Diwali Celebration in Düsseldorf

Monday, 18 November 2019

We were honored to be one of the sponsors of the annual Diwali Celebration of our partner and friends, the Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft Düsseldorf (DIG) again this year. On Friday evening, 10 representatives from ISR along with Indian families from our ISR community joined in the colorful Diwali Celebration in Düsseldorf.

Diwali, which for some also coincides with harvest and new year celebrations, is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness. The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word deepavali, meaning “rows of lighted lamps”.

The evening was opened with a few welcome words by members of the association, the Mayor of Ratingen Mr. Pesch, Düsseldorf’s City Councilman Mr. Stieber, and ISR CEO and Proprietor Mr. Soliman. Afterwards a play was performed by talented child actors to better explain the history of Diwali. We are delighted that we were once again part of this wonderful celebration and we are looking forward to many more international celebrations with our community!

Saint Martin’s Parade at ISR

Friday, 08 November 2019

Once again, over a hundred ISR students together with their parents took part in the ISR St. Martin Parade on the grounds of the sports club PSV Neuss. Our students happily walked around the entire square, led by St. Martin on his horse, with their homemade lanterns in hand. During the parade, all sang St. Martin’s songs accompanied by a small orchestra with various instruments.

Ms. Lyons, our school director, started the event with a few welcoming words. Afterward, Ms. Ghica and Ms. Morris read the story of St. Martin, in German and English, in order to give everyone an understanding for the background of the custom and the parade. At the end of the ‘Martinszug’ everyone gathered on the ISR school grounds to end the evening with twisted bread on a stick and warm drinks at the bonfire. One of the highlights was the distribution of Weckmännern  to our students, which St. Martin himself handed over from his horse.

We would like to thank our Parent Network for the great organisation of the parade, the workshop for homemade lanterns and all the helpers who contributed to this successful evening! We would also like to express our gratitude to our families, whose numerous participation in the event once again clearly showed how strong the cohesion in the ISR community is and how traditions from all over the world are appreciated and welcomed. Last but not least, we would like to thank Bauhaus in Neuss for sponsoring some fire baskets and the Metro Neuss for sponsored sweets.

Background information: St. Martin

For all families who do not know the St. Martin’s tradition: every year around November 11, children with colorful lanterns roam the dark streets and sing happy St. Martin and lantern songs. So who was St. Martin? St. Martin was a Roman soldier born in 316 AD. According to the legend, on a cold winter’s day, he passed a starving and freezing beggar. Martin felt so sorry for him that he cut his coat with his sword and gave the beggar half of his coat. In the night, Martin dreamed about the beggar who revealed himself as Jesus Christ. After this experience, Martin wanted to be baptized. Later, he became Bishop of the city of Tours (now in France) and today is the patron saint of several professional groups.

Halloween Party at ISR

Thursday, 31 October 2019

Today, we celebrated Halloween at ISR! This morning, the students had their pictures taken in their amazing costumes as they walked into the school foyer! After that, our Kindergarten children went “trick or treating” around the school and received several delicious pieces of candy from the staff for their fantastic costume ideas! A “spooky” Halloween performance was put on by our lovely kindergarten on the playground which definitely had us laughing! As the afternoon rolled on, the Kindergarten students and their parents had a Halloween party with lots of fun games and spooky food prepared by the parents.

In addition to all of these activities, the SLO® Department organized our annual “trunk or treat” which had many of our primary students running around getting candy from ghostly decorated cars. All the students had a lot of fun collecting candy, and of course, this event was only successful because of our generous parents, who donated the candy and their cars to use!

The middle school had a fun Halloween party, too! With quite a lot of tasty treats and snacks prepared for them by our parents, they were able to have an enjoyable Halloween party!

Last Sunday, our longstanding partner, the American International Women’s Club of Düsseldorf, already started to get our community in the spooky spirit by celebrating their annual Halloween party on our campus. Around 300 guests were in attendance, and the younger visitors, in particular, had tremendous fun carving their pumpkins, showcasing their Halloween costumes at a fashion show, and going around “trick or treating” in one of our creepily decorated hallways! The members of the AIWCD decorated the school with white spider webs, bright orange pumpkins, skeletons, and everything else typical for Halloween – it was a fun and spooky atmosphere! Amongst the visitors were many ISR students who decided to take part in the party, and they hardly recognized the school – well-done, AIWCD! All the guests were thrilled to be part of a typical American Halloween party, and we would like to thank all AIWCD members for this creepy and successful party!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, ISR!

