Faction Day 2015

Tuesday, October 13^th 2015, the 4 factions’ face off! Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, and Candor are competing for the title of “The Strongest Faction”. Each of the factions wore the color of clothes assigned to their factions, respectively: Dauntless with red, Erudite with blue, Candor with white and Amity with yellow, but the members of the student council wore black.

We started the day with a parade. It was led by Melvin from Grade 7 who played the drum as we paraded around the school premises. After parading, we returned to the auditorium. There Ms. Vilma, our principal, gave us opening remarks. Then, the games commenced!

The first activity was a dancing game called “So You Think You Can Dance?” It is led by Tanezia and Audrey Flabian from the student council. The factions were told to incorporate at least 5 of the dance steps shown by Tanezia to their preferred song. Each of the factions were given 30 minutes to prepare their dance while Grade 9 had to  manage simultaneously their group while tending to their goods being sold for the business study week.

The next activities were the sports and painting competition. The sports that the factions were competing for were badminton and table tennis. Each faction should send 4 representatives (2 boys and 2 girls) for each sport. For the painting competition, each faction should also send 2 representatives.

The following activity was the “Acapella This n That”. In this game, the members of each faction will have to use their voice and body parts to create music. They can also perform excerpts of a song, or a mash-up. And last but not least, there was the “Balloonies”! Each faction has to compete in hoarding the water balloons provided by the student council committee. The faction which would have the most number of water balloons would be the winner. They had to prepare themselves getting wet as the balloon could pop anytime.

Aside from activities mentioned above, there was also the inauguration of the new officers of the Student Council 2015-2016. All of the activities ended at 2.45 P.M. It was tiring, but well, it was fun. The students hope that the new officers of Student Council hold more fun activities in the future.

( By: Kyuubi - Grace, Banshee - Elvira, Rambo - Robin and T-Rex - Vianca )

Of Stressful and Busy Weeks

This week on our EFL class we learn about different types of irony. The topic was introduced to us through the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Earlier this week we were assigned to do a research on Edgar Allan Poe's life. After researching and understanding his life we knew that his life was somehow miserable he was never truly happy. He was known to be the father of horror and mysterious short story as well as the father of short story. The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado are two of many short stories he had written.

Poe always has some types of irony in his work. To understand more about irony, we were given one of his masterpieces, The Cask of Amontillado. We read the story and we also try to compare it to the film. The story is about a guy named Montressor who was seeking revenge to his friend Fortunato, who was a wine connoisseur. In killing or burying Fortunato alive, but somehow Montressor felt guilty this can be proven with this story. He wrote this story as his confession of killing Fortunato and he felt guilty of doing it.

Through this we learn about the three types of irony, Verbal irony, Situational Irony and Dramatic Irony. We were also asked to identify the three types of irony in the story of “The Cask of Amontillado.” Aside from learning irony, we also learn a few new words like catacombs, which means the place where they buries the death and impunity which means exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines. Not only English words, we also learn 2 Latin phrases, which are, Nemo me impune laccesit which means no one attacks me with impunity and In pace requiescat which means rest in peace.

Outside our EFL class we also have something interesting coming our way next week. Although it’s not for the whole school, it’s quite important for us. The basketball teams, the girls and the boys are joining a competition in Kanaan Global School. It will start on the 14th of September and let’s just pray that we will win this thing. This week is a busy week for us on last Wednesday, September 9 two of our representative went to Kanaan Global School for the Technical Meeting. We also have our last practice last Friday to make sure that both of our teams are ready for the match.

The building is not fully finished as we all know, but this week, they open a new section of the school. It’s the balcony at the end of the hallway. It’s more bright now in the school, however if you take a look at the scenery from the balcony, it is not pretty. When you take a look all you can see is unfinished building and workers pacing back and forth. Although that is a bit disappointing, there is one cool feature that is added. The school installed speakers throughout the school so during dismissal time, you can hear songs being played throughout the school.

I think that is all interesting things we have this week in school. There are a lot of stories not told in this update but those are minor things and unimportant stories. The update of the blog will be posted as soon as possible, but until then, see you later.

( By; T-Rex - Vianca )

New Lessons, a new teacher, and a new school year

In this year’s EFL class, it looks like we will be frequently updating this blog (it’s still just a possibility), so stay tuned to read our entries.

This year, our EFL is taught by a new teacher, his name is Mr. Michael Brian, or in short, we call him Mr. M.B. While the ESL class is handled by Ms. Monica, who is also a new teacher in Mentari. Maybe, for this year, our lessons will be more intensive, since we will encounter the IGCSE in grade 10, and also the English national exam.  

On the first session of our EFL class, 9A and 9B were split into two classes due to a wrong schedule. Though, we still had the same topic of conversation, such as self-introduction, our favorite novels, and we discussed a few short stories. The next day, both classes were combined into one, but the total number of students was reduced to 7 students (originally the class consisted of 8 students), as one of us has transferred to another school. We were also given a written test, a grammar test to be exact. The results were quite satisfying, as most of us made it to the intermediate level, and a few reached the advanced level.

On the third day, we started using our course book. We did the activity on the first page, wherein we had to make a spider diagram, using “island” as the main body of the diagram, and present it in front of the class. Aside from using the course book, Mr. M. B. also gave us a lecture about skimming and scanning, and told us the difference between the two. Afterwards, he told us to read two passages in our course book and instructed us to answer the questions given. We also learned about dividing a whole article into paragraphs. Also, each of us was given a task of presenting words that are commonly found or used in daily life, and also words that we find difficult and unfamiliar with.  Last Wednesday, August 13^th, he told us to create new entries for our blog, so this is also included as an activity for our EFL class.

Well, we think that is all of the lessons and activities that we’ve done so far for the first few weeks of school. So, see you on the next update!

                                                                                                                                                  

( By: T-Rex - Vianca and Rambo - Robin )

First Few Week of School

 “ When a new page of life is flipped, a new adventure begins. “ -Anonymous

Hello to all readers, long time no see! The last time we updated our blog was around February or April, when we were still in Grade 8, but now, we’re in Grade 9! It is a good news that everyone made it to Grade 9, isn’t it~? Though sadly, we’re now divided into two classes. Too bad, huh. Well then, without much ado, we’ll tell you about the first few weeks of school from a 9^thgrade's perspective!

We started the new school year on Tuesday, July 28^th 2015. On our first day, we weren’t that pleased to come to school, as we still had to go the primary building instead of the junior high building. We were told to go there by the following week, which was Monday, August 3^rd, since the new building was still being cleaned. This year, we had a lot of new faces, as there are new Grade 7 students enrolling in Mentari. Most of them looked timid and shy, well, it’s just normal since it’s just the first day of school and most of the new students were still not familiar with the others yet.  They were divided into two classes, 7A and 7B. For Grade 8, it's the same as last year. All of them stay in one class since they are only 24. Grade 9 were also divided into two classes, 9A and 9B. Elvira (Banshee) and Vianca (T-Rex) belonged to 9A, while Grace (Kyuubi) and Robin (Rambo) were in 9B. Most of us were upset about the classes being divided into two divisions, as most of us didn’t get to be in the same class as our close and best friends.

 Also, on the first day, we were divided into four houses, named after the factions from Divergent, namely Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest/justice), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent) by drawing lots. Grace, Vianca, and Robin went to the Dauntless House, while Elvira joined the Amity House. Most of us Grade 9 already knew that we were divided into houses in order to select a new set of officers for the Student Council. Also, after being divided into groups, we were told to create a group cheer, and present it in front of the other houses and teachers. Before our dismissal at 12.30, each house was assigned to bring recycled materials, respectively plastic bags, plastic bottles, old clothes, and newspaper.

