JFK Times Blog

Over the summer, Laura Davis, MYP Coordinator, received the news that she was accepted by the IB for a role within the Diploma Program and with that, the exciting news that this role includes training at the IB Global Centre in Cardiff, Wales in November. Laura has been an examiner for the Diploma Program since 2015 and was contacted about a new vacancy in May of this year and asked if she would like to apply.  The application involved a work task in which she created some content to be evaluated.  Following that, she was invited to an interview with two subject managers and then was given the news that she had been accepted!   The role is seasonal, working on tasks providing feedback a couple of times per year, but the chance to travel to the IB Global Centre is a really exciting opportunity for Laura.  The training she receives there will give her more insight to help student learning at JFK.  "Being involved in the IB has allowed me to grow as an educator.  I've learned

Dear JFK Community, I am honored to introduce myself to the JFK educational community. My academic journey has culminated in a Bachelor's degree in English Education, complemented by a wide variety of courses and certifications pertaining to education, pedagogy and leadership skills. I am presently in pursuit of a Master's degree to further enrich my educational repertoire. With 14 years of experience in the education sector, predominantly in Mexico, I have had the privilege of traversing the entire basic education spectrum, from the formative stages of pre-school to the academically rigorous curriculum of high school. I have taught English Language Arts, Mathematics, Sciences, and Humanities, encompassing even the realms of philosophical inquiry. My role as a classroom teacher has evolved so much and during the last six years, I have been able to exploit my leadership and administrative skills as English Coordinator, Vice Principal, and General Director. Although I find

We are so proud of Miss Camille Casses, our MS Principal, for achieving the PTC Certification. "The PTC -- Principals Training Course-- is a series of four summer courses that I had the pleasure of completing this past summer, culminating in an internationally-known PTC Certificate.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with other principals from around the world, discussing in depth such subjects as Supervision & Evaluation, Creating Effective Schools, Curriculum, and others.  I learned so much from these courses, and I also had a chance to see how wonderful our school is by comparing it in our sessions to schools in Europe, Asia, Africa, and other parts of Latin America. Now, I am prouder than ever to be a Jaguar!" Miss Camille,  Middle School Principal  ------------------------------------------------------------------ Nos sentimos muy orgullosos de Miss Camille Casses, Directora de Middle School por culminar su certificación PTC. "El PTC (Curs

  Throughout the school year, our College Counseling Department has been in constant contact with different institutions and universities from Mexico and abroad to reinforce our academic relationships; so that we can offer the best and most updated university opportunities and scholarships to our senior students. Especially this week our college counselor participated in different events with national universities with whom we have special agreements. On May 16th, our school participated in the 10th Anniversary of Universidad Mondragón where our State Governor, Mauricio Kuri was present as well as different academic personalities coming from Spain. On the same day our school participated in a reconnection college counselor event with Universidad de las Américas de Puebla, who shared an update on all their new university and master programs. On May 18th, we were also very happy to receive 16 welcome kits for the future Universidad Anáhuac students starting their Bachelor’s degree next A

  We want to congratulate Sungchul Jeong who has completed his transition out of SWAS. This is the second graduation of the year.  Sungchul joined SWAS in August 2021 as a full time student. He transitioned to English in January 2022 and was able rapidly to adapt to his regular classes. He has been transitioning to Spanish classes since this academic year (August 2022- March 2023). Sungchul started the year with the clear aim to graduate from SWAS in order for him to be able to do the full DP program in 11th and 12th grade. His consistency and work ethics have been highlighted in all the observations and feedback that his teachers have shared. Sungchul has made a great impression on his classmates and has formed a nice group of friends that support him.  We are going to miss Sungchul greatly as he has been a student that has left a great impression on all the teachers that have had the honor of interacting with him. He is a remarkable person. We have had the pleasure to see his motivat

  Shannon Lewis JFK Alumni En 2011, fui invitada a tomar parte en un proyecto internacional conocido como Challenge 2020. Su nombre describe su intención: teníamos que encontrar una solución para uno de los 20 mayores problemas mundiales (según las Naciones Unidas) antes del año 2020. Simple, ¿no? Cuando primero participé en Challenge 2020 era un proyecto específico. Por un año, nosotros (un grupo de 5-6 voluntarios en el Kennedy) íbamos a conectar con otro grupo de voluntarios en una escuela en Estados Unidos para intentar crear e implementar una solución para el problema mundial que fuimos asignados: la pobreza urbana. Siendo dos grupos distintos, con comunidades que tenían necesidades distintas, el punto era acabar con una solución creativa e internacional. En lo que quedamos nosotros fue la idea de conectar los recursos de nuestra comunidad en la escuela con una comunidad local. Así empezamos nuestra conexión con El Obraje. Inicialmente, nos enfocamos en construcción. Muchas de los

