Mr Ian Cawley, Global Product Manager (HE & Adult), Business & Mktg, Cambridge Assessment English, visited SAI International School on Thursday, February 28, 2019. He was accompanied by Shri Manish Puri, Head of Business Development, South Asia, CELA, Ms. Saraswathi Sudhakar, Consultant-South and East, CELA, Shri Avijeet Kundoo, British Council Head of Examinations East Zone and Shri Sayantan Ghosal, Manager, Exam Business Development, East India.

Mr. Cawley was highly impressed with the way the CELA is being conducted in SAI for many years. He presented the Exam Preparation Plaque to the Vice Chairperson Dr Silpi Sahoo. The team discussed about their fruitful association with SAI International School and SAI International Residential School (SIRS) and looks forward to work with SAI International College of Commerce (SICC).

Mr. Cawley appreciated the various facilities provided to students and said that “It’s an amazing school. I can’t believe the facilities here and the opportunities you have made available to your students”

Interview with Mr. Ian Cawley, Global Product Manager , Cambridge Assessment English

SAI Angan students from classes KG I – III participated in our annual International Storytelling Week from February 7-14. This year we have picked books from USA, Switzerland and India.  We were joined by our partners schools Churchdown Village Infants School, UK and Scooby – Doo Nursary & Day Care, Uganda.

Books are selected from Time Magazine ‘100 Best Children’s Books’ list as usual. To date we have completed 18 of the 100 listed books adding a few from Indian authors as well. After procuring the books they are added to the school’s library so students can check them out and read them at home with their parents.

THIS YEARS BOOKS!!!! Each class was given a different book with graded activities including, skits, art and craft, worksheets, poster making and writing poems in the form of Spoonerisms.

SKYPE call with UK

We started International Storytelling Week with a Skype call exchanging books with our partner school in UK. SAI Angan students participated in a 20 min Skype call with students from Churchdown Village Infant School, UK. Mrs. Rashmi Sahoo, class I teacher, read ‘Amma Tell Me About Ganesha’ to a classroom full of CVIS Class I Students. In reciprocation CVIS teacher Mr Kristian Rouse told the story of Farmer Duck. Students laugh and enjoy both stories. Students from CVIS loves the part of the Indian story when the elephant sacrifices his life and gave  his head to save Ganesha. SAI Angan students enjoyed going the actions that went along with UK story. Everyone giggled when they had to quack like a duck with their hand.

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KG I & KG II students read the Bear Snores On (America) by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Her books have received numerous state and national awards and translated into many languages, and made it to the New York Times Bestsellers list many times. In the book  a whole host of different animals and birds find their way out of the cold and into Bear’s cave to warm up. But even after the tea has been brewed and the corn has been popped, Bear just snores on!

KG I had a wonderful storytelling session with acting out the story in real time. The story goes through a range of emotions and students had a blast acting out each one. Teachers used puppets of the main characters to bring the story to life and you can tell by the smiles on the students faces that they truly enjoyed this storytelling session. KG II students made masks using common classroom items  after they finished with their story telling session.

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Class I – II students read the Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister (Switzerland) author and illustrator of children’s picture books. His Rainbow Fish series of children’s picture books, published since 1992, has been a worldwide success. All of class I completed their Storytelling session of the Rainbow Fish and created their very own Fish to display on the Bulletin Boards this week in SAI Angan. Students loved the story, it focused on the pursuit of happiness by a fish who ultimately comes to the conclusion that it is better to share the things you love the most with friends then hoard them and have no friends at all. The Rainbow Fish book is a clever take on the saying “money cant by happiness”.

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Class II students completed their worksheets designed around the story of the “Rainbow Fish”.  As the book spoke about sharing and how it feels to be left out the worksheet also touched on this simply but common challenge face by all while growing up. Students answered several questions including “Have you ever been left out? How did it feel? and Have you ever been bad to a friend?  After filling in the answers students had to draw a picture of someone being a good friend and narrate what is  happening in the picture below in a few short sentences.  Often as teachers we do not get a good glimpse of our students on friendship and empathy towards others this activity gave us a true picture.

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The Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstien (Amersica) Cartoonist, Musician and Children’s Book Writer. Academy, Golden Globe award nominations and 2 time Grammy Award Winner.

