Jack to Represent NZ in International Biology Olympiad Team 2010
Over the recent Easter break the top 19 biology students in the country have been honing their practical skills and technical knowledge in the School of Biological Sciences at Victoria University. The group has been vying for a place on the NZIBO team.
Jack Zhou of Year 12, has been selected to represent New Zealand. The team will join students from more than 50 countries at the International Biology Olympiad in Busan, Korea between the 11—18th July.
Registration for the 2011 programme will be available from 21 May 2010, for details go to www.nzibo.org
Auckland International College is pleased and honored to announce the appointment of Agnes Chan as its President.
Any internet search will locate Agnes Chan’s bio data, such is her fame. She first achieved fame as a singer and has become a global inspiration. She is a strong role model to AIC students. Her volunteer work to eradicate poverty in the world, in particular with respect to children, has included fundraising to alleviate drought and famine in Ethiopia. She has used her singing not only for others to enjoy but also to publicise the effects of poverty and also to spread the message of world peace.
She embodies true global citizenship. Multi-lingual and widely travelled, she is committed not only to making the world a better place through her volunteer work, but she has also lived and studied in several countries. Born in Hong Kong, she became famous as a much loved singer, receiving a prestigious award in Japan where she moved to live, and releasing singles in both China and in the United States.
She has an impressive academic record. From Japan she travelled to Canada to study child psychology at the University of Toronto and subsequently gained a PhD in Education from Stanford University, returning to Japan as a university professor and writer.
In her role as ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF, she continues to publicize the plight of children in developing countries and to help them through her volunteer work.
The College is deeply honored that Agnes Chan has accepted the role of President, because she exemplifies AIC ideals through her actions. In this role she will be able to support AIC students to achieve their goals by encouraging and inspiring them to help others and to make a real contribution to the world.
We thank her sincerely for accepting the position of President and warmly welcome her to AIC in the knowledge that she brings a wealth of practical experience and wisdom about how to be a global leader through achievement, commitment and contribution.
Scott Zhang awarded Rabi Scholar at Columbia University and selected to represent NZ in International Mathematical Olympiad, Kazakhstan 2010
Scott Zhang, Year 13 has just received a scholarship and offer of place from Columbia University in the States. He also has offers from top world ranked universities University College of London and Imperial College in the UK as well as Cornell in the US. ( all 4 universities ranked in the top 20 of the THES Top 200 World Universities 2009).
The scholarship letter from Columbia university to him states:
“I am pleased to let you know that Columbia College has selected you to become a Rabi Scholar in recognition of your talent and accomplishments in the sciences and mathematics. The name of this program honors the late I.I. Rabi, a Nobel laureate physicist who was a member of the Columbia faculty for many years.
Members of our science faculty have identified you as one of the top science students from among the thousands considered this year in our applicant pool, so I look forward to the research talent and potential you are sure to bring to Columbia’s community of researchers and scholars. We expect there will be approximately ten Rabi Scholars in the entering class of 1,100 students
The Rabi Scholars Program is a rare opportunity to further your interest in science through close contact both with faculty and with other talented students. Congratulations once again, and we look forward to the scientific contributions we know you will make to the Columbia community.”
Scott has also been selected to represent New Zealand at the New Zealand International Mathematics Olympiad in Kazakhstan this July, we wish him every success both in Kazakhstan this winter and later on at Columbia University.
Meeting with International University representatives
Auckland International College will be hosting a meeting with 11 international, university representatives. AIC’s two university counselors will also be present. The meeting will be on May 20th from 3:30 – 6 PM in the Baptist Tabernacle, Queen Street, Auckland CBD. To confirm your place, please rsvp as soon as possible to Peter Thyberg.
The following universities will be represented:- USA - Johns Hopkins University (#13 THE)
- Pepperdine University
- Ohio Wesleyan University
- Savannah College of Art and Design
- Canada - University of British Columbia (#40 THE)
- Emily Carr University of Art and Design
- Concordia University
- Vancouver Island University
- Others - Temple University Japan
- Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne
- IE University Spain
Kshitji Gupta Wins 1st Place at Sustainable Environment Awards
Congratulations to Kshitij for his 1st place in the Youth category at the Auckland Regional Council’s Sustainable Environment Awards . Judges felt that Kshitij had great leadership qualities and had an approach that was inclusive of all students and nationalities.
“Kshitij approaches his environmental action and advocacy in a consistent, regular manner that builds momentum, gets the numbers involved and he is continually looking for opportunities,” said the judges.
Kshitiji has also been shortlisted for the prestigious Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award due to his commitment to the Environment and his leadership skills.
AIC Art Exhibition to be held on 30th March - All Welcome
 Takeshi Mitogawa (Year 13) |
An exhibition by Auckland International College's Graduating Visual Arts students will be held on Tuesday 30th March, at 76 Anzac Avenue from 9 am to 8 pm. The exhibition will be officially opened at 6.30 pm with refreshments. |  Thu Ha Le (Year 13) |
Outstanding Offers again to AIC Students from Oxford & Cambridge Universities
Congratulations to Linda Li and Thai Dong Huong Nguyen who have both been offered conditional places at the University of Oxford to undertake a Major in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and Sigi Wilson who has been offered a conditional place from the University of Cambridge to study a Major in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. Linda Li comments
"AIC has been invaluable in providing me with resources and expertise for my application to Oxford. The academic rigor of the International Baccalaureate programme at AIC enabled me to become a competitive applicant for admissions, and I received superb guidance from the UK university counsellor on the application process, and choosing the right course and university for me. Furthermore, Mrs Solomon personally coached me on a crucial aspect of my application - the interview. The school alumni network also provided me with advice on my personal statement from successful past students. Needless to say, I felt supported by the AIC community in every step of the process."
