Dear Students,

This Newsletter edition is about communicating gratitude which is always important and also publicly celebrated at Thanksgiving. You can see in this Newsletter students who were very eager to share with our community what they are really grateful for.

You will also get a peak at what is currently happening in Advisory in the different grade levels and how it is similar and different from what you are doing rightnow. You will also get lots of ideas on how to implement your different Advisory projects. You can take a look at these ideas and discuss it with your Advisor or Grade Level Leader. These ideas can also be delved into when you are ready to come up with your IB CAS project and you can speak with Ms. Liz Keating about it, her desk is in the Learning Commons.

Very practical Study Skills are also shared with tips you can apply to your everyday life in order to maximize your productivity in and out of school. Many of you have extra-curricular activities so being able to take advantage of your hours in school can also help you focus on your activities after school

Do enjoy this Thanksgiving Newsletter Edition and enjoy your Thanksgiving break!

Tessa John Guerra

Upper School Counselor

"I am grateful for our school's volleyball team. I am grateful because I get to spend time with my friends and compete locally, which is something that every school doesn't necessarily provide."

Ian Luquis-Diaz

Sophomore

"I'm grateful for Ahmed Abdulmagid Gadad because he is a very good friend."

Alejandro Hernandez

Junior

"I am grateful for my family, because they are my support system and role models. According to the dictionary, this term means "all the descendants of a common ancestor." However, for me, my family is not only composed of my blood-related family members. I consider many of my friends and family friends just like my "family." I am extremely thankful to have wonderful people in my life, because I know that I can count on them no matter what!"

Alfonso Kurtis de Alzaga

Junior

"I am most grateful for my family, friends, and dogs because I don’t know what I would do without them. I am also grateful for them because I am truly thankful for my family and friends for always being their for me, and helping me for when I need it most. I am also thankful for my dogs. I love hanging out with them, and love it when they get excited when I get home from school."

Kaitlyn Rodriguez

Junior

"I am grateful for all the help our teachers help with school."

Guillermo Martinez-Rodero

Sophomore

"I'm grateful for being able to draw and learn about art because that is my passion."

Kaan Ayaokur

Junior

"My family and loved ones ."

André Thompson

Senior

"I'm grateful that I am alive."

Sophia Mann

Freshman

In Advisory, Grade 9 students are diving into Community Action Projects (CAP). Their first step is to fill in an Interest Survey and work out what topics they would like to focus on. They also have to reflect on why they are interested in a given topic with other students and form groups based on shared ideas.

Grade Level Leader Mr. Cam Ducharme

Grade 10 Advisory is looking at Career Research Projects (CRP) in preparation for their Subject Selection process next year. Here is a video prepared by Grade Level Leader Mr. Terrence Dillon going through the steps of this project from planning for the Informational Interview, Creating Interview Questions and Tips on who you can interview, to guidance on different resources you can go to that can spark your career interest as well as who to contact to get the resources that you need.

Grade Level Leader Mr. Terence Dillon

In Grade 11 Advisory students are getting ready for their Creativity Activity Service (CAS) assembly roll-out. There were given a variety of topics to choose from and students will choose to deepen their knowledge in a topic that they feel most aligned to.

Grade Level Leader Ms. Susi Francey

The primary goals for Grade 12 Advisory are to encourage students to reflect upon how they can communicate their successful/rejected applications in a way that respects their own feelings, and privacy, and is also mindful of other peoples' situations. As well as to remind students that college acceptances and rejections are almost certainly not the most important thing that will happen in their lives, no matter how it feels at this moment.

Grade Level Leader Mr. Ronan Dempsey

If you take a long bus ride each day or have some spare time while you do your laundry, why not use it to get a little studying in? The less time you waste during downtime, the more time you’ll have later.

Mostly every school day you have an extra 45 minutes in the morning to delve into your school work, catch up with homework, schedule time with a particular teacher or do some studying for an exam. That's from 10:05 to 10:50. Of course you are given the opportunity to catch a bite from 10:05 to 10:20 however you have precious uninterrupted time from 10:20 to 10:50 to dive deep into your school work and focus on what you need to do or complete. Please use this Multi-Purpose time wisely.

There’s no sense in putting off the worst for last — it will only encourage you to procrastinate and get less done in the long run. Get the hard stuff out of the way and you’ll have a much happier rest of the day.

You’ll get the most out of your study time if you go into it with a strategy in mind. It's always a good idea to get homework out of the way first before studying. It is through homework a teacher can get you focused on a particular topic, which may be coming up in an exam soon. In addition when studying focus on certain subjects first or spend a little extra time on topics that you struggle with. Whatever you do, make sure it works for you and makes the most of your time.

A middle school football team who took a fledgling player under their wing and executed what may be the most successful play of all time.

This type of kindness costs absolutely nothing and takes only a few moments, but can change someone's day for the better. Give a compliment to someone you love!

Though it's actually a mobile carrier commercial from Thailand, this video went viral in September -- with 14 million views, it's clear people were really moved by this simple story of kindness repaid, 30 years later.

Whether you're a fast food junkie or a health nut, you won't be able to help smiling at these young guys who start a generosity chain reaction by paying for the car behind them at the drive-through window.

Here's a very simple activity that works for any age group, and that will mean a lot to the persons who are on the receiving end and it can be done in less than 30 minutes.

In the Audio Clip below research from NonprofitSource indicates that Americans volunteered $193 billion worth of time in 2016—an incredible show of generosity that’s vital to keep non-profits and the people they serve thriving. Giving back to the community has big benefits, both to the people on the receiving end of your generosity and for your own sense of happiness and well-being.

If you want to make new friends, combat stress and anxiety, increase your self-confidence, and contribute to great causes, follow these steps and unlock the power of giving.

Many of you have already received this information during Advisory, however we are sharing it with you here again!

https://forms.gle/daMJoDp2nkcDMVkS7

This competition is organized by the British Embassy in collaboration with the German, Australian and Canadian Embassies in Madrid!

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