GAC Assignment filmed by new AlphaMax Communication unit

The Global Assessment Certificate (GAC) 2014 Class did their second  assignment for the GAC 006 class — Business, Science and Social Science 1: Communication  Skills, on the 11th November.

GAC 2014 Class

Michael Grauwde and Vivian Zheng

This  assessment event was a group role play.

The aim of  the assessment event was for the group to negotiate and come to a consensus at the end of ten minutes.  The group consisted of 5 members, and every member had to agree on what was decided:  They were to imagine that they were about to be frozen and would not be brought back to life until the year 3000 A.D.  They had to rank 10 items about society that they believed would change the most.  Each person had to justify their top five rankings and try to persuade others why they chose this ranking.  At the end, the group had to reach an agreement on a ranking.

Jason Hoppie (GAC Valedictorian, Class of 2013) and Kirk Clarke

The assessment event was video-graphed by the AlphaMax Academy's Communication unit.  The unit is currently engaged in several projects that will be aired in December.  The communication unit is new in the AlphaMax Academy and is currently taught by Mr. Kirk Clarke, a Caribbean Media trainer with many years of experience in Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, other Caribbean countries, and north America.

Written by Vivian Zheng

2013 Graduation Ceremony

Last Saturday, June 29th, in an atmosphere of festive simplicity, parents,
faculty, administrators, and friends of the AlphaMax Academy, witnessed
the graduation of six students from the Class of 2013.

In keeping with the school’s tradition and commitment to excellence, the
two Valedictorians, Jason Hoppie and Li Jun Xu, addressed the gathering.

The final scores of the two valedictorians in the Global Assessment
Certificate program were internationally recognized as “High Achievement”
by global examiners and moderators abroad.

Also graduating from the Academy this year were national swimmers from
Suriname, Tariq Getrouw, and the female winner of the Telesur swim
marathon, Xiomara Getrouw.

The AlphaMax Academy is an internationally recognized school of Surinam
with an English curriculum.  The school’s motto, “In Diligent of
Excellence”, reflects the Academy’s program and its approach to education.

This year four past graduates from the AlphaMax Academy have completed
their bachelor’s courses of studies in Britain, the United States of
America, and the Nederlands.

My First Experience with Nature: Bosbivak

Last Easter two groups of students ( one male, the other female) went to a nature camp at   the Bosbivak Nationaal Leger’s camp.  from April 16^th – 20^th, 2011.  30 Academy high school students and teachers took part in the camp where they learned preliminary camp training and  survival skills.  

The camp for boys / males took  place from April 16^th – 18^th, and  the one for the girls / females, took place on April 18^th – 20^th.  The camp and training experience was under the direction of Staff Sergeant Lucien Vroom,.

Below is an account of the impact of this experience by High School student Jason Hoppie. This essay won the third prize  in the Junior prose category in the Tagore Art Competition held in may, 2011.

Jason Hoppie                                                                                                                                        
                                                                    
                                      My First Experience with Nature: Bosbivak

                       “I believe that children should be surrounded with the things of Nature which have their own educational value. Their mind should be allowed to stumble on and be surprised at everything that happens in life to-day. The new to-morrow will stimulate their attention with new facts of life. This is best method for the child. But what happens in a school is, that every day, at the same hour, the same book is brought and poured for him. His attention is never hit by chance surprises from Nature.”

                       I especially admire the ideas in this paragraph because of my encounter with nature a few weeks ago at Bosbivak in the forest of Suriname. Actually it is so that today adults and children in general are not interested with the things of nature like they should. I make this statement because at first when I heard about the camping trip, I was not interested, but later, with great consideration and my principal’s encouragement, I agreed to have this experience. Just being out there away from everything in the city and experiencing nature first hand made me realize that it is something that no book could have taught me. One needed the experience to actually agree with this statement. There is so much that can be taught in one day and surprisingly, it is not like learning from a textbook because when you see the animals, trees, insects, and a lesson is taught upon each, it is difficult to forget because it is an encounter with nature.

                       Personally I did not know that there were so many harmful insects that normally I would take for granted. There are so many trees in the jungle that can actually be used as medicine to cure various sicknesses, but many of us will never know because we are not interested in nature. If given the opportunity to camp out once again in the pure serenity of nature, I would agree immediately and not think twice about it because as the old epigram which one of my instructors kept repeating at camp was, “One will die faster in the city than in the jungle.”

                       I think experiencing nature is the best method for a child, because it opens his or her mind. An experience with nature is miraculous, pulchritudinous and serene. Nature can teach a child several lessons. Tagore gave up learning to spend time experiencing the fullness of nature. Because Tagore experienced nature and learned many things from it, it opened his mind, and he was able to write some of the best poems in the world.

                       Some schools teach nature studies, but doing this in the city does not really enlighten a child’s mind unless that child gets the opportunity to spend time in the jungle. I personally can give account of this, because I did nature studies, but I can say that spending time in the jungle explained much more than I knew from books.

                       Tagore was right when he went into the jungle and wrote his poems because he was not talking from a book but he was writing from his personal encounter with nature and that gave his poetry more reality.

                       At first, I was afraid when I heard the various strange sounds at night, but then I realized that I am so accustomed to the busy city that I did not even have the time to enjoy what nature has to offer. Why was I afraid of sounds that the nocturnal insects and animals were making? This is purer and more natural than the cars and motorcycle that I hear in the city.

                        Each day at Bosbivak was a new experience for me. Never once was I bored. I learned something new every day and seeing that I want to be a pilot, I think this firsthand experience was excellent for me and I would not trade it for anything in the world.

                        I must thank Mr. Tagore for his inspiration and my principal for seeing beyond what many people actually know about life and nature.                 

                                                

Bosbivak Easter Camp

Bosbivak Easter Camp

Last Easter two groups of students ( one male, the other female) went to a nature camp at  the Bosbivak Nationaal Leger’s camp.  from April 16^th – 20^th, 2011  30 Academy high school students and teachers took part in the camp where they learned preliminary camp training and  survival skills. 

The camp for boys / males took  place from April 16^th – 18^th, and  the one for the girls / females, took place on April 18^th – 20^th.  The camp and training experience was under the direction of Staff Sergeant Lucien Vroom,

AMA Staff who went to this camp included Mr. & Mrs Taylor, Mr.Ben Hur Henry and Ms Manhaz  Kohinory.

Read Jason Hoppie"s Prize winning essay on his experience at this camp.