CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR PAU STUDENTS!!

We'd like to congratulate our PAU students as they all passed their exams. 

In the English exam, they scored an average of 
8.48

MY EXCHANGE YEAR IN SPAIN (BY ELLEN FOGEL)

I cannot believe that in less than a month I will be on my way home to the United States again. It has been almost a year since I have left home and embarked on this incredible journey. The things that I have learned and experiences that I have taken part of are enough memories to last a lifetime, and cannot imagine what my life will be like once I have returned.

Hello there, my name is Ellen Fogel, and this year I have been studying abroad in Boadilla del Monte, Spain. I am sixteen years-old and from the United States of America. Now, at this point, you may well be asking, what does it even mean to be an exchange student? Well, about nine months ago, I left my home in the States to come here to Spain to study the Spanish language and culture through a program called Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE). RYE is a program that is funded by Rotary International, a global non-profit organization, and sends over 8,000 students from all over the world every year on year-long exchanges. Being an exchange student through RYE means staying with various “host-families” who often have one of their own children studying abroad as well, and take you in to live with them for as long as half of your exchange year without any kind of financial aid or incentive. 

These families treat you as a member of the family and with that being said, also expect that you participate in chores and family activities as you would in the house of your real family. In addition to this, being an exchange student means, to me, that I must represent not only my family and community abroad, but that I must be a delegate of my country. Therefore, my actions must be a positive and just example to the people around me or they may be influenced to create false-stereotypes about my fellow American citizens.  To be an exchange student one must be responsible, flexible, outgoing, respectful, and mature. Rotary also mandates that students must regularly attend school in order to easily make native friends, and to learn the language faster. However, Rotary does have guidelines as to what we CANNOT do, which collectively are called the four D´s: NO Drinking, NO Driving, NO Drugs, and NO Dating. These rules, as easy as they may seem to abide, are they often times hard for some exchange students to follow. And finally, Rotary insists that exchange students make an honest effort to learn the language of their “host-country”. Other than that the rules vary from each host country, apart from the fact that we are not allowed to travel alone without having permission from your Rotary Club.

                  You may now think that being an exchange student requires too much work, and that the rules are really strict and may limit your experience, but really they do quite the opposite. Staying with a host-family allows you to integrate into the culture and learn about their customs and traditions with ease. Furthermore, because we are required to change host-families at least one time during our exchange, we are able to see how other families behave in our host country and therefore are enabled to form a better idea of the culture of that place. These families are the building blocks of our exchanges.

                  I arrived in Spain on September 11^th, 2012 from Charleston, South Carolina. My first impression as I stepped off the plane was a bit overwhelming, I had not the slightest clue of what to expect, or where my long journey would bring me. After, finding my way through the Madrid Airport, I finally was able to locate all of my luggage and my first host mother. As we walked to the car she started to talk very rapidly in Spanish, and I have to admit that I had not the slightest clue of what she was saying. I was so tired from the long flight and overwhelmed with the thought of being in a foreign country for a year that was drained of any energy or emotion. As soon as we got to the house, after I called my mother, I collapsed on the couch and slept for about fourteen hours straight. Over the next few months I rarely thought of home, as I was so involved in school and trying to make friends in Spain. However, as the leaves started to turn yellow and orange, and the holiday season rolled around, I started to miss home, a lot. The holidays were just so different, that I concentrated a lot on what my own family’s traditions were, and forgot to enjoy the experience of the holiday season. However, that is not to say that I did not put my best foot forward. I loved Christmas in Madrid, with all of the holiday sweets and traditions, and my first host family did a wonderful job of making me feel at home. It was also at this time that my Spanish made an incredible leap in proficiency, and therefore started to become much closer with my Spanish friends.   

               After New Year’s I went to stay with my current host family that lives closer within the city and have children of closer age to myself. I continued to make better friends and my grades slowly got better. I have traveled to so many places, it really is unbelievable, places that include: Asturias, Vigo, Santiago de Compostela, Toledo, Segovia, Barcelona, and many more. To stay and tell you stories of my exchange would be far too long, but I can tell you that I will never forget all of the trips that I have gone on, or the people whom I have traveled with.