Class III completed the funny and innovative book by Shel Silverstien called “Runny Babbit” which is based on the concept of Spoonerisms which are a mistake made when speaking in which the first sounds of two words are exchanged with each other to produce a not intended and usually funny meaning. for instance  instead of saying “a troop of boy scouts” one would say ” a scoop of boy trouts”. This play on words was the focal point of the activities done by the class III students. Students first had to read an entire poem in spoonerism format. Then they had to translate the poem into normal flowing sentences. After wards in groups they had to create their own spoonerism poems and writings. With lots of laughter and many smiles each team came up with wonderful creative works that they proudly showed to their teachers. Identifying Spoonerisms in speech patterns is considered a good tool to control stuttering and other speech impediments. Practicing switching words accurately and maintaining concentration helps a child with speech problems, to re-train their speech system.  Students found this activity to be humorous while teachers enjoyed watching students break down words in order to decipher the writings and the use that knowledge to create their own spoonerism poetry and stories.

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Keep up the good work SAIONEERS….HAPPY READING

We are thrilled to report that 900 SAI International School students along with students in  schools from  113 countries participated in the 2019 Great Kindness Challenge!!! 

As part of their Kids for Peace annual activities SAI International School participates  in the Great Kindness Challenge along with students from all over the world. Participation is this programme helps procure our status as a kindness certified school. A Kindness Checklists with 50 acts of kindness (classes II – III) and with 12 acts of kindness (classes KG II – Class I) were distribute.  Students had one week to complete as many kindness acts as they could. Thanks to our trailblazing students, over 650 million acts of kindness took place!!! SAI students alone completed over 26,000 of those acts at the school and local community. What an AMAZING celebration of kindness.

One Check list…..One Week……50 Acts of Kindness

A big thank you to all our students and parents for making such a positive difference at our school, community and our world.

There’s no doubt about it, KINDNESS MATTERS!

SAI International School starts off on the right global foot in 2019. Apart from SAI teachers completing AFS workshops in Inter Cultural Learning and, the school has taken up an AFS Membership. We will be offering our students short-term and long-term programmes that include student exchange programmes and hosting opportunities with participating AFS Member schools abroad. These programmes will be launched at the beginning of every academic school year and parents will have the opportunity to enroll their child accordingly.

In order to meet the AFS Member School criteria SAI School also had to offering global citizenship training  to 50 students from classes 8-12. These lucky students will be the ones to take this programme forward for years to come.  The workshop for the students was conducted on Monday, January 7, 2019. Students attended the workshop which imparted training on United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to become the Change Agents. As part of the training, Shri Sujit Mahapatra, Founder, Bakul Foundation spoke on his own struggles, challenges and success of becoming a change maker. He elaborated on how he is linked with the SDGs like Education and environment.

Through interactive talks and collaborative hands-on activities, participants explored their own role as global citizens and change makers. The aim of the workshop is to gather youths to reflect on the issues affecting the world and how they can work together to help advance the UN-SDGs.

The AFS training is an ongoing developmental process aimed at imparting intercultural competence. It aims to equip the teachers with skills that will enable them to work in environment filled with diversity and help them in edify students to become Global Change makers and leaders in their own field. AFS encourages people to embrace their “learning to live together” philosophy and foster intercultural understanding to create positive change for a more just and peaceful world.

THE VIRUS GAME: Students had to secretly  pick two people they were linked to. As they walked around in a circle one person was randomly picked to have a virus and they were asked to come to the center of the circle and sit down (DEAD). All other students who were linked to infected student also had to join the middle circle…..and so on until nobody was left. It was an interesting experiment that clearly shows how our thought and actions are intertwined. Honesty also became a crucial element to the game. If people were not honest then the game would not work. Ultimately the virus effected the entire groups….there were ultimately no winners as everyone it interlink in some way.

The feedback from students was anything but static. Students took careful note on how they felt during the game and how it pertained to everyday life.

Participating in AFS programmes help with a child’s global competence, the “power skill” young people require to make their impact on an increasingly diverse world and global economy.  These programmes inspire kids to become active global citizens that are prepared to communicate, collaborate and lead across differences that tackle the world’s greatest defining challenges, transforming them into true global change makers.

Students have the opportunity to live with a family in another country. Enjoy different traditions. Take time to appreciate, value and deepen their insights about other perspectives, cultures, religions and important world issues. They will be able to go to school in their host country, learning new languages and finding ways to connect with people from other cultures and backgrounds- skills that they take back home and use for a lifetime. The AFS experience allows kids to discover new things about themselves and their place in the world while turning challenging situations into valuable opportunities to grow and become more mature.

