Principal's Pen

ECC + Elementary

Dear Parents,  

As we begin the second semester, we are looking forward to a great spring. There are a lot of fun and learning activities happening this spring, so please read your child’s newsletter each week and watch ClassDojo for special messages.

The first large event of 2024 is China Day! Please plan to join us for a fun day to learn about a wonderful holiday and have a good time enjoying Chinese culture. The focus area for China Day is Xi’an. This city has a long history and special things that students will learn about and will get to experience. A schedule for the day will be coming soon, so please watch for it to be posted in your child’s ClassDojo.

The ECC will be celebrating the 100th day in the next few weeks. Please help your child participate in this fun day. Grade 1–5 clubs’ sign-ups are also coming soon, so please watch for them so you don’t miss the opportunity to sign your child up for clubs. Please note that if more students sign up for a club than there is space, those students’ names will be put into a lottery for the club.

Secondary

Our secondary students have started this semester with a bang and are showcasing their diverse talents. We have a team competing in the Sichuan Science Fair. Every year, students who place in the top three of our science fair have the option to compete in Sichuan. We are excited to see how our students do. The experience of presenting and seeing over 20 other science fair teams will definitely be an invaluable learning experience.

We also have students participating in CISSMUN, which is a Model United Nations Conference hosted by Concordia International School in Shanghai. MUN conferences are great opportunities for students to grow in public speaking, academic writing, and collaboration with students from all over China. Good luck, MUN students!

Next week, TIS will be hosting one of my favorite events all year, the LifePlus Basketball Tournament. This is when all six of our LifePlus schools compete in a multi-day tournament for the championship. This is a great way for our students to both compete and make connections in our LifePlus system. These friendships bud and continue on as students meet for LifePlus events over the years.

This tournament will be here on campus next week, and I encourage you to attend. If you aren’t able to see a game in person, please catch the live stream, which will ensure you don’t miss any of the action. More details will be forthcoming, so please watch your WeChat for updates.

Go Eagles!

Lastly, I wanted to share some thoughts about the quality of the month in January, which is service. Oftentimes, we overthink service. We think that service requires donating massive amounts of money or doing something monumental for another person. When we have this standard for service, we get intimidated and give up. We can’t possibly imagine donating 10 million dollars to try to end poverty, so we don’t do anything. The enormity of the task makes us paralyzed because we don’t think we can actually make a difference. But while thinking this way is common, it's not true. There’s no minimum donation required to serve others. Service is all about using our time, talent, or treasure to bless someone else. It is taking what we have or can do and doing it for another person. It is simply loving our neighbor as ourselves.

This still may sound intimidating, but it isn’t. I didn’t say it is easy. In some ways, service requires something from us. It requires us to think of another person instead of ourselves. It involves giving something away. But once you understand that, the actual service part is easy because it involves simple things. Holding the door open for someone, picking up your siblings' dishes and taking them to the sink, or asking a friend if you can do anything to help them today. All of these are simple things, but they mean so much. These little things amount to huge blessings and can really change someone's life. Service is contagious, and serving others is a way to honor them and humble yourself. Try it out today and see what happens.

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