On November 28, 2023, ISKL joined the worldwide celebration of #GivingTuesday for the second time. Our participation in this initiative aligns with our vision of caring for others and creating a better world. Throughout the month of November, we showcased the different ways altruism and philanthropy can manifest, creating a ripple effect of kindness that extends beyond our school. This effort has inspired others to join us in making a positive difference.

Last year, we raised an incredible amount of RM 14,950, where 50% of the funds raised were donated to the ISKL Inspire Campaign (formerly the Inspiration Fund), which is dedicated to People, Places, and Programs. Thanks to the donations fueled by our wonderful PTA and Alumni donors, we have been able to purchase equipment such as a Mass Run Timing System and a Sports Video Analysis System, as well as fund the beautification of the High School (HS) Garden and Mural, the HS Theatre Commons and run workshops by USA Guest Conductor Frank Troyka and Australian Artist-in-Residence, Mark Hill for the Middle School (MS) and HS Theatre students.

Next semester, we have more projects lined up, such as a student-led Batik Collaboration and Installation in Elementary School (ES).

Testimonials from 2022-2023 Inspire Campaign Projects

“Events such as the Panther Run are truly community events that welcome participants of all ages and from every facet of our community. Beyond the curriculum, the outcome of having a Mass Running Timing System will be that the students will have a low-barrier opportunity to experience the benefits of being a part of a running community, which include increased fitness, feelings of achievement, engagement in a challenge, social connection, and mental well-being.”  ~ Julie Jonsson, HS Faculty and Panther Run Founder

“Middle School, High School, and, in particular, International Baccalaureate (IB) Theatre students benefit from workshops with theater artists who are not just teachers but are actively working with theatre companies. The intended outcome of this project is for our students to experience firsthand the talents of a professional theater artist, which allows them to go beyond the classroom experience.”  ~ Tina Casey, HS/IB Theatre Teacher & Performing Arts Director on Mark Hill Artist-in-Residence Workshop

“The system easily records, analyzes, and shares footage with the team and community. No current solution for recording game footage is as feasible – other solutions are too expensive or time-consuming. It allows students to reflect on their learning and improve their outcomes. They can be more enthusiastic with feedback and highlights created automatically from each game.”~ Sim Huang, HS Teacher & Coach

“At ISKL, we cultivate passions and competencies to help our learners to become global citizens. This is a great opportunity for students to connect to our current unit in Batik and traditions and see how art is a feasible career that is lucrative and sustainable.”   ~ The ES Art Department

The remaining 50% was given to the High School (HS) Student Leadership Team, which distributed the money to three charitable service clubs selected by the students. They were the Circle of Alliance for Refugee Empowerment (CARE) Club, the Children’s Future Education Centre (CFEC) Club, and the ISKL Medics Club.

Testimonials from 2022 Giving Tuesday recipients

“The donation from ISKL has been nothing short of transformative for our Fugee students. With these generous contributions, we’ve been able to expand our physical education offerings, both indoors and outdoors. The positive effects have been astounding. Our students now revel in a fun and active way of learning while gaining exposure to a wide array of sports, including basketball, badminton, and small-field tennis. This gift has truly opened doors to a world of physical development and excitement for our young learners.”  ~ Kudzai Charlton, aka K.C., Head of Education & Principal, Fugee School, on receiving the equipment from the Circle of Alliance for Refugee Empowerment (CARE) Club

“We used the funds received to purchase essential foods such as rice, milk, eggs, oil, noodles, and learning materials such as books and writing materials for the refugee children. We truly appreciate the Giving Tuesday funds that were approved and given to our club, which have helped improve the lives and living conditions of our CFEC schoolchildren.”   ~ Children’s Future Education Center (CFEC) Club

“Our objective is to provide refugees with vital healthcare information and tools, educate them, and allow them to explore their passions and interests.With the donations we were graciously gifted from #GivingTuesday, our team has assembled first aid kits for the Chin refugees and conducted training on how to use them professionally. 