Future Change Makers !!!!!

AFS Inter-Cultural Learning Workshop @ SAI International School was conducted on January 6 & 8, 2019, as part of the AFS Intercultural Program. Twenty-nine teachers of the school undertook the first level of training which was held on the topic ‘Intercultural Learning’. It was conducted by Ms. Sarita Badhwar, Consultant AFS India.

This training fulfilled one of the basic requirements to become an AFS Member School. This membership will grant us opportunities in the form of long term and short term exchange programmes around the globe fro our teachers and students.

In the interactive workshop, teachers learnt about the Educational Approach and the various Programs of AFS, Cognitive and learning styles emphasizing on the theory and practice of Kolb’s learning cycle, Linking Intercultural learning to realities, on what Culture is and its concepts, the values and dimensions of culture as well as its adaptation. It also focused on the importance of various communication styles and suspended judgments.

Activities included role play, debate, and forming the Inter Cultural Pyramid comprising of ideas from most important to least important depending on relevance.

The AFS training is an ongoing developmental process aimed at imparting intercultural competence. It aims to equip the teachers with skills that will enable them to work in environment filled with diversity and help them in edify students to become Global Change makers of leaders in their own field.

SAI International School looks forward to nurturing the AFS Programme in the school allowing for major growth in intercultural understanding.

SAI International School has a long history of working with the German Consulate. This year we are looking to  introduce the German Language into the school as a 3rd Language.  Ms. Anita Mitra, Educational Cooperation Officers Goethe-Institutions/Max Mueller Bhavan, German Consulate and  Ms. Mitra discussed the introduction of German into the school and school’s linkage between SAI International School and Schools in Germany. It was an interactive meeting as well as a session for the students of class V in the Work Shop Room of the School.

Activities included basic German language lessons in numbers, colours, animals and even a few verbs. Students also learned how to introduce themselves in German.

German is one of the top 5 languages spoken in the world. Almost 185 million people across the globe speak German. It’s a very easy language to be understood and written. A flourishing future career is one of the most important motivators for foreign language learning.

INTRODUCING YOURSELF – “Mien name ist“ (My name is), “Wie ist dien name?” (What is your name? and the phrase “Ich komme aus Indien” (I am from India)

COUNTING IN GERMAN (forwards and backwards) and Learning Colours 

NAMES OF ANIMALS including Dolphin, Tiger, Elephant and Giraffe 

Students also learnt about the benefits of learning the German language. SAI International School plans on sending students to Sri Lanka this summer to attend a seven day German Language camp for German learners from all over Asia.

“Donke Sehr” (Thank You) Anita and Ms. Mitra and Max Mueller for the wonderful workshop. We are looking forward to your next visit.

SAI International School represented Design For Change India at the ‘Be the Change’ (BTC) Global Conference held in Taiwan from November 30^th to December 2^nd, 2018, for the ‘100 Library Project’. ‘100 Library Project’ is a philanthropic initiative envisioned by students of SAI International School to support students from under-privileged schools in and around the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, by providing them with a fully functional library. The project also involves imparting training to teachers on book keeping and record keeping. Through demonstration they are briefed on how to conduct story telling session, make library period more interactive and productive as well as how to inculcate a love for book reading in the students. Regular monitoring and assessments are conducted at regular intervals to ensure proper outcome.

The student-led project was selected as part of the DFC I CAN School Challenge 2017, owing to the great work done by the young students. Class XII students Ayushi Mohanty and Vishnu Lohia along with Ms Jessica Patnaik, International Coordinator represented the school on this global platform.

DAY 1 Report (November 29th): Travel to Taiwan – By Ayushi Mohanty

We reach Taiwan around 12 PM local time, head to immigration and collect our baggage. We were met by BTC’s local representative, Zan. She had organised three EasyCards, allowing us to access public transportation like the speed train without any hassle. She had also arranged three separate SIM cards for our team and also provided us with the local city and public transportation maps. She gave us a brief explanation of all the important train lines and stations around the city. We took speed train from the airport to Songshang station with three stops along the way and reached our hotel, Amba. Amba is a beautiful hotel with breathtaking views of Taipei and amazing accommodation.

