The Dragonwaves Podcast: On the Air with HKIS

Our High School's VADT Program: Origins + Future

The High School's Visual Arts, Design and Technology department has taken flight over the last few years! Hear High School teachers Ms. Tracey Cheung and Mr. Daniel Budd talk about the amazing program, the collaboration and innovation that it inspires, and a vision for its future.

Can a 9-year-old Change the World?

It's American Thanksgiving, and at HKIS, we're big on helping our kids learn how to have a spirit of gratitude. On this podcast, we interviewed fourth-grade teacher Stan Krause on how Service Learning and understanding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals help our students better understand the needs of the world. We also talked to student Maya Stoehr on her reflections from fourth grade. Hear how nine-year-olds view global concerns and how empathy and taking action play a role in our Student Learning Result of Contributing to Society.     

Meet our Four Principals: From Reception 1 to Grade 12

As a new school year begins, our four principals came together to share with new parents what the journey at HKIS looks like from our youngest learners to our seniors. Meet Geoff Heney (Lower Primary), Ben Hart (Upper Primary), Connie Kim (Middle School), and Dave Lovelin (High School). This segment was recorded as part of a Virtual Town Hall at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. The school year started virtually on August 13, and students began returning to campus in phases beginning September 23. 

Parents Helping Hong Kong Recover

Wondering how you can help those who have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic? Listen to the latest episode of the Dragonwaves podcast series to hear from alumni Rick Johannessen '92, Leontine Chuang '93, and parent Beth McNicholas about what they are doing together to help communities in need through the Hong Kong Community Recovery Fund.

Preparing for College

With classes suspended during the second semester of the school year, the pressure was mounting for Seniors who had conditional offers with colleges, and Juniors who were just starting the process of selecting desired schools and preparing for their applications. Aaron Hollingshead is one of eight High School counselors serving our High School students to help them through this precarious time of Covid-19. While the pressures are real, students have been resilient, and colleges have adjusted their expectations. In this episode, Aaron shares his insights with us on how the students are coping.  

Serving Hearts, Sisters in Lockdown

Classes have been suspended for 14 weeks, but many of our students remain passionate about service. Elanna Mak (Grade 10) and Annalise Mak (Grade 8) wanted to do something to help those in need in Hong Kong amid the Coronavirus crisis and looked for ways to do this while social distancing. Tune in to hear about their video project to bring exercise to kids in need!

Home Learning, Uninterrupted

The HKIS IT department’s most critical task: Keeping home learning up and running. Hear from Roy Bas, the head of IT, about his past week, and how an emergency kept him and his team onsite day and night to ensure our students can access home learning. An HKIS alumnus, Roy also shares about his days as a student at HKIS.

Rethinking the Classroom

We speak with Brent Brayko, our High School Associate Principal of Teaching and Learning, about the challenges of switching to an online program overnight, how to make sure students are engaged and learning while off-campus, and what new discoveries may stay with us beyond the Covid-19 closure.

Making Books: Teaching Writing to Little Kids

How does bookmaking and writers workshop transform our students into strong writers? Our Lower Primary teachers sit with us to explain the writing process and how they incorporate methods proven to help students progress from level to level. 

Parents might find this podcast useful to understand how the writing curriculum was modified to complement digital learning for our youngest students at home.

Parent-Child Relationship during Covid-19

Meet Jacci and Siena Grawburg, an HKIS family overcoming the challenges that develop between the parent and child while navigating through home learning.