The start of the new School year was powerful with positive activities to get both the students and teachers in the mood. Cairo Drums demos in both the Senior and Primary schools were a success. After attending both demos, I must say, Primary School teachers and students: You were awesome, amazing and fired up!

2010/2011 Academic Year: A Fired Up Start

Seasons Greetings Welcome back from a blessed Eid vacation, we hope it was fun. More fun is yet to come though... We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Another issue of the Alssonian is out. We do apologize it took some time, but while working on the Staff Alssonian and seeing how many

pieces of news we are thrilled to share with the entire Alsson family, we decided to merge the “staff” Alssonian with the general Alssonian which will now come out March 1st, June 1st and November 1st. Enjoy!

Music Practice Rooms in Action

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EY & Primary Clubs

2

EY Halloween 2

Primary Sports Week

2

Horse Riding Champion

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Student Council 3

Operation Smile First Student Club

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Inside this issue:

Quote of the issue: “Education is what re-mains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” Albert Einstein

Azza Fahmy Visit

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Alssonian

E l A l s s o n S c h o o l N e w s l e t t e r

Issue 2

December 2010

“Kids loved the drummers - they were talking about it all afternoon :)” Nathalie Atalla, parent

Welcome: Al Maktaba

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El Alsson on Twitter and Facebook In line with the recent cyber trends and movements, El Alsson is now on Facebook and Twitter. If you are into this, then please follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook page. Twitter Name: Elalsson Facebook Page: El Alsson - Official Page www.twitter.com

El Alsson: Int’l Mission

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ISLC Highlights 3

Injaz Visit 5

Race for the Cure

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Amr Fahim Visit 5

Senior Sports News

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The Primary School started off with successful Orientation nights for new parents. Parents came by at 3.30 and entered their child’s class, sat on the little mini chairs and listened to their child’s teacher explaining El Alsson rules, class procedures, curriculum and answered their questions. A truly nice opportunity for parents to meet up, get a feel of the school environment and get to know teachers better.

Primary School: Pretty Busy Start

Ministry for Family & Population

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Readers as Leaders

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Theatre Shows 5

Open Days dates, dead-lines, Mark your calendar

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I am Beautiful 6

The Alssonian Page 2

Activities & Clubs: Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays

New Primary Music Practice Rooms in Action Piano, Violin and Guitar lessons are taking place in primary this year. Interested students have a rota (always on the same day) but the lesson moves forward one lesson each week so they don't miss same lesson every time. Violins and guitars can be rented from the school or brought from home. Lessons are open to Y3/G2 upwards.

Early Years Halloween: Fascinating Costumes Thursday October 28th was the Early Years Halloween celebration. Students came to School off uniform and in Halloween costumes. At last, there were less princesses this year and more spooky costumes to give it a more Halloween essence. Teach-ers were also in costumes which added to the fun of the day.

Early Years Monday Fun Club and Primary Clubs have started on the 26th of October. Early Years MFC introduced Fairy tale Theatre and Ballet while Primary Clubs have the Cairo African Drums, Horse Riding in Sakka-ra, Football, Cookery, Table Tennis and Mural Painting (which is painting on walls), Science Club, Basketball, Sal-sa and Jazz and Arts and Crafts.

El Alsson would like to congratulate Aly El Naggar (G.5R.) for his achievements in The International Children’s Horseback Riding Competition equivalent to the World Cup. He ranked second in Class B 110-120 m. His team ranked second in Class A 110-120 m. We are all very proud of you, Aly!

Horseback Riding Champion: We are all Proud

Primary Sports Week Primary Sports Week took place at the School during the first week of November. It was an exciting week, full of enthusiasm by both the kids and the parents. Congratulations to the win-ning House,: SIWA.

The Alssonian Page 3

On the week of October 10th, we had elections for the Senior Student Council. It's the first year for El Alsson to form a Student Council, com-posed of eight different committees. Five main roles of the Student Council were introduced and the most important ones were the Vice-President and the President. From the British section, we had Arzoo Rikhy and AbdelRahman Shafik competing for the title. However, from the American section, we had six candidates: Farah El Agami, Habiba Khattab, Hassan El Tawil, Nadine Hosny and Yasmine Radwan. They were all given three days to spread their plans and goals and share them with the voters, seniors and juniors, and one day to present their speeches. The final day of the week was the voting day. Written by: Farida El Sheshingy G12

Please remember to check news on School Council page on website

www.alsson.com

Student Council back again

Student Council 2010/2011 Abdel Rahman Shafik Y13 - President and Head Boy Yasmine Radwan G12 - Vice President and Head Girl Safeya Zeitoun Y13 - Treasurer Kawthar Younis G12 - Reporter Mohamed El Banani Y13 - Secretarty

El Alsson Operation Smile Club: First School Club in Egypt!