After taking a short trip to the nearby McDonald’s for lunch, we came back to the hotel, freshened up and took a 10 minute walk to the Raohe Night Market. The magnificence of this market is hard to describe. The colours and vibrancy of the place left us spellbound. The only inconvenience we faced was the strong smell of all the different types of food sold there. We saw all types of meat starting from chicken to octopus to shrimps and everything in between.

After spending about an hour an half in the market, we came outside and visited the extraordinarily beautiful Songshang Ciyou Temple. This historical temple was built in 1753 and is dedicated to the deity Black Faced Mazu. The temple is adorned with twin dragons facing three immortals representing health, happiness and longevity.

After such an exciting trip inside the temple, we took a break for about 10 mins and enjoyed our pretty little cheesecakes we bought in the market. We then walked down and took the longer to our hotel soaking in the city lights. We finished our exciting evening with a dinner of club sandwiches in the hotel restaurant.

DAY 2 Report (November 30, 2018): 1st day at the DFC Conference – By Vishnu Kumar Lohia

We woke up at 8.30 in the morning and got ready by 9:15 and went for our breakfast in the Hotel’s restaurant. I had pasta specially made by the chef for me in the vegetarian version.  Then we met Sumedha, our coordinator from India and discussed about the event. Then we went out to the Taipei 101 which is the tallest building in the city and was the the tallest in the world up until Burj Khalifa surpasses it in 2010. It is also the tallest green building in the world. We figured out our way to the building on our own through the map we were provided by our guide yesterday and mazed our way through the metro rail. It was such a fun and exciting experience finding our way through the underground system. Jessica Ma’am gave us the map and let us make the choice it was a really great lesson for us on independence.

Then we came back to our hotel and had our lunch. Then we were greeted by our volunteer, Chloe from DFC Taiwan and we went to the venue for the main event by the Metro again. We also met the very welcoming DFC Taiwan head Katie and her team, they were lovely people. We then rehearsed for our presentation for the next day. Then we had the local special bubble tea and quickly went to the venue of the welcome party on the shuttle bus we reached there by 5:45. We had our dinner at 6:00PM which was really amazing. We also met the head of DFC from various countries and the founder Kiran Sethi. The event started at 7:00pm representatives of each country were introduced and they told everyone how they said “Together We Can” in their language. After that we had an interactive session where they bounced three gigantic balloons toward the us with TOGETHER WE CAN together written on them. It was a really fun activity. We then had the representatives of the different countries performing. We also danced on the beats of various regional songs of different countries with all the people making a huge circle. Lastly, we got a lot of pictures clicked with the people from all over the world.

DAY 3 (Dec 1, 2018): 2nd Day at the DFC Conference / Presentation Day by Ayushi Mohanty 

Today was the big day. The day of the presentation was finally here. We woke up at 6AM and after trying for about 20 minutes, Vishnu was up too. We started our day super early and were done with breakfast by 7:20AM. Vishnu finally had a variety of vegetarian options and that made all of us happy. The lobby of our hotel and the restaurant was bustling with people from the DFC conference. We met up few of our friends from the Opening Ceremony and waited a while in the lobby until all of our team was there. From our hotel, we took a shuttle bus to the venue – Heping Experimental Elementary School. The decorations and the vibe around the place was so positive and so exciting. We took a couple of photos and then moved towards the entrance of the venue. The school was transformed into this beautiful place that could accommodate a 1000 people and still look so pretty.

We then moved into the basketball gymnasium. This is where the main even t was hosted. The stage was amazingly lit up and everything looked spectacular. Our host, Chloe, then brought us the headsets that would help us translate various languages to English, making it so much easier for us to enjoy the event. About 9:40AM, the event started. The crowd was so cheerful and excited that it was difficult not to do the same. I tried to be a little nervous but all that energy, made my fears vanish in a millisecond. The entire event was hosted and arranged entirely by students. The tiny little kids anchored the entire event. The event started with the presentation by team Singapore. There were several other countries that put up amazing presentations, leaving everyone in the crowd so inspired and awestruck. There were also a couple of performances by the Honor Guard and the Diabolo performance. After the presentation of 11 countries, it was our time to show the entire gymnasium what our project was and proudly represent our country and our school. Whatever feeling of nervousness we thought we were going through, disappeared the moment we heard all the loud cheers after seeing our introduction video. The presentation ran so smoothly that we ourselves were shocked. It went on spotless and everyone in the room joined us. We made everyone do Namaste, Aashayein and the Clap of Happiness. Overall, the presentation was a hit.

