CAS @ Deira International School

Last night, the dance competition was saw by 250 people: a sellout crowd!! Never before have DIS seen an event that everyone truly enjoyed and wanted to see more of. Serious preparations began at the end of the school day with the setting up of the set. A big black background set the dramatic mood radiating from the show. Organizers Anam and Shakti were running around everywhere, perfecting their dream of seeing the show. The technical team of Ross, Dean worked hard all afternoon to get the sound and lighting just right. Just before the start of the show, Ben and myself were going through the lines and we soon started to feel the nerves setting as we watched the transformed cafeteria fill to the brim.

At 7pm the show began and the audience watched in awe as the dancers put all their effort into making this the best show possible. The judges were funny and cheesy like never before and Hisham pulled his best Simon Cowell lines out of the hat.

The winners of the show were:

3rd place: Crump

2nd place: Survivors of dance

1st place: Kristen

Thank you to all dancers, sponsers and helpers for making this a great event, one we hope to see again in 2009

Rachel Reay

IB1 Student

Deira International School

The past few days, nothing but dancing has run through the minds of DIS. Mondays prepatory session gave the teams a chance to preview their opponents entry and for me and Ben to re-write the script even further because of last minute sequencing changes.

Just as everyone was gearing up for todays performance, tragedy struck the UAE. A sheikh’s brother died in a helicopter crash and out of respect, the performance was moved to next Tuesday, same time, same place.

Good Luck to everyone and may peace be with the royal family in their time of loss.

Rachel Reay, IB1 student

Deira International School

Period 5 today Mr. Kerr came and talked to the IB students about a fantastic opportunity of going to New Zealand. This trip would be a fantastic opportunity for CAS, especially action, as you get to travel around New Zealand experiencing all sorts of adventure fun activities; from bungee jumping to whale watching you are guaranteed an experience you would never forget. Geography, Biology and Environmental Systems will get to truely appreciate the natural surroundings they are immersed in for 12 days.

Accomodation will not be five star and you will stay in places such as youth hostels and chalets to really enhance the experience. Breakfast and dinner are included in the price as well as most activities. Lunch will be your own choice as this usually works out for the best.

The trip is planned for December as this is the summer in New Zealand. Currently, the price is around 10,000 Dhs and to bring this price down there are a number of activities which can be done to help with this cost such as organising a buffet/dinner for parents. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated and you can talk to Mrs Hollis, Mr Kerr or IB students.

You will probly never get to experience a trip like this before you all jet off to universites so make the most of this opportunity while you can.

Rachel Reay, IB1 Student

Deira International School

Near the beginning of IB1, Ms. Rachel in primary approached Mrs Hollis with the prospect of getting IB1 involved with creating a mural on the primary school walls. Anam Kibria, Al-Hassan Al Shabani and Ross Cabradilla decided they wanted to do something for the closer community of DIS and took the idea under their wing. The idea was loved by Mrs Hollis so approval was instant but the planning process was longer than they projected. DIS’ director, Mr Bastable, advised the students to have a meeting with the site planner as he was the best person to talk to on whether it would be allowed.

After that process, a difficulty has been getting started. As IB is an intensive course, students found it hard to allocate time to the project. As the summer is approacing and the workload has slowed down slightly, they decided to get started this week. Mr Hudson, the primary school art teacher, gave them some designs and drawing the outline for the pictures has happened on Monday and Tuesday. It will continue to until the project has come to an end.

Even though the process has seemed tough, Anam, Ross, Al Hassan and helpers have been having plenty of fun. They havent forgotton the real reason behind such a project though. It gives the young pupils of the school a fun, fresh and educating environment to play in safely and happily.

Rachel Reay

IB1 Student

Deira International School

So far, the week has gone relatively well! People have grabbed up the ribbons and I can see people wearing them with respect. The bake sale also happened today. I baked some lovely chocolate muffins which got snapped up fast if I do say so myself! Students bought in other lovely treats such as donuts, cookies and brownies. Also a big thank you to teachers and admin staff for their contributions to the sale.

The treats might have been tasty but dont forget that it was done for a good cause. The people of Myanmar are in jeopardy and need our help. I will post the total amount made at the end of the week and dont forget…donations are always welcome!

As most of you already know, Myanmar was stuck with a cyclone that has caused upwards of 20,000 deaths and the toll is expected to raise even more. This could have happened right here, in Dubai, and so we feel it is our duty to aid in anyway possible. Disasters of this kind affect us as a whole as we are part of an international community.

To help, a few IB1 students and I got together with Mrs Hollis to brainstorm ideas. Therefore, next week is Aid Myanmar week. From Monday to Wednesday you will be able to view a presentation of the latest facts, figures and photos during break and lunch. We are also selling black ribbons in commemoration of all those who have sadly lost their lives for 2 Dhs. A donation bucket will be passed round during the week as well so please give anything to help! On Wednesday a bake sale is being held and we would greatly appreciate it if you could bring cakes etc to sell.

The people in Burma, have lost their homes, relatives and everything they held dear to them. Please find it in your heart to help!

Rachel Reay

IB1 Student

Deira International School

Near the start of IB1 Ross Cabradilla, Hisham Khan, Hasan Shahid and Jason Salter came up with a fantastic vision of writing and filming their own movie. They approached Mrs. Hollis with their idea very well and chose Mr Williams as their supervisor as he is the film studies teacher next year. The concept of the film is to approach the subject of bombings, bullying and the highs and lows of being a teenager. Even though the project seemed tough, the boys are determined to see the project through to the end. They recieved approval on the script they wrote and have already started filming and editing.

I wish them all the luck with this project and cant wait to see the final product; im sure it will be brilliant!

Rachel Reay

IB1 student

Deira International School

This is the first of what I hope will be many fruitful blogs regarding CAS at DIS. Thanks to Rachel Reay for creating the blog. We are in our first year of the IBDP programme and for many of our students it is the first time that they have initiated and involved themselves in Creativity, Action and Service projects. This blog will provide an opportunity for our CAS students to showcase their projects. The image in this blog is of the blog founder Rachel and another CAS student Anam who organised many fundraising activities for Breast Cancer Awareness Month . This photo was taken on ‘Pink’ Day.

Enjoy reading and blogging!

Angela Hollis – CAS Coordinator