 Now, as the year is coming to a close, I cannot begin to imagine leaving my friends that I have made here that are some of the best I have made in my entire life. The things that I have learned and seen cannot be described by any words. More than anything else, I feel that the doors of new world have been opened and I now am free to explore it. The benefits of learning a foreign language are really endless, and I would not change what I have done for anything in the world. To anyone out there who is debating whether or not to go on an exchange program of any length, I would highly recommend that you do it, because the only thing stopping you from going is yourself. If you would have asked me two years ago if I thought I would be in Spain studying for a year, I would have thought you were out of your mind and that I would never be able to pursue that dream, but you would be truly amazed at how things suddenly fall into place if you believe in what you are doing, and have great group of people helping you to make your dream come true. 

GOING TO THE MOVIES (1 BACHILLERATO B)

THE NEWS (1 BACHILLERATO C)

REPORTING NEWS: ART OVER ART (1 BACHILLERATO C)

Andrea, Lara, Irene Monrocle, María and Rosa wrote:

"A 20-year-old boy painted with spray-paint on the Reina Sofía Museum's walls in order to imitate the famous painting "El Guernica" on May 27. In addition, he hit a policeman while he was trying to escape.
Jorge Díez is an art student in the Complutense University of Madrid, who also belongs to a protesting group against the current educational system. Furthermore, he had already been arrested three times before for public disorder. While he was painting in the museum, a policeman caught him in the act, so he couldn't escape. The policeman charged him with a sentence of one year in prison.
Although it is an act of vandalism, it has had a big effect over young people who support the cause."

"TOP THAT" MAY NEWS (1 BACHILLERATO C)

Rosalía Vegara and Cristina Rodríguez talk about four issues that may interest you...

REPORTING NEWS: SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY PROJECT (1 BACHILLERATO B)

Javier Rivera, Jaime Romero, Jaime Recuero and Rodrigo Sánchez wrote:

"The students of the Technology class have done a spectacular job, which consisted in the construction of a mini funfair. The project was directed by Rodrigo Mompó and it has been a great success.
Students started with the design of the structures in January. At first, the project was going to have a lot of attractions built by 3 ESO students. The director had the brilliant idea that consisted of gathering all the attactions from the different courses together. The key of the porject was the controller Arduino Mega.

After weeks of hard work in class, the mini amusement park has finally seen the light in the second week of May.
In conclusion, these new "architects" have done a remarkable job. They are waiting for the public opinion."

 

REPORTING NEWS: A NEW BICYCLE LANE IN BOADILLA (1 BACHILLERATO B)

Gabriel Fernández, Marta Palomino, Carlos Teruel and Pablo Flández wrote this article:

"Boadilla residents have a new bicycle lane in their town. The construction, which started three months ago, finished last week, and the results have been fantastic. Kids and adults will be able to enjoy this new cycle lane by riding their bicycles with their friends and family.
This cycle lane crosses the whole town and connects almost every neighborhood. Furthermore, not only is it safer for cyclists, but it is also a way to encourage people to be more active as they can ride their bicycles to go anywhere.
In addition to this, on the right side of the lane there are new machines to do exercises that are especially designed for old people.
Many residents have already used this cycle lane and their reaction has been so great that more people are willing to use it as soon as they can."

FILM REVIEW: STEALING (1 BACHILLERATO B)

REPORTING NEWS: ENGLISH NEW ASSISTANT (1 BACHILLERATO C)

Written by Patricia Castrillo, Pablo Martín, África Grande and Marina Martín.

"The American teacher's assistant, Jordan Clark, left the high school and returned to Indiana two months ago, so now, we have a new assistant whose name is Claudia. She is from England and she is here to help us in our English classes.
Claudia has experience because she is studying languages (Spanish and French) at University and she has been working in France for seven months.
Her classes are interesting because she talks about current events to us and she uses videos in her explanations so that we can enjoy her classes.
We are happy and satisfied with Claudia, but we also miss Jordan."