After our presentation, Vishnu and I headed to another room where a representative from the organizing committee had us answer a few questions about the project and conduct an interview. Then we headed to lunch and had people from many teams come and congratulate us. We asked all the country teams to sign our globe. This went on for a while before we headed to another interview. This interview also had a representative ask us a few questions and we were confident while answering them. Then we headed on to our respective workshops and they were super fun. After the event, our entire team came together and we headed to catch the local bus to start our night city tour. We reached the Tonghua Night Market around 5:00 PM and walked around for a little while and shopped for souvenirs and key chains before meeting up at a small restaurant for dinner. We had a delicious meal of white sauce pasta. Then we had an hour to shop around the night market which was buzzing with crowded lanes. Then we took a bus ride from the market to our hotel. This marked the end of the most eventful day of the entire trip so far.

DAY 4 (Dec 2, 2018): 3rd Day at the DFC Conference / Cultural Dance Performances and Workshops by Vishnu Kumar Lohia

We woke in the morning  at 6.00 am and went for our breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel at 7.00 am. We went to the venue of the event at 8.15 am through the shuttle bus. We were greed by the DFC Taiwan members in a very warm way. The event started at 9.30 am sharp. We had a cultural music performance by a the Department of Xi Qu Music, National Taiwan College of Performing Arts.

We also so a mesmerizing and breathtaking dance performance by the students of  the Lan Yang Dance Troupe, Spring Blossoms.

We also saw the various projects of type different countries and it was really inspiring to see. DFC Israel did a project on Loneliness. The created a “Friendship Stations” through out their school and even at a local bus stands.

Take a look at their story.

We spent a lot of time with DFC Israel and they even invited us to elp them out with their project presentation. We then had the lunch break at 12.00 noon . The lunch was delicious . We then had the farewell party where we saw videos of the event and had various interactive sessions and also shared our contact details with the students  (superheros) from the various countries. Another favourite presentation was done by a small school in the outskirts of Taipei a small group of boys designed a emergency bag designed to protect your head during earthquakes which are prevalent in this part of the world the boys expressed that over 14,000 earthquakes happen each year in their area.

Take a look at their story :

After all the presentations were complete we split into workshops one on Being a Global Citizen from Understanding and Empathizing which helps in experiencing social injustice situations. Why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Is it their fault? What kind of help can be provided to reduce this problem.

We ended our trip with a night out to the local Mall located in front of our hotel, a short tip to a local street play and a wonderful traditional Taiwanese meal.

Finally we had the amazing opportunity to meet Kiran Bidi Sethi.

The BTC celebration honours and recognizes the young agents of change for their courage and determination to change the world around them. It also brings together students from various parts of the world to not only share their stories but also learn from each other. This year students from 56 countries will be present to showcase their projects.

The two-week Global Immersion Programme (GIP) of SAI International School to USA concluded on October 21, 2018. Thirteen students along with a Teacher Coordinator took part in th

e programme which is part of the Sister City Student Exchange Programme of the Cupertino Bhubaneswar Sister City Initiative (CBSCI).

Student Report for October 7 – 8  By DHRUTI SUNDAR KAMPA

Everyone reached the airport by 6:45 approx. After 3 hrs at the airport we left for Calcutta at 9:30 and landed there at 10:30. From there we left for Doha and landed after 5 hrs. Next, we boarded to our gate for America. It was a really hectic journey as the flight was 16 hrs long. Thankfully we landed safely at around 2:00p.m. (by American time). Then we checked into our hotel and took a nap for a while. Then we left for dinner to an Indian restaurant and the food was just lit. We came back to the hotel and fell asleep as all of us were tired. The day was well spent by all of us. Tomorrow we head to Disneyland and we cannot wait.

Student Report for October 9 – By YOGDA PACHISIA 

Our wakeup call came at 6:30am. We were so excited to go to Disneyland the entire group was ready almost an hour early for our bus. The hotel breakfast was nice it had a choice of waffles, cereal, scrambled eggs, potatoes, toast or bagels and several types of juice. We boarded our bus shortly after we finished breakfast and quickly stopped by a store to pick up water for the day. It took about 45 min drive to reach Disneyland from our hotel. Once we reached we got our tickets and maps and planned how to conquer our day and ride as many rides as we could.

We started with Guardians of the Galaxy which was really fast. The ride would go straight up then drop down at such a high pace you would feel your body lift off your seat saved only by the seat belt strapping you in.

