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The

Stallion voice IT’S TIME TO PREORDER! By: Eiman Amzar The YIS staff has recently organized a new lunch order system to efficiently supply lunch to all buyers. The new system began operation Oct. 20th. Previously, students were asked to order their lunch a week in advance. However, some “students had trouble ordering” or complained about having to order a whole week in advance. This prompted an im-provement in the system. “The new lunch order system will consist of ordering each morning,” said Mr. Caldwell when

PREPARE, PRACTICE, PRODUCE By: Tazeen Murad and Ibrahim Qureshi Students’ spirits rose across the school as U16 boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams prepared for upcoming scrimmages and tournaments. The players spent hours after school working on their skills and teamwork in order to be ready for their tournaments and have even gotten the opportunity to travel for scrimmages. On Oct. 4th both U16 teams met early in the morning to travel to BISJ, who hosted the scrimmages. The Stallions put up a good fight and enjoyed them-selves. The scrimmages also helped the teams prepare for the tournaments. “Going to the scrimmages helped us learn to play as a team and understand each other’s skills,” says Chel-sea Baniqued, co-captain for the girls A-team. The boys enjoyed the scrimmage as well and were glad to travel and compete with other teams across the Western Province. Much to the disappointment of the U16 boys’ team, their trip to the this year’s tournament was cancelled. Transportation issues stopped them from travelling and participating in the annual SAIKAC event. Mr. Rose explained that “no return flights were available,” due to the Hajj season. This year, on Oct. 17-18, YIS hosted the U16 girls volleyball tournament. Mr. Rose and staff worked hard make it a success. With six teams, coaches, and visiting parents, the tournament was rumored to be one of the largest events our school has hosted.

The Student of the Month is Jude Nabil Rousan, a new 8th grader who has come all the way from Jordan. She joined YIS at the beginning of the academic year. Jude, who is also American, was born on February 8th, and is thirteen years old. She has three brothers and a sister. Her best friend is Marah Abdallah. Jude has lived in Saudi Arabia for two years and went to Al-Tawhid before coming to YIS. She commented on the differences between YIS and her former school, exclaiming, “It’s good, nice and great! YIS teaches better than Al Tawhid but Al-Tawhid has more activities than YIS.” Welcome to the Stallion family, Jude and have a great academic year!

interviewed. Mrs. Mila will be available from 8-8:25 a.m. in the cafeteria each morning to take stu-dent orders for that day. While Mr. Caldwell acknowledges “it is difficult for students to change to new [schedules],” he hopes “it will be better for students.”

Parent-teacher conferences are fast

approaching!

By: Tazeen Murad From Nov. 20-21, students and parents will spend individual time with teachers. These conferences will allow for parents, teachers and students to discuss progress in the classroom and out. The strengths and weaknesses of each student will be analyzed, as students, parents, and teachers work together as a team to ensure student improve-ment. “It’s good because I don’t think parents always know what’s going on in class,” says Mrs. Winterfeld, who teaches HS English. Many teach-ers are excited to meet their student’s parents and discuss each student’s individual progress in these one-on-one meetings.

STUDENT OF THE MONTH Jude, the New Dude

By: Eiman Amzar

A word of caution to all YIS students

By: Murad Ahmed and Shayan Jalali Hajj season is upon us, so Mrs. Avee urges every-one to get their meningitis vaccinations as soon as possible. This shot is required to protect the health of students and staff from meningitis. This year, we will not be visited by the RCMC (Royal Commission Medical Center) nurses to give the shots, so you must find time to get the vaccination yourself.

Jude Rousan

BLACK AND WHITE ALL THE WAY By: Hamshini Suresh and Katie O’Malley On Oct. 7, 2012, YIS students and staff dressed in black and white and attended a pep rally in the auditorium to show their sup-port for the U-16 and U-19 volleyball teams. During this assembly, teams, coaches and players were introduced and cheered on by hundreds of students shouting and hooting, “Let’s go Stallions, Let’s Go!” Our U-16 girls teams competed here in Yanbu at the tourna-ment hosted by YIS. The U-19 boys and girls teams travelled to Dhahran. The pep rally allowed YIS the opportunity to show our school spirit and let the teams know they would always have our support and we would always cheer them on.

By: Hamshini Suresh and Katie O’Malley

On Oct. 8 and 9, YIS practiced their annual Virtual School drill, where students learned at home via the school’s Moodle webpage.

The Stallion Voice met with Ms. Yaqub, the Technology Coordinator, to learn a little more about Virtual School. Ms. Yaqub said, “In a regular 24-hour day, there are between 15,000-30,000 actions (viewing, adding, updating, or deleting) on Moodle. By 2 p.m. on the first day of Virtual School, there were 230,000 hits (actions). By the end of the 2nd day, there were 260,000 actions. Despite having periods when some of us experienced a significant slowdown, I would say the Virtual School drill has been a success. This year teachers used new Moodle features like glossaries and discussion boards. An e-mail that discussed virtual school health tips was also sent from the school nurse, Ms. Avee, to all YIS par-ents.”

