HIA ASC Handbook 2019-2020

A Balanced Student Life

At Hayah, we strive to help our students consider life beyond academics.

Committing to physical, creative and service activities not only develops
them as whole people but also extends benefit to the community. Building
this habit during high school years prepares students to adopt an active life
in college years and the future. The ASC journey enhances the development
of personal and interpersonal skills through experiential learning. By using
these skills, they can be productive members of the community.

About this handbook

This handbook is designed to be the official guide for Hayah’s ASC

program. Keep this guide as your primary reference to information
regarding the ASC program.

Activity

Activity involves engaging in experiences that require physical

exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle. Dedicating a fair part
of your schedule to your physical well-being ensures a balance of
the person as a whole. Students may join a Hayah sports team or commit to
a fitness program off campus. Students who do not enjoy organized sport
are encouraged to try more relaxed activities such as yoga or dance. They
can also explore outdoor sports cycling and archery.

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Service

Service is about dedicated a fraction of your time and/ or

energy in response to an authentic need in your community, be
it the school or your neighborhood. Through service, students
develop & apply personal and social skills in real life situations. Community
work can take many forms: projects that develop your school community,
regular volunteerism, organizing charity events, etc.

Creativity

Creativity explores & extends ideas leading to an original

product or performance. It will come from the student’s talents,
interests & imagination. Art & design, music, writing, digital
design, culinary arts are areas that employ creativity.

Blending ASC

Activities may count for more than one aspect of ASC. Art galleries for the
Hayah community, value-based play writing for children, designing a
website for an NGO are all examples of creativity and service. An athletic
student coaching younger children counts for activity and service.
Participating in a marathon or gallery organized to build awareness and raise
funds for charity are other examples incorporating service.

Requirements

Students can earn the specified credit for ASC through grade 9 and grade
10 by successfully accomplishing all the requirements set by the Hayah ASC
program. In grade 10, students are required to achieve the following
requirements:
1. Balance: Focus on two strands of ASC – one in each semester.
The third remaining strand will include a new skill to be learned
through formal coursework. (Eg. A course in digital skills for
creativity, learning yoga for activity or teaching literacy for service).
By the end of the year, all three ASC strands should be covered.
2. Commitment: Pursue each experience in semester 1 and semester
2 as a weekly commitment
3. Records: Keep a portfolio of their weekly experience by uploading
journals and evidence every week on ManageBac, the online portal
for ASC.
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Variety of Experiences

Students are encouraged to choose ASC experiences that best

suit their interests and schedule. Students may work
individually or work in teams. Projects may be initiated by the students
themselves or by the school. ASC experiences may take place off campus,
but there are plenty of opportunities on campus such as the After School
Activity Program (ASA), Hayah’s sport teams, etc. The ASC/ CAS
coordinator is available to offer more ideas for planning a productive ASC
journey.

Planning ASC

ASC work requires experiences to be purposeful. Meaningful

ASC experiences should have clear plans of action as well as
documented reflections.

Before the academic year starts, Grade 10 students should have set their
choices of ASC experiences that they will commit to in grade 10. This is
called the ASC Plan. Every student should set an ASC plan thay includes
all three strands (activity, service and creativity) distributed as follows:

1. One weekly experience in Semester 1

2. One weekly experience in Semester 2
3. Learning one new skill through a formal course

Examples of ASC Plans:

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3

Semester 1 Soccer Teaching Choir
Literacy
Semester 2 Orphanage visits Guitar Yoga
New Skill Basics of Graphic Self-defense First Aid at the
(Course) design course Red Crescent

Please watch the tutorial on ManageBac which explains how to upload your
ASC plan on the online ASC portal.

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Reflection & Documentation

Unlike grade 9 assignments, Grade 10 students no longer post

single ASC assignments on E-locker. Instead, they will start
recording weekly experiences using the online portal known as ManageBac.

At the start of each semester (check the exact date on the school calendar),
students start keeping a weekly record of their ASC experience. This
includes:

1. One journal every week that reflects on what happened this week
2. Documentation of this week’s work

Journals

Uploading weekly reflections on is very similar to keeping a journal of your

ASC experiences – only the former is kept on your ManageBac account,
rather than a diary. Collectively, journals should reflect on the stages of each
experience and how it affected the student. Students are encouraged to
express their feelings before, during and after the experience. They should
tell why they chose the activity and what they’ve learned from it. Please see
the REFLECTION GUIDE on ManageBac for details about how to write
a reflective journal.

Documentation

Documentation is like having an Instagram account where you share your

experience with your followers. Students are expected to support each
weekly journal with evidence. Evidence include: photos, videos, certificates,
social media mentions, meeting minutes or any medium that helps
document their learning experience.

Supervision

Any ASC experience must have a supervisor. This is usually the person who
oversees your experience such as your sports coach, your music teacher, or
the charity NGO manager. The supervisor cannot be a family member.
Family & social duties (such as taking care of grandmother or donating
money for charity) are not accepted as ASC activities.

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Assessment

Students are expected to be posting on ManageBac every week. When it is

time for semester evaluation, the ASC coordinator checks the ManageBac
account and should find a week-by-week posting, each with both a journal
and evidence. The ASC coordinator will check for whether:
 each experience has been documented week by week
 journals follow the reflection guide
 evidence clearly shows the student in action
 experience has been evaluated by the supervisor

Staff Guidance

The ASC program is coordinated by the ASC/CAS Coordinator, who is to

be addressed for any concerns or information. Information regarding the
ASC program is posted both on the school portal and ManageBac. As all
official school communication, all ASC communication takes place through
the @hayahacademy.com email, so students should be aware to actively use
it.

We hope this handbook helps you with your ASC guidance. For questions,
please contact the CAS Coordinator at sarar@hayahacademy.com.