With hearts pumping we ran to our next ride which was at the Pixar Pier called the Incredicoster. I was a bit afraid at first because it had a loop in it that made you go upside down. After that it was time for lunch most of us ate Mexican food. I had black bean tacos. But most people had the Burrito del Pollo (Translated into English means Chicken Burrito).

After lunch we took some group pictures and went to the Grizzly Peak water ride which was a lot like water rafting and yes, we did get pretty wet. It was a lot of fun. We stopped for ice cream and then had to wait in line for a ride called Soarin which was virtual ride. It was almost 6pm so we went to the restaurant and picked up our food, Biriyani. After another 45min ride back to the hotel we all took our packed food and headed to our room completely exhausted. What a wonderful day!

Student Report for October 10 – By ARNAV DHANAWAT 

The day began well, as we woke up to a good weather and had good breakfast with good variety of juices. We left for Downtown Los Angeles at sharp 8. We are happy to have such a punctual teacher like Jessica Ma’am, no matter how late we wake up, ma’am makes sure that we are right on time. We are also grateful to Chairman Sir for giving us such an opportunity and arranging such a marvelous trip for us.

We went to many famous Hollywood streets and saw popular places owned by famous movie stars like restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs. Then went for a walking tour of more Hollywood attractions and then we went for souvenir shopping for our friends and families. Then most of us had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe afterwards we left for Griffith Observatory where we came to know about outer space and telescopes.

After that we all spent our post lunch time in Citadel Outlets where we bought goodies from our favourite brands like Calvin Klein, Nike, Crocs and more brands. We all have been missing our families but that is covered up by the fun we are having with our friends. Today, we came across a great saying at the Griffith Observatory “If all mankind could look through that telescope, it would change the world”, this means that if everyone could look at the world with the same view, then there would be no inequalities among people.

Student Report for October 11- By ANIMESH MOHANTY & AMLAN KISHORE DAS 

Today was a great day we got a chance to go to Universal Studios Hollywood.

We woke up at 7 am and went for breakfast at 8:30. We left for the the park at 9:30 took us a long time to reach there. We reached at 10:45 there and made went in. We all upgraded to the express tickets and split up in groups. We experienced many of the rides there like transformers, mummy and Harry Potter.

We then got a studio tour which was really amazing as we got to see many sound stages where many popular movies were shot. We got to see sets of movies like Back To The Future, Bruce Almighty and many more we also saw many cars which were used in movies like Fast And The Furious, Jurassic Park and also a 3-D King Kong and Fast And The Furious ride. We had our lunch in there and the park was supposed to close down early for the Halloween parade so we had to leave.

We decided to leave Universal studios at about 5PM and after all of us assembled, we left at about 5:30 PM. All of us were tired but since we were ahead of our schedule, we had some time in our hands. Most of us slept during the bus ride. We went to a shopping mall close to our hotel at 7pm and left at about 8:30pm. We reached the hotel after 15 minutes and then after freshening up, left for dinner at about 9 o’clock. We walked to Denny’s for dinner and had a filling meal. We returned to the hotel at 10:30 thus ending our long day.

Student Report for Oct 12 – By PRATHAM PRADEEP 

Today we woke up at 8 AM. After eating our breakfast, we took some rest and checked out of the hotel at 10 45 AM.  We had to drive all the way from LA to Chowchilla for 8 hrs. It’s wasn’t boring to the level we expected. During the trip we played many games like UNO and other card games. We also went for shopping in between the trip. After a long trip we reached an Indian restaurant and had our dinner over there. Then we checked in the hotel Holiday Inn. And that’s how our day ended.

Student Report for October 13 – By SHIVAM BHARALAWALA

The day started well as we had a good breakfast at hotel Holiday Inn which is located in Chowchilla, then after the breakfast we left for Yosemite national park it was a long drive. After reaching there we went to a ranch which was full of horses and then we went for horse riding for full 2 hours. There were very steeps curves, uphill and downhill on our way which were dangerous.

After the horse riding we went for the lunch at subway and had fillings lunch and left to meet our host families. We reached city hall by 6:45 and after a great introduction and a warm welcome by the mayor and the host families we left the city hall with our respective host families.

