Yes, amazingly it is December already. With 2 weeks left until the break it is all hands on deck here. In classes at all levels, students are finishing up units and working hard on assessments. Mixed in with this is a still very active school calendar and some end of semester social events.
One interesting thing this week has been the very active race for different roles in the Student Government. With active campaigning this week there has been an interesting mix of styles and messages leading up to debates on Sunday and speeches Monday.
At the other end of the age range, I was able to attend the 35th graduation this afternoon at our linked preschool. It was great to see the happy students and parents at this event.
For the parents of residential students. If you have not already do so, please share all travel plans with Mr Adnan.
Please read through to see some of what has happened the last week and what is coming up. Please note we have the end of semester assembly on Monday the 11th.
Bob Cofer – Head of Campus
Upcoming
The Environmental Service Groups are hosting the first ever “Swap Shop” from December 11-13, after school. Check the poster for more details. Fun fact: by extending the life of an item by three months, it can lead to a “5 to 10 percent reduction in each item’s carbon, water and waste footprints” according to a study from Scientific American.
Ben’s Corner
Friday was the perfect end to another fulfilling week at UWCEA. In the morning, I was lucky enough to watch the Daycare students share their learning with our PYP students at a very special Primary Gathering. Then, in the afternoon, even more privileged to be invited to the Daycare Graduation. It was a joy to be a small part of such a joyous occasion and to see so many of our ancillary staff parents watching on so proudly from the audience.
Later on Friday, the Primary Student Voice hosted yet another successful community event, the Beach Ball Disco. More or less every Primary student was there in their funkiest beachwear, dancing along to the collaborative playlist, drinking the bespoke mocktails, enjoying the photobooth and having a fabulous time. Huge congratulations to the Student Voice for once again pulling out all the stops and organising such a joyful, community occasion. They are already planning their next big surprise! Thank you to all the teachers and parents who supported the festivities…and helped to clean up afterwards!
Events such as these are precious reminders of how unique and special our school is, bringing together students of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate community, a shared sense of belonging and an appreciation for others.
Today was a good day indeed.
Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus
Diploma News
In mentor time on Monday students participated in a variety of activities. Some wrote letters of gratitude to their teachers, peers or support staff. The little coloured notes brought smiles to many faces. Others wrote letters for the Amnesty International ‘Write for Rights’ campaign. Most had a chance to check in with their mentor to discuss how things are going. On Tuesday evening we had the Sudanese cultural night which was enjoyable and informative.
The D1 students spent Life Skills on Tuesday working on their project week planning. They need to think how they are going to travel, where they are going to stay, what contacts they need to make. Some of them need to arrange vaccinations and others need to arrange government permits. Their supervisors and other members of staff are there to help them, but the main work is done by the students.
The D2 students have been preparing for their orals which start next week as well as working on IAs, their EE, their TOK Essay and summative assessments happening. It has been a very busy and stressful time.
For all students it is important they exercise, eat well and sleep. The IB learner profile of being balanced is critical. When setting targets of what to do it is better to set a time target than a task target as a timed one is more achievable. Building a schedule with short breaks in will help. Students should talk with their mentors and residential parents to help them make a plan.
The D1 students standing for co-president of the student government have been bombarding us with emails as part of their campaign. We have the presidential debate on Sunday and speeches on Monday, after which voting will start.
Margaret Brunt
Outdoor Pursuits
Longido
November rain did not deter 35 M5 and DP students from scaling Mt. Longido which has an elevation of about 2700m above sea level. It is located in the Arusha region in Tanzania and is half an hour away from the border of Kenya.
The trip was challenging yet rewarding. As described by one of the assistant trip leaders, Mr. Will Taylor, “students found their way up and down unusually difficult Longido. The rains cleared as we neared the summit for some beautiful views. The slip and slide return trek was nothing short of a mudfest. We finished in the dark but everyone made it injury-free and mostly with big smiles.”
It is worth noting that even parents are raving about the Outdoor Pursuits at UWCEA. According to Ms. Natasha Berri, a D1 parent, “The OP trips offered at UWCEA are just awesome. As a parent, I am amazed at what our kids get to experience.”
As for me, I am surprised that after Kilomeni, I have climbed Longido. Even more surprising is that I am now looking forward to conquering Kilimanjaro in the future, an aspiration shared also by our students.
Kudos to the OP team for making this trip possible and memorable.
Rina Gillegao
Rides Challenge
For more than 2 years the OP Rides Program was not complete. It has faced challenges which delayed its progression. We had only introductory and intermediate rides experiences. But we did not have the highest-level experience as we have with Peaks, Reefs and Plains. Rain, muddy tracks, bad traffic on tarmac roads, boda-bodas and bajajs kept us away from succeeding. But not this year, a small group of adventurous cyclists mixed with UWCEA staff and students embarked on an epic journey, determined to pioneer the highest level for our OP rides Program. The aim was to build a trip that would respectfully match the Peaks challenge of Kilimanjaro.
