October: Halloween

On Friday the 31st of October Students and Teachers dressed up in scary costumes to celebrate halloween.

October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

WIS participated in 2 further events to help raise awareness and funds for people suffering from Breast cancer. On Friday 17th October Carol Heimstadt encouraged us all to wear something pink and to donate N$5-00 to the Cancer Association. On Saturday the 18th, WIS was well represented by parents, students and staff on the 5 and 10km Breast Cancer Walk which took place in the vicinity of Medi Clinic. I was especially impressed to see so many year 12's and 13's turn up in their walking gear, at 6h00 in the morning!

Bandada Day 26 September 08

It has become an annual event on this date that the Cancer Association of Namibia helps to raise awareness and funds for the plight of those who suffer from leukaemia. Laura-Anne Rainey and her Year 9 class together with Angatha Janse van Rensburg's Year 6 class saw to it this year that the entire WIS community was involved with this very worthy cause. The activities they arranged included a guest speaker from the Cancer Association who addressed both primary and secondary students on the purpose of Bandana Day, the sale of sunblock and bandanas which staff and students alike wore to school on Friday the 26th, and lastly, and very popular, face painting and tattoos for the little ones. Students and classes were given incentives to sell the most bandanas. One of our year 13 students, Sion le Roux, bravely and boldly had his head shaved in unity with leukaemia patients who tend to lose their hair during their treatment. WIS is proud to do our bit at events like these, and congratulations to Laura-Anne and Angatha and their teams for raising an amount of N$6,700-00 for the Cancer Association of Namibia

WIS attends the Johannesburg Model United Nations

On 24 September, six students and one teacher from Windhoek International School (WIS) traveled to South Africa to attend the sixth annual Model United Nations (MUN) Conference hosted by the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ). For those who are unaware, MUN is a student simulation of the real United Nations, and all those who attend represent individual countries and debate on real global issues, the goal being to create and pass resolutions for each topic. The lead up to the trip was quite something. The group had only 20 days, where most schools have several months, to research the various topics and to put together a convincing resolution, and somehow, they managed. Meeting after school and on weekends, the team managed not only to pull together information on their topics, but also to formulate a strategy in order for the group resolution to be passed. There were some moments when the group just felt like "throwing their hands up and walking out," but they persevered, and were certainly met with success. The journey went off without a hitch, and the group got to AISJ in time for the opening ceremonies, and to prepare their opening speeches for first day of debate. The group went in feeling extremely nervous but by the end, the team had achieved a great deal. The group resolution was passed, as well as all the other resolutions the members signed on to, and the group members became very active in the formal debate. Said Kate Britz, " I was so nervous going up to make my first speech. But after that, I just relaxed and saw I was on equal footing, and found myself really enjoying and participating in the debate." Everyone came back from the conference with a very positive experience, and felt extremely proud of their accomplishments not only as individuals, but also as a team. The group hopes to promote MUN as an on-going curricula activity at WIS, and feels certain that next time; WIS will be able to send a larger and better-prepared delegation. The MUN Advisor, Ms. Monica Panizza in Ricoveri, the teacher who accompanied the students, said that she "�could not be more proud of the group. They went in with a clear goal, and were just fantastic!"

Written by JOEY GOTTLIEB