Student Report for October 14 – By MANSITA MISHRA

Today’s day started at 8:55am. My first morning with my host Nivea and her family. In my host family there are 4 members Nivea (Nivi), her younger sister Minu, her mother Raji auntie and her father Madam uncle. After freshening up we all had our breakfast that is pancakes and coffee which was really tasty n filling after 2 hours we all decided to go to Santa Cruz beach we reached there at 1 and had our lunch. I had s’more crêpes and garlic fries which were delicious and near the beach there was Santa Cruz beach boardwalk; an amusement park and wend on a few rides like the fireball, haunted trail and the rope way. At 4 pm we drove back to our house and went for a Navratri celebration to Madan Uncle’s cousin’s place we had our dinner there and they dropped me and Nivi to the Lynbrook tennis court for Nivi’s homecoming dance practice I met her friend saw there dance n had a lot of fun. I feel like home here these people are really nice and treat me like their family member. In the beginning I was a bit scared but then now I think I have made a friend for life and will cherish these moments for a lifetime. This trip has taught me a lot of life lessons like how to adjust make friends be happy and independent. So yeah, that’s how my day ended.

Student Report for October  15- By ARCHIT BANDO

We had to reach the Cupertino Community Hall by 8:15am and we all had gatheredaround and left the place by 8:30am for Facebook.

After Facebook we left for the Tesla headquarters and then we left for the Tech Museum and had a lot of fun by using and playing scientific games and displays and designing our own bacteria.

We also tried out the bird virtual simulator which was the most amazing thing there and after the museum we went for our lunch at Pizza my Heart.

After lunch we left for the Apple Campus and then we went to the Mayor’s office and had a small talk about the city and he showed his office and then we started preparing for the small presentation by us to the host families and the mayor and the presentation was successful and we had our dinner in the community hall and our host’s took us for the night.

Meeting with the Mayor of Cupertino –

discussion on future plans between Cupertino and SAI International School and a in depth description of hoe the Cupertino City Government works

Student Presentation at City Hall –

We spoke about India our school and held a short fashion show were students dressed in different types of traditional Indian clothing

Student Report for October 16 – By VIDISHA AGRAWAL

Today began well as we started our journey by some fresh donuts and headed towards San Fransisco, there we saw some great places like City Hall and some really tall skyscrapers. Then, we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge which looked marvellous in real life.

We went to the Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 for lunch today, we also saw some sea lions there.

Then we left for Standford University where we went inside for a tour, we walked along the campus, we saw the church there and the 7 of the 21 beautiful fountains. We got to know many fascinating historical facts about the University of Stanford.

After coming back from the tour we came to the City Council Hall for the attending the Council Meeting where we were welcomed and it was a very proud moment for us. Then we went to an amazing Indian restaurant for dinner with some of the people who belong to Odisha but are here. It was so great to hear their experiences. So that’s how we spent the day today. All of this wouldn’t have been possible without our respected Chairman Sir, Principal Sir and our very own Jessica ma’am. Thank you all so much for giving us this life changing opportunity. 

Student Report for October 17 – By SHASHREEK SHIKHAR

Today was the first day of our school experience in Cupertino. We were going to attend a local school named Lynbrook High School. It was an early morning drive to the school and we reached there by 8:20 where our host family dropped us at the school bidding us a great day ahead. Then we came across students from the school and one of them were assigned to each of the thirteen of us and we had to shadow them (shadowing means to be with a particular student from a particular school and to attend the same classes as them and get to know more about the school and the education system). I was assigned to shadow a Chinese student from Lynbrook High School, Rita Chen. She was a senior student studying in the twelfth grade and was pursuing engineering. She took me to her class at about 8:30am and it started with an advanced Japanese class and I got to know quite a lot from the students there and the teacher who was extremely generous. After a 90 minute class she took me to a quard area where I saw the homecoming of the Class 2021 and an amazing performance followed for the next half an hour and then we had a brunch which followed it. Soon after that she took me to another one of her advanced government class it was the best class that I have experienced so far because the teacher of that subject is very articulate and his way to introducing ideas and concepts is very unique and after another 90 minutes of great learning we had a 45 minute lunch that we followed and finishing lunch a bit early I was given a tour of the exquisite school campus and all the classes by Rita and then we caught up with the last class for the day which was the advanced mathematics class where I made great friends and the passionate mathematics teacher introduced me to everyone and we got to know each other quite well.  After such a beautiful day time passed by quite quickly and it was 3:20pm and our host family had come to pick us up. During the evening at about 5:00 after freshening up we all went to a bowl OK no club and did 3 hours of bowling and gaming and warmed up to our hosts. And then we all hitched a ride together and went back to out houses. Thus a great day came to an end and is one of the most memorable days in my life.

