PICTURES OF THE GERMAN WORKSHOP!

It was a success! Lots of students showed up to have a first contact with the German language and they liked it! 
Below you can get a glimpse of the general atmosphere of the two sessions. Tschüss! Bis bald!

GERMAN WORKSHOP

Due to the importance that learning foreign languages has in today's globalised world, the English Club teachers are going to organise a German workshop today.

More than 50 students have enrolled on this project.
The teachers  hope that this workshop may be an excellent opportunity for the students to discover a new language and that they may have some enjoyable time too.
"Lern' und hab' Spass!" (learn and have fun!)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

What a beautiful film! Don't miss it!

The second term of this school year is over, but much was accomplished  which deserves being reminded. So, below you can see some photos and videos about the activities which took place in February and March, such as the school day of languages, St. Patrick's Day and, last but not least,  the second karaoke contest. Have a look at them!

2nd Karaoke contest ( 23rd March)

 

 

 

St. Patrick's Day 2012

Irish symbols everywhere!

A joyful atmosphere

 The English Club Staff

Singing Irish songs

                                                                     

 Dancing

 

 Students' work

                                        
                                                Trying one's luck and solving puzzles

                                                         Reading Irish blessings

Creative writing competition

SCHOOL DAY OF LANGUAGES (17th February)

This was a really full day at our school! Spelling contests, loud reading contests in different languages, roleplays, traditional foods of different countries, dancing, exhibitions, and much more. 

Watch the videos below and you'll get a glimpse of what this day was like at Maia Secondary School!

Roleplays by 12th form students:

Applying for a job - top model!

The English language -

Earth Day

Earth Day is a global holiday celebrated as a day to bring awareness and appreciation for the Earth and its environment. It is celebrated internationally on April 22nd or in the Spring equinox. It doesn't matter which day you celebrate (or celebrate both!) because it is the focus on saving the Earth's environment that should be celebrated every day of the year!

2ND KARAOKE CONTEST RESULTS

HAPPY EASTER...

... EVERYBODY!!!

2nd KARAOKE CONTEST

Saint Patrick's Day is coming to school

Prepare yourself for the greenest day in ESMAIA!

Saint Patrick's Day is coming on the 16th March to bring you fortune.

Don't forget to dress something green!

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Enjoy the day and practise the language of LOVE!

A couple of years ago, I played Charles Dickens in an episode of the British sci-fi series “Doctor Who.” As the doctor takes his leave of Earth, Dickens asks whether his books will still be read in the future. Yes, the doctor replies. For how long, Dickens wants to know. Forever, says the doctor, disappearing into cyberspace.

He would appear to have been right: Dickens is everywhere on the eve of his 200th birthday in February. Dickens’s characters and their destinies are in wide circulation on film and television. Major biographies follow one another in majestic procession, offering often brilliant insights into the paradoxical complexities at the heart of the author of the single greatest oeuvre, after the plays of William Shakespeare, in English literature.

Surprisingly, considering that Dickens is that unusual thing, a writer whose life was as riveting as his work, there has been no film biography. If there were one, a large part of it would surely center on his early years, and especially on one year of shame, humiliation and degradation, the memory of which was so painful to him that he hid it from view completely, allowing it to be revealed only after his death. Victorian England was profoundly shocked to discover that Dickens’s compassion for the poor and the disadvantaged sprang, not simply from Christian kindness, but from the bitter personal experience of toiling 10 hours a day, for 6 shillings a week, in a rat-infested shoe polish warehouse off the Strand from the ages of 12 to 13. It is of course this experience that placed children at the center of so much of his work.

The simplest and most straightforwardly presented is “A Boy Called Dickens.” It concentrates entirely on the novelist’s time at Warren’s, the blacking factory, where 12-year-old Dickens went to work making shoe polish to support his family. The book follows his daily routines and traversal of the city, quite credibly proposing that during this time he was dreaming the stories which became his novels: “There are lawyers, clerks, convicts and keepers of old curiosity shops. . . . All these characters and their stories swirl about the boy like the fog.” It is a portrait of the artist as a boy, very touching and believable, and it carries the story through to Dickens’s reprieve from Warren’s, his return to schooling and his ultimate success as a writer.

by Simon Callow

in New York Times, Sunday Book Review( adapted)

Charles Dickens was born on Feb. 7, 1812, and died June 9, 1870.
At his death Dickens was regarded by the great mass of his contemporaries not simply as a great writer but also as a great and good man, a champion of the poor and downtrodden, who had striven hard throughout his whole career for greater social justice and a better, kinder world.

in The New York Times, Times Topics (adapted)

1st Karaoke casting 2011-2012

Here are the loooooong due videos of the performances of the winners as well as some photos of all the contestants who participated in the first Karaoke casting, year 2011-12.

