After a few weeks of exams and final assessments, our high school students and teachers ended the semester with a Virtual Wells Without Walls (WWW) week, an initiative to empower students to take more control of their learning and explore new experiences, skills, and service learning opportunities.��

Typically, Wells Without Walls is a week dedicated to learning in various shapes and forms, inside and outside the school walls. Students and teachers play a large role in organizing the event and tailoring it to the needs and vision of the high school student body. WWW aims to provide students with academic, CAS/co-curricular, experiential and service learning opportunities through student and teacher-led workshops, IB sessions, life skills and hands-on activities, action planning, sports, and service learning. Underlying these opportunities is the empowerment of our students and teachers as change-agents and leaders as they explore and showcase their various passions, skills, and talents, through collaboration and teamwork.

Virtual Wells Without Walls

Due to pandemic restrictions, this year’s event was hosted virtually through Google Meet by our Community Engagement & Spirit & Events committees. Students and teachers engaged in various activities and workshops, interacting with each other and various guest speakers throughout the last week of school.��

We kicked off the week with our Class of 2022 IBDP TOK Exhibition, in which Grade 11 students showcased their final TOK exhibitions and completed their first IBDP internal assessment.��

New and Returning Guest Speakers��

Throughout the week, we hosted some new and returning guest speakers. A few of our Wells alumni, Akhil Shanishetti, Prim Pupornchai (Class of 2015), and Natnisha Ahuja (Class of 2018) joined us for an alumni panel discussion, in which they addressed questions from our high school students about college entrance exams, university life, finding a major, career planning, etc.��Our recent alumni, Hrithi Bhattacharya, Gia Karamchandani, and Riddhi Tandon (Class of 2021) shared about their learning and growth through CAS in ‘How to be a CAS Superstar’.��

joined us to give some inspiration to our middle and high school students in regards to the potential of a CAS project. In their case, their high school CAS project turned into a globally established social enterprise.

Mr. Sandeep from the Art of Living Foundation here in Bangkok joined us virtually for a session to share brain hacks for high school students. This was a nice, interactive session which invited students and teachers to try some breathing and meditation techniques.��Mr. Arch also shared about his own 30-day challenge and challenged our high school students to take on a 30-day challenge this summer.

Second Annual AP Symposium��

Ms. Katherine and Mr. Arch hosted the second annual AP Symposium, which offered students the opportunity to present their research presentations and share different perspectives. Students presented on various topics, ranging from psychology (AP Research) to science (AP Biology, G9 Chemistry, Environmental Science) and interdisciplinary work (AP Seminar, G11 TOK).

Ms. Amrita, one of our former Wells teachers, was very enthusiastic to join the Symposium and share an inspirational talk titled ‘You Matter’, along with our TED-Ed club members, who shared their learning about forming positive habits.

Grade 10 Introduction to Business Shark Tank

To end off the week, Ms. Lee and her Grade 10 Introduction to Business students hosted Shark Tank: Season 4, in which students pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to a panel of ‘sharks’. They demonstrated excellent teamwork, innovation and creativity in their ideas. Overall, it was a great showcase of their knowledge gained in the course and the potential they have to innovate and problem-solve.

Performing Arts Showcase

Finally, our Visual & Performing Arts department joined our Community Engagement group to showcase some student music and dance performances. The was also premiered, which was a showcase of recorded radio shows based on theater students’ transcribing of famous short stories from the 19th and 20th centuries into radio scripts.

A big thank you goes out to all of the students, teachers, parents, guests and community members who contributed to making this last week of this very unpredictable 2020-21 school year a meaningful and engaging one!

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A First Ever Symposium of Student Research

Just because we were forced to move to online, distance learning platforms did not stop the Wells students from completing impressive research and finding a way to share with their peers. Last Tuesday, June 9, 2020 was our first Wells Symposium, showcasing student research perspectives to the Wells community. Due to Covid-19 restrictions that kept us online learning until the end of this semester, we had to hold it online, but with an enthusiastic group of teachers and students the Symposium was a success!��

The goal of this Symposium was to allow students to share the impressive work they have carried out with other members of Wells community, provoking thought and inspiration. This project was originally inspired by the work done by our AP Capstone students, but we recognized that other classes were also carrying out various projects worthy of sharing with others.��

Students from all our high school grades presented their research throughout the day with other teachers and students. A total of 20 students participated, sharing their presentations or video projects via a Google Meet followed by a Q&A section.��

Student presentations highlights the Wells research experience

It is rare to see students in high school taking on research of their own, so we were excited to see what investigations our AP Research students had to share. Gia Karamchandani (Class of 2021) presented her research titled “Effective Bioremediation Practices for Khlongs in Bangkok”, which was an exploration of home and lab practices to see whether common remediator plants found in Thailand could help to clean the famous Bangkok canals. Soumili Kar (Class of 2021) presented her research titled “Antibiotic resistance on bacteria found in Thai fruits and plants”, which gave insights into the lab techniques she used to explore the gram-positive/gram-negative resistance levels of bacteria. We are proud to see these two students following their interests in biology, diving deep into the fields of research, and explaining it in understandable terms to the audience.��

Self-guided research into passion projects give students practical experience

Interspersed between these technical Biology presentations were five students from the Class of 2021 sharing their Theory of Knowledge “Passion Projects”. Yachi Shah shared about her challenges in designing her own prom dress, and Renesa Khanijow presented on learning about poverty and how she could get involved in making a difference (). Muskan Gurbuxani shared about her , interviewing members of the school community and people around India about the happiest moments of their lives. Siddhi Bhora explained how digital drawing can also be art, and outlined her research process in understanding requirements to becoming a digital designer. Poorvi Daga and Shradha Silori documented their learning on how to make soap and eventually succeeded in giving over 100 bars of soap to the Class of 2020 and teachers earlier in the semester.��

Wells students do not wait to start. They get experience early in grades 9 and 10

Next we were thrilled to see the Chemistry research into topics pertinent to everyday life, such as the chemistry of skincare products, basic nutrition, how soap works to protect against COVID-19 when washing our hands, and the science of sleep, which were presented by Angie,��Chihiro,��Prem and Maneka (Class of 2023) respectively. Three AP Computer Science Principles students, Arin, Kevin and Soyoon (Class of 2022), showed us the functionality of the apps they built and explained how the coding skills they learned allowed them to manipulate the digital world.