AIC Student Wins National Schools Economics Competition
In August 2009, 21 Year 13 AIC students sat the New Zealand Economics Competition organised by the University of Auckland. It is exciting to announce that Taishin Kobayakawa won the first prize. More than 3000 students in New Zealand competed for the first prize of $250 and a trophy. Students had to complete 40 multiple choice questions in 55 minutes. Taishin studies Higher Level Economics.
2nd place at 2009 New Zealand Young Designers Award with Nasty Beauty
Chenxi Tang has been awarded 2nd place at the Young Designers Award in the Visual Arts - Photography category. Ms Child is very pleased with Chenxi's prestigious award, and Chenxi is looking forward to taking up the prize of an internship with a design agency, in her chosen design category.
Chenxi chose the theme of Nasty Beauty, as she was inspired by Francis Bacon, an Irish artist. She developed her ideas using Photoshop to create the layered effect.
1st for Auckland University Software Design Challenge 2009
Two AIC Students have won the 2009 Software Design Challenge; a competition for Year 12 and 13 Secondary School students. Shinnosuke Okada and Shubham Sinha entered the AIC team into this year's Software Design competition and set about the design challenge to create a scavenger hunt game for a mobile phone.
Auckland University organiser of the competition, Dr Lutteroth, comments "Myself and the judges were impressed by the systematic approach that both Shinnusuke and Shubham used to come up with a creative solution for the brief. Software engineering is usually quite complex and both AIC students demonstrated a well structured solution."
The competition was sponsored by Hewlett Packard and The Institute of Engineering and Technology Dr Lutteroth comments about possible future developments of the AIC Students design.
"Fleur from Hewlett Packard was impressed with the quality of the solutions. The concept might be used for later projects, as we believe such an application would be interesting for a large group of users."
The two winners were awarded with Borders gift vouchers and a telescope, as used for astronomical observations, for their school.
School Relocation July 2011
Auckland International College has grown rapidly since it started in 2003. This is a healthy situation due largely to our fine results. High quality teaching and student support have provided AIC with a track record of outstanding IB Diploma scores as well as outstanding university offers from the world's top universities.
As a result of our growth AIC Council has had to decide whether to limit the school roll and remain on our present site at Airedale Street or to find an alternative site so that we can continue to grow while retaining our special AIC character.
After the careful exploration of options we would like to inform you that AIC will relocate July 2011 to a new Auckland site at 37 Heaphy Street, Blockhouse Bay, previously occupied by Hill Top School. This site is bigger than 85 Airedale Street, has a green campus and is located in a quiet residential area close to facilities and bus route. It will offer an ideal learning environment on which to build our school to the same IBO standards as our present school. Although there are public bus routes to the Blockhouse Bay shopping centre (5 minutes' walk from the site) we have analysed where our students currently reside. Should there be the anticipated demand we are likely to get a private bus company to run buses on a user pays basis from and to downtown Auckland City before and after school. This is for those who currently travel to and from downtown from many parts of Auckland and the North Shore. We will also consider a bus route which passes through the Mount Eden, Epsom and Mount Roskill suburbs
We are very much looking forward to our move.
In the meantime if you have any queries please feel free to contact Carolyn Solomon at csolomon@aic.ac.nz
1st place at New Zealand Senior Mathematics Competition
We are pleased to announce that Scott Zhang, a current gold medalist who represented China last year in The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, came 1st in this year's New Zealand Senior Mathematics Competition. Scott was among 15 students selected from around 1,250 applicants and flown down to Christchurch for the competition.
The competition was a 90 minute test on the student's ability in areas such as Algebra, Probability and Trigonometry to name a few.
Scott reflects on his experiences. "The most exciting part was prize-giving. The President of the New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers, Allan Parris, was present. As a general rule you don't want your name to be announced before the big prize. After the long wait, it was such a relief when I was the only one left! The organiser, Mr. Rayner, congratulated me, saying that I had done an excellent paper. Mr. Flansburg shook my hand and awarded me first prize and a cheque for one thousand dollars.
In spite of the excitement, I knew clearly that this, like any other achievement, was just a bright start. It was inspiring to hear that all the 6 Auckland finalists would attempt the coming engineering competition in September. More challenges to go.
This experience has taught me that the mathematics circle, contrary to common belief, is actually just as warm as any other community: in mathematics, there is always more humanity than cold-bloodedness. That's why I've started the AIC Mathematics Club, to open up the door for other enthusiasts to pursue pure knowledge and the thrill outside the classroom."
The Maths Club is open to all maths enthusiasts who think that their ability and curiosity is beyond school level maths. Please contact Scott Zhang for more details szhang@aic.ac.nz