Student Report for October 18 – By JYOTIRADITYA MOHANTY

Today was the last day of our wonderful trip and our last day at Lynbrook High. It started with all of us going to school early to click pictures and then we were welcomed by the students who had arranged the homecoming event! It was truly amazing.

We then went with our shadow students to our respective classes and I had Economics as the first period. The class was interesting and we got to know many things about advertising in the USA. Then we were called by the Principal of Lynbrook High School and she spoke to us about the different events and rituals of their school. It was great experience getting to know about their culture at school. She also gave us a tour of the entire school. Then it was time for the Homecoming event. They had arranged skits, decorations, dances it was wonderful.

Then we attended a few more classes and at dispersal our hosts picked us up and we went to a restaurant for lunch and then spent some time at their place, got dressed and went for the farewell dinner with the Mayor. The farewell was wonderful and sad at the same time because we were going to go back. All host families and students spoke a few words, had dinner and went home.

As part of on ongoing collaborative initiative linking Fujain Province, China, and the State of Odisha, A six-member Chinese delegation visited SAI International School on Monday, August 13, 2018. The discuss focused on future collaboration with Schools and Institutes in Fujian. Mr.Hu Changsheng, Member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Organization, Dept. of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee headed the  high level Fujian Friendship Delegation.

The other members were Mr. Lin Heping, Director General, Fujian Provincial Department of Education, Mr. Shao Yulong, Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Fujian Provincial People’s Government, Mr. Liao Shizhu,  Chairman and General Manager, China Strait Talent Market, Ms. Huang Shaorong, Director of International Exchanges Division of the Foreign Affairs Office, Fujian Provincial People’s Government and Mr. Zhou Shengyi, Principal Staff Member of the Organization Department, CPC Fujian Provincial Committee.

The team from China interacted with Chairman Dr. Bijoy K Sahoo, Vice Chairperson Dr. Silpi Sahoo, Principal Shri Harish Sanduja, Vice Principal Shri Nilakantha Panigrahi and International Coordinator Ms. Jessica Patnaik and discussed on various aspects of collaboration. The dialogues focussed on Language Exchange Programme, Student &Teacher Exchange Programme, Curriculum-based International Projects in Maths, Science, History and Culture, Exchange of Music, Dance forms and Art through collaborative classroom to classroom projects and participations in competitions or educational programmes held by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China. The teams also spoke on possibilities of association for International Community Service Initiatives, where students can work together on a social connect project in each other’s country.

Earlier a team of educationist led by Dr. Sahoo visited China on invitation by the Chinese Government through their High Commission for an educational exploratory visit in March 2017. As part of the trip, the team visited the Fujian Province and toured the Fuzhou No.1 School in the Capital City of Fuzhou.

It was followed by initiating a Global Immersion Programme to China, where students and Staff of SAI visited Fuzhou Province among others. A Memorandum of Understanding between SAI International School and The Fuzhou Foreign Languages School was signed on Friday, June 2, 2017 to promote communication of international education between China and India.

SAI T. V. Interview

Mr.Hu Changsheng shared his unique view point on the educational differences between China and India. He expressed his excitement on further collaboration between SAI International School and institutions and  organisations in Fujain China.

Thank you Fujain Delegation, for visiting our school !

谢谢 – Xiè Xiè

As the world witnesses the largest youth population ever seen, it also feels the rising challenges faced by the world’s youth. To support United Nations (UN) theme for 2018 International Youth Day, SAI International School celebrated the day in an eloquent manner.

SAI students got to showcase some of their unique talents like Beat Boxing, and live music performances.

Around sixty students from six different Clubs, Masks Club (theatre), Photography Club, SAI TV, Symphony Club (choir), Rhythmic Vibrations (dance), Global Club and Interact Club participated in the event. It was thoroughly planned and successfully implemented by the energetic students.

Preparation started a week before the event to optimize the reach of message. Students designed the back drops, T-shirts and the badges to be used and started a media campaign on facebook and twitter.

To spread the message to the general public, students performed skits, dances and live music in tune with the dynamic theme at Pal Heights on Saturday, August 25, 2018.

JOIN US NEXT YEAR FOR FUN AND ENTERTAINMENT !

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY