News from our Secondary Principal Craig Randall
Dear Parents,
This was a week of Inspiration in the Secondary School.
For those not familiar with Terry Fox, he was a young man from Canada who, in the 1980’s was diagnosed with cancer that resulted in his leg being amputated. Terry began running as part of his rehabilitation, eventually entered a race and began building towards running a marathon. He decided ultimately to run a marathon a day across Canada, a country over 5000 miles wide, in an effort to raise one million dollars for cancer research and to increase awareness of cancer research. An inspiration to people all over the world Terry ran for over 140 days. Pain returned, this time in his lungs, and sadly doctors discovered that cancer had returned. He had to stop his run and he died the next year. The Terry Fox run was born though. In the 35 years of the run over $500 million has been raised for cancer research.
We were honored on Sunday to have Terry’s brother come and share Terry’s story of courage, determination and perseverance with our students. It left a large and meaningful imprint on many. This Friday on the Corniche is the Abu Dhabi Terry Fox run. I encourage everyone to participate in this meaningful event with their children.
We were also blessed to have the Khalifa City community police force to visit us on Tuesday to give a very informative presentation on internet safety, our digital footprint and cyber bullying to our students. We encourage you to speak with your children about the importance of exercising good decision making skills with regards to the internet and respect for others.
Finally this morning is our 6th and 7th grade Sports Day. Having spent a portion of the morning outside I can assure you that great fun is being had by all in fun house competitions. More details will emerge next week in an update article written by our PE teachers.
Have a great weekend.
Craig Randall
Secondary Principal
Arabic Week
Our senior school had a wonderful time celebrating Arabic week. Well done to all involved! Not only did they learn more about the local culture but had the opportunity to indulge in traditional cuisine. Thank you to our Arabic Team and Parents for all their hard work in putting together an incredible event.
GAA Secondary Sports Days 2015
Hello Parent/Guardian,
One of the most exciting events of the Year, Secondary Sports Day, is fast approaching! The students will represent their homeroom house Lions (yellow), Tigers (orange), Puma (red) or Panthers (green) in a mix of competitive athletic events and fun multi-sport races during the day. We would like to invite you to come along and support the children with lots of enthusiasm and your loudest cheers! This year’s Secondary School Sports Days will be organized by grade levels and held here at GAA. The spirit of the day is friendly competition and everyone taking part will accumulate points for their homeroom house. A dress down day will be awarded to the house with the most overall points. The winning house will be announced at a victory school assembly the following week. Students and parents are encouraged to wear their homeroom colors on the day.
Dates and times are listed below:
Grade 6 & 7 Sports Day
Thursday 26th February 8.00am to 11.00am at GAA Sports Field
Grade 8, 9 & 10 Sports Day
Thursday 5th March 8.00am to 11.00am at GAA Sports Field
We look forward to seeing you at sports day to support the students as they participate in this fun and enjoyable event.
Kind Regards,
GAA Secondary PE Team
One of the most exciting events of the Year, Secondary Sports Day, is fast approaching! The students will represent their homeroom house Lions (yellow), Tigers (orange), Puma (red) or Panthers (green) in a mix of competitive athletic events and fun multi-sport races during the day. We would like to invite you to come along and support the children with lots of enthusiasm and your loudest cheers! This year’s Secondary School Sports Days will be organized by grade levels and held here at GAA. The spirit of the day is friendly competition and everyone taking part will accumulate points for their homeroom house. A dress down day will be awarded to the house with the most overall points. The winning house will be announced at a victory school assembly the following week. Students and parents are encouraged to wear their homeroom colors on the day.
Dates and times are listed below:
Grade 6 & 7 Sports Day
Thursday 26th February 8.00am to 11.00am at GAA Sports Field
Grade 8, 9 & 10 Sports Day
Thursday 5th March 8.00am to 11.00am at GAA Sports Field
We look forward to seeing you at sports day to support the students as they participate in this fun and enjoyable event.
Kind Regards,
GAA Secondary PE Team
From our music department..
GAA’s own Haeley Ahn to perform in Singapore
Haeley Ahn, one of GAA’s most accomplished student musicians, was accepted as the only piccolo player on the roster of the Association for Music in International School's (AMIS) International Honor Band and Orchestra 2015. These ensembles will rehearse and perform at the Singapore American School from 18-22 March, 2015 through the leadership of distinguished guest conductors. In Fall 2014 Haeley submitted recorded sound files for her audition. She succeeded in the face of intense competition from the most talented student musicians from schools around the globe.
A current high school sophomore, Haeley was born in Seoul, Korea, on October 11th 1999. She has been playing the flute for ten years and the piccolo for three. In February 2014, she participated in the KIMEA (Korea International Music Educators Association) 2014 National Honor Band Festival as principal piccoloist and in May 2014 she passed the ABRSM Grade 8 Practical Exam for flute with distinction and participated in the following High Scorers' Concert.
The entire GAA community wishes Haeley safe travels and fantastic music-making as she continues to pursue her passions.
Here is our Community and Secondary School Calendar - Scroll through the months to see what's planned for this year at GAA
Please make sure you check this calendar regularly for updates and new events