Last Summer, two of El Alsson students were sponsored to attend a Mission Training Workshop for Operation Smile in Denver, Colorado. Our students were the only students representing Egypt during the Mission Training Workshop. As a result, El Alsson is now the only registered Student Club for Operation Smile in Egypt. Amazingly enough, our students are the first and only students to be invited to go to an international mission this December 2010 in Guwahati, India. Way to go Arzoo and Nora, we are proud of you! At the final party of Mission Training, Sami Hasni, an Alsson graduate of 2010, who also went to Denver for the Training, was thrilled to find out he has been given the responsibility to introduce Operation Smile in Queen Mary University, London, where he is currently studying. Currently El Alsson’s Student Club raises money for Operation Smile, spreads awareness, and attends local missions. This year’s first local mission was last month in Cairo. Another mission is coming up in December, followed by the International Mission in Guwahati, India.

Highlights of the ISLC:

Every summer, the Operation Smile Student Programme organises the International Student Leader-ship Conference (ISLC). This summer Madame Saida, Nora Abu Shadi, Arzoo Rikhy and Sami Hasni had the privilege to to attend the 18th ISLC which took place in the University of Denver, Colorado, USA from the 1st to the 5th of August. Operation Smile sponsored us to at-tend ISLC, as representatives of Egypt, in recognition of our hard work last year with OS Egypt. We met 400 par-ticipants from over 17 different countries, among them Ireland, China, Mexico and Paraguay. The theme was ‘BE THE CHANGE’. One night we were entertained by a local rock band. We had a day of adventure, filled with team building activities, in the Rocky Mountains. How exciting it was to experience archery, rope courses, mountain climbing, hiking, canoeing. We definitely surpassed our comfort zone! Before we attended the ISLC, we were selected to attend the Mission Training 2010 which was also held in Denver. Another fabulous opportunity where we proudly represented our school and Egypt. Over five days, we learnt the importance of the student educator and the teacher sponsor on a mission. We learnt about the anatomy of the cleft and practised presentations on nutrition, dental hygiene, burn care prevention and oral rehydration therapy. It is the student’s job on a mission to educate the local population. Written by Arzoo Rikhy and Nora Abou Shady Year13

Race for the Cure : A Success

We, Nora, Arzoo and Madame Saida, have been rewarded with an international mission! We have been selected to be part of the US Operation Smile medical mission in Guwahati, Capital of Assam, North East India this December. El Alsson was the only international school that received an international mission outside its country. We were so surprised that we asked Suzanne Unger, the Student Programs Director, if it was even possible? Why us? How come? The only non American/Irish school being awarded a mission abroad! Her response is still carried in our hearts, she told us that Operation Smile is extremely proud and astonished by the amount of work El Alsson School has done in only 10 months, and that an internation-al mission can benefit from our experience and enthusiasm. And what a mission! Guwahati is known as ‘the top mission’ as it is the largest mission in Operation Smile’s history! We were absolutely overwhelmed with joy! Our hard work and commitment have been recognised. We have been giv-en the once in a life time chance to be international volunteers working for a global NGO. Written by Arzoo Rikhy and Nora abou Shady

El Alsson School: First to go on an International Mission

El Alsson entered the Race for the Cure on October 23rd 2010 by the Pyramids. 2 full large El Alsson buses went to the venue. El Alsson team: great turnout from: 57 students and 28 staff. First girl to get to the finishing line from our team was Habiba Khattab, first boy to get to the finishing line was Mohamed El Banani and the first teacher to get to the finishing line was Ms. Diana Palmer, our team captain. Well Done everyone!

“We still cannot believe that El Alsson students/teachers have been chosen to work as educators on an Operation Smile Medical Mission in India! All we did was follow our hearts to help the less fortunate and embrace the truth about the world out there!” Arzoo Rikhy & Nora Abou Shady Year 13

Arzoo and Nora are currently collecting children’s Toothbrushes to give out to children on their international mission in Guwahati. There are boxes scattered around the Senior School to collect tooth-brushes. They intend to educate children and their families on dental hygiene.

Senior School Stationary Shop: Welcome “Al Maktaba” Students of Year 10 had a competition in their Business Studies class to come up with a business plan for a stationary shop at El Alsson. Winners were “Al Maktaba Project”. Al Maktaba started operating on Sunday Novem-ber 7th. Mrs. Soumaya Amr and Mr. Karim Rogers attended and supported the students during the opening. Location is outside KS4 next to the Canteen in the Senior building. Operating hours are during senior break time daily. Keep this in mind in case you needed any stationary items during the school day. Also, inform your students, especially ones who keep forgetting their essential items.