Our itinerary plan before the trip went as follows:
Day 1: Drive from campus to Mkomazi National Park, Zange Gate. Unpack the vehicles and have lunch. Ride to Mkomazi Hotel & Campsite (30 km) where we will stay for the night.
Day 2: Ride to Mnazi and camp (80 km).
Day 3: Ride to Mtoni Bombo (80 km).
Day 4: Ride to Fish Eagle Point (90 km). Swim, dinner, and camp at Fish Eagle Point.
Day 5: Drive back to campus. ETA to Moshi is 3 pm, and ETA to Arusha is 5 pm.
The trip was a huge success, not without some challenges along the way. Every evening of the trip we experienced rain. The Area between Same and Tanga got unprecedented heavy rains which was unusual for the season. Day 1 – 3 went very well, with the cycle team maintaining 13-15 km an hour. Day four we cycled through some heavily flooded areas, which unfortunately resulted in the Lorry getting stuck in a riverbed, Then another river down the road restricted the land cruiser from crossing. Do we leave the Lorry or do we press on? With just 34km to go to Fish Eagle Point we decided to press on, cycling the final section with no vehicle assistance and everything we could carry on our backs. We made it to our destination at sunset breathing a sigh of relief. We were happy but sad as we had left the drivers, Mr Sanga and Mr Yohanna, Mr Salimu and Ms Aizhan behind to look after the vehicles and wait for rescue. The following day we hired a bus to get us back to Moshi. We got home really late at 10pm, however safe and sound. It wasn’t until Monday that our beloved Lorry, land cruiser and driver and staff team came to school. Congrats to the Team on completing 290 km Rides Challenge Same to Fish Eagle. We did it!
Baden Dowie
MYP News
M4 Language and Literature: For the past two weeks, M4 English Language and Literature (Group A), have been working on their spoken word poems to demonstrate their understanding of spoken word poetry elements, style, and thematic exploration. The culmination of this activity is an event on Monday, December 4th, 2023 where they will be performing their original spoken word poems related to our unit of inquiry. (Poster above)
M4 Music For their summative task in Music, M4 students performed their Ukulele pieces in front of an audience!
Well done M4 for being risk takers and knowledgeable. Thank you, Ms. Jamie, for inviting us to watch.
MYP Dates to Remember:
December 4th – Spoken Word Poetry Night M4
December 8th – Evening of the Arts
December 15th – Last day of Semester/ Semester 1 Reports
Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator
PYP News
We enjoyed a lovely primary gathering on the tennis courts on Friday morning. The Daycare Centre children sang some songs and we heard from their graduating class who encouraged us to persevere and never give up. Congratulations to Ms. Grace and Mr. Elias and to all of the children. Friday evening was the PYP Beach Ball disco. There was a photo booth, mocktails and lots of dancing! Thank you to Mr. Ben, Ms. Zitha and the Student Voice for organising such a fun event. Our NTSAA football players plan to leave campus very early on Saturday morning. I hope the tournament in Arusha is a success. Next week will be the last week of PYP clubs (Saturday Football will still take place on December 9th). If you would like to offer a club in Quarter 3 please email Coach Pickell (joshpickell@uwcea.org) or me. We would love to hear from you.
Upcoming dates:
Friday, 8th December – Evening of the Arts. All PYP children will have work on display and some will be performing
Monday, 11th December – end of semester whole school assembly 10:30 Karibu Hall
Wednesday, 13th December – PYP Parent Teacher Conferences
Friday, 15th December – Primary Gathering and last day of classes
Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinator
EC/P1 Class
The childrens’ robots are looking good. They are in the final stages of being completed. You are welcome to see them at the Evening of the Arts.
This week, we reviewed our knowledge of subtraction and solved quite a lot of sums. This is a math skill that we use throughout our lives. Please take time to ask subtraction questions in your daily walks and talks.
The picture shared is the reading train that the EC children decided to make without any prompting from their teachers. They took a good 10 minutes to explore their favourite books before moving on to another activity.
Mboka Mwasongwe
P2/3 Class
All of the children were remarking that we cannot believe it’s already December! My how this semester has flown. We are still in work-mode here in P 2/3 with lots we want to do in the next two weeks. Please let me know if you’ll be leaving before the 15th, it helps with making plans.
This past week, we considered the meaning of the word tradition and we looked at the traditions associated with Dia de los Muertos, Sukkot and Holi. We also talked about traditions that are personal to our own families; like Game Night or Friday night movies or a particular thing that is said before bed. In the next two weeks we will be comparing different Christmas traditions from around the world as well as Hanukkah and Ramadan. If you have any interest in coming to class and share about the traditions from your culture or family, you are most welcome.
The photo is of the beautiful trees we made in consideration of Holi, the Festival of Color that is also a celebration of Spring.