ISR Open House 2019

Monday, 28 October 2019

Last Saturday, we celebrated our annual ISR Open House with hundreds of guests, interested families, and friends of the school. In bright sunshine, the guests could enjoy a diverse program of demonstration lessons in several subjects; a Language Hallway; creative art exhibitions; a Science Escape Room where interested students could prove their knowledge in chemistry, biology, and physics; music composition activities; many different sport activities; as well as numerous hands-on activities offered by dedicated partners!

Our IT department impressed visitors with the opportunity to trial our virtual reality goggles, which let children and parents dive into the depths of the ocean! Interested families had the opportunity to learn about our school through various presentations and take part in a student-led school tour. Our tours were offered in a variety of languages, organized by our SLO® department under the guidance of our head prefect Henning (Grade 11). Our amazing Parent Network provided food and drinks in the cafeteria, which was impressively decorated with flags from all over the world! These are small details that lead to a big impression and show our true international spirit.

As guests of honour, we were pleased to welcome Mayor Geisel and family; Mr. Nakata, the headmaster of the Japanese International School; and Mr. Fuchs, the Advisory Board Chairman and founding father of the school.

A special thank you also to all parents, students, employees and our partners, without whom this unique event would not have been possible!

Stomp Out Bullying Day 2019!

Friday, 11 October 2019

Today, ISR celebrated Stomp Out Bullying Day. Under the theme, Don’t Stand By, Stand Up, the goal of this event is to raise awareness for bullying prevention across the school and to teach our students kindness, respect, and compassion for others. In primary school, the students celebrated Kindness Day.

Students were encouraged to wear blue to school to show they will stand up against bullying. There was also an anti-bullying contract for all students to sign. This annual event at ISR is an important day of all members of our community as we come together to show that kindness always wins. Don’t Stand By, Stand Up!

#DontStandByStandUp #StompOutBullying #BlueUp

Trial Day at Deutsche Bank Königsallee

Thursday, 03 October 2019

Thanks to our cooperation with the Deutsche Bank an der Kö, seven of our 10th and 11th graders got a glimpse into the world of finance with the Deutsche Bank Kö team last Friday.

The group got a chance to learn how Personal, Private and Business Banking departments operate and work together. The students were accompanied by Mr. Urban and enjoyed the educational learning experience.We look forward to the next trial day at Deutsche Bank Königsallee.

ISR at the Sonnenblumenfest in Meerbusch

Monday, 30 September 2019

This past Sunday we joined the annual Sonnenblumenfest in Meerbusch. Despite the rain, we enjoyed the day and visitors could find occasional refuge in our American style school bus during the heavy rain.

Getting to sit in the bus and get their faces painted was a huge highlight for the children! They got to express their creativity by decorating paper frames in the warm dry bus and of course the little artists got to take their art home afterwards. The ISR Choir braved the weather and gave an impressive performance. Our 3rd and 4th graders showed cased their skills by peforming three songs that they sung to the amazement and delight of the audience including their parents.

Many thanks to our dedicated music teacher Mrs. Bucher, who prepared the students for the performance and accompanied them during the day. Taking part in the Sonnenblumfest is now a tradition for us and we happily do it every year! We look forward to next year’s festival and hope for much sunnier, drier weather!

ISR at “Familienfest Rhein-Kreis Neuss”

Tuesday, 24 September 2019

Last sunday, ISR participated in the “Familienfest Rhein-Kreis Neuss” which is a fun and family focused festival in Neuss. Our well known American style school bus was parked close to the main stage and we enjoyed the diversified stage program. A number of different clubs, associations, institutions and volunteers were there and offered various fun activities to the visitors. We had our virtual reality (VR) goggles with us and allowed the visitors to step into a different world.

By wearing the goggles, our students get to go on many exciting excursions during class, for example they can take a trip through the rainforest, discover amazing historical sites and much more without leaving the classroom!

We had a lot of fun at the festival and were happy to be part of this great family celebration!