US COUNSELING & ADVISORY NEWSLETTER

Dear Students,

WELCOME TO TRIMESTER TWO

We ended Trimester One with a Sharing Assembly during our Advisory time where our Student Council members addressed us on the importance of community in the midst of diversity, as well as entertained us with a Thanksgiving Kahoot. In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, our Peer Counselors also shared with us what they were grateful for and ended with Michael Jackson's Song - "Heal The World" - very apt for our times. Cheers to our Senior Sofia Freire for her beautiful rendition of this song. The whole auditorium was touched and felt the power of that moment.

We cannot take these moments for granted because in other parts of the world students cannot be in each others physical presence as we are able to now, and we all know that this makes a world of a difference for us. We are happier when we are together and this FACT is experienced everyday and was especially felt during our Sharing Assembly. So we are grateful because we are able to go to school, we are grateful because we are able to stare in each other’s eyes, we are grateful because we are alive.

So as we begin Trimester Two let's set some goals to be better, to do better and to become a better version of ourselves. I leave you with the profound message that was shared with us during the Sharing Assembly by the Student Council delivered by our Senior, Ryan Ricks. Go over it and let it set the tone for the rest of this Trimester and beyond.

Tessa John-Guerra

US Guidance Counselor

As an international school, we need to do better. Discrimination in any sort shouldn’t be commonplace in our community, whether that be homophobia, sexism, racism, or anything else. While everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and political ideologies none of us, whatsoever, are entitled to pass judgements or discriminate against our peers and discrimination of any sort will not be tolerated by Student Council or Administration. One thing I will say, is that in our school and in our own community discrimination isn’t always the blatant things we do, it’s the whispers in the hallways and the subtle things we say, it’s as simple as defacing a mural, and as a community we have all become so complacent to this. We have to stop being tolerant of these things. Often because we believe that no matter what we say or do nothing will change but if we could all understand that we are all in the same environment and open our hearts and attempt to understand one another maybe we wouldn’t need to have discussions like this. We as a community need to do better. We have to be better.

See Below

"And that is the most important part, the concept of empathy, what allows us to continue on, especially in these times of crisis. Empathy is what enables us to be the shoulder that you can cry on, and we, as the Peer Counselor Community of ASM are ready to provide that shoulder...…now go out there and heal the world, make the world a better place." - Daniil Surikov

- Sofia B Freire

Senior

Singer

......instead of small talk it was BIG TALK!

Students gather in small groups to discuss what meaningful conversations mean to them. This is done through the use of Y charts with “Meaningful” written on one side and “Conversations” on the other.

Working in their small groups, students come up with and write on the chart as many words as come to mind when they can think of “meaningful” and “conversations.”

- Susi Francey - Grade 11 Advisor

Upper School English Teacher

- Blandine Dailloux - Grade 11 Advisor

US FL Dept Chair/IB Examiner/WSL/MSA VTM

- Mr. Terrence Dillon - Grade 11 Advisor

US IB and Social Studies Teacher

1. Write clear and measurable goals.
2. Create a specific action plan for each goal.
3. Read your goals daily and visualize yourself accomplishing them.
4. Reflect on your progress to see if you are on target.
5. Revise your action plans if needed.
6. Celebrate your accomplishments.

In this edition we are looking at careers in the Health Sciences. Please take some time to watch the videos below.

Thanks for coming to the end of our third Upper School Counseling & Advisory Newsletter. Please send us your feedback and ideas here on topics to cover in future editions.

Did you miss the other Newsletters?

1. Please go over all the past newsletters where you will find different study strategies under the sub-heading of Study Skills.
2. Then go over all the different professions explored under the sub-heading of Career Guidance.

Email: tessajohn@asmadrid.es
Website: asmadrid.org
Location: American School of Madrid, Calle América, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain
Phone: 34 917401902