Kacey Buckley
P4/5 Class
This week the children researched “food miles” or food kilometres to be more accurate. We looked at food imports to Australia (a country that has to import a lot of products) and how far many of their food items travelled from farm to plate. As we went down the list: bananas, coffee, lemons, the children were impressed that so many things grow in our own gardens. How lucky we are to live in Moshi and enjoy a wide variety of local produce. We have been learning about the importance of plants and some lovely food chain related art will be up on the breezeway next week. Next week we will be visiting the Mtuy Farm on Wednesday to learn about food production and distribution. We also hope to prepare some tasty snacks next week – thank you Nicolette (Mama Luana) for sending in some delicious sounding recipes. Nicolette will be visiting the class on Tuesday to teach them how to make compost. The children should wear rainboots if they have them as the ground might be muddy. Please encourage your child to bring in vegetable and fruit scraps from home on Monday and Tuesday to add to the compost. The P4/5 children have been practicing a dance in their music lessons and will be performing this at the Evening of the Arts. Ms. Jamie has shared the details by email. We hope many of the children will be able to attend.
Deborah Mills
P6 Class
Wow! It is hard to believe that it is December already. The school year is flying by and with only two weeks left of this quarter, P6 are going to be very busy.
This week we did an artist study about Paul Klee. Did you know he created around 9,000 pieces of art? What makes Klee’s work so unique is his love for colors. He thought colours had their own language and could make us feel different emotions and moods. We explored one of his famous paintings, ‘Senecio’ from 1922, and then let our creativity flow as we made our own abstract portraits inspired by his style.
In Maths we looked at angles in triangles and began using the programme MangaHigh which was set for Home Learning tasks this week. We also did some persuasive writing based on the topic of things we don’t like (mushrooms seemed to be the most popular!).
Next week we will begin discussing the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals and how they link to our upcoming PYP Exhibition. The Exhibition is still a little way off, but P6 are encouraged to start thinking about it. The Transdisciplinary Theme for this year will be Sharing the Planet. Further information about the student action component; and the overnight sleepover which we will do early next quarter to discuss the Central Ideas and Lines of Inquiry, will be shared before the break.
Natasha Berri
Coral Regeneration Service Group
The Coral Regeneration Service Group has launched its Kili2Coast Project and is calling all teachers for the Dunk-a-Teacher campaign!
The service group is calling all UWCEA Moshi teachers for the “Dunk-a-Teacher Fundraiser Event.” Joel has sent a form inviting volunteer “cool teachers” to be dunked for donations. Proceeds from donations to ‘dunk a teacher’ on campus will go to supporting the ongoing work of the service group.
Currently the group is focused on a few goals. One is reducing the flow of waste, by addressing supply chains and offering replacement products. They aim to support local entrepreneurs who provide ecologically friendly materials, products, and services. This week they joined the clean up service and considered data collection associated with Ocean Conservancy Global Clean-Up. Further work on providing guidelines for carrying out ecological surveys are in progress, with a few students also learning about coral genetics and coral health indicators for increased understanding of the coral reef ecosystem. Their understanding of taxonomy is on the rise as they work on fish species identification and broaden their knowledge. There is so much more happening, so keep an eye out for their progress in the months ahead!
Damien [D2] and Megan [D2] are putting in a huge amount of effort into the Kili2Coast project and providing commendable guidance to the future leaders of the service team.
From the Counselors
Dear everyone,
I want to use this letter to extend my gratitude to D2s and their parents and teachers who have been so organized and collected with their university admissions process.
It is so nice to work with all of you and I think we have done so much during the first semester. You all have been great, and just kudos to you and all of your resilience and hard-working nature.
I am looking forward to the 16th of December this time, as I am sure we will be getting many positive results for our early applicants pools *fingers crossed*. Regardless of the admission decision, I can assure you that this graduating class was the most organized, impressive, mature, kind and caring cohort I worked with, and it’s truly been a privilege. In mid-March we will get the rest of the results when I hope all of you will be happy with landing and choosing the best place for you and only you to spend 4 years of the continuation of your academic and professional life.
Have a good last two weeks of the term, take care.
Upcoming College and University Events
2 December: Times Vary Information sessions with Bocconi (Italy), Science Po (France) and UWC Alumni Panel with Cornell, Hamilton, and Ithaca (NY, USA) Don’t miss these virtual engagement opportunities.
5 December: 7:30-8:30 PM EAT Are you a College Bound athlete? Come learn more about the process of playing collegiate sports on a US campus (virtual)
6 December: 7:30-8:30 PM EAT Bard College Berlin. Studying in Germany and pursuing a degree in the humanities. (virtual)
9 December: 3:00-5:00 PM EAT Global universities fair (virtual). Register in advance via link on UWCEA Careers website calendar.
*TBD December: 7:30-8:30 PM EAT Do you need to create an Art Portfolio for your application? Join us to learn more about how to successfully create a competitive portfolio for admissions consideration. (virtual)
Aizhan Smagulova – University and Career Counselor
