Dear Hong Kong Academy Community,


The beginning of the school year is always an exciting time. Summer is just a bit too quiet on campus, and the pleasant cacophony of students, teachers and parents talking and laughing is a happy indication that a new school year has begun. Welcome back!


In this issue, we explore many different aspects of what it means for an education to be rigorous. HKA’s missions statement expresses the school’s commitment to a rigorous international education, but what does that imply? Head of School Stephen Dare explores that question in his article, and other stories in this issue amplify the theme across topics such as literacy, service learning and the MYP Personal Project.


Happy reading, and please feel free to tell us what you’re thinking. You can find me in the UG office area, or email me at laura.mitchell@hkacademy.edu.hk to suggest a story or contribute a letter to the editor.


Enjoy,


Laura Mitchell Director of Institutional Advancement


CONTRIBUTORS


ALICIA & ALASDAIR G5 STUDENTS Grade 5 Students Alicia and Alasdair interviewed our HKA Security Guards to learn about their jobs and why they like working at HKA.


SUHAIL BINDRA Suhail Bindra, Class of 2013, has the extraordinary distinction of having earned a perfect score on his IB exams. A student at the University of Hong Kong studying law, Suhail’s other interests include music and sports. He enjoys studying the law for the interesting practical aspects that change the way he looks at the world.


AARON COOK Aaron Cook is HKA’s Athletics Director. In addition to supporting physical education, he coordinates the school’s inter-school and conference athletics teams. Aaron also manages the school’s Aſter School Activities Programme, which has grown substantially under his leadership.


STEPHEN DARE Stephen Dare is the Head of School at Hong Kong Academy. He has worked in international schools in North and South America and South East Asia. For the last five years, Stephen has been a co-trainer for the Principal’s Training Center Summer Institutes for Curriculum and Leadership and, more recently, for Leadership and Group Dynamics. He currently sits on the Advisory Board for the Next Frontier Inclusion Project and is a member of the ACAMIS Board. He originally leſt the UK for a couple of years to explore the world of international education and to travel to Machu Picchu. He never made it to Peru and is still working overseas 25 years later.


TANJA GALETTI Now in her third year as Primary School Teacher Librarian at HKA, Tanja Galetti is originally from Germany. Prior to joining HKA, she lived and worked in Ghana for 19 years. She especially loves sharing great stories with students, getting them curious about authors and their books, and helping them explore the joy reading can bring.


JILL GOEBEL Jill is a Speech Pathologist and mother of 3 teens. She spent 2 and half years in Hong Kong from 2008, aſter relocating with husband Brett’s Australian engineering company. Now back in her home town of Brisbane, Australia, she is currently working part time with Prep (4-5 years) students needing extra support with language development, and enjoying regular volunteer work with adult migrant/refugee English classes.


GINNY HAND Originally from Australia, Ginny has now been at HKA for eight years. She started out at HKA as the school’s first Teacher Librarian, primarily working in the Primary School. As the school expanded, her role grew to encompass both Primary and Secondary Schools, and she now serves as Secondary School Teacher Librarian. She enjoys nurturing the love of reading in teenagers via initiatives such as Battle of the Books and working collaboratively with the students and staff on Information Literacy and Media Literacy. She also co co-ordinates the Personal Project, Reflective Project and Extended Essay.


JULIE NEEDHAM Julie has spent nine years of her twenty-three year teaching career at HKA. Throughout her career, Julie has taught all grade levels from grade one through to grade seven. She hails originally from Australia and loves living in Sai Kung and teaching 100 metres from the beach.


RICHARD REILLY Richard Reilly joined HKA in August 2013 as the school’s first Student Action Coordinator. In August 2015, he will assume the role of Assistant Secondary School Principal for Grades 9-12. Richard is passionate about developing student leadership capacity and is an enthusiastic about having a Global Issues Network (GIN) team at HKA.


CARLY SHANAHAN With her return to HKA in August 2014, Carly is now on her third “tour” at HKA, this time as a Kindergarten teacher. Originally from the UK, Carly grew up in Hong Kong and went through the international school system here. She considers Hong Kong to be home and is glad to be back.


JENNIFER SWINEHART Jennifer Swinehart is HKA’s IB Middle Years Programme Coordinator and provides leadership for the MYP curriculum. She joined HKA in 2010 and teaches MYP English language and literature and DP English literature. An enthusiastic member of the school’s dragonboat team, she is also currently pursuing a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction.


STACEY THOMPSON A Grade 3 teacher, Stacey has been teaching at HKA for the past 7 years. Originally from Adelaide, Australia, she has called Hong Kong home for the past 9 years. She especially loves the spontaneity, travel, food and interesting people here in Hong Kong.


ELLEN THORNE Ellen Thorne has been a member of HKA’s faculty for six years and currently teaches MYP Humanities and IB History. She has taught internationally for fourteen years and lived in Taiwan before moving to Hong Kong. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in History and an MEd in Secondary Education.


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