We hope many people from our community will donate to the upcoming #GivingTuesday so that many other ISKL service clubs can also fulfill their goals!”   ~ Kayne H. (‘24),  Mei Y. (‘24), Rika S. (‘24) and Sienna L. (‘25), ISKL Medics Club

This year, we aim to raise a total of RM20,000 (approx. USD 4,500) by the end of the year on December 31, 2023, which will allow us to give RM10,000 to student-led and chosen charitable causes and RM10,000 to the Inspire Campaign. Any amount donated will play a big part in enabling us to meet our goal: even a donation of RM 50, or USD 10, will play a significant role. Will you help us reach our goal?

To learn more about the ISKL Giving Tuesday campaign, read more here or donate a gift by visiting our Giving page here.

The post Empowering Dreams – ISKL’s 2023 Giving Tuesday Campaign appeared first on ISKL Alumni.

Remember the moments that made ISKL feel like a second home? The laughter echoing through the hallways, the unforgettable field trips, and those teachers who made a lasting impact on your life? Well, it’s time to come together and give back to the place that gave us so much.

Giving Tuesday is just around the corner, November 28, 2023, and we’re thrilled to invite you to join our special giving campaign. As proud graduates of ISKL, you know the difference that a tight-knit community and quality education can make. This Giving Tuesday, let’s ensure that current and future students have the same opportunities that you cherish.

Here’s the scoop: Your generous donations will serve two incredible purposes. Firstly, we’re dedicated to nurturing the spirit of giving in our students. With your support, we can empower them to engage in meaningful charitable initiatives that create a positive ripple effect in the community. Imagine the impact they’ll make with your contribution!

But that’s not all. You’ll also be giving to the Inspire Campaign, a fund with the mission to fuel extracurricular projects that go above and beyond the regular curriculum. These are the projects that light up young minds, foster creativity, and spark passions. Your donations will directly fund these projects, ensuring that ISKL remains a place of innovation and inspiration.

Last year, thanks to some generous donations from alumni, we raised RM15,000 of our RM20,000 goal. This year, we hope to meet, or better yet, exceed, last year’s goal.

So, how can you get involved? It’s super easy:

🎁  Make a Donation: No matter the size, every donation counts. Whether it’s the cost of your morning coffee or a more substantial gift, your support will make a difference. Make your donation anytime between now and November 29, 2023.

💌  Spread the Word: Share our campaign with your fellow alumni. Let’s create a wave of support that shows the world the incredible impact of the ISKL community. Tag @ISKLAlumni on social media and #ISKLGivingTuesday2024

Get Involved: Participate in the Giving Tuesday Panther Run on December 2, 2023. More details will be shared via our social media.

💬  Share Your Story: Reminisce about your ISKL days, and let us know how they shaped your journey. We’d love to hear your fondest memories and experiences. Share it with us at [email protected]

Ready to make a difference? Visit our Giving Tuesday donation page here and let’s show the world the true spirit of ISKL alumni.

Thank you for being part of the #ISKLfamily, and for helping us continue the legacy of excellence and generosity. Let’s make this Giving Tuesday one for the books!

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Giving Tuesday

As a nonprofit, parent-owned school whose only shareholders are our students and to meet ISKL’s vision of caring for others and creating a better world, throughout the month of November, leading up to the worldwide recognition of Giving Tuesday on November 29, 2022, we embarked on our first Giving Tuesday initiative. We hoped that by highlighting the numerous ways that altruism and philanthropy could be demonstrated, that it would have a ripple effect creating more acts of giving to positively impact those within our local communities and beyond.

What is GivingTuesday?

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement or day of giving where people and organizations take the opportunity to give back to their communities and the world. It provides a platform for nonprofits to raise more money for charitable causes than they would on an average day of giving and encourages people to give back in whatever way they can.

