#English Middle & Senior School Blog

5 Dec 2016 | Comunicacion BDS
5 Dec 2016 | Comentar

Round Square Regional Conference, Belgrano Day School, April 2017

[gallery link="file" ids="35029,35028,35027"] Belgrano Day School was chosen to host the next Regional Conference of the Americas for senior students in April next year. To date, more than 100 student delegates and 35 adult delegates have inscribed for the conference that will take place between 19 April and 25 April 2017. Families in both Middle and Senior have been asked to support this event by hosting a foreign delegate for the 6 nights that students will be with us. It will be a great opportunity. Since May, students from S5 and S4 have been meeting to put together a stimulating itinerary with keynote speakers from the UK and Argentina, adventure and service activities, discussion groups, cultural visits and social/sport events. It is a massive organizational activity that will no doubt be lots of fun. Prof. Steven Page Headmaster & Rector
1 Nov 2016 | Comunicacion BDS
1 Nov 2016 | Comentar

(Español) Follow-up creativo, tras una charla sobre Seguridad Vial en la Universidad Austral

(Español) En el mes de julio, los alumnos de S6 participaron de una charla / Taller de seguridad vial, alcoholismo y drogadicción,  dictado por el Dr. Pablo Pratesi (Jefe de la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos del Hospital Universitario Austral y Profesor de Emergentología de la Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas). Comparte la Prof. Claudia Gelonch (Economics y Apertura al mundo laboral):
"La presentación fue conmovedora, alarmante y muy realista a la vez. Los alumnos pudieron reflexionar sobre los distintos roles que entran en juego cuando ocurre un accidente vial. De hecho, el Dr. Pratesi cuestiona el uso de la palabra 'accidente', ya que la mayoría de estos episodios son, en realidad, previsibles y prevenibles. En clase, volvimos a reflexionar sobre lo mucho que habíamos escuchado y así nació la idea de plasmar algo de lo vivido en forma de escritura creativa (Creative Writing, trabajos realizados en las clases de inglés con la Prof. Gaby Correa). Los alumnos eligieron alguno de los múltiples puntos de vista – faltó el rol del médico, quien recibe con dolor y enorme frustración a cada nueva víctima– y escribieron cuentos cortos que relatan lo que ocurre después de un siniestro."
Algunos de esos textos compiten actualmente en un certamen literario... Claudia, además, tuvo a bien enviarlos por mail a la Universidad con el agradecimiento del Colegio. La Universidad, por su parte, también agradeció ese ida y vuelta productivo y plagado de emociones intensas. Ojalá sirvan tanto la charla como los textos y chicos y grandes comprendamos de una buena vez cuánto daño evitable está provocando el alcohol entre los jóvenes.  Compartimos algunos fragmentos de esas producciones de alumnos de S6H. The Grandmother, by Martina Larghi *Ring, ring!* The phone rang while the grandmother was calmly watching TV while knitting a sweater. The phone kept on ringing. It was her daughter-in-law. She said that Tom, the grandmother’s son, had had an accident. Tom’s mother was desperate, she didn’t know how to react. Grabbing the keys of her car, she rushed into the garage and got into her foolishly pink new car. While driving, her hands were trembling and her forehead sweating. She couldn’t stop thinking of what could have happened (...) Accident, by Franco Marino Slightly, her eyes opened. "Where am I?" The sun shone strongly and the room was overwhelmed by light. A sigh of a breeze entered the room through a part of the window which was left open, and it circulated over her body. She turned her head towards her left shoulder. She was shocked when she saw the scars she had. 2 minutes passed and she remained still. She rotated her eyes towards her other shoulder, and realized she was attached to an assortment of tubes and cables. What were they for? she wondered. They entered her body through her nose and arms. "Where am I? Help! Help! Heeeelp! (...)" The Grandson, by Delfina Costanzo (...) Sitting on a hard uncomfortable chair in the waiting room, Grandmother couldn’t take her eyes off the clock. You could see in her eyes the lack of sleep, the puffiness in them showed how much she had been crying. It didn’t look as if she was trying to tell the time, it looked as if her eyes were fixed on the clock, but her mind was elsewhere. The bags under her eyes made her look older than she was. The fake-leather chair she sat on got the back of her legs sticky, because she was perspiring from the fear she felt. She didn’t want to know; yet she needed to know how Michael was. All because of a stupid decision. (...)  See illustration source here.
28 Oct 2016 | Comunicacion BDS
28 Oct 2016 | Comentar

Finalists, Finalists!

Debate On October 11, BDS hosted the semifinals of the Acorn Cup. The Senior teams of Belgrano Day School, Southern Cross School, Colegio Champagnat and St. Andrew’s Scots School participated in this round. Our team of S6 students, Mercedes Mariño, Lucas Reynoso and Alejo González Virgili, debated – and won – against Southern Cross. The motion was: This House would allow prisoners to submit to drug testing in order to gain a reduction in their sentences, and BDS was on the opposition side. [gallery link="file" columns="2" ids="34566,34567"] Very soon, BDS will be meeting St. Andrew’s Scots School in the finals of the Acorn Cup.  Congratulations to both the students and their teachers…and good luck! Creative Writing (Spanish and English) Colegio del Arce This year, BDS has received 11 nominations as semifinalists for the Concurso Literario Cuento Corto y Poesía en Castellano e Inglés 2016, which is organized yearly by Colegio del Arce. Here’s the list of the finalists, who will be attending the Prize Giving Ceremony on November 3rd :
  • Belén Lobo (M2C)
  • Nicole Kohan (S4C)
  • Mechi Mariño (S6L)
  • Isabella Sambucetti (M1B)
  • Julieta Feraud (M3C)
  • Julieta Perelman (S5H)
  • Milagros Huang (S5S)
  • Franco Marino (S6H)
We were delighted by the number of students who submitted their stories and poems, and by the quality of their work. Congratulations to all the participants. Write on! Gaby Correa, Coordinator of English 
1
17 Oct 2016 | Comunicacion BDS
17 Oct 2016 | 1 comentario

Round Square International Conference: Something to Sing and Dance about!

