 53km cross country with 3994m of ascent and 4090m of descent. Not everyone's idea of fun but a massive congratulations goes to Tim Taylor (Math department chair) and Hugh Kelly (Spanish/Comparative Gov't teacher) who managed to complete the course in 13hrs 6mins.

Looking towards the end of the semester I would like to clarify some dates: Underclass students may leave on 3 or 4 June. Transport will only be provided to Geneva airport on these days and Underclass dorms close for the summer at 16h00 on Wednesday 4 June. Please advise Violeta of travel plans as soon as you have them at travel@las.ch.

Seniors may check out of their dorms to stay with their parents in Leysin from 19h00 on Wednesday 4 June as long as they are picked up in person and have completed all required check out procedures. Senior dorms close for the summer at 13h00 on Friday 6 June.

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

 

March 19th 2008

Dear LAS Community,

As the buses leave for the airport this morning we bring the winter part of the second semester to a close. We finish the winter on a high note academically and we are already able to boast about some of the early senior university admissions. Annika Frostad-Thomas has been accepted into both Stanford and Princeton. Yulia Dovzhenko has received a full ride academic scholarship to Caltech (California Institute of Technology) to name but two. Congratulations to those seniors who already have been accepted to the universities of their choice.

As students prepare themselves for the final stretch of the school year, it is already high time to start thinking of the next academic year, and registration for next year's classes will start right after Spring Break on Wednesday 16 April. It is a good time for the whole family to discuss the academic options for the future and to tentatively select courses. I must urge everyone to listen closely to the advice of our teachers and Academic Dean’s office. We always have the best interest of your child in mind when advising on course selection. Our primary aim is to set our students up for success and to see them grow academically. Please don't forget to check out our Honor Roll and Deans' Lists, which can be found on the LAS website. There are a lot of deserving students on those lists, who have worked hard to achieve high marks in their classes.

Many extra-curricular events have taken place recently: Inertia – a new play by our own Ms. Kim Tait - had its world premier within the walls of our Black Box theater. The performances by all cast members were absolutely outstanding. Robert Dean and Ashley Lowes were the stars of the play, supported by all of the other student actors and stage support crew, who worked really hard to make all of the set changes appear seamless. The play would not have been the same without the fantastic piano performance of Jake Cassman. Ms. Swanson's skillful direction and countless rehearsals brought the whole play together to enjoy three nights of success. Thank you to all the parents who were able to come to LAS to watch the play.

March has been a busy month for the LAS musicians. The annual LAS Dinner Theater "Evening with the Stars" on 7 March showcased numerous talents. The highlights of the evening included Alyssa Amparan performing Romance by Schumann, Hyuk-Min Choung singing Now and Forever, Adema Yerzhanova on piano with Chi Mai, and Sarah Hara singing Blackbird with Mr. Stephens on guitar. Other soloists for the evening were Jared Eckert and Mehmet Coskun with traditional snare drum solos, Clairissa Prince-Davis and Hyuk-Min Choung singing the solos of Pie Jesu by Webber, Charlotte Squier on violin with selections by Portnoff and Telemann, and Jennifer Brinduse and Ian Yeats sang the solo of I Believe I Can Fly. The LAS Choir performed a variety of small and large ensembles and the LAS Band also provided entertainment with a flute ensemble, clarinet trio, percussion ensemble and a jazz combo. The evening was a great success with good food and delightful entertainment.

Four LAS students recently performed at the International Band and Choir Festival in London. Alyssa Amparan, clarinet, Hyuk-Min Choung, bass, Tanguy Stevenart, percussion and Ian Yeats, bass, auditioned in October to be part of select ensembles. Out of 700 students auditioning, these students were chosen from our school. The students rehearsed for three days with a guest conductor and students from 57 other schools around the globe and gave a wonderful performance on Saturday night.

Spring break brings yet another ski season to a close. This winter has been much better in terms of ski conditions than the previous two, so all of us have had a lot of fun on the slopes. I would like to take a moment to re-assure everyone that despite the rumours floating around the ski season will stay in place as it is with two afternoons of skiing on Tuesday and Thursday. The grand finale of the season was our first annual Cowbell Games. The Cowbell Games, a week long event pitting classes against each other, took place during the week of March 10–13. The fun-spirited week included both challenging and exciting team events and individual activities. Students signed up to participate in such games as indoor soccer, flag making, tug of war, sled race, speed skating, downhill skiing, floor hockey and much more. The three groups of student teams, Seniors, Juniors and the Fresh-mores (a combination of the freshman and sophomore classes), offered a unique chance for students to come together as a class and work together in winning the coveted Swiss Cowbell. After four days of closely heated competition, the Fresh-More team edged out the Senior class 100 to 91, with the Junior class following close behind with 81 points. The Cowbell Games were a great way to end the ski season, to welcome in the spring and to bring the school closer together.

