Parents and Teachers in uproar over extreme delay in getting TOEFL Scores

The director of AlphaMax academy has been deluged with questions from irate parents and students over the non appearance of their TOEFL scores.


Seventeen of AMA's students took the test in January 2010 and two more took the November test 2009. Shockingly none of our students have received their scores.  This is the first time in the history of the school that this has happened. Initial calls to ETS's office revealed  a bureaucratic snafu that is similar to the ones that created the global financial crisis.

Parents are outraged that they have paid for a service that has so poor in delivery.


It is common for the test scores to arrive via mail – much earlier.  It is to be noted that PSAT scores arrived earlier in 2009, before Christmas last year.  Even SAT scores have arrived quite procedurally, without any hitches or hiccups. 


THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN TEN YEARS THAT THERE HAS BEEN SUCH A MAJOR DELAY IN THE DELIVERY OF TEST SCORES FOR THE TOEFL EXAMS. 

Gandhi Centre Donates Books

Books on the life, work and thoughts of The Mahatma, M. K. Gandhi,were donated to the AlphaMax  Academy by the Gandhi Literature Centre, National Gandhi Museum in Rajpat,New Delhi.

Director of Studies at the AlphaMax Academy ,Mr. Sean Taylor said that he is confident that the books will be put to meaningful use by students and staff members .

The staff wishes to assure the Gandhi Centre that every effort will be made to let our students understand through these books that freedom and success comes only with spiritual effort, values and struggle.

Dr. Kamta Visits the AlphaMax Academy

We were graced by the presence of Dr. Kamta, a highly acclaimed brain surgeon, and listened to a lecture of his on how the mind works and the profound effect it has on our daily and professional lives.

One of the first things Dr. Kamta said during his lecture was that positive thoughts attract positive things. He then elaborated a little on the matter. He also said that there are certain energies; positive and negative. Depending on the vibrations we, as human beings give off, we attract good or bad things and events to us.

Dr. Kamta also gave away a few tips on how to remember more easily. Following are some of these tips. After learning new materials, for example after a lecture, review this straight away. Read it immediately after class, just to jog the memory when it is fresh in your mind. Take care to make proper notes during lectures or seminars When reading, review what you have read after each page to ensure that you fully comprehend what you have read. When learning from books or notes try to reproduce drawings and diagrams from memory in order to check whether you have acquired the knowledge.

The differences between human and being were also explained clearly. We are not only human, we are also something else. The human part of a human being is the body itself whereas the being is what powers the body, makes it think and speak. This is of which there are many levels which have not been discovered and cannot yet be fully comprehended by us. The mind is much more complex than we think. This is clearly illustrated when after a person is pronounced clinically dead, miraculously comes back alive and can tell word for word what was said and happened in the operating room during the period he was clinically dead. There is another level our mind can bring us to and it cannot be fully comprehended.

Dr. Kamta ended his lecture on a funny note and I quote: "What is mind, doesn't matter. What is matter, never mind".

 

Khabir King

 

So our little school of AlphaMax Academy has been once again been graced by an outstanding presence, that of Dr. Kamta.  Dr. Kamta is an Indian surgeon.  He visited the Academy and gave the senior class a lecture full of constructive wisdom on the 8^th of December (I’ll mention that it was in 2009 for whoever decides to read these graced words two decades from now).  

 Dr. Kamta is a unique character who, though scientific, is also rather spiritual.  Case in point: while telling us that 80% of the causes of diseases is mind-related, he also told us that “doctors don’t cure you, but treat you.”  Yeah, he wasn’t exactly advertising his field of study.  Rather, he was telling us something more important: he was telling us the truth.   

In the half-an-hour’s worth of time he had with us, Dr. Kamtas also advised us that note-taking is crucial and one of the key reasons he remembered as well as he did during his university study; “the mind remembers what it has recently registered.”  Also, if one wanted to retain something, he or she has to remember that rote learning has no long-term benefit, that attention is sharpest when there is no tension, and that memory works best when the mind is relaxed yet alert.  Furthermore, one should maintain self-esteem and self-respect.  In parting, Dr. Kamtas gave us a nice little joke:

                  

   “What’s the mind? It doesn’t matter;

      What’s matter? Never mind.”

Zikomo Mhango

Survey of Level One Group

It is almost the 20^th of November 2009, and the GAC level 1 is coming to an end. We learned various new things in the first level which will be the main building blocks for levels 2 and 3.

This blog entry is about the survey I conducted on the GAC students. I wanted to get an insight in the experiences of the GAC during the first level. I went online to surveymonkey.com to create my survey. On surveymonkey.com you can create a survey with different kind off questions like multiple choice, ranking, and open questions. My survey had six questions to which my fellow students responded very well.

Before starting with the course, six students suspected it would be a challenge, and were slightly nervous. Two students thought it would be roughly the same as the AlphaMax course, and one student was excited to start the course .Most students found the GAC program a very different and new experience, but also very challenging. They rated all the six subjects in the first level according to how challenging the subjects were. For most students computing was the least challenging subject whereas mathematics was the most challenging. The assignment that contributed most to the students' development was the semester planner. They found that it contributed to organizing themselves better. The reflective learning journal was also very effective, because they got a better view of their strengths and weaknesses. Level two is just about to start and more than 50% of the students are excited to go forward.

 

Sabrina Vaseur

AMA student read essays on Gandhi at ICC celebration

On the 2^nd and the 3^rd of October an event was held in honor of the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. During this event 2 essays, written by students of the AlphaMax Academy were read. "How Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi changed the Role Women Played in India" Was read by Marina Sew-Atjon, and "Gandhi and Satyahgraha" was read by Vijoya Taylor.