  por Marlene Cruz Coordinadora del programa ambiental y Ecoclub Hace dos años cuando iniciamos el ciclo escolar, recuerdo que lanzamos la convocatoria para que nuestros alumnos se inscribieran al Ecoclub. En el Comité Ambiental, formado por maestros voluntarios, teníamos nuestras dudas si íbamos a tener inscritos pues se iba a impartir en horarios extracurriculares. Para nuestra sorpresa iniciamos con un total de 49 alumnos de diferentes secciones. Hoy en día tenemos 60 alumnos, lo cual representa un gran logro, ver cada ciclo escolar más niños y jóvenes que están comprometidos con el medio ambiente. En el Ecoclub nos divertimos, jugamos, reflexionamos, pero sobre todo actuamos con acciones a favor de nuestra casa, nuestro planeta tierra.  A lo largo de este ciclo 22-23 el Programa Ambiental de nuestra escuela ha tenido muchas iniciativas y ha fortalecido otras, y para lograrlo se han sumado más maestros y niños haciendo: Recolección de papel y cartón. Esta acción empezó con Preschool

By Stuart Porter High School Principal Think Ahead is the time of year when 10th graders, with the help of some school activities, staff and their families, choose their IB Diploma subjects that they will take in their 11th and 12th grade. Think Ahead is all about taking the time to really think about the future, before you take a really important decision, because their choice will naturally have an impact on their options when applying to a university. Our students need to choose their IB Diploma subjects in combinations that make sense for future university studies either in Mexico or in different countries. Generally, they fell into four areas:  1. Physics, Math & Engineering 2. Life & Health Sciences 3. Economics and Business Administration 4. Arts, Humanities or Flexible In order to help students make this decision, the teachers made a website full of information about each subject, which was launched six weeks before the decisions were made. Then, around a month before t

  By JFK Editorial Committee Miss Cristina Vergara, coordinator of the Science department at JFK High School, was recognized with this year's Emma Gutierrez Award, which is awarded annually by ASOMEX (Association of American Schools in Mexico), to recognize women's leadership in education with a $4,000 scholarship for PD training. “I applied because I would like to continue working on significant projects for my community, and I believe that, if I am awarded this scholarship, I will be able to learn where the future of education is going and share it with all members of that community”, says Cris. Miss Cris studied Biology with a specialty in Marine Ecology. She later studied for a Master's in Educational Leadership from the University of Framingham and has 12 years of experience as a teacher, 10 of which he has worked at JFK. “It seemed like a very distant goal and just having been chosen to represent the school, for me it was already an honor that I had managed to obtain,

  Verónica Díaz Lope CAS Coordinator  Nuestro Proyecto Challenge 20/20 surge en el año 2010, cuando nuestros alumnos de High School se comprometieron a tomar acciones para dar solución a un tema global actuando local, su reto: “Pobreza”. En su proceso de investigación y colaboración con la Organización BRED (Banco de Ropa y Enseres Domésticos de Querétaro), encontraron una comunidad local en extrema pobreza, a tan solo 20 minutos de la zona de nuestra escuela. Nuestros alumnos adoptaron a la comunidad “El Obraje”, para tener la oportunidad de conocer las historias de vida de las familias, generar una conexión con ellos y promover a través de diferentes acciones un “desarrollo comunitario”, atendiendo la parte de formación humana y el mejoramiento de áreas comunes y viviendas. A lo largo de todos estos años, visitamos a la comunidad dos sábados al mes. Nuestros alumnos en equipos, deciden qué actividades van a  trabajar con los niños y mamás, a través de talleres que abordan temas de al

  Eleven of our 11th and 12th grade students has the opportunity to live a multicultural experience with the IB CAS program "Creativity, Activity and Service" in Prague. 96 students representing schools from Ecuador, Arab Emirates, Costa Rica, India and México participated.  Among the activities they carried out, arte those of Service: Challenge with a sustainable development approach. Organic farm Cooking Challenge Homeless Tour CAS Challenge ------------------------------------------------- Once de nuestros alumnos de 11° y 12° tuvieron la oportunidad de vivir la experiencia multicultural con el programa de IB CAS "Creatividad, Actividad y Servicio" en Praga. Participaron 96 estudianes representando escuelas de Ecuador, Emiratos Árabes, Costa Rica, India y México.  Entre las actividades que realizaron, se encuentran las de Servicio: Desafío con un enfoque de desarrollo sostenible Gr anja Orgánica Reto de Cocina Recorrido con personas sin hogar Reto CAS