JEDDAH, 30 March 2008 — It was fun all the way for young students and visitors of American International School of Jeddah (AISJ) from afternoon till night on Thursday.
Open areas of the school complex presented a carnival atmosphere with students and young visitors engaged in taking part in various games and rides.
The event, dubbed “Family matters — Fun Day Carnival 2008,” drew a large number of parents and visitors as well. “Family matters is deliberately chosen as the theme for the event, as we need to make children aware of family values and how they can play an effective role in strengthening the family unity,” Dr. Osama Zahran, vice president of the board of trustees of the AISJ and president of the school’s Parent-Teacher-Student Association, told Arab News. The idea is also to promote camaraderie among the student community who belong to 52 different nationalities.
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools has accredited the school. The North East Association of Overseas International Schools has selected the school as the best in technology. It is a preparatory school that promotes academic excellence with an international experience based on American curriculum.
“We want the school to have a technical based curriculum,” Zahran said, adding that a company set up a physics lab recently. “In fact, lots of our students show interest in technology. One of them is keen about robotics. The idea is to integrate technology in our curriculum.”
Various corporate houses dealing in automobiles, food and food products, accessories and games supported the event at different levels of sponsorship. There was also a bazaar organized alongside selling handmade items and local crafts. It had abayas, dresses and toys for children and women and, of course, some artificial jewelry that drew female visitors. There were raffle draws with prizes, including airline tickets and electronics items.
All the day’s activities were aimed to raise an estimated SR300,000 toward equipping the school with an Olympic size swimming pool and upgrading the technology and equipment in classrooms. In the backyard of the school was an Arabian village created specially for the day with exhibits native to the Arab world, including camel and pony rides. There was also a school band playing with singers entertaining the audience.
AISJ is now in its fourth year as an American community school. The school organized its annual sports events in January and invited Al-Ittihad Club to play a friendly with the school team.
The school, which is a non-profit institution for all children from KG through high school, strikes a unique teacher-student ratio (8:1). About 80 percent of its 125 faculty members hold master’s or Ph.D. degrees coming from the United States, Canada and Europe.
“We want to be the best school in the region, raising our student strength from 300 to 1,000,” School Superintendent Dr. Mark English said.
