Benjamin Franklin International School

As many of you already know, last Friday was a big day for the Elementary community. Ms. Tiffany displayed a variety of artworks from students in grades K-5 including drawings, paintings, ceramics, weaving, paper-mache masks.  Also on Friday, ES Student Council put on an amazing talent show. Students participated in a variety of acts including playing the drums, piano, saxophone and violin, singing and dancing, rollerblading, reciting poems and drawing! The students had unlimited ideas for organizations to donate to but in the end we decided it was best to help both our local and global communities simultaneously by donating to BFIS Habitat for Humanity. We were able to raise 600 €! Thank you to all who helped out by volunteering, performing, donating, baking and encouraging students to participate!

Recently, Grade 12, History of Art students visited the gothic heart of Barcelona. In order to gather strength for the trip, they made their first port of call ‘Granja Viader’, a place which reportedly makes the best cream in Barcelona! Following this, they toured the old hospital de la Santa Creu and the House of Charity in the Raval district. After crossing the Ramblas and seeing the Plaza del Pino, to see the great rose window, the Jewish Quarter and Plaza Felip Neri. Later on they entered the cloister of the Catherdral, the Centro Excursionista to see the colums of the temple of agustas and visited la plaza del Rey. Finishing off the day with a visit to el Barrio de la Ribera and the Santa Maria del Mar. All of this in less than four hours, a morning full of history, art and cream!

The visit from Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) this week gave our students a unique insight into life at a selective southern university and a fresh student perspective in comparison to the recruitment officers that have visited us throughout the year from mainly North East coast colleges. There were some thoughtful questions from students about the sports life, social life and flexibility in choosing majors. The visiting students were able to share their experiences of studying a pre-med tract, double major and triple major options and answer questions about the transition from high school to college. If any BFIS students have further questions for the Vanderbilt visitors, please get in touch with Ms. Hendricks or Ms. Cox who will be able to forward their questions.

I kicked the sand off my feet as I looked at the snow-peaked Pyrenees surrounding me.  I was playing beach volleyball, or should I say “mountain volleyball”, at Campus Cerdanya in Puigcerdá.  I was glad to be there with all of the fourth and fifth graders.  I was glad to be doing activities in the first place, but most of all I was glad to be here, on this overnight field trip in La Cerdanya.

It was a bright day in May, so what could possibly go wrong?  In fact, nothing did.  We did amazing activities such as blogging, programming robots, and interviewing others about saving the Earth. We modeled cars and tested how far they went.  We used wind energy to power a Lego car, played a memory game with dry pasta, ice skated, and watched a movie.  We went on a scavenger hunt all around Puigcerdá, had a disco, and invented a machine to save the Earth, not to mention lots of outside breaks in between.  We were lucky that Campus Cerdanya had things to offer like big sloping lawns and ping pong tables.

I must admit that some cafeteria food is pretty awful.  That’s definitely not the case here.  I enjoyed every single bit, and if you have problems with certain food, or have allergies, the chefs are also prepared to give you something else.  We loved Campus Cerdanya.  You will too.

By Teagan Mountcastle and Natasha Salmi.

Please click here to view pictures.

This semester, BFIS has been abuzz with parent and teacher workshops around the topic of mathematics. Specifically, we’ve looked at how a conceptual approach to all topics, from our youngest learners to the most advanced, is a critical piece of instruction that allows students to develop fluency in math. To be fluent, we expect our children and students to be efficient, accurate and flexible. Not only does this approach help students make connections from one big idea to the next, filling in their emerging mathematical road map, it also is more fun, creative, open-ended, expressive, collaborative, and beautiful than only focusing on the step-by-step procedure to solve a problem.

Click here to read more about the two visiting scholars who spent time on campus this spring, working with teachers, students, and parents. Resources and references are also available from the link.

Many thanks go to Nicholas Forcier from Bennington College for a very informative and interactive presentation on Monday for our sophomores and juniors. We were also thankful to two of our seniors who shared about what drew them to apply to Bennington. Senior Rosie Nalle was excited to accept a merit scholarship to start at Bennington in the fall. This was Bennington’s first trip to Spain, so we’re honored that they wanted to meet more of our sophomores and juniors, having been impressed by the candidates we have sent them so far.

Please click here to read more about Bennington College.

Did you know that nearly 6,000 languages are spoken in the world? In February, the Elementary School celebrated Individual and Linguistic Identity. This Social and Emotional Learning theme corresponded with UNESCO´s International Mother Language Day which was also recognized in February.

All Elementary students had the opportunity to design a welcome template in their native language. One template was selected to represent each language spoken by elementary students. This template became part of a multilingual welcome board, designed by 12th grader Takumi Maezawa in collaboration with Mr. Magaña.

The welcome board is now on display in our school´s main office!

Be sure to stop by and have a look!

This year’s ES Green Week activities focused on a natural resource absolutely essential to life – - water.  From Nursery to 5th grades, in Spanish and English, all classes took the time to stop and think of the crucial role water plays in our lives.  The Green Week Assembly commenced the week, and included a play by the kindergarten students, called “The Giving Sea.”  Based on Shel Silverstein’s outstanding “Giving Tree,” the children presented the ES audience ample reasons why we need to respect and care for the seas and all bodies of water. The 1^st grade and Kindergarten students sang “We Are The World,” with audience participation and accompanying rap lyrics by Nick Lodder and Alexander Lackhoff!  The Barcelona Mobile Recycling Truck (Punt Verd Mòbil) came to BFIS on Tuesday, and Kindergarten and 1^st grade students carried to the truck the items brought by BFIS families.  Throughout the week, ES students actively sought out answers to the question “What can we do to help?”  All K-5 work is displayed outside rooms, and we invite you to take a look at all the effort our students have made!

• Nursery and pre-k students reused and recycled water bottles. Our students are off to a great start! Pre-k kids also got together to devise clever stories with water as a main character. The Nursery children also talked about how we should not waste water, and then drew pictures illustrating this important point.
• Kindergartners made one poster of a beautiful sea, and another of a polluted one, asking onlookers to choose which one they preferred.  They also tried to answer the question, “Why is the Earth so blue?”
• First graders wrote and illustrated their own suggestions for saving water, and also painted the Green Week posters we had up around school.
• Second graders came up with different ideas for the school motto that included the theme of recycling, and then illustrated them.
• Third graders wrote acrostic poems and illustrated posters about the Earth and water that show just how aware these young students are of the sad reality our planet faces.
• Fourth graders watched “The Story of Bottled Water,” by Anne Leonard, and wrote their creative ideas about this huge problem on water bottle shaped cut-outs, which are displayed on their doors.
• The artwork and amazing poetry the 5^th graders wrote about water transmit the urgent message human beings need to listen to:  water is what gives us life and selflessly helps sustain it – - and yet we squander this precious resource.

Third and fourth graders also started planting in the school garden this week!

Please click here to view pictures.

Once again we celebrated Sant Jordi at BFIS on April 23rd. The event was a success and we were lucky with the unpredictable spring weather. Elementary students danced, PE21 students showed off their gymnastic abilities and 11th graders gave us a modern performance of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon.

Thank you to all the BFIS community for supporting our students and for celebrating together.

Please click here to view pictures.