Since this initiative started in 2012, this collective idea of giving has gained traction with a large following, unleashing various charitable efforts, from organizing local food drives to making donations supporting initiatives worldwide.

Our Campaign

We launched our campaign through social media to the whole ISKL community on Nov 1, 2022. We also made direct appeals to our Alumni. We highlighted the five ways to give promoted by the larger Giving Tuesday movement:

Service and philanthropy have long been the core of who we are as Panthers. While the pandemic drew our attention in many different directions, we hoped that along with promoting ISKL’s new vision and mission, we could draw some of our community’s attention back towards supporting panthers in their efforts to make the world a better place.

Direct solicitation for ISKL and its causes was put on hold during the pandemic, so that energies could be focused where they were most needed. Since returning to normal, the importance of reminding the ISKL community about the culture of giving that has been so embedded in ISKL’s identity became apparent. This spirit of giving has extended to the wider community in many ways throughout ISKL’s history. The Giving Tuesday movement, gives ISKL a recognized platform to advocate for both the school and the community.

Our goal was to raise RM20,000 or approximately $4,500 USD. 50% of the funds raised will be donated to the ISKL Inspire Campaign including funds dedicated to People, Places, and Programs. The remaining 50% will be given to the HS Student Leadership Team who will then distribute the money to a charitable cause in the community selected by the students.

So far we have raised RM14,950. While we didn’t reach our goal by Giving Tuesday, we feel grateful that our message resonated with a few very generous Alumni and Faculty members. If you were one of our Giving Tuesday Donors, thank you once again for your support.  We hope to reach our goal by Dec 31, 2022. The Giving Tuesday donation portal remains open. Will you help us reach our goal?

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To commemorate this special year, we commissioned our unique ISKL 55th Anniversary Gold and Pewter Panthers. Made at the iconic Royal Selangor workshop and embellished with the ISKL batik, these beautiful panthers have found their way to the homes of ISKL families and alumni around the world. Some were delivered as surprise gifts, including three panthers purchased by alumni from the Class of 1978 who selected three of their most impactful teachers as recipients: Bob and Nancy Taniguchi, Charles Longbottom, and John Stupka. All proceeds from their sale support the ISKL Development Fund. A special fundraiser using the panthers in April and May 2021 to help complete our new Elementary Rooftop Playground proved so successful that we exceeded our target.

While access to campus was patchy, our Middle School Art students leapt at the chance early in the year to install 55 Banksystyle stencilled panthers in and around the HS and MS decks. With artistic flair, and impressive stealth, the panthers seemed to appear overnight and are constant reminders now of our Panther Pride. For our younger students in Elementary, the same art students stencilled 15 panthers in the ES entrance, much to the young ones’ delight.

We sought our community’s input for our #ISKL55for55 campaign, asking students, parents, faculty, and staff both past and present to share their ISKL Magic Moments, #ISKLHopesForTheFuture, #ThingsWeLoveAboutISKL, and

#ISKLChangingTheWorld. From IASAS dance performances to memories of the first ISKL campus at the Istana, learning about worms and insects in Prep Senior to memories of Malaysia Week, we gathered wonderful recollections and hopes. You can see them all here. We’re still collecting, so don’t be shy.

One word has cropped up consistently throughout the year: Gratitude. This may have been one of our most difficult years, but there is so much at ISKL to be grateful for. We decided to capture some of those sentiments, indeed 55 of them, in a time capsule video “ISKL 55 Years of Gratitude”. The video included submissions from all parts of the ISKL community, from our alumni students, faculty and staff who formed the foundations of our community in the early days, right across the decades until the present. It’s a shining reminder of what makes ISKL such an inclusive and empathetic community. Please enjoy “ISKL 55 Years of Gratitude” here.