We also asked some students to share their opinions of Virtual School. Abegail Dela (7B) commented, “Virtual School this year was better than the previous years. There was a big improvement that all students could see. It was faster, and didn't crash at all. We were able to communicate with our teachers via Moodle. It was a great, big success. Congratulations, YIS staff!” Courtney Murgatroyd (8B) agrees, “I thought Virtual School was much better this year because the server didn't crash. It was a bit faster than last year.”

Overall, it seems virtual school was much more successful this year than previously and students are looking forward to seeing an even more improved Virtual School drill next year.

ROLLING OUT THE

WELCOME MAT

By: Misha Hashmi

Welcome back U19 Stallions! After leaving YIS on a bus to Jeddah at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, the Yanbu Stallions flew to Dammam, where a bus transferred them to Dhahran. The teams displayed their passion for vol-leyball by playing through Wednesday and Thursday with no breaks. Mr. Nannen, the assistant coach for the U19 boys, reports, “we have very dedicated kids that are willing to travel that early in the morning.” The girls’ team, led by captains Leena Khan and Nikita Patil, fought competi-tive games against their opponents, schools from ISG, Jeddah, and Riyadh. While they came in last place, they earned commendations from coaches, referees, and ISG superintendent Nor-ma Hudson for their good sportsman-ship. Prior to the tournament, the girls trained with head coach Ms. Lam and assistant coach, 2nd grade teacher Ms. Loser, who was unable to travel. The U19 boys, after having won many of their games, made it to the semi-finals led by head coach, 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Caldwell, assistant coach Mr. Nannen, and captain Awad Chisty. However, they had to board their plane to Yanbu at 4 p.m., consequently missing the semi-finals, forcing a for-feit, and putting them in last place. Even though many of the Stallions were disappointed that the boys could not finish out the tournament, the teams’ determination is shown through their efforts. Refusing to give into their sleep-deprived conditions and a few medical emergencies, both teams fought hard against their oppo-nents. In the end, YIS proudly congrat-ulated our teams upon their return.

Yanbu International School Compiled by: Journalism Club

THE VIRTUAL SUCCESS

Open House welcomed a new year at YIS, introducing a new principal, a new song, a new schedule, and new hopes and dreams. On Sept. 26, from 5-7pm, YIS invited parents to meet this year’s faculty and staff. The school conducted two assemblies, one for the Elementary and one for MS/HS, showcasing new features and improvements in the school, as well as announcing some future events. The assemblies also intro-duced a new school song, performed by the MS/HS choir consisting of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. The song was written by Patrick O’Malley, a parent of two of our students and the music and harmonies for the song were written by our music teacher, Mrs. Bernadette Carino.

The Stallion Voice has asked some of the teachers to share their thoughts about the assembly and new song. Ms. Lam, one of our PE teachers, thinks, “Open House was a fun experience, albeit a very long day for teachers. However, getting to meet some of the parents was refreshing and allowed me to learn a little bit more about my students and their home lives. The new school song was such a treat - I found myself humming it on the way home that night. Great job to all the

talented choir members and especially Mr. O'Malley for composing such a fantastic song!” Ms. Yaqub agrees say-ing, “I thought the song was lovely and it was a nice contribution to the school. The song increases school spirit and it makes you proud of belonging to YIS. Overall the presentations were very interesting during Open House and it was brilliant.”

Altogether, the open house and new school song were a great success with faculty, students, and parents.

A NEW BEGINNING

By: Hamshini Suresh and Katie O’Malley

MEET THE STAFF

By: Ibrahim Qureshi Every Stallion Voice edition will highlight one or two staff members. This month, welcome one of the many new faces of the MS/HS staff, Ms. Modi. Ms. Modi substituted at YIS during the 2011-2012 school year. Before coming to Yanbu, she taught in the USA for 8 years. Now as our MS math and science teacher, she has been a core part of many students’ days. When asked how she finds our small town, Ms. Modi expresses that she enjoys Yanbu “as it is very peaceful here.” She says moving here from America was not that hard of an adjustment. She enjoys teaching at YIS, and wishes an amazing year to all the students!

DRAMA CLUB By: Murad Ahmed and Shayan Jalali Drama Club: Come one and all and enjoy the festivities of this upcoming January’s play, pre-sented to you by the YIS Drama Club. Watch as 16 students act their hearts out in an award-winning comedy for 45 minutes. Casting parts are full at the moment, but there is a shortage of stagehands (helpers). If you are interested in helping out with the play, please contact Mrs. Winterfeld as soon as possible. Drama club meets after school every Sunday.

By: Murad Ahmed and Shayan Jalali Ms. Carino: Elementary piano has been approved as an after school activity; the top five pianists from this group will be performing in the ele-mentary school talent show this De-cember. The show will consist of two parts, a group and class performance segment, and an individual and small group performance segment. In a letter sent out to parents on Oct. 15, Mrs. Carino said, “(In) regards (to) the individual and small group talent show, everyone who wants to present shall undergo audition(s) which will be held in the school auditorium on Nov. 7, from 3-4:30 p.m.” If you have a young-er brother or sister in elementary school, the Stallion Voice urges you to encourage them to perform this De-cember.

AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Ms. Sonal Modi >