Congratulations to all of them!

 

30th January 1948 - Gandhi is assassinated

Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or "the great-souled one." He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India's struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Known for his ascetic lifestyle–he often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl–and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India's poorest classes, among other injustices. After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu fundamentalist.

Gandhi's funeral - Indians' tribute 

in History.com

FROM HELL TO HEAVEN

Made by Survivors Network, a US based NGO, fights slavery and human trafficking.

"From Hell to Heaven" shows you what's being done to help Indian girls who are victims of sex slavery.

This video has also inspired students to write a poem , imagining themselves in the same situation.

Watch the video and read  examples of the excellent work done!

From Hell to Heaven

 Born little angels,
sentenced to hell;
The misery of a lifeless future
in which we fell.
Trapped between walls
that rose, oh, so high,
Impossible to shatter,
We're lost in an endless night.

So, from that sentence
we have escaped,
Thus in our fate
We're not destined to hate.
The light brought by sunshine
gave us some hope.
We were rescued by stars
who saved our soul.
Fearless, independent
Our future now looks bright.
No more dark days,
Only a thousand lights.

Jéssica Santiago

(12º A - school year 2011/2012)

Darkened, shattered, little
Empty, soulless.
When imprisoned,
That's how I defined myself.
Everything around me
Felt like hell.
I was beaten until I lost track of time,
Almost starved to death and still,
No one cared about me.

I realized I was just another ghost,
Like the other girls who were with me.
But wait!
A ray of shimmering light crossed the thick darkness
And hope returned to me.
I was rescued and suddenly all the little pieces of me,
Scattered around the floor reunited,
And, for the first time in many years
I felt good, hopeful.

Now, I can say I have a home,
A place where I am actually wanted
And needed ...
I've climbed the mountain, beaten the devil,
And still survived.
Life is worth living,
So hang on and wait for the happy chapter of yours!

João Santos

(12th A - school year 2011-2012)

My innocence was taken,

By those whose hearts are ice cold,

Just as suddenly as the first raindrop

of a storm that's yet to come.

They took me, those men.

They made me stone dark and broke me.

I fear the darkness

I hate the night.

Those alleys, ...

Alleys where I walked,

Naked of pride or joy of living,

Overwhelmed by the heavy shame.

Shame that won't ever vanish.

It is past now, I'm aware.

Only a disturbing memory

Still haunts me though ...

All the horrour and pain,

Deprive me from sleeping every night.

Because I know,

Those who murdered my childhood,

They live there,

In the night,

In the dark alleys.

And they make the most frightening of dreams

Come true,

And break little innocents like former me.

Catarina Mendes,

(12º A -  school year 2011-2012)

We Day

Free The Children's We Day is more than just one day of celebration and inspiration. We Day is the movement of our time - a movement of young people leading local and global change.
Harnessing the energy and passion of a young community of changemakers, We Day brings youth together in an unparalleled setting to show them that they are not alone in their journey to make a difference.
Within stadiums full of cheering young people, We Day brings some of the greatest social issues of today to the forefront, and - no matter the cause, no matter the issue - provides ways in which every young person can find their place within the movement to create global change.

At We Day, youth from across North America join together to celebrate the positive actions they are taking and to build the momentum of the movement of young people making a difference in their communities and around the world. Through We Day, youth learn that it is cool to care.
The We Day movement lives online at Weday.com, an online hub dedicated to educating, engaging and empowering a generation of socially conscious youth.
Featuring videos by world-renowned celebrities and speakers, newspaper articles about timely global and social issues, and countless other resources, Weday.com is social justice education at its best.

We Day Facts
Over 160,000 people will have attended We Day since the first We Day in 2007
In the 2010/2011 school year, youth:
Volunteered more than 1.7 million hours of their time
Raised $5.4 million in donations to support local and global organizations
Collected more than 519,000 lbs of food to stock the shelves at food banks.

http://www.weday.com/about