ISR at the Kirschblütenfest
ISR at the Kirschblütenfest
Monday, 25 April 2022
Yesterday, the Cherry Blossom Festival took place in Meerbusch-Büderich, organized by the city of Meerbusch as well as by the Friends of the Meerbusch-Shijonawate Sister Cities Association – and it was a great success!
The festival symbolizes the close connection between the two twin cities as well as of Japan and Germany and for this reason, it was a great pleasure for us to participate in the event with our Japanese teacher, parts of the management team and some ISR families to celebrate the German-Japanese friendship. We were in addition represented by our popular ISR school bus and two of our dedicated students who offered face painting as well as children’s glitter stickers for the skin. Moreover, we took our VR glasses with us that we use in our classrooms, and the children had great fun using them.
Furthermore, one talented ISR family performed an amazing piece of music on stage and represented ISR in an excellent way. We would like to sincerely thank the Yokota family for their incredible performance, as well as our students for their involvement – the children were extremely happy and had great fun! Moreover, we would like to thank the organizers for another wonderful Cherry Blossom Festival and for the opportunity to get in touch with so many interested families.
We’re looking forward to another celebration in 2023!
Student Spotlights: Spotlight On Our Student May
Student Spotlight: Spotlight On Our Student May
Friday, 22 April 2022
This week, we spotlight our first-grader May, who joined ISR in kindergarten 4 years ago. May stands out above all as a very hardworking and friendly student, who is also very helpful. During her time at ISR, she has excelled at developing, and her Grade 1 teacher, Ms. Broscheit adds “May is an all-round dedicated learner in my Grade 1 classroom. She works extremely hard and produces the most pleasing work, she is most happy when she has time to be creative. May shows great empathy and compassion for all that know her. She is a kind and caring girl who has a big heart filled with so much love. All who know her or get to know her feel her warmth that she radiates from within. She is incredibly thoughtful and shows it in many various ways. She is often seen giving those around her special treasures. It has been such a pleasure to have her with me this year in Grade 1.”
Not only her class teacher is enthusiastic about her, also her German teacher as well as her sports teacher. Both find her to be an extremely helpful and ambitious student who listens attentively to assignments and does her best to implement them. “May is a sports star – she is doing an excellent job!”, adds Mr. Baumann.
We are very proud to spotlight May, one of ISR’s many outstanding students!
Every Friday, our Student Spotlight Project aims to highlight one of our outstanding students who represent our school motto, “we enable great minds and strong characters”. No matter if it is academic success, special commitment, or outstanding character traits – we look forward to sharing each of these success stories.
Our Student Spotlights
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Student Spotlights: Spotlight On Our Student Felix
Student Spotlight: Spotlight On Our Student Felix
Friday, 14 April 2022
This week, we spotlight our third-grade student Felix, who joined ISR in kindergarten. Felix is a fun and kind- natured student who has developed so well throughout his time at ISR. He is very confident and is always eager to learn in class. His teacher, Mr. Elsey, says about him “Every day is always entertaining with Felix around. He works very hard through all lessons, and is enthusiastic about all subjects. He also brings a wealth of knowledge to the class when discussing different topics. He is a joy to have in grade 3D!”
Felix has a great sense of humor, and he loves playing football and kicker ball with his friends. He has a passion for playing sports and games, and loves to spend time with friends. His music teacher Ms. Bucher adds “ Felix is a ray of sunshine. He holds himself to a high standard and takes pride in his work — striving to be his best. He is always eager to help.”
We are very proud to spotlight Felix, one of ISR’s many outstanding students!
Every Friday, our Student Spotlight Project aims to highlight one of our outstanding students who represent our school motto, “we enable great minds and strong characters”. No matter if it is academic success, special commitment, or outstanding character traits – we look forward to sharing each of these success stories.