A tango presentation by BDS students took place during the closing ceremony on Thursday last, in front of delegations from the five continents. Congratulations to: Nicole Kohan (voice), and dancers María Jesús Lobo, Camila Rodríguez Cardín, Juan Ignacio Grosso and Alan Gutiérrez. [embed]https://vimeo.com/187385574[/embed]  
13 Oct 2016 | Comunicacion BDS
13 Oct 2016 | Comentar

Round Square Conference: Thursday 13 Oct

New!: photos of the closing ceremony (Thursday 13 Oct afternoon / evening)  [gallery link="file" ids="34353,34354,34355"] Today started as usual with a moment of meditation. Following we listened to four keynote speakers: Nick Howes is a freelance science writer and amateur astronomer (@NickAstronomer), whose work has included science writer for the European Space Agencies Science Portal. He has over 300 NASA ADS citations for observational work on comets and asteroids, and is in the Guinness Book of records for leading a team of UK Astronomers in creating the World's largest image composite of the moon taken by ground based observations. His talk was very interesting as he warned of the danger that earth faces from comets, asteroids and meteorites. He encouraged all young people with an interest in science to take up amateur astronomy. Colonel Al Worden, Commander of Apollo 15, the last visit to the moon amusingly described his experiences on this lunar mission. He firmly believes that other forms of intelligent life exist away from earth. Koome Gikunda, a former Aiglon College student described his journey from a humble village in Kenya, a school in Kenya, a scholarship to Aiglon and then on to Stanford and Oxford Universities before entering London's banking world. He has since returned to Kenya "to give back to society" by helping to fund new small business ventures. Peter Charaf, Race for Water, described the problem that our oceans face through the dumping of plastic material. Evidence was presented from an expedition that visited islands around the world showing the degree of pollution, in even idyllic settings, such as the Azores, Easter Island, Hawaii, The Maldives and nearest to Argentina, Tristan de Cunha in the South Atlantic. Later today there will be the  closing ceremony and then after dinner a cultural show where interested schools exhibit something from their country. Nicole will sing a tango while Camila, María Jesús, Ignacio and Alan will dance. Tomorrow, Friday, sees the beginning of our return journey. Steven Page - Headmaster & Rector
12 Oct 2016 | Comunicacion BDS
12 Oct 2016 | Comentar

Round Square International Conference: Switzerland Update (Tuesday 11 Oct)

Sunday morning saw us fly to Geneva and then by train to Aigle, more or less and hour and a half away around the impressive Lake Geneva. In the afternoon, we registered and while the students went to their boarding houses, each one in a different one, Martín Álvarez (Pastoral Care) and I went to our hotel where me met up with Dr. Alberto Taquini (h), Chairman of the BDS Board. That evening there was the opening ceremony at which our flag bearer, Camila Rodríguez Cardin, represented BDS. The ceremony was lively with much music, videos and Swiss dancing all from Aiglon College students. The President of Round Square, King Constantine of Greece, opened the conference and then there were words from the Chairman of the association, the Headmaster of Aiglon College, and as a special guest, the Aga Khan. [gallery link="file" ids="34308,34309,34310"] The conference proper started on Monday morning, when after a period of meditation, Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart , OBE, spoke to all the delegates. A three time World Grand Prix Motor Racing driver, he took us through his exploits on the track but focused on his dyslexia and how as a student he failed in school and yet his dyslexia had helped him as a driver and earlier as a crack rifle champion. He later started in Scotland a trust to help those with dyslexia and to train teachers. His children, similarly dyslexic, attended Aiglon College and led healthy and creative lives in the music and film industries. His grandchildren were now students at this beautiful school.  His was a remarkable message in which he brought to our attention the names of many famous people who likewise suffered the same. Today, Tuesday, we had the pleasure of listening to Meagan Fallone (Barefoot College) and Alessandra Morelli (UNHCR). Both were very provocative with their messages. Meagan outlined the work of Barefoot College and their empowerment of women in rural areas across the globe in the area of education, business, water resources, solar electricity and sustainable growth. It was a very strong and stimulating message. Alessandra talked about her work with refugees that spanned 25 years. She was determined and critical of the developed world, particularly Europe, as nations dilly-dally with the large numbers of refugees coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and other parts of Africa. Nations must not hide behind a fear of terrorism when refugees simply look for a place to live in peace. She asked for all nations to show solidarity with the millions of displaced people. Two strong messages to start the day. In the afternoon we all separated for IDEALS day. Ignacio and Camila went to a "high ropes" course, Nicole and María Jesús went to the Chateau de Chillon, Alan went underground to a mine, while Martín and I went on an excruciating nature hike in the mountains! This evening all attended an ice hockey match. Steven Page - Headmaster & Rector [gallery link="file" columns="2" ids="34311,34312,34313,34314,34315,34316,34317,34318"]