INSA DAY BY DAY

April 15, 2013 Volume Number 2 INSA STUDENTS AT TENNIS TOURNAMENT IN THE CLUB CAMPESTRE

February, 25 seniors attended the University Fair in Cali where they talked to representatives from universities in Cali and other parts of the country. In May they will make visits to ICESI university and to the Autonoma university. They also have been informed of a new scholarship that is offered by the Autonoma, Ingenios, that covers all expenses. These activities are especially important for INSA students because in their families, more than in the families of most other students headed for higher education, they lack both the information and the funds needed for attending universities.

INSA TEACHERS LEARN NEW WAYS TO USE SCRATCH AND TIC IN THE CLASSROOM
INSA teachers are exploring new ways to use Scratch and TIC in the classroom by attending the educational encounters sponsored by ICESI University and the Gabriel Piedrahita Foundation. Scratch is, according to Wikipedia, a programming language learning environment enabling beginners to get results without having to learn syntactically correct writing first and TIC means Technologies of Information and Communications. This year for two days, on May 31 and June 1, INSA teachers will accompany teachers from other schools that use Scratch and TIC to learn new applications and exchange their classroom experiences. The themes of Edukatic, this years encounter, are learning through projects and the uses of Scratch 2.0. Last year teachers from Cali, Bogota, Medellin, Ibague, Moniquira, Rovira and Coello attended the Scratch encounters. Some of the subjects treated were: reading comprehension, simulation of Boyles law, the procariot cell, biology and the history of the computer. Last year INSA won second prize for its presentation on using scratch to learn about the history of computers. First prize went to the Marco Fidel Suarez School in Coello, Tolima for the presentation Goodbye to being scared of math. INSA teachers are looking forward to attending Edukatic and maybe theyll get the first prize this time. Whether they get it or not its sure to be an enriching experience that will benefit INSA students.

In February, twenty-nine INSA students from grade 11 went to see the Bionaire Tennis Tournament in Calis Club Campestre. The Bionaire is a tournament that attracts some of the best young women players from all over the world. It was a first time educational experience for these INSA students both in going to a professional tennis tournament and in setting foot in Calis exclusive Club Campestre. At the tournament they watched the matches and met one of Colombias top women players, Marianna Duque, and two other players from other countries. With this outing, they also saw where their future successes in universities and beyond could place them. It was a great educational experience that they will never forget.

Seniors learn about Higher Education Opportunities

INSA tries to insure that its students are informed about their opportunities for higher education. In

Science Center Project

INSA students do less well on science subjects in the national exams and fewer of them pursue careers in science when they go on to higher education. Aware of this need and thanks to help from INSAs friends construction began three months ago on the new science center. When completed it will triple the space dedicated to science teaching and provide INSA students with the equipment and supplies they need to do experiments. By doing experiments their learning is made easier, they are motivated, and they learn basic experimental techniques that are employed in chemistry, biology and physics. Our hope is that with the new science center more INSA students will develop their talents in the sciences and be motivated to pursue careers in those fields.

mother and sister (who also is an INSA student) to Calis Andres Sanin neighborhood and entering INSA five years ago. The American Embassy sponsors an all expenses paid, three week visit for 12 Colombian students, ages 15 to 18, to the States as junior ambassadors of Colombia. Lina Maria was selected as one of these. The theme of the visit is the natural environment. This trip will open the world to Lina. Because, outside of Cali, the only places she has been to are Popayan and Santander de Quilichao. Her first taste of the outside world will be when she boards an airliner to fly to Bogota to go to the Embassy for her visa. She will then get a taste of Colombias capital city, Bogota, and it will also be her first airplane ride. Then, in October, she will be off on the big trip to New York City, the capital of the world. Understandably, shes very excited about the trip. The governor of the TOEZ Indian reservation, to which she belongs, wrote a letter supporting her candidacy. She will report to him and the other Native Americans in her tribe when she returns. It will be a great experience for her and a lesson for her classmates that when opportunities appear you have to go after them because nothing is impossible!

INSA student selected as Ambassador to the USA

Lina Maria Atillo, a 15 year old Native Indigenous Colombian, is an INSA student. She was born in Caloto, Cauca, lived in the TOEZ Indian reservation and in Caloto before moving with her

New Vacation Time Activities

32 INSA students, five to twelve years old, participated in recreational, educational and cultural activities for two weeks from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. during their year end vacation in December.

The leader of the team of INSA teachers who led the activities was Liliana Homez, one of the schools most experienced teachers who comes from INSAs neighborhood, Andrs Sann. The vacation time activities included the traditional Christmas Novena, a show by Colgate on dental care, a ride on a fire engine, a visit to the planetarium at the Air Force base, and numerous excursions to parks and swimming pools. The price for the two weeks of activities that included a mid morning snack was 80,000 pesos, about $USA 45. Parents were very happy with the program so no doubt there will be increased enrollment when it returns this year.

she studied Portuguese she came back to Cali and is now happily teaching at INSA. Gustavo Aguirre rides his motorbike to INSA every day from Calis La Sultana neighborhood on the mountainside where he lives. He teaches one of the Christian Life courses to INSAs primary and secondary students. Before coming to INSA, he studied philosophy for four years in Calis Major Seminary. The texts he uses are the three books by the Byzantine Brothers and the 11 books of the Projects of Life series. Gustavo likes working with INSA students. Pin Fei, a native of Taiwan, teaches Mandarin in INSA. Her family owns the Chinese restaurant, Zen, on Calis sixth avenue. Before coming to INSA Pin Fei taught private classes in Cali and Mexico. She and her family moved to Cali six years ago. She likes teaching in INSA very much, especially its personalized education approach, that is, considering the student as a whole person, not just as someone who should learn the material. She says her students, grades 7 to 10 are very motivated to learn Mandarin.

THREE NEW TEACHERS

INSA has three new teachers Melissa Weizman teaches French and English and will also be teaching Portuguese next year. Her love of Salsa music brought her to Cali and to Univalle where, on exchange from Concordia University in Montreal, she studied social work. After completing her degree and a few months in Rio de Janiero where

INSAs Friends
We want this newsletter to reach all of INSAs friends but we dont have all the email addresses. If you know of an INSA friend who does not receive our newsletter, you might forward it to him or her. Also, let us know what you think about the newsletter. You can contact us at insacalicol@gmail.com
HELP US TO FINISH THE BUILDING OF THE SCIENCE CENTER! Donations to INSA are always most welcome. We survive with the help of our friends! You will receive a tax deductible document. Contributions can be sent to: Basilian Fathers Missions St Joseph Center In Colombia: Banco AV Villas P.O. Box 708 Cuenta de ahorros: 121 113 781 Sugar Land, Texas 77487 Titular: Congregacin Padres Basilianos Gracias, Thank you, Merci, Grazie for your help to our kids!