Author: billkralovec

International School of Belgrade Presents One Act Plays

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Last night I attended the One Act Plays presented by the International School of Belgrade’s Thespian Society and the high school performing arts department. The scene above is a comedy sketch on the assassination of Russian historical figure Leon Trotsky. One Acts are the performing equivalent to the literary short story. The students performed to full houses both Friday and Saturday evenings.

In the scene above, Teodora and Luka do one of the six variations on the violent death of Trotsky. it was hilarious!!!! Whenever I watch our students performing, I forget they are students and I just enjoy the play. There was a variety of one acts, ranging from Pan and Doron’s take on Rowan Atkinson, to Mina’s interpretation of Medea and Greek tragedy. The evening was enjoyed by all and I would like to compliment Mrs. Sands and the students for their efforts. The PTA lead by Manon and Jeanette provided refreshments for the audience during intermission which was appreciated by all.

 

Mina and William Are Featured in this Greek Tradegy
Mina and William Are Featured in this Greek Tradegy

 

 

All of the props and costumes were designed by our stagecraft class. Student directors from the IB Theater Arts class were involved as well as many students not enrolled in our performing arts classes. I uploaded some short exceprts of video from some of the plays, feel free to view them on my flickr.com account.

 

Willa, Monty, and Suzanne Perform
Willa, Monty, and Suzanne Perform

 

 

As I said in my welcome message to the audience, we have wonderful students and last night they were showing their best. At ISB, we pride ourselves in everything we do, we do at the highest level! The performing arts department is a shining example of this. I can’t wait for the Shakespeare Festival coming in May!

Oliver’s Parent – Teacher Conference March 2009

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Oliver Writing His Name, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

My final post this morning is of a video of my son Oliver in his Parent-Teacher Conference last week. The little guy is in Ms. Mira’s Early Years class at ISB. The Lower School conferences were set up in a different format. The parents and student worked together on activities the students do during a normal school day. Nadia and I attended Oliver and Owen’s conferences. Above, Oliver writes his name. He is so cute and quite a little character. He also showed us how he mixes primary colors to make new colors, recognizes patterns, and can sort items into categories. He also showed us around the room. Way to go Oliver!!! He passed all of his “exams” and we celebrated by taking him out to a Chinese dinner (his favorite). I’ll upload a sample of Owen’s performance later today and hopefully post.

March Madness Hits Belgrade!

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Coach Kralovec, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

It is basketball madness for me as the boys’ high school team is on their final preparations for next week’s CEESA championship in Helsinki, Finland. I am shown above at Tuesday’s game at the FMP Arena in the Belgrade suburb of Zeleznik. It is an industrial area with lots of Communist Era apartments, but in the midst of the run down buildings is the basketball school and this beautiful basketball arena. Our school project manager went along to get ideas for our new gymnasium.

The team lost 37-81 to their sub-15 team. FMP has the best basketball club in Serbia and they compete in international tourneys for elite high schools in Europe. They are one of the best high school teams I have ever seen! Our students got to experience the best in the world and they held their own in the second half. The relentless pressure defense and attacking style of FMP forced our students to bring up their game. It was a great experience and on behalf of ISB, I thank the basketball school for inviting us to play twice this season! The opposition in Helsinki will pale in comparison and our team will be battle tested by the time we get there.

Pre-game photo of the teams
Pre-game photo of the teams

It is also the NCAA tourney and the team joined a pool. The students and coaches filled out their brackets like President Obama. All of the games are on live on ESPN America, My favorite, the Michigan State Spartans, won their opening game against Robert Morris. The University of Michigan also won their first NCAA tourney game in 11 years, upsetting Clemson. And finally, neighboring state Wisconsin also made it to the second round. I hope they make it to next weekend.

To top off the basketball frenzy, Belgrade professional team, Partizan starts their series with CSKA Moscow in the Euro League Quarterfinals. My favorite professional team Red Star, made it to the Final Four of the Adriatic Basketball League. It will be next month at the Belgrade Arena. Three Serbian teams (Red Star, Partizan, Hemofarm) will join Croatian Zibona for the games in the Belgrade Arena.

Nice Day of Learning in the Middle School

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Bartosz Pi, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The Middle School has its own rhythm and is very different from the High School. I spend about 25% of my time over there and really enjoy my day with teachers and students.

Thursday we had an ISB Time Assembly in Mrs. Medenica’s room. The main part of the assembly was to watch the Public Broadcasting System Frontline program documentary, “Growing Up Online: Just How Radically is the Internet Transforming the Experience of Childhood?” which you can watch on line from the PBS web site. An animated discussion ensued between the students and teachers. The students gave each other advice on staying safe on line. Very good stuff and we’ll continue this topic this semester. The video above shows Bartosz reciting the first 106digits of pi. Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It is a non-repeating, irrational number. Bartosz is getting ready for the Knowledge Bowl trip and exercised his brain with trying to memorize as many digits of pi as possible. He memorized 160 in practice and during the assembly he did an amazing 106. Classmate Ellis also had a turn and did over 90. It was a fun way to promote the joy of knowledge and the team’s preparation for the CEESA championship. By the way, the world record for memorizing pi is 67,890 by Chao Lu of China.

