The Crane, 13 September 2019

Items:

• Board of Trustees Nominations;
• Message from the Volleyball Teams;
• After School Clubs.

Principal’s Message

Dear HIS Community

I hope you have enjoyed the week and have fun plans for the long weekend. I have a letter on the noticeboard in my office from Rinoka and Mahiro (Gr5 now) urging HIS to put up solar panels for a range of good reasons. I saw the following TED Talk by Elon Musk where he shared some thoughts for the future and it reminded me of this letter. The talk is longer than a regular TED Talk, but I found it really interesting to hear the speaker’s thoughts on why he thinks the way he does. Our HIS vision specifically states that we will develop a lifelong commitment to a sustainable world and we receive regular guidance from our students on ways we can continue to improve.

Our Vision – HIS will provide an international education that promotes integrity, excellence, cultural sensitivity and a lifelong commitment to peace and a sustainable planet. HISのビジョン：誠実性、卓越性、異文化への感受性を育み、生涯にわたり平和で持続可能な地球への責任を果たす国際的な教育を行います。

Our Mission – HIS will cultivate young people who are prepared for lifelong learning, meeting challenges and outstanding citizenship anywhere in the world. HISの使命：生涯を通じて学び挑戦をし続け、世界の一員として貢献する若者を育成します。

We are investigating solar options but there are other areas we need to look at. One of these areas that came up during the PYP Exhibition was our use of plastic water bottles, which we sell at school in the vending machine and use at functions. Our students bring their own water bottles to school so rarely use plastic water bottles (it seems mostly an adult issue) but it was suggested that a way to encourage wider use of reusable water bottles was to provide an easier way to refill them so we are looking at options for this as well. The other area that was suggested for improvement was the disposable coffee pods we have been using, which seems like excessive and avoidable usage of plastic. Over summer, we installed a machine that grinds coffee without pods and now we use the ground beans for our garden so that was a small step in the right direction. I will let you know how we go with the other small steps.

I hope you enjoy the talk and the long weekend.

Regards

Damian Rentoule

 Crane Video

Board of Trustees Nominations

Thank you very much to Barry Ngo and Hugues Garcia for volunteering to support HIS in the position of Guardian on the Board of Trustees. As we had two openings and two nominations we will not need to run an election so I would like to welcome Barry and Hugues to the HIS Board of Trustees. Thank you very much for your kind support of HIS.

You can learn more about the Board of Trustees at the Governance page on the HIS website.

Message from the Volleyball Teams

Thank you to everyone who supported the volleyball team on the Parent Information Evening. With all of your help, we were able to raise 15,600 yen, this will all be used for the improvement of the team. Last Saturday, both the boys and girls attended practice games against Fukuoka International School. The boys held a home game, while the girls visited the team in Fukuoka to play a few friendly matches. Both the girls and the boys were able to improve as a team, by pointing out weaknesses and strengths during play. On behalf of the whole team, both captains of the volleyball team appreciate all the support that we have received from the HIS community.

Alex & Lisa (Gr12)

After School Clubs

Regards

Ryoko Jordon

rjordan@hiroshima-is.ac.jp