Our Student Spotlights
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A delegation from the offices of U.S. House of Representatives visited ISR
A delegation from the offices of U.S. House of Representatives visited ISR
Thursday, 31 March 2022
Yesterday, we were honored to welcome a delegation of constituency office leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives as part of a week-long “Senior Staff Study Tour” in North Rhine-Westphalia. The visit took place as part of ISR’s partnership with AmerikaHaus NRW e.V. The nine-member delegation consisted of District Directors from both major parties (Democrats and Republicans), who lead the offices of the representatives in their respective home regions. The experts learned about ISR’s educational concept and spoke with students from Grades 9 to 11 about their school careers, academic accomplishments, study aspirations, and also plans for the future. “This was a very educational exchange for all students. Not only for those who are thinking about studying in the U.S.,” emphasized Emil Cete, deputy principal of ISR Neuss: “There is no substitute for such personal meetings. It’s true that we have organized many events digitally in the past two Corona years. But face-to-face exchanges are simply even more enriching and personal. We are all the more pleased that Dr. Becker from AmerikaHaus NRW e.V. has brought this special event to us at ISR.”
Delegates from U.S. constituency offices discussed with the students not only their academic aspirations but also the importance of education and how transparent communication, as well as face-to-face exchanges, are essential to fostering transatlantic relations. “You are the future of your respective home countries, so I encourage you to continue to think globally and also critically,” the U.S. guests concluded in their advice to the high school seniors.
The delegates took a lot of time to answer the young people’s questions and exchanged contact information with them at the end. “We were very pleased that the guests were so open with the students today and even offered to be available for an internship in the US. This underlines the special importance of events of this kind and their added value for both sides,” summed up Peter Soliman, Managing Partner of ISR.
We thank our partner the AmerikaHaus NRW e.V., the US Association of Former Members of Congress, and all participating District Directors for the time and the experience they shared with us.
Leading by a good example – ISR Community donates for Ukrainian Refugees
Leading by a good example – ISR Community donates for Ukrainian Refugees
Friday, 25 March 2022
At ISR, we strive to teach our students what it means to make a difference. A positive difference through education, but also through social engagement for those who need it most.
Our community has always been committed to different projects to lead by a good example. So too in this humanitarian crisis. Today, our dedicated ISR Parent Network packed the donations for families arriving from Ukraine to Neuss and Düsseldorf and brought them with our ISR School Bus at to the drop-off points. We received many items from our wonderful families – among other hygiene products, foods, pet food, medical products and many other items, which the families from Ukraine need.
We sincerely thank our whole ISR Family for the great number of donated items! This selflessness is testament to our philosophy and values and we are proud embrace our responsibility to offer support to those affected by this crisis.
It’s cool to be good & it’s cool to do good!
International Women's Day
International Women’s Day
Tuesday, 8 March 2022
Today, we celebrate International Women’s Day!
In Germany alone, only 28.4% of women were employed in management positions in 2020. At ISR, however, we take on a different approach. 70% of our staff in leadership positions are women! Additionally, there are many inspiring women within our parent community at ISR who are self-employed or hold leadership positions.
Being inspired by such women, we asked them a few questions, which they answered specifically in honor of International Women’s Day. This video is made up of many successful women within our ISR Family and serves as motivation for our students and young women around the world who are on the path to building their careers.
In our video, one aspect in particular quickly becomes clear – women can achieve anything and lead by example!
As Ella Fitzgerald, a famous singer said, “Never give up fighting for what you want to do. You can’t go wrong with something where there is passion and inspiration.”
We wish you all an inspiring International Women’s Day!
Celebrating"Hina Matsuri" at ISR
Celebrating”Hina Matsuri” at ISR
Thursday, 3 March 2022
Today, Japan celebrates “Hina Matsuri,” also known as “Girls Day,” and our Japanese community let us be part of this wonderful festival again. This day is especially for girls and celebrates their health and happiness. Our Japanese mothers have decorated the hallway of our kindergarten with great attention to detail and everything looks gorgeous.
Some of our kindergarten children got especially dressed up for the day and wore beautiful traditional clothes. In honor of “Hina Matsuri”, some boys also wore traditional clothes – everyone looked just awesome.
We would like to thank our Japanese community for the great decorations and the joint celebration, and especially for letting us be a part of the tradition of this special day.
