Gaby Correa, Coordinator of English (Middle & Senior), reports: Public Speaking Competition On April 22^nd, Macarena González Virgili participated in the National Public Speaking Competition, organized by the English Speaking Union (ESU) and held at the beautiful ballroom of the British Embassy. The topic was: “To be ignorant of the past is to remain a child”, and Macarena’s very heartfelt speech was entitled "The Trouble with Nostalgia." Well done to her and her teachers! [gallery link="file" ids="28799,28800,28801"] Debate Debate season has started! The First ADA Senior Debate Fest was held on April 11 at Universidad Austral, and Alejo González Virgili, Lucas Reynoso, Gaby Cremona and Facundo Otero (all, S5) spent a whole Saturday debating in mixed teams and socialising with seniors from other schools. On April 20, our Junior Team (Alajandro Tidd, Juan José Torregiani and Franco Panighini – M3) and Senior Team (Alejo González Virgili, Mercedes Mariño and Lucas Reynoso – S5) participated in the First round of the Acorn Cup on April 20 at Islands International School. Our Senior Team won against St. Mary of the Hills by a unanimous decision of the adjudicators. Well done! Breaking news! Alejo González Virgili has been preselected for the National Debate Team and will be competing in the World Schools’ Debating Championship 2015, to be held in Singapore in July. Good luck, young ambassador! [gallery link="file" columns="1" ids="28802"] ESSARP Creative Writing Competition The ESSARP Creative Writing Competition was held at St Brendan’s College on May 13^th. Here’s the list of the talented participants from BDS: Beginners Category: Martina Botas - Santiago Comes Juniors: Catalina Sambucetti - Olivia Serra Intermediate:  Ana Cruz- Michael Page Seniors: Candela Kalaidjian- Lucía Laurencena We’re still awaiting the results, and looking forward to matching (or outdoing) the success of previous years. [gallery columns="1" link="file" ids="28804"] Holocaust Museum As we commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the end of World WarII, and as an activity that will complement the reading of the novel Number the Stars in Literature, the students of M1 visited the Museum of the Holocaust on May 20. The experience was both deeply moving and educational, and BDS students were complimented on their behavior and insightful questions. [gallery ids="28805,28806,28807,28808,28809,28810"] 1000 Cranes Project (Tutoría – Language) Late in April, M1 students embarked on this project, making 1000 origami cranes that would symbolize their wish for a successful school-year for all. Well, it’s done! It is beautiful! And the students have learned a few very important things in the process: “We have learned that team work is essential to succeed in a project. Without it, we wouldn't have been able to do this beautiful project. We also put in a lot of effort and hard work; in one month, we reached our goal of 1000 cranes. Patience is another important thing, because doing origami requires a lot of precision and care. Most importantly, any project requires perseverance: at first, it was hard to learn how to make cranes, and when we were close to the end, we started feeling tired, so we felt that we would never finish this project. Last but not least, there is no success without enthusiasm and active participation.” (Report on the 1000 Origami Cranes Project). [gallery columns="2" link="file" ids="28811,28812"]