On Wednesday, we started the morning with gymnastics session with Mr. Bayu, our new P.E. teacher. It was a fun session, as mostly everyone, and even the teachers, enjoyed the gymnastics session. After recess, Mr.Dondee, the Grade 6 Antasena homeroom teacher, gave us a lecture session about “sustainability”, and advised us to try and help the environment by recycling the things that we used and reuse them or make them into something useful. Then, we played a game called “Picture Game”. It’s a game where we had to make a still picture while all the members of the house have to act it out. Afterwards, we were asked to create things from the materials that we had brought from our homes. We were given one hour to create something from the used materials. An hour later, each house was asked to prepare 3 models who would present the finished products of each house, or in other words, a fashion show. Every house presented its items in its own style, and most of the models earned a lot of cheers and whistles from the audience.

On Thursday, the four houses had to present their final cheer (the ones on Monday were just preparations). The cheer from each house represented its characteristics, and was unique in its own way. Not to forget, later that day, we started our campaigning for the new set of officers for the rest of the school year. Each group was given two pieces of carton, to make their own posters representing their group.

The candidates from Dauntless were Robin running as president, Alvian (G7) running as vice president, Adzra (G8) running as secretary, Darlene as G7 rep., Tanezia as G8 rep., and Kenneth as the G9 rep. From the Candor House, the candidates were Olivia (G9) as president, Audrey F. (G8) as the vice president, Angelique (G8) as the secretary, Fransisco as the G7 rep., Natania as the G8 rep., and Adrian as the G9 rep. As for the Erudite, their candidates consisted of boys only, and we could use two words to describe them: boy band. But kidding aside, their candidates were Jonathan (G9) as president, Kenny (G8) as vice president, Chievas (G7) as secretary, Putra as G7 rep., Raymond as G8 rep., and Daylen as G9 rep. Lastly from Amity, the candidates were Elvira (G9) as president, Fayola (G8) as the vice president, Darrell (G7) as secretary, Yudha as G7 rep., Dhana as G8 rep., and Angtonio as G9 rep. That day, each president candidate had to explain what vision and mission and plans they have for this school year. The teachers announced that each candidate would have his/her own speech and would face question-and-answer sessions the day after.

On the last day of staying at the old building, each candidate from the houses made his/her speech and presented it to the audience. The sequence started from the G9 representative, and ended to the president candidates. Soon, the time for voting came, which took quite a while until it was our turn to vote. And before we were dismissed, the results of the votes were announced. The winner and new set of officers for the school year 2015-2016 were Elvira as president, Audrey F. as vice president, Chievas as secretary, Yudha as the G7 rep., Tanezia as the G8 rep., and Adrian (who surprisingly won with a 1 vote difference against Kenneth) as the G9 rep.

And after the first week, we moved to the new junior high building along with the Grade 6. We started having regular sessions, though some lessons required changing of classrooms, such as the EFL-ESL, Religion, P.E., etc. The new teachers were friendly and fun to be with, and we’re glad to have teachers like them. We hope that this last year of junior high will be a fun and enjoyable school year for us!  

 

( By: Kyuubi - Grace and Banshee - Elvira )

English-Fest 2015

“It’s been a long day without you my friend, and, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. We’ve come a long way from where we began oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.” – Charlie Puth on ‘See You Again’.

                Hello! It’s been a while since we updated our blog.  Last month, on April 30^th, we held our second annual English-Fest with “The Youth of Today” as its theme. Like last year, the Grade 8 performed their speeches. But the difference is that this year, the Grade 7 also joined us in the English-Fest but, they did declamations and poems instead of speeches. On this event, everybody participated and their performances were divided into two sessions, Group A and Group B. Grade 8 had to wear formal attires (a.k.a. business suites) while the Grade 7 wore costumes that suited their entries.

                The first session started on 9.30 A.M in the morning and ended on 11.15 A.M. There were 24 performances on the first session. The students of Grade 7 and Grade 8 took turns in performing. Each and every one of them delivered their entries in a way that the audience can understand. Though some had a little trouble delivering their entries but overall, it was a great success. The second session starts on 12.30 P.M and ended on 2.30 P.M. There were 29 performances on the second session.  Like the first session, the second session was also a success but, in a greater scale.