Vijoya Taylor started with the Quoted statement by Mahatma Gandhi, "Satyagraha thrives on repression till at last the repressor is tired of it and the object of Satyagraha is gained." She then went into the subject, "the method of resistance, the technique of Satyagraha – a Hindu term that combined the words for "truth" and "holding firmly"." She concluded her essay by stating that, "Satyagraha is only for the courageous, and, in the words of the Mahatma, "Satyagraha does not depend on the outside help, it derives all its strength from within."

Marina Sew-Atjon started with an opening statement, "Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi achieved unimaginable progress during his lifetime and inspired and continues to inspire many others long after he has gone", then she brought up the topic of the equality of Indian women and went into detail on the subject. She concluded her essay by saying that Gandhi changed the way the society thought and acted. She said, "He is not only an inspiration, a leader or a legend. He was Mohandas Karamchand 'Mahatma' Gandhi. There are no words to describe this holy man." A strong statement by Marina Sew-Atjon

 

Svetoisckia Sahtoe

 

 

AlphaMax Academy takes part in National Essay Writing Competition

    To commemorate Gandhi's 140^th Birth Anniversary, the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) organized a three day event. One of the events was a National Essay Writing Competition. The essays could be written either in Hindi, Dutch or English. The essays were supposed to focus on certain aspects of Gandhi's life and how he influenced great leaders like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

    Fourteen students of the AlphaMax Academy – three high school students, the GAC class and two graduates of the Academy – took part in the Essay Writing Competition.

    Sharen-Vess Schaap's essay was on Gandhi and Animals. Sabrina Vaseur and Khabir King both wrote an essay on Gandhi's view of the environment.

    Daniel Lee did a piece on Gandhi and Technology. Gandhi said that we should use the simplest form of technology. Zikomo "Zizi" Mhango wrote on how Mahatma Gandhi influenced Africa's great leader, Nelson Mandela. Michelle Partoredjo's essay focused on how Martin Luther King was influenced by Gandhi's concept of non-violence.

    Svetoisckia "Tos" Sahtoe's essay was on Gandhi and Fasting. Stephan Playfair's essay focused on Gandhi's views on Jesus. Both Vijoya Taylor and Marciano Proeve wrote on Gandhi and Satyagraha. Ruth Saman did an essay on Mahatma Gandhi's impact on India and the world.

    Marina Sew-A-Tjon wrote a moving piece on Gandhi and women. Kristina Taylor's essay was on the Gandhi Memorial at Lake Shrine in California.

    The Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) was very impressed with our essays and had a difficult time choosing the winners. Vijoya Taylor and Zikoma "ZIzi' Mhango ended up in first and second place, respectively. Consolation prizes were awarded to Kristina Taylor and Marciano Proeve.

 

Michelle Partoredjo

    

AMA ACT Results, June 2009

      One of the well known exams many seniors in the United States of America have to write in order to graduate and to enroll into a university is called the ACT.  The ACT examination is a college entrance examination. The ACT consists of four sections: grammar, critical reading, mathematics, and science.

      

In Suriname all the ACT exams are proctored at the AlphaMax Academy. In June 2009 six students of the Academy took the ACT for the first time. The result showed that they all did exceedingly well. Vincent Hilversum, who has previously got a perfect score on the TOEFL, achieved the best score of the group -31.  Vincent was not the only one with such a high score, Zikomo Mahango also got creditable score of 27. Stephan Playfair  scored  23, Daniel Lee  22, Michelle Partoredjo  21, Sabrina Vaseur 18.  

       

The highest score you can get on the ACT is a 36 and the average score is 18.  Since our students did so well on their first attempt we expect them to do even better when they do the ACT later.

Khabir King

2010 GAC group at work

GAC 006 class in session at GetIt-11-11-2009

Mock Interviews for GAC003 – Study Skills

The GAC2010 students had a mock university interview for the 003 Study Skills course which took place on the 31^st of October 2009. The students had to prepare for this interview by writing a curriculum vitae and a personal statement describing why they wanted to study in tertiary education and why they chose a particular institution to study at. We were assisted in the preparation for this interview by Mr. Taylor and Mr. Drepaul regularly.

We also heard experiences from several university graduates. Peggy Dover, who studied in China, shared her story with us and gave us all a different point of view on certain things to do with studying in a foreign country. Rachel Chee A Tow, who studied in the USA at the Air force Academy, told us how the time spent at the Academy hardened and tested her on several levels. Karin Sodhi, the Indian Ambassador’s daughter, told us about her experiences studying in India. She mentioned that she was unexpectedly disappointed because the teaching style was very different to what she was used to in Kuwait. All these experiences gave us an idea of what to prepare for and expect when going away to college to study.

Each interview was supposed to last twenty minutes and a schedule was made accordingly. We were repeatedly warned that informal dress would not be tolerated for this task. So on the day of the interviews people were dressed in tailored coloured suits and formal black attire. The interviews ran from approximately 10 AM until 2 PM and the panel consisted of Mr. Taylor, Vijoya Taylor, Marciano Proeve and Karin Sodhi.

Most people were extremely nervous before their interview. Luckily this anxiety subsided a bit during the interview. The interview really taught us that we had to be prepared, that our body language and tone of voice are very important and that we should not be negatively intimidated by the interviewer. Now that we know what to expect in such a college interview we can prepare ourselves much better and will hopefully not be as nail bitingly nervous.

By Marina Sew-Atjon, GAC2010 student