TIPS Journal Dec 6, 2023

This month we look forward to International Day, when everyone shares highlights of their home region. This year our students represent 19 countries, with our teachers adding another four countries. We are proud of our diversity, which makes TIPS a very interesting place to work and study. On Friday, December 15, the day we dismiss for Winter Break, you are invited to stop by for our potluck lunch, a meal that no restaurant could every provide.

Our families never fail to impress us with their generosity for International Day when providing home cooked dishes, which of course are as diverse as we are - if you can find your preferred ingredients in Tokyo! Please see the link below to sign up to send something from your home. Kindly list the ingredients on each dish you send, for those of us with allergies. We appreciate you!

I hope each TIPS family has a restful and fun winter break, whether you travel or stay home.

As always, any questions, please ask.

Very sincerely,

Lyn Sato

TIPS Principal

By Monday, December 11,

kindly list the name and type of dish you plan to send on Friday, December 15.

Wed, Dec 6: Last day to order in the SmartReads book order campaign.

Fri, Dec 8: Ski and snowboard registration deadline.

Sat, Dec 9: PSA Improv Comedy Event 10 a.m.

Thur, Dec 14: Student Council sponsors matinee, P5 & 6.

Fri, Dec 15: International Day. 2 p.m. dismissal for Winter Break.

Mon, Jan 8: School reconvenes from Winter Break.

Wed, Jan 10: PSA meeting.

The PSA is organising a variety of events and workshops this year! This is a summary of our November activities along with some information about our upcoming ones.

On November 11th, we hosted another fantastic Improv Comedy Workshop! This time, Mr. Doug Brittain served as the instructor in place of Bill, providing the class with more opportunities to enhance miming skills and think quickly about creative twists. The workshop also focused on stretching abilities to add various emotions to an improv scene and more.

If you haven't enrolled yet and are interested in this workshop, TIPS students and their siblings are welcome to attend the final event on December 9th!

PSA organised an internship programme in collaboration with Starbucks Coffee Futakotamagawa Tutaya branch for students in grade 8 and above on the 18th and 19th of November. Thanks to amazing supervisors fluent in English from Starbucks Coffee, TIPS students had a fantastic time learning about the philosophy of Starbucks, tasting some coffee, and even participating in cleaning the shop!

In December or in January, we will be hosting another internship program at Starbucks Coffee Futakotamagawa Tsutaya branch. We will send you a sign-up form by email soon. Please join in our internship program if your child is in grade 8 or above and is interested!

We are organizing a fundraising book sale next year and need your old books! We will send you details about the PSA Book Sale by email soon!

The PSA Monthly Meeting will be held at 1 PM on December 6th. Please join us, and together, let's discuss ways to make the TIPS community better!

Classroom teacher Ms. Priya Pillai will represent the TIPS staff at the December PSA meeting.

Every year, we ask each student/family to donate 10,000 YEN toward PSA to help fund different activities and events hosted by TIPS PSA. You can simply submit this amount in an envelope with your child's name and have your student provide it to Junko Nakamura in the front office.

We will be hosting the Baking Workshop on December 2nd. While the sign-up link for this session is now closed, we plan to organize another one sometime next year! If you missed the chance this time, please join us for the next one!

Stamp making club is limited only by our imagination.

Congratulate our chess masters! We are proud of the TIPS Fall Chess Tournament prizewinners. Chess teaches us planning ahead, decision making, problem solving and prioritizing, to name a few skills. Our champions certainly do those things well. Respect goes to the 16 students who entered the contest, and the awards go to the two who survived. The spring tournament will be held in May.

Our prize-winning artists from the Expat Expo. There is no feeling like someone appreciating your painting, especially publicly. Congratulations to our artists. Keep at it.

Anyone can order books for a variety of age and interest groups in the SmartReads book campaign at TIPS. Use the school code TIPS609 when you place your order and TIPS will benefit with a discount for our library. There's also a selection of games and puzzles for Christmas gifts.

Thank you to Mr. Jessen-Petersen for forging the relationship with Kitewa, the woodworking shop for hobbyists. Weekends are more fun with hobbies! Read more about Kitewa Woodworking shop here.

A huge thank-you to Athletic Director Mr. Kurtis Tomlinson, for preparing our volleyball teams this year for the many matches he arranged. The games were terrific chances to represent the school on the court that made the practices worthwhile.

Mr. Nabi as Assistant Coach was always on stand-by. Both coaches were encouraging our teams to be the best possible versions of Wolverine Volleyball.

Especially for volleyball team parents, 15 minutes of our prowess!

TIPS is the small and supportive international school in the Futako-Tamagawa area.

Email: tips@tokyoips.com
Website: https://www.tokyoips.com/
Location: 1-5-20 Kamata, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-0077
Phone: 03-5717-0511
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tokyoips