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Azza Fahmy Ladies Visiting Our Students

Injaz Business Enterprise project was invited to give a presentation to our senior British and American students introducing the project as an opportunity and extra curricular activity. Participating students get support and help from Injaz with all aspects of their business idea: Developing the business plan and all needed steps to get their ideas to see the light. 24 students are participating from both the British and American Sections.

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On October 14th, 4 wonderful ladies from Azza Fahmy Jewelry came to share their experiences and give our G12 students a glimpse of what the business world is like out there, how to realize your dreams and succeed in life. Amazingly enough, the 4 ladies were all Alssoni-ans (ex Alsson students). The presentation was great, inspirational and motivational. Students were so engaged and asked a lot of in-depth questions. They were so passionate about the subject and showed high interest in all what was said. Fatma Ghali, Amina Ghali, Indji Hosni and Shaden were all so excited to come back to School and give out this presentation. They went around the School and greeted their old teachers, they even got emotional with some. For the very first time, they went through the teachers staff room, not

believing that they did, hesitant at first. It was truly an honor having them back to School again even if for a day.

Injaz: Quite an Opportunity

Theatre Shows: Here We Come Students of both the Primary and Senior Schools are getting busier and busier preparing for their shows. Primary students are preparing for “Aladdin” play showing in their open air amphitheatre on December 20th and 21st, directed by Mr. Timothy. Senior students are preparing for the “Seasonal Soiree” on December 15th. The Seasonal Soiree is a Christmas Concert, in celebration of music and drama, directed by Ms. Julie Clarke, Head of Performing Arts.

Senior School Sports News October was a month of victory for our Volleyball teams. Our Girls Teams won second place in both the CISSA Junior Varsity (16 yrs and under) and Varsity tournaments (18 yrs and under). Also, our Boys Teams won third place in both the CISSA Varsity and Junior Varsity tournaments. All our team members received certificates from their coaches, Mr. Amr Attia and Mrs. MaryAnn Speed. Senior School also started a Karate after school activity with a Police Academy Coach.

Grade 12 Amr Fahim Visit: Valuable Info to All! On Monday October 4th, Mr. Amr Fahim, the executive Director of Egypt’s Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) came to visit our Grade 12 Business Studies classes to talk about the role of the CPA in Egypt. Mr. Fahim presented our students with some fantastic information that every single person in Egypt should know about.

“Mr. Fahim was very generous and enthusiastic about making us learn, and more aware of what our rights were as consumers” commented Habiba Khattab G12

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** Special Thanks go to Arzoo Rikhy, Nora Abou Shady and Farida Salem for helping out and providing editorials on events

Some of El Alsson Senior Students are taking an active part with the Ministry for Family and Population in its newly composed Egyptian Youth Network which aims at creating awareness for Egyptian youth about issues related to the under privileged. Minister Moushira Khattab ensured that the network’s goal is preparing a responsible genera-tion able to take the lead and continue to work on helping the under privileged, hence becoming active and effective individuals in our society.

In another brilliant way to get our Senior students more involved with the Primary/Elementary students, some of Grade 12 students paid a visit to the Primary School to read stories with Grade 4 students. This program is called Readers as Lead-ers and it is one of the ways for sen-ior students to be more active and engaged in the School community.

Readers as Leaders: Well Done Grade 12

Mark Your Calendar • 7 December (Islamic New Year)

• 15 December : Senior Seasonal Soiree @ Main Theatre

• 20/21 December: Primary Show: Aladdin @ the open air theatre

• 23 Dec-8 January: Christmas Break

Kindly check website calendar fre-quently for updates. www.alsson.com

Deadlines Deadlines of School Fees Install-ments:

October Payment: 27th November, 2010

December Payment: 20th January, 2011 You can check www.alsson.com for payment details

Alsson Students with Ministry for Family & Population

El Alsson Open Days

Every year, El Alsson has several Open Days for new parents to come visit the school. Take a tour and apply for their little ones for FS1 (preschool) or FS2 (KG1). It is also a chance for parents who are interested to transfer their children to El Alsson in other year groups to see the school, and meet the designated teachers to discuss details and ask whatever questions they have. If you know anyone who is interested in the School, just tell them our Open Days.

Monday December 6th, 2010 Sunday December 19th, 2010 Monday January 17th, 2011 Sunday January 30th, 2011

Monday February 14th, 2011 Sunday March 6th, 2011

Tuesday March 22nd, 2011 Sunday 10th April. 2011 Monday May 9th, 2011

Sunday May 22nd, 2011

Tours take place from 10am till 2pm

The ‘I am beautiful’ Campaign: G12 Psychology Class Our Grade 12 Psychology class have set out to convince the whole Senior School how beautiful they all are! Rais-ing the issues of body image and eating disorders, they will be working throughout the year to raise everyone’s self esteem and feel positive about who they are and how they look