As always we, as a school, welcome your feedback of any kind. Please feel free to contact myself or any member of LAS faculty with any suggestions and/or concerns.

Have a great Spring Break!

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

12th February 2008

Greeting from sunny Leysin,

In many parts of the world winter is not the most pleasant part of the year, but that is not the case in Leysin! It has been sunny and though a little too warm for the time of year, has provided perfect skiing conditions. As our ski season is in full swing, I am happy to report, that we have more students enjoying the slopes of Leysin than in the last three years. Skiing does not, of course, detract from our academic focus.

The first marking period of the second semester is now behind us and I am proud to report that the vast majority of our student body is doing really well. Both our Deanâs list and Honor Roll are very full of names. Some are there for the first time, so please take a minute to check it http://www.las.ch/parents/AcademicHonors.html Also be sure to give praise to your son or daughter if they made the list, as they worked really hard and deserve your praise.

With the start of the second semester our theater students have auditioned and are now hard at work rehearsing a new play. "Inertia" is the play written by our own Ms. Kim Tait and is due to premiere in April.

A delegation from our MUN class has just returned from a week long trip to Hague where they represented Leysin American School at the 40th Session of The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) Conference 2008. THIMUN is the oldest and largest Model UN conference in the world with the participation of over 3800 students from as far away as Australia, China and Venezuela. This year, LAS was one of only a handful of schools with two delegations: the Republic of Moldova and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Led by ambassadors Jake Cassman and Brooke Kassner, our delegates did a phenomenal job of representing both of their countries and our school during the week-long conference that focused this year on global climate change. We look forward to further enhancing and strengthening our school LAS MUN program by adding another off-campus conference and improving our collective performance at both our very own LIMUN and THIMUN 2009.

As part of the LAS mission we aim to prepare responsible citizens of the world and therefore our students support numerous charities. Several events are taking place this month; last week over 100 students and staff tried to out-bid one another at Assisting Children in Need's (ACN) Faculty/Staff Service Auction. Items and services up for bid, provided by our generous faculty and staff, included special dinners, personal fitness training, van transportation, and even a mule ride with the sponsoring teacher leading the way. While ticket sales (3 CHF each) went towards scholarships for LAS students, winning bids went towards assisting abandoned children in Romania with special needs, as described in our most recent issue of Panorama, our school magazine. For further information on ACN please visit their website www.assistingchildreninneed.com. This week with Valentine's Day approaching, Habitat for Humanity students will be delivering valentine roses as well as nicorette grams to support the anti-smoking efforts of our Health Center.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank our Modern Languages Department (faculty and students) for organizing such a wonderful Open House complete with music, skits in all of the languages taught at the school and of course, ethnic food. The Event Planners group, sponsored by Ms. Mary Field Keenan, also deserve a sincere thank you for organizing a very nutritious breakfast and the more recent celebration of Chinese New Year. Many faculty families attended the special dinner, where they enjoyed a wide variety of Chinese dishes accompanied by music and of course by friendly smiles of our Chinese students, who also took an active role in helping to organize this event.

Last but not least our Varsity Swim team won the most awards ever - 8 relay medals (4 gold, 4-bronze) for the girls (Kaitlyn Kurtz, Ashley Hickey, Molly Tonken, Mackenzie Sorem and Maija Sarvela as a substitute) and Molly won gold in the 100 IM, gold in the 50 Butterfly, and bronze in 100 Freestyle, Mackenzie a bronze in the 100 IM, Ashley a silver in the 50 Breaststroke and a bronze in the 50 fly, and Alasdair Pressney a silver in the 50 Freestyle. Alasdair anchored the boys relay team of Ian Yeats, Arthur Alencar, and Arsalan Mazar-Atabaki. The boys scored a pile of points, but the departure of Brent Barenburg before the holiday weakened their chance for medals in the relays.

This concludes my short summary of life at LAS in the last month! We are always glad to see you here should your travel bring you to our part of the world. Feel free to contact us at any time.

Kind regards,

Vladimir Kuskovski

Headmaster

Leysin American School

 

 

Leysin American School presents...

INTERNATIONAL DAY!

Foods from many nations*, traditional dress, singing, dancing, and lots more!
LAS welcomes everyone in Leysin to come and enjoy.

April 27, 2008 from 13:00-16:00 at the Leysin American School gym

Just drop by and stay as long as you like!

*All proceeds from food sales will go to Partnership for Education of Children in Afghanistan