This year has served up many instances where the words of poet Robert Burns, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,

Gang aft agley” (To a Mouse), spring to mind. Despite needing a plan A, B and C for almost every activity, Three High School Juniors, Chelsea, Brayden and Irene, led the planning for a celebratory 55th Anniversary Fun Run in April, a fundraiser in support of the National Autism Society of Malaysia, initially hopeful that the run would be able to take place on campus. While that did not end up being possible because of government restrictions to campus access, almost 200 ISKL students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni, joined the run virtually, clocking and sending their times in from the many and varied places in which they were able to participate. Some chose alternative activities, and our students raised more than RM4,000 for a very worthwhile cause.

ISKL Alumni also collaborated with a group of High School juniors, Hyun Soo, WookYoung, Praveen and JooHyuk, on an ambitious plan to photograph a physically distanced 55, with students, teachers and staff, on the Zurich Field. It would be our final memento of this historic year. The math was intense! Grids were drawn, a drone and assistance from ES teacher, Max Wright sought, timetables examined and dates set, plans for distancing discussed. Then the inevitable happened, and implementation of the MCO3 put an end to our dreams. The students’ perseverance, adaptability, and positivity throughout the process was admirable and prompted us to find another way to celebrate the year.

Please enjoy our ISKL 55th Anniversary Celebration Mosaic; a reminder of the people at the heart of our community and our Panther Pride as we look to the next 55 years of ISKL!

Once a Panther, Always a Panther!

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I still remember the joy when my children got accepted for admission at this renowned International School in Kuala Lumpur.

I am Jun Young, Yoon, a father of Stephanie Yoon, Grade 8 and Jayden Yoon, Grade 5

With an excellent educational environment and enthusiastic faculty assisting, my family is enjoying wonderful KL life so far and no doubt this will remain so, especially seeing my children truly enjoying every moment of their daily school life.

My wife, Sae Jin Han is also enjoying her challenging role as a GLC G8 Korean representative for 2017-2018 school year, even though she had insufficient time to adjust in a new environment with only half a year of KL life!

However, myself, as a hard-working Korean Father, I am always short of having time with my family and have been feeling guilty for not being able to join any activities in school as an ISKL community member. All I can do is join the regular counseling for my children and sports activities on the weekend from time to time.

I made a stunningly quick decision when my wife sent me a photo that she took in school, showing banners introducing the campaign for the Ampang Hilir Campus. The fact that in some way, I could participate to contribute something meaningful to my children’s school and community made me want to give.

However, to make it more meaningful, I had a discussion with my family about my thinking behind participating in this campaign and what is the meaning/benefit that we can expect from this.

Happily, it did not take long to get their unanimous agreement.

My wife, totally agreed to donate the funds for “name a class” for 2 classrooms, with full of pleasure and warm heart. My children, now they understand how their great educational environment is made of, and moreover, the value of the donation for not only for themselves but for their school community as well.

“ Small decision can make things changed”

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Hilir Campus. “Zurich Field” will be the new home for Panther Track and Field, Rugby, Touch, and Men’s and Women’s Football (Soccer) when the new campus opens in August of this year. In addition to the naming of the facility, ISKL will partner with Zurich to host one of their “Eat Right to Play Right” events on the Zurich Field in the next school year. This signature outreach initiative of the company seeks to educate children and youth on good nutrition through football.

“We are thrilled to partner with ISKL in this way,” said David Fike, Chief Executive Officer of Zurich General Insurance Malaysia Berhad and Executive Director of Zurich General Takaful Malaysia Berhad… “The opportunity to be associated with the country’s premier international school by branding this new athletic facility and to partner with the school in the delivery of our prime CSR initiative (Eat Right to Play Right) just makes good sense.”

The new Zurich Field at ISKL has been designed to be a world-class sporting facility and will feature an eight-lane, 400 meters, Olympic track, a natural turf field with irrigation and specially designed spectator seating. The facility complements a unique Aquatics Center with three pools, two large Gymnasia, and other flexible playing fields on the campus.