REPORTING NEWS: "TAKE ME HOME" TOUR ARRIVES IN SPAIN (1 BACHILLERATO C)

Written by Macarena Beamud, Rosalía Vegara, Cristina Rodríguez and Irene G. Luque.

"Last weekend, the new British boy band arrived in Madrid causing a crazy reaction among the teenage girls.

The young boys arrived in the capital on May 23rd in order to enjoy themselves and because they had a day off. Three of them (Niall Horan,  Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson) went to Valdebebas and visited the Real Madrid's team. After a lovely afternoon they decided to go partying. They were seen dancing and drinking in Kapital, which is a well known nightclub here in Madrid.

On the 24th the other member of the boy band, Harry Styles, arrived in Madrid after having spent the day before at the "Primavera Sound Beach".

The British sensation performed two shows at the Palacio Vistalegre, one on Friday and another one on Saturday.

It has been said that the Spanish crowd was amazing and that the boys have been treated very well by the fans.

Although their concerts have been criticized by the media, the directioners (name with which the fans want to be called) were very pleased. They can't wait to see their idols again."

WHO WENT TO THE CONCERT? 
CAN YOU POST YOUR COMMENTS? 
CLICK ON THE TITLE TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!!!

GRADUATION 2013

The commencement ceremony took place at Boadilla's auditorium, 6.30 p m., May 17, 2013. It was a total success, as the place was fully packed with graduates' relatives and friends. 

There was music performed by Stereosaurio (alternative-rock band from Boadilla) with two songs (one of them Big Bang) and a female quintet from the school singing the song Siempre Estás Ahí by Auryn. 
Five students spoke to reflect on the mix of thoughts and emotions the occasion brought with it. 

One of the Literature teachers offered to read the beautiful poem EDUCAR by Gabriel Celaya, focusing on the importance of education. 

There were also speeches made by the principal, one of the senior class advisors and the town mayor, who attended the event together with one of his councilwomen.

The most exciting moments arrived when students walked across the stage to receive their graduation red sashes. Among them, Jorge Cardín, Raquel Muñoz and Andrea Ruíz earned valedictorian honors.

After that, presentations about graduating students' school trips and other past moments contributed to create a heartwarming atmosphere in the audience.

And last, but not least, we could have snacks and beverages catered by Ángel and Mary at the school. 

Later on, teachers and students went to have dinner together. 

Thanks to Lucía Márquez, Raquel Muñoz, Emma Izquierdo (2 Bach C)  Carlos Sevilla (2 Bach B) and all the people involved for helping organize such a beautiful event. Everything was perfect. 

It was a memorable evening!

Just to wish you all the luck from now on.

    

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

COUNTRIES TO VISIT (2 BACHILLERATO)

José Antonio Vera and Pablo Grande

A VISIT TO NORMANDY (2 BACHILLERATO B)

Alejandro Rodríguez Bauza tells us about his trip to Normandy with his family...

INFORMATION ABOUT TORONTO (2 BACHILLERATO B)

This video has been made by Irene Rubio 

SHORT FILM - KABOING (1 BACHILLERATO B)

Science-fiction short film by a group of students from 1 Bachillerato.

GOODBYE TO SYDNEY

One of the students from Canada, Sydney, is back home.

We wish you all the luck you deserve!!

TRAVELLING (1 BACHILLERATO)

OIL SPILLS (1 BACHILLERATO)

EVERYONE SHOULD LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (1 BACHILLERATO)

Macarena Beamud, from 1 Bach. C, wrote:

Globalization has made important the fact of learning a new language at school. It’s obvious that the most extended is English because of his real importance in whatever you are interested in. But also, lots of schools teach other foreign languages such as French or German.
Why is it being so important? Well, learning more languages gives you a support to find job easily in almost every country. Besides, English is the official language in organisms such as the European Union, to be bilingual or multilingual is also an advantage in your curriculum.                        
If we focus on personal development, we could say that learning a foreign language helps you to pay more attention in the details. Furthermore, speaking fluently other languages apart from your mother tongue helps you to improve yours.
Personally, I love English, but there is no doubt that nowadays we all have to learn languages. And no matter how old you are because It’s never late to learn and to know a different language means to have a different vision of life.