Sixth Graders Enjoy Lunch on the Terrace
Sixth Graders Enjoy Lunch on the Terrace

The middle school campus is located down the street from the Lower School. It is the former secret police station of Yugoslavia. It is not an ideal place for a school, which is why a new middle school building is being constructed on the high school campus this spring and summer. But the place does has its charms and the students have made it a cozy place of learning. Above the sixth graders hang out at lunch outside of their homeroom teacher’s terrace. They are a nice group and enjoy their own space overlooking the playground.

Family Journal: Back to Blogging

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Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I haven’t been able to post this week because I needed to pay for the internet bill at my house. Here is a picture of Ocean from last Saturday. We took the family to the boys’ basketball game, which we lost in overtime!

Sunday morning we had the chance to go to Ada Ciganlija and ride bikes before heading off to two parties. While Nadia was grocery shopping, I took the boys and snapped this photo in front of the “western gate” or Genex Towers in New Belgrade. I love the post-apocalypse / space age look and feel to the building.

Ollie looking scared and Owen with even less teeth
Ollie looking scared and Owen with even less teeth

Serbian Birthday Parties

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We get invited to many birthday parties from the classmates of our children. We rarely go because with our hectic schedules, when we get some time away from school, we prefer to be alone as a family.

We made an exception Sunday as you can see above. The Serbs really know how to throw a party! Serbia is a south Slavic nation and has more in common with southern Europe lifestyles, than northern Europe lifestyles. They emphasize good times and family and there is more disorganization like Spain and Italy, than say Austria or Switzerland. That is a big generalization and it is not a comment on the entire population, but that is the trend I have observed.

The party was at a place called “The Jungle” and there are many childrens’ birthday party places in Belgrade. The children above are watching a magician on stage. See if you can spot Owen!

The hosts care as much as the comfort of the adults as children. There were probably 60 adults at the party and about 50 children. As you can see above, there is a nice cafe/banquet style seating for adults behind the children. The hosts had a really nice buffet and an open bar. The building was large, with separate rooms for a disco and play land.

Jungle Employees Entertain the Children in the Disco
Jungle Employees Entertain the Children in the Disco

The Jungle provided supervision for the children in the playland and did music activities with them in the disco. Quite an operation, that makes it easy for parents to hold a party. The downside I imagine would be cost, as I saw plenty of bottles of wine and food being consumed. Overall we had a nice time. We have a lot in common with the other school families with young children.

Belgrade is known for its night life. This is about as close as I get to the partying scene!

Excerpt From “Troya”

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Excerpt from “Troya”, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Above is a short excerpt from last night’s Troya movie. I chose an action scene!

ISB Movie Premier of “Troya”

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Waiting for the Film To Begin, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

It was an electric atmosphere last night at the Rex Center Gallery as the Grade 10 Visual Arts Class premiered their feature length digital film, “Troya.” There was over 100 people in attendance to view the project put together by co-directors, Grade 10 student Lucia and Visual Arts Teacher Ms. Natasa Skoric.

The students learned much about the tremendous amount of work and time that goes into making a movie. The class did the entire process, from writing the screen play, casting, costumes and sets, film editing, etc. It was special to see them very excited at their appearances in the film. The movie is a comedy based on the Trojan War. The ancient Greek history is put into a more modern teenage context.

This is the kind of project that sets apart the teaching and learning at the International School of Belgrade from other schools. We strive to take all of the students’ interests and activities to their highest level. The art and film students had the opportunity to work with professionals, using their latest technology, and then displaying their project in one of the premier galleries in the city. It was also great to see so many teachers, parents, students, and Belgraders together sharing in the success of the students. I would like to thank Natasa for her monumental effort and dedication towards the students of ISB.

After the film, lead actor Monty thanks cast and crew
After the film, lead actor Monty thanks cast and crew

ISB Loses a Tough One

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This weekend we are hosting the American International School of Zagreb, Croatia for a couple of friendly basketball matches. We are both preparing for the CEESA Tourney in Helsinki is two weeks.

Tonight’s game was a close knit affair throughout. In the end, the difference was AISZ star Bret Atkins, who scored 22 of the Huskies’ 30 points. The final score was 28-30. For ISB, Pan and Lajos combined for 17 points and six different players scored points. The second game in the series begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM.

Shown above is Misa shooting some free throws in the final minutes.  Below is a photo for my Dad. He is a long-time public address announcer for West Iron County High School sports. I had the duties this evening to do the starting line ups for the game.

Taking After My Father
Taking After My Father

Middle School Boys’ Basketball Team Success!

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The Team Hoists the Trophy
The Team Hoists the Trophy

 

Last weekend the ISB Middle School Boys’ Basketball Team travelled to Kiev, Ukraine to participate in the “Blue Division” championship of the Central and Eastern European Athletic Association. The Dragons won 5 games and lost 2 and finished in second place. They defeated teams from Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, and Slovakia on their way to the finals.

In the final, a few controversial referee decisions in favor of the hosts, gave the win to the Kiev International School. The boys were gracious in defeat and won the Sportsmanship Award as well as earning a standing ovation from the crowd. Basketball is one of the strengths of our school and it reflects the history of the sport in Serbia and the USA. I would like to thank Coach Ethan Van Drunen and the boys for their efforts in dedication in bringing honor to our school.

Seeing the Sights
Seeing the Sights

The final results are posted below.

Win – American International School of Budapest  40-15

Win – Kiev International School Team One 34-27

Win – International School of Latvia 38 -21

Loss – Pechersk International School 37-40

Win – KIS Team Two 48 – 11

Win – Bratislava International School  40 – 21

Loss – KIS Team One 37 -40