“The commitment of companies like Zurich is really overwhelming,” noted Dr. Norma Hudson, ISKL Head of School. ” This sponsorship is wonderful not only for the resources it brings us to enhance this facility but also because of the opportunity to partner with the company on their programs to help in the area of children and youth. Such outreach is an integral part of our program, so the match here is wonderful.”

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“He was just fascinated by her, as she would talk to her students with a Greek mythology vocabulary (which he always loved).” said his Mother. “If one had forgotten his pencil case, Ms. Whiting would say, ‘Run – run – run with the speed of Hermes’ or, ‘

Do your homework or I will free Cerberus from my desk cabinet!'”

Each evening, the family would gather to recall what “crazy” thing Ms. Whiting had said that day. Those crazy things became that which sparked interest and joy in this young new Middle School student and ultimately helped him assimilate into a new school and a new culture. A remarkable and passionate teacher, she will never be forgotten by this family, who remain in the ISKL community and attribute the heart and skill of Ann Whiting for much of their son’s success.

“She truly cared about her students. In those difficult months for our son, she invited me in to ask how she could help him be more comfortable,” noted the Mother. “In some ways, she came the closest to giving our children a classical education based in Greek and Latin with her emphasis on word study.”

When considering a gift to support the “We Build People” campaign for Ampang Hilir, this young man’s father noted, “Getting a new campus is great, but the teachers are what makes ISKL such a wonderful place, especially those who stay with ISKL for a long time. Ms. Whiting was one of those teachers who recently retired after a long tenure and made a very positive contribution to our children’s experience at ISKL; we are pleased to contribute to the campaign and honor someone who has meant so much to us.”

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“My understanding and view on giving have changed after coming to Malaysia,” noted Birgit. “There is just so much need here. It has brought giving back ‘up the surface’ for us.” Birgit, who has spent time volunteering in local refugee centers around KL, sees that it is really easy to have an impact here, given the vast need.

While the family has always supported charitable causes, including needy children in India, Joe shared that supporting ISKL’s “We Build People” Campaign provided an “immediate and urgent” opportunity.

“The fact that we could leave a legacy, a bit of memory here sold us quickly. We love the idea that our girls, Leonie and Tara (now Grade 11), can return to this place in the future, see our family name, and remember their time here at ISKL,” offered Joe. “I would not even call this fundraising,” said Joe. “Even if the school did not need a dime for this new campus, we would still support it as a true honor for us.”

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“At ISKL, our sons have learned to be resilient, compassionate, and open-minded. They have learned to respect multiple perspectives, be good sportsmen, and enjoy the unique opportunity to make lasting memories in beautiful Malaysia,” notes Cathy.

The Thomas family are also committed to community service and understand well the impact that philanthropy in its many forms can have on organizations and people. They are committed to many charitable organizations, including Dignity for

Children here in KL and Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in the Philippines, an organization which has successfully positioned Social Entrepreneurship to help many. It was their love of ISKL that led them to consider, as a family, a gift to support the school’s capital campaign.

“Our family’s decision to make a gift in support of the Ampang Hilir campus campaign was one which we considered carefully, and together. Many say that our school is a “rich” one, and does not really need support from people like us,” said Cathy. “Certainly there is truth in the statement that ISKL is richly blessed and has much compared to many schools in our region. As a family, we have many philanthropic interests. We understand that ISKL is a nonprofit school that works hard to earn its resources and spends them prudently. With the board’s vision of building one of the region’s finest campuses, we are happy to donate to the “We Build People” campaign for the impact our contribution will have now and hopefully for the example it will set for our sons, who will all four soon be alumni.” says Dave.

“Our pleasure in donating to the campaign also comes from imagining that we might play even the smallest part in helping tomorrow’s students experience the thrill of accomplishment, whether it be in academics, the arts, or sports,” says Cathy.

Each member of the Thomas family holds true to the statement that “you only get to be a kid once.”

It is their family’s hope that this campaign will open doors for students now and in the future and that more families will join them in making a gift.

The post Philanthropy that Matters: The Thomas Family appeared first on ISKL Alumni.