Summer School Week 1

On the campus of Taiwan Adventist International School, located in beautiful Nantou County, everyone sat in a giant circle, waiting, listening, curiously staring at one another, trying to figure out what was next. Registration was over and now was the time for the Icebreaker. But what would that be, and what was expected of the new students? 

Soon enough the assistant boys dean, Mr. Daniel Hopson, stepped forward and started the program with opening prayer. The afternoon Art studio teacher, Ms. Joanne Lee, followed and after introducing herself and the Physical Science teacher, Ms. Jocelyn Kho as her co-host, started the evening games. These games were centered around getting to know one another and teamwork. Though most everyone was shy at first, by the end of the program, and after much laughter, the students left to their dorms with smiles on their faces and greater anticipation of a good summer school program ahead.

Monday morning dawned and students filed out to their respective locations. Those taking content classes were prepared for a full day of intensive learning with their course content teacher. After Ms. Jocelyn with Physical Science, this year’s summer school also features Mr. Bol teaching Chemistry, Dr. LaGuardia teaching English 2, Mrs. Bol teaching English 1, and Mr. Jaymeson Mallory supervising those students taking online classes and also supporting the PE program that all students attend just before lunch.

The ELL students follow a different morning and afternoon program. Ms. Vivienne Lee teaches the writing section, Mr. Calleb Nyamisoa teaches the communications section, and Mr. David Kinsella teaches the reading section. The ELL students are broken up into three groups and rotate through each one of these sections in the morning and then, in the afternoon they are divided into four sections. Within the ELL 1A group, Ms. Cara Chen offers additional support for language acquisition, and within ELL 1B Ms. Truth Lee supports the students as well. 

For the afternoon portion of the ELL program, each section goes either to Mr. Michael Brannaka for hands-on science, Mr. Camro Laguardia from STEM, Ms. Ashim Pheirim for English Immersion, or Ms. Joanne Lee for Art. They rotate through these stations throughout the week doing a variety of projects and activities that increase their content vocabulary, give them the opportunity to communicate with teachers in English, and increase their friendships with one another. 

Every student participates in a PE program just before lunchtime and Mr. Lucien Feng leads out in team-building games, Mr. Randy Ma supervises the sports in the gym, and Mrs. Grace Bao supervises the swimming program. Each evening offers an additional recreation time where students may play sports and games together, or as some do, walk the track field while talking and reflecting on the day. While the recreation time on Monday night was somewhat quiet and subdued, the recreation time on Friday was full of laughter, excitement, and plenty of movement.  

Faculty and staff are excited to work with the students attending the TAIS summer school program and look forward to the three more weeks of learning and growing together.