Harambee Challenge 2017
Are you a runner? A Walker? A parent, teacher, or CAS student? Are you looking for a one-off experience and opportunity? Want to support the community of Mayana, Namibia at the same time? Then this is for you!
The Harambee Challenge 2017 7th-20th April (in Namibia)
This event is a petition run to support the community in Mayana and their needs in the areas of education, health, water supply, electricity, sanitation, and business development (to mention just a few.) They are writing a petition to their government and will bring it from Mayana to Windhoek, the capital, on foot, covering a distance of 745 km.
The Harambee Team is currently made up of 13 people from Mayana aged from 12 to 36 years old. They started training in August 2016 during the MCP Friends Trip. We are looking for people from the MCP network to come and join this event in Namibia in April 2017!
Can you run, walk, or run and walk 25 km in a day? (Starting at sunrise, the coolest part of the day.) Can you repeat that for 3 days in a row? Yes – then contact us now for more information! No, but- you want to support this idea – then contact us now for more information http://make-change-possible-ev.de/
H.I.S. Photo Competition: The winners are….
A big thank you to all photographers for bringing their “summer back to school” by submitting a photograph for the H.I.S. Photo Competition 2016. All photos were special in their own way and the results of the vote clearly showed that they were all popular. Here are the 3 winners:
3rd place: “Sandy Smile” near Quiberon, Brittany
Congratulations to Helmut!
2nd place: “Make Change Possible”, Mayana
Congratulations to Katherine!
1st place: “Giving H.I.S. a leg up during summer break!”
Well done, Marie!
At assembly this morning Early Primary, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students learned more about our upcoming Waldpiraten run. Mr. Knowles, Tyra and Sara (Grade 11 and 12 students) shared information and got primary students really excited about a great cause. We are now ready to run lots of laps to raise money for the Waldpiraten camps that are so valuable for the families of very sick children.
PYP Information Morning
More information on the curriculum and Primary Years Programme will be shared at the PYP Info Morning for parents on Wednesday 28th September, 08:40 – 09:40. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions. We look forward to seeing you there. Allyn Raw, Primary School Principal, and Kate von Gizycki, PYP Coordinator
Grade 6 and 7 received their introduction to Action and Service this week with a presentation from Frau Kress, the Action and Service Coordinator. Students in Grade 6 and 7 must agree on a class goal that will support the community.
They then work towards this goal over the year, or in the build up to an event, carry out their goal and reflect on it. Frau Kress shared information about the rationale behind the project, some examples of previous projects and some suggestions for this year.
For more information, you can download the Handbook on the H.I.S. website. Grade 8 and 9, who have to complete smaller group and individual projects, will receive an introduction in the coming week.
For Grade 10, Action and Service forms part of their Personal Project. We’re looking forward to seeing what great ideas the students come up with!
On Friday, Grades 6-10 headed to Wiesloch for a team building day. Each class took their turn to work together to tackle the various problems, including a balance beam, a spider’s web, and a high wall.
Students also had time to test their nerve on the high ropes course as well as get a friendly, yet competitive, game of beach volleyball going.
The team building activities showed students the need to communicate and cooperate in order to be successful. It took each class a few attempts to figure out the best way to solve the challenges, but they all got there in the end.
“I got stuck 17 times, but I never gave up!” Chiraag
“It was really fun until the end… because it ended!” (Gregor)
“We got to work as a team.” (Marie) 
“Fun4You was a great place, small, but fun. I really liked the rope course. There were many challenges, the funny part was the team balance activity. I really enjoyed the day.” Shahad, Grade 8
photos & text HP & Grade 6
Grade 5 students are having a great time at Space Camp. Thank you for sending us photos – we are looking forward to hear all about your mission soon! 
A very excited group of 4th Graders left this morning for their Extended Field trip. The children are enjoying every single aspect of their trip even the bus ride. One student, after having inspected the inside of the bus, informed parents: “It is like a plane inside! It is so fancy!” We look forward to the stories about their adventures, which the students and teachers will bring back! Have a fantastic time! 
photo: Betsy Vielhaber
Many thanks to Mollie for presenting photos and information about the MCP Friends Trip 2016 at the H.I.S. Coffee Morning.
Together with her family she embarked on a journey to Africa, to support the people in Mayana by carrying out a number of projects.
It was very interesting to hear about Mollie’s experiences and to see how much preparation is needed for a trip like this: Fundraising, practicing “survival techniques” in a Pre-camp, planning and preparing projects, were part of her preparation for the Friends Trip. Mollie explained how very much worth while and special her African adventure turned out to be for her family. Or as Mollie put it:
“The People of Mayana are sacred and once you come in contact with them, They will touch your heart forever.“
Google Earth image of Mayana, Namibia
For more information about MCP (Make Change Possible) have a look at the website: http://make-change-possible-ev.de/
text & photos: AS
Grade 5 students, their parents, as well as others from the H.I.S. community gathered together on Tuesday evening, 6 September to look into the sky.
All in attendance were lucky enough to have access to a state of the art telescope – thanks to Joylene Vette-Guillaume, our knowledgable MYP and DP Science teacher.
“The telescope was really big.” said Caera C. “I didn’t expect that. It was really fun looking at the planets and seeing all the different colored stars.”
One of the most memorable parts of the evening was seeing mars and even the rings of Saturn. “Seeing Saturn was the most amazing thing ever!” exclaimed Katherine F. “If you have an opportunity to use a telescope to see into space, take it!” Lihi S. also remarked, “I also enjoyed Saturn the most, but it was also cool to even see things far away like Vega. Vega was so bright even without the telescope.”
Grade 5 are now taking this experience and combining it with the research they are now doing in class. “The telescope helped us think about how complex space is and it makes things like Saturn that much more special.” explains Karli K.
Giulietta agreed and also added, “I could also see stars like Vega which are bigger than the sun but so far away! It is really fun and amazing to see all the stars close up.”
Next week, Grade 5 ventures off to Space Camp where they will be challenged to look even deeper into our universe.
Images courtesy of: Lance Fortner and skyandtelescope.com