Visit of Managing Director International Business of the IHK Düsseldorf
Visit of Managing Director International Business of the IHK Düsseldorf
Friday, 18 February 2022
We were especially pleased to welcome Mr. Ralf Schlindwein, in his role as Managing Director International Business of the IHK Düsseldorf, to ISR last week.
With the visit of Mr. Schlindwein, we continue our successful series of lectures at ISR this year. He had the opportunity to tour the school campus, led by our grade 10 students Jasmin and Lara.
Afterwards, Mr. Schlindwein held an interesting lecture with the topic “Current Challenges for German Companies in Foreign Business” to our Upper School Students. The talk was followed by a Q & A session, during which the students posed interesting and well-informed questions. Mr. Schlindwein gave generously of his time with his engaging presentation and inspiring responses to our senior students’ questions during and after the lecture. We are grateful to Mr. Schlindwein for his time, and for sharing his experience and knowledge with our students on Friday.
Thank you, Mr. Schlindwein, for your time and the exciting presentation – our school community was very grateful to welcome you to our ISR!
Our Path to a Greener Future: Zero-Emission School Bus Transportation at ISR
Our Path to a Greener Future: Zero-Emission School Bus Transportation at ISR
Friday, 18 February 2022
In cooperation with our partner, the Düsseldorf-based transport company Zweelo, our students will now travel sustainably on three routes to school every morning and in the afternoon. Subsequently, we will cut down on more than 4 tons of CO2 emissions within a year compared to the previous transport!
For us as an educational institution, imparting sustainable environmental awareness is an essential part of our ISR school life, which is why our students also deal with these important and future-oriented topics in the classroom. As a school, it is essential for our students to see our environmental efforts first-hand, which is why we recently expanded our rooftop solar panels to lay emphasis on the use of green power in our day-to-day lives.
In addition, our students have the enriching opportunity to get involved in sustainability at their school through various CAS and SLO® projects. They also have the opportunity to engage in interesting experiments in their biology classes, such as making paper from banana peels.
With Zweelo as a sustainably-oriented cooperation partner, we link together in projects that have already been implemented and have had an impact at ISR in terms of improved environmental awareness.
It is our goal to lead by example with our school community, and therefore we are especially pleased to take another step towards a sustainable future with the launch of emission-free student transportation.
Visit of the U.S. Consul General Pauline Kao at ISR
Visit of the U.S. Consul General Pauline Kao at ISR
Monday, 31 January 2022
We had the honor of welcoming the new U.S. Consul General for NRW in Düsseldorf to ISR last Friday. Ms. Pauline Kao assumed her duty as Consul General in the summer of 2021.
After a warm welcome from our management team, members of the ISR Advisory Board, and some kindergarteners, the Consul General was given an extensive school tour. The tour was led by our two ISR Upper School students Philipp and Marc, who will both be studying in America next year. The tour was also joined by Head of Kindergarten – Ms. Alex Vrem-Ydstie, as well as the Academic Head Gr. 10 & 11 – Ms. Samantha McGee, who are both native US citizens.
The school tour was followed by an interesting keynote speech by the Consul General, in which she shared her personal and professional experiences with the students and invited guests. Besides about 30 students present, some former students joined the lecture via Zoom. In addition, we were pleased that some interested parents also attended the lecture.
During her talk, the U.S. Consul General emphasized that she particularly enjoys working with young people in schools, and so she took a lot of time afterwards to answer various questions from the students. Among the topics addressed were her professional career, climate change, and the protection of democracy.
At the end of the exchange, one student asked her what the profession of a diplomat was all about and what requirements one had to meet in order to be successful in this career field. In her inspiring answer, Consul General Kao highlighted three essential requirements for her: backbone, empathy, and, above all, the ability and willingness to truly listen to one’s counterpart.
Our students as well as staff members and participants of the visit were impressed by her confidence as well as her warm demeanor and her inspiring answers.
We would like to thank Consul General Kao for her visit to ISR and the time she took to share with our students. A motivating and very open lecture, which will remain among the best memories for all participants for a long time.