                Unlike last year, the audience this year was fewer in number. They were limited up to Grade 6 for the first session, and Grade 5 for the second session. Some of them were given scoring sheets to evaluate the speakers. The reason why the audience was fewer this year is because the auditorium was also used for the preparation of the Mentari Show, “Willy Wonka Jr.”. Because of this, only half of the auditorium was used for the English-Fest as there were props placed on the stage. Although we used only half of the auditorium this year, the excitement is merrier than last year.

                So, this year English-Fest was a total success. It gave us more experience to be more confident in speaking in public. It is all thanks to our English teacher, Mr. Josh and Ms. Vilma. Our junior high principal, Mr. Hari Wibowo hopes that we could improve our ability in public speaking. 

(By: Kyuubi - Grace, T-Rex - Vianca, Banshee - Elvira, Rambo - Robin)

  

               

Chinese New Year Celebration 2015

                Hello, readers! We wish you a Happy Chinese New Year! It must've been a happy reunion with your family members. This year as well, we, Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya has a custom in celebrating Chinese New Year by holding perfomances, which involves every member of the school. This was what we did this year.

             
                In the 17^th of February, Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya celebrated Chinese New Year which starts from 8 A.M., to 2 P.M. in the afternoon. Girls are required to wear Cheong Sam (traditional Chinese attire for women and girls) while the boys are required to wear Chinese clothes. But overall, everyone wore red clothes, except for the eighth grade who wore green clothes.

                In the morning, around 8 A.M., the school invited a group of performers named “Red Lion”, who performed the ‘Lion Dance’. Every member of the school, especially the toddlers and the kindergarten, were very excited to see the group of performers, which some of them might not have seen before. They watched the show first, followed by the elementary and junior high. With lively music and attractive moves, many of the students felt entertained and admired the dance, which took place in the auditorium. The venue was supposed to be at the court but, due to weather condition, it was moved to the auditorium.

                Around 1 P.M., there were performances ranging from Grades 1 to 8, with different aspects of talents that entertained the spectators which was mostly made up of parents. Some of the grades sang songs, danced, some did fashion shows, played a song with their recorders, and even rapped. Various talents were displayed in each and every performance. The auditorium, corridors, and class windows were decorated with Chinese words, and decorations, such as Chinese lanterns, words, pictures to create a traditional Chinese atmosphere.

                As for us, the Grade 8, we did a performance, a combination of dancing, singing, and rapping. The song we used belongs to Jay Chou, by the title of “Listen to Mother’s Words”. In the morning, Grade 7 and us (Grade 8), held a last-minute and final rehearsal to practice our choreography and rap for our performances. We took turns in rehearsing with the Grade 7, since they also need time to rehearse their own performance.

                The Chinese New Year event this year was a success. Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya’s principal, Mr. Hari Wibowo, hopes that next year’s Chinese New Year event will be better and more interesting.

( By: Kyuubi - Grace and Banshee - Elvira )

Insights on Holes

The Holes tells about a boy named Stanley Yelnats that was sent to Camp Green Lake to dig holes each day. The Holes is an easy reading novel. The story is unexpected. I recommended students to read this novel.

-         Kyuubi - Grace

  

The Holes’ vocabularies are easy to understand, and each chapter has a few pages. The plot of the novel is simple, but also has complicated matters inside. This is an interesting novel to read, it creates a mental image easily.

 -        Banshee – Elvira

Fun reading, I don’t think it’s really hard to understand. Like stated above, the plot is simple, but can be unexpected at times. You might enjoy this, maybe not, but it’s worth your time. I don’t see many social issues, or maybe it’s just me? Find out for yourself.

-        Rambo - Robin

The Holes is a very interesting novel to read. The stories are easy to understand and everybody can read this book in a short amount of time. I haven’t finished this novel but so far, the book is very good and interesting to read.

-        T-rex - Vianca