Making a Splash: Dolphin News
International School of Panama’s Dolphins are always up to something good, and we want to share it with you. Catch all the good news and important announcements right here.
Our team placed third in the first ever AASCA Science and Engineering Fair held in Guatemala hosted by American School of Guatemala. Great job, everyone!
In addition to the music, acting, and technical elements, there is a core group of artists that will make Madagascar, Jr. an incredible experience. Our scene shop class is made up of students in Grades 9-12 who help design, build and install sets and props for the musical. They are led by Mr. Doug Bennett, who says he got his inspiration for the design from the animated, comedic nature of the production. “The costumes, lighting and props also reflect this whimsical and silly concept.” Fede Derlon, a Grade 10 student who will also be Assistant Stage Manager, helped make the sets for the musical. “The best part about building is all the painting, because we used so many colors and just splattered them everywhere, it’s just so much fun,” she said. “My favorite piece would be the crates where the kids can just stick their heads out. We had a lot if fun with those backstage.”
Grade 5 students have been working hard on an immersive art experience for the lobby. Once audience members have entered the PAC, they will be immediately transported to Madagascar through mixed-media artwork. Ms. Mirtie Baugh, elementary art teacher, wanted to provide Grade 5 students an opportunity to work in groups and the students have greatly enjoyed this experience. “I like that we are all working together as a group,” said 5th-grader, Zachary Jones, whose sisters are both involved in other parts of the production, “Everyone is participating and that’s really great.”
Come see Madagascar April 4 at 4:30, April 5 at 4:30, or April 6 at 7:00 in the PAC. #comingsoon
- April 4-6: Madagascar, Jr.- The elementary musical will delight audiences of all ages and include an Elementary Art presentation in the PAC Lobby.
- May 6: ArtsFest- With a “World” theme, ArtsFest will feature collaborative art, music, film, theater, and dance performances and workshops
- May 17-19: High School/Middle School Play, an original work devised by the actors under the leadership of Mr. Arturo Wong
- May 31: Grade 8 Showcase
- June 9: Elementary Music Concerts, Music Around the World
All events take place in the P&G Performing Arts Center
The ISP Dolphins have once again made #aascahistory. We are so incredibly proud of these ISP Dolphins swimmers. Congratulations to the ISP dolphins swim team who placed first overall in the boys category second place overall in the girls category and second place overall. #aascaswim2017 #historyinthemaking #swim #iamisp #iamadolphin #ispdolphinpride #wearemany #weareone #wearedolphins
We were so excited to welcome Panama’s very own opera singer, Diana Duran, to ISP recently. Ms. Duran gave workshops to the elementary students and taught master classes to our middle and high school singers. See more pictures from her visit on our Instagram.
The Lincoln School Costa Rica hosted the first ever AASCA tennis tournament. Five schools from around the region came together at the Costa Rica Country Club to compete in a Davis Cup style event. Eleven tennis players from ISP traveled with Coach Fernando and Coach Andres to battle it out in both singles and doubles matches. The team was composed of seven high school students and four middle school boys.
The standard of play was very high. Our players rose to the occasion, playing some very fine tennis in very challenging matches. For many of our players, it was the first time they had played in this style of tournament and everyone positively enjoyed the learning process. Congratulations to all the players and coaches on representing ISP so well at this inaugural AASCA event.
Let's congratulate the Destination Imagination teams and their team managers for their outstanding display of teamwork, creativity, innovation, and problem solving skills throughout the 2017 DI Colombia's Celebration of Creativity Tournament in Cartagena, Colombia on March 10-12. Attending a tournament is a time in which teams are able to celebrate their DI journey. It's a time to connect, build community, participate in hands on STEM activities, solve Instant Challenges, PIN trade, create sculptures, and display sportsmanship.
This year, 30 teams from Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia traveled to showcase their team's skills at the regional tournament. Out of those thirty, seven teams were from Panama, ISP, and KSI (KnightsBridge International). Many DI teams began their journey during the first week of September. However, for the past three to four months they have dedicated time to developing a team solution to one open-ended project, the Central Challenge. This year's CCs chosen by our teams were scientific (Happy Chickens and #secretimagination), technical (DInosaurs), fine arts (DIDols, DCI and DInnovators), and service learning (Project Outreach) taken on by the HS team (DIviners).
Our elementary teams had an extremely amazing experience and performance. Out of five teams, team DIdols placed second in the fine arts challenge Vanished and first place in the sculpture contest. Meanwhile, team Happy Chickens earned a special award, as they impressed the appraisers during their Instant Challenge. They received the Renaissance Award for outstanding design, engineering, execution, and performance. They also placed second in the Scientific Challenge out of nine elementary teams. Both MS and HS teams brought home first and second place awards.
The AASCA soccer event is the largest event in terms of numbers of student athletes in attendance and logistics. The standard of soccer is very high, and the competition is fiercely intense over the 3 days. In recent years, ISP teams have consistently improved their performance at AASCA. Last year the girls made history by breaking into the top tier of the competition and making ISP history by reaching the semi-final. But this year history was made again!
Both boys and girls teams made it to the AASCA semifinal!
The girls didn’t lose a game on route to the semifinals. There they met defending champions EIS for perhaps the most intense game of the entire competition. After 60 minutes the score was tied up at 0-0. Extra time followed and after 2 periods the score was still tied at 0-0. The girls gave their all and were unlucky not to find the net on more than one occasion. Penalty kicks are never a fun way to decide the winner, and on this occasion, it was not to be for the ISP girls. The 3rd/4th play-off game was against host school American Nicaragua School (ANS), who they had previously drawn in the group stages. Determined to once again make ISP history, the girls played extremely well. They scored from a super set piece to go up 1-0 and held on to that lead to the final whistle - securing themselves a well-deserved place in the ISP history books.
The boys also played extremely well in the group stages, securing their first ever appearance in the AASCA Large schools semifinal. Here they met eventual champions CAG. After losing a key player in the first minute, ISP found it difficult to recover their shape, losing 4-1 against a powerful team. The 3rd/4th play-off game also saw ISP against the host school ANS. The boys played extremely well and pressured ANS relentlessly but were unable to convert the pressure into a scoring opportunity. ANS, in perhaps their only opportunity of the match, scored a well-executed free kick to finish the game 1-0. The boys remained positive in their defeat knowing that they too had made ISP history with their 4th place finish.
A huge thank you to all the parents who travelled with the team. It made a huge difference having home supporters. Congratulations to all the players and to coaches Aquino and Aguiar on their superb AASCA performance.