The Renascence School International held their History Fair and Open House on Jan. 31st from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Panama City campus. The middle school students were participating in the History Fair and were being judged by three judges in the junior division. The fair was open to the public for viewing and refreshments were served.  There was a nervous excitement in the air as the students took turns talking about their research papers and facing tough questions from the judges.

The Open House took place adjacent to the History Fair and prospective families were invited to see the advanced level at which RSIPC middle school students were performing in their History class with Mrs. Fish.

Prospective families were welcomed to the Open House where they were greeted by administration, teachers and some current families of the school. The award winning curriculum was on display and there were textbooks and materials from each level displayed for parents to look at and read.  There were tables featuring the Mandarin Chinese and the Spanish curricula as well as all other subjects.  Teachers and administration were there to answer any questions that visitors had and to help parents decide whether the Renascence School International is a right match for their child.

The Renascence School International Panama City campus Science Fair which was held on Dec. 16th, was the first Mandarin Chinese and English dual language science fair in the state of Florida. Three students scored high enough at this fair to move on to compete at the Bay County Three Rivers Science and Engineering Fair at the Florida State University, Panama City campus on Tuesday, Jan 24th to compete against other students from all of Bay County.

Excitement was in the air and there were a lot of interesting projects on display. The three Renascence School International students that competed there are all in a language immersion program at the school in which they are learning science in Mandarin Chinese through their science teacher Ms. Xiao.

Katherine Kozan, with her project on ball weight overcoming air resistance”, placed second in Physics and Astronomy and will be an alternate for the Florida State competition if someone is unable to attend. Vicky Wu placed first in botany with her project on the affect of different colored light on plants. Amelia Talkington also placed first with her research on how genetic modification changes corn in the biochemistry category. Both Vicky and Amelia will be moving on to the Florida State competition on April 3rd – 5th in Lakeland, Florida. What an accomplishment!

Monday, January 23rd was a special day for the students at the Renascence School International Panama City campus! Students and teachers celebrated the very important Chinese holiday, the Chinese New Year!

The children and teachers had so much fun making traditional Chinese crafts. Some of the students were cutting Chinese characters out of construction paper into three dimensional ornaments as hanging decorations and others were coloring their own dragon masks! Some of the older students helped to make Chinese dumplings and helped with hanging decorations around the rooms and on the doors.  Little traditional wrapped presents were handed out to the students who were told they could only open them once they were at home by themselves!  This had all of the children trying to guess what was inside!  There was music and festivities all throughout the day at the school while they learned all about the most celebrated of all the Chinese traditional holidays. Happy year of the dragon!

The Renascence School International Panama City campus hosts the first ever Science Fair that was presented in both the English and Mandarin Chinese languages in the state of Florida! The students had the opportunity to create a display in both English and Chinese and were judged separately for their projects by both English and Chinese judges. The science projects ranged from research projects on genetically modified corn to ball weight and air resistance. There was a project about the effects of chocolate and one studying plant growth under varying colors of light. One of the students studying the effect of pneumonics on memory while another how different beverages affect plant growth.  The students were nervous and excited to explain their experiments to the judges and answer their questions. Job well done!

It was the last day of school and all of the students at the Renascence School International in Panama City were so excited for the holiday party to begin. The end of semester party was spectacular! As the children entered the room they were gifted with reindeer antlers for their heads, and parents painted some noses red. There was a pianist playing songs of the season.  At one point the children sat on stage and sang for the parents.  The holiday food was delicious. There was pizza, fruit, cupcakes and so much more.   The children learned how to play games with dreidels and students drew pictures of what they wanted for Christmas on cards that they could later show Santa.  Yes!  Santa came to the party and the children took turns sitting on his lap.  The kids were surprised when they found that their shoes outside the door were filled with holiday treats!   What a way to end the first semester at the Renascence School International Panama City campus.

The families of the Renascence School International Panama City were invited to a special Thanksgiving dinner last Wednesday, organized by some of the parents. Families were asked to bring a traditional dish from their culture to share with everyone. One of the parents prepared a special Thanksgiving story for the children and the little ones drew on plates, showing what Thanksgiving meant to them. The food was delicious, giving families a chance to feast on home cooked food from other countries. What do children love more than food? Animals! Zoo World came with some of their exotic animals and the children were able to pet, hold and learn about the animals. The Renascence School International is so thankful for its wonderful families!

The Renascence International School, Panama City students took part in a multi-cultural event in downtown Panama City on Saturday , November 12th. The Festival of Nations is an unique, annual event that the school participates in every year.  The festival brings the traditions of many different countries to the streets of Panama City, where you can sample food, and learn about the traditional clothing, music and cultures of the countries represented.  The preschool children performed two Spanish songs, followed by a popular Chinese melody sung by the younger children. There were two more patriotic American songs, with students ringing bells to the song “America”, and “Yankee Doodle” sung by all of the students. The performance ended with two Mandarin Chinese songs performed beautifully by the children in Level 20 and above. The festival was showcasing the diversity of the many cultures represented here in Panama City of which the Renascence School is proud to be apart of.

Students at Renascence School International had the unique opportunity to have a friend to spend the day with them in their classrooms on Veterans Day. The students were excited to show their friends the fun learning that goes on at their school. The visitors had a taste of everything from learning Mandarin Chinese and Spanish to science, math, music and art. The students and their friends had fun on Bring a Friend to School Day!

Princess and Indian, ninja and bumble bee, batman and princes, policemen and cowgirl, all came to school on Monday for the 2011 annual Halloween costume parade! The kids were excited to be able to come to school dressed in costume. The children looked awesome in their special clothes and there were smiling faces everywhere. Families and friends lined up to watch and take pictures of their precious little ones parading around the school. Some kids talked about dressing up everyday.  What fun!  There are sure to be more special memories next year.