Finally, the day ended with AP Seminar students sharing their final argument presentations and two AP Biology COVID-19 presentations. Kendrick Acda, Uday Saighal and Paree Mirchandani (Class of 2022) enlightened the audience on their respective topics: materialism and its impact on happiness, the factors influencing well-being from sociocultural and biological perspectives, and the effectiveness of hedonic and utilitarian values on business advertising in social media apps. Nimaan Singh and Nicky Tamseree (Class of 2022) gave us enlightening and entertaining presentations about their research into COVID-19, as well as shared their thoughtful insights into the impact of social distancing on their lives.

We look forward to having a second round of the Symposium to share more insights!

Teachers reflect about being part of the Symposium in an online format

“I was impressed with presentations and the level of dedication and depth of research – commendable skills to accomplish. It was also nice to see a variety of topics outside of the mainstream curriculum chosen by students and the level of passion and creativity infused into their personal project. I learned a lot!” – Lee Forest, Business Management teacher

“Asking students to share their learning and experiences is very valuable for both other students and teachers.�� Their ability to articulate their learning process helps them to become more reflective and aware of what it means to be a researcher, and a lifelong learner. I was impressed by the presentations and I feel that by holding students to a higher standard, they often succeed in surpassing that standard!” – Katina Grigoraskos, TOK teacher

“One of the features that made the symposium a memorable experience was the open format for presentations and topics.�� Students and teachers had the chance to see other student-led discussions, which through an online platform, may have actually kept the audience more engaged than if it were done in person.�� I feel it brought out the best in the students when they were able to share a project they were passionate about, and gave way for students who would not yet be fully prepared to present in an auditorium like setting.�� – Arch Silapiruti, AP Research teacher

Article Written By: Ms. Katherine Caouette, AP & IB Coordinator

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Here are some of the highlights of what has been happening in our virtual classrooms in high school:

Learning Through Google Meets

Students presenting in Ms. Farhana’s Algebra class

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Learning ICT with Mr. Raj

Student presentations in Ms. Lee’s IB Business Management class

Big smiles in IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK)!

Showing our connectedness via Google Meets in Ms. Grace’s IB Mandarin class

Notable Student Work & Projects

Through their various subjects, students were given opportunities to develop both content knowledge, as well as their video editing skills, such as Ms. Viessa’s IB Psychology classes, Ms. Sandy’s IB Economics classes, and Ms. Farhana’s Algebra II classes. In IB Psychology, Ms. Viessa and the Grade 12 students also put together a ‘Speaker Series’, where professional guest speakers visited the class Google Meets to share their knowledge about Psychology and the real world, as the seniors prepare for their next phase of life after high school. As an example, Mr. Jeff Harry, motivational speaker from , talked about the importance of creativity and play in the process of working towards goals. The student projects and videos can be accessed by clicking in the following links:

Expression through the Arts

In Mr. Ren’s Grade 10 classes, students were given a platform to express their ideas about the current pandemic through creative artwork.

‘Covid-19’ by Tiffany��

‘Corona’ by Miho

‘Covid-19 Awareness Poster by Maya

‘We Will Win the War’ by Daigo

Here are more examples of student artwork and collaboration through the arts:

Digital Fun

In high school, we also made time for fun in the digital world. The Student Council organized a virtual sports day, where students competed in virtual rock-paper-scissors, chess, Kahoot!, and more. They also organized a Spirit Week to boost morale and add some extra fun to online learning. We have also been able to have some guest speakers join us to share with our students and keep them inspired during these times.

Students competing in a game of virtual rock-paper-scissor

Grade 9 students celebrating hat day!

Grade 12 students choosing to wear their school uniforms during online learning

High School Student Council Meeting

Guest speaker from A21 NGO

Focus on Wellness

In an effort to increase the well-being of our school community during these times, we have decided to focus on wellness for the month of May.��Wells��Wellness��is an initiative created to inspire, support and promote��wellness��(physical, mental and emotional) within our��Wells��International School community. Our mission is directly aligned with our ESLRs and school mission to change the world, one student at a time.��Wellness��starts from within. Students, teachers, staff and parents can follow the challenges on the��

For the first��wellness��challenge, students were challenged to complete the following BINGO board by engaging in some healthy activities. Everyone is encouraged to��share photos or videos of themselves and their family members participating in��wellness��activities to the page, or sharing the completed Bingo boards on your preferred social media page. Teachers are also contributing motivational videos for our Motivation Monday series!

This past week, we have also had an SDG-themed week of wellness activities led by our Student and Engagement Committee focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Each day sends different challenges focused around specific SDGs, as well as resources for further learning and ideas on how to contribute to different causes, the environment, etc. We also had Max, the owner of , join us after school to discuss how the cafe supports and creates a strong sense of community by shifting mindsets around the topic of inclusion.

We hope that our students, staff, and teachers know that they are appreciated and valued and we acknowledge the effort and dedication that everyone has been making to foster a strong sense of community through distance learning and resilience in our current global situation. One thing is for certain: We continue to strive for our mission of changing the world, one student at a time…even virtually!

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