Dear community, March is almost here and so is spring. The tradition of wearing Martenitsi on the 1st of March in Bulgaria is a long and favorite one. If you wonder what a martenitsa is – please check this link or this one and this video. On March 3rd, Bulgaria also celebrates its liberation. In…
Spotlight the Daily Wins
“There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait.” – Hamilton (musical) Last night I had the pleasure of watching the AAS students’ performance of Cabaret. It was an incredible show! Through the years, I have enjoyed and been impressed by all of the AAS musicals. The addition of the Rila Theatre has…
Culture of Learning
How would you respond to the statement, “Education does not end when you leave the classroom”? This was the prompt for the championship round at a recent CEESA Speech and Debate competition in which an AAS student won first place. Students had to come up with an impromptu speech to share their thoughts on this…
AAS Wolves Esports Team: At the Top of Their Game
In the beginning of December 2022, AAS Wolves Esports Team won the world championship of the International Schools Esports League. Their game sense, revolutionary strategies and constant drive for improvement are beyond impressive. Last week we interviewed five of AAS Esports winners and learnt more about their journey to international success. How did you find…
Easing Into the Post-Holiday Season
While some are feeling the post-holiday blues, I am in introverted bliss. Sure, I miss the holiday decorations, Christmas markets, and vacation time. However, as someone who truly appreciates time at home, I love when January hits and all of a sudden it becomes “acceptable” to hibernate for the next few months. This is the…
Student Spotlight: Grace, Grade 12
Introduce yourself in one sentence, please. My name is Grace, I’ve been at AAS for 9 years now, and I am a Senior this year. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience at AAS and what you love most about the school? I have seen the school change quite a bit over…
On Learning in an AI World
Since late November, ChatGPT has dominated the news headlines. For the uninitiated, Chat GPT is a cutting-edge language model developed by OpenAI. It can generate human-like text, allowing it to engage in natural language conversations and perform various language-based tasks like; writing compelling stories or essays, answering complex math problems, and writing basic code. So,…
Keeping New Year’s Resolutions
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot Happy New Year! I hope that you and your family had a pleasant and relaxing holiday. We are two weeks into 2023. For many people, that means they are two weeks into their New Year’s resolutions; for some people, that…
Surva Kukeri Festival Coming Up
Dear community, Happy New Year! May it be a healthy and prosperous one. After 3 years of interruption, the biggest Kukeri (mummers) festival in Bulgaria – Surva – is back. It will be held on January 27, 28, 29 in Pernik. For the programme, check the FB page and the official site. If you want…
Teacher Spotlight: Megan Rubbelke
Introduce yourself in one sentence, please Hi! I’m Ms. Rubbelke. I taught MS math last year and I am teaching HS math this year! How long have you been at AAS? This is my second year at AAS. Share something we do not expect to hear from you? One of the first things I will…
Taking Off the Weight
Our Parent Coffee this week focused on mental health. In the spirit of well-being, I would like to share a favourite story. There is a famous story of a Zen master travelling with his disciple in Japan. The Zen Master and his young protégé have taken strict vows, and are forbidden from touching and speaking…
How Much Help Should We Give Our Children?
Parenting is hard. Not the kind of hard that comes when a colleague sends you an email with a word you’ve never seen before (like “epistolary”) and you struggle to figure out its meaning without resorting to Google definitions. Not the kind of hard that comes when you’re walking the streets of Bulgaria looking for…
