JIS gets into festive mood for 50th anniversary<\/p>\n
Viva Goldner, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta International School celebrates its 50th anniversary
\nthis year, with the aim of connecting more than 20,000 past and
\npresent students and their families, staff and teachers for
\n\"2002: A JIS Odyssey\" -- a year-long salute to the school's
\ncolorful history and bright future.<\/p>\n
From humble beginnings in a converted garage in suburban
\nJakarta, JIS now enrolls more than 2,500 students from 64
\ncountries across four campuses.<\/p>\n
The school's first students were the children of UN staff
\nposted to the capital of the newly-independent Indonesia in 1951.<\/p>\n
As Jakarta continued to grow, so too did the number of
\ninternational non-governmental organizations and multinational
\nbusinesses in the city, and in 1953, the fledging International
\nSchool moved into new facilities at today's Pattimura campus.<\/p>\n
In 1969, the school became the Joint Embassy School under the
\nsponsorship of the Australian, British, Yugoslavian and United
\nStates Embassies, before adopting its current name in 1978.<\/p>\n
JIS opened three new sites over the years as enrollments
\ncontinued to climb -- the Pondok Indah Elementary Campus,
\nCilandak Campus, and Prep Center Campus, also in Cilandak.<\/p>\n
The transient nature of the student population means that,
\nwhile JIS has graduated more than 4,000 students, five times that
\nnumber have attended JIS, but left before Year 12.<\/p>\n
According to JIS Director of Development Joan Michaud, a
\nstrong sense of community means all students feel at home,
\nregardless of their background or how many years they attend the
\nschool.<\/p>\n
\"Past students we speak with say their years at JIS have been
\na life-changing experience for them, and wherever they end up in
\nthe world, they have tremendously fond memories of being at this
\nschool, and of living in Indonesia,\" Michaud said.<\/p>\n
In fact, JIS has often become a focal point for the wider
\ncommunity during times of crisis, such as the 1998 political
\nupheaval with the end of Soeharto's New Order regime, or more
\nrecently the floods which claimed 150 lives and many more homes
\naround Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Students and staff reacted swiftly, organizing a flood relief
\ncommittee to collect funds, clothing, medicine and food for
\ndistribution to flood victims, as well as coordinating visits by
\nstudents to affected areas.<\/p>\n
\"There is a recognition that we are one world, and a
\nrecognition that we all have to work together to achieve that,
\nand I hope that here at JIS we promote that idea of being one
\nworld,\" JIS Deputy Head Jean Vahey said.<\/p>\n
However, JIS has not completely escaped the political and
\neconomic turbulence that is part of Jakarta's history, notably
\nwhen the Cilandak Campus was evacuated in the mid-1960s in the
\naftermath of an abortive coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist
\nParty (PKI), and later when the school year ended a fortnight
\nearly due to the 1998 riots preceding Soeharto's fall.<\/p>\n
\"In 1998, when the various embassies called for their people
\nto leave, many of our parents and students left. At that time, we
\nwere about 3,162 students. When we reopened in August the next
\nyear, we had about 2,300 students,\" Vahey said.<\/p>\n
Despite the undeniable international atmosphere at JIS,
\nstudents and staff fully appreciate their location, with
\nIndonesian language and culture studies an integral part of the
\ncurriculum at all levels, regular cultural activities and field
\ntrips across the archipelago, and an active community outreach
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
One such program run by JIS students is \"Tolong Anak-Anak\", or
\nkids helping kids, where various activities are organized for
\nlocal orphans, street children and other disadvantaged Indonesian
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
For example, students recently organized a walk-a-thon to
\nraise funds to send Indonesian children to local schools, while a
\nJIS theater production saw students interact directly with
\nIndonesian children who were invited to take part in the
\nperformance.<\/p>\n
\"There's always been a tradition of helping those in need in
\nthe Indonesian community -- a sense of responsibility because we
\nare guests in our host country,\" JIS Director of Admissions Steve
\nMoney said.<\/p>\n
JIS's vast collection of black-and-white and color photographs
\ndepicting its half-century is testament to staff and students'
\ncommitment to recording their school's history.<\/p>\n
However, a fire which destroyed much of the Cilandak Campus in
\n1981 has left something of an archival black hole, with records
\nfrom the 1950s and 60s lost in the blaze.<\/p>\n
This year's odyssey is a unique chance to track those alumni
\nwhose details were never recovered, and JIS established the
\n\"Capture the Dragon\" campaign for this purpose in March 2001.
\nAs a mark of its success, the alumni website database has swollen
\nfrom 500 to 3,500, and continues to grow.<\/p>\n
\"We have discovered a number of Indonesians who went to
\nPattimura in the 1950s and 1960s, and they are beginning to come
\nto us, which is great because they have so much knowledge about
\nthe history of the school at that time which we have very little
\ninformation about. We have a real plea to try to find as many of
\nour former students as possible who are living here in
\nIndonesia,\" Michaud said.<\/p>\n
The centerpiece of this year's celebration is \"A Voyage Home\",
\nfrom June 2 to June 6, when JIS expects hundreds to return to
\nJakarta for a week of festivities, including an opening
\nreception, reunion dinner dance, barbecue and band, golf day,
\nmuseum and sightseeing tours, spa and beauty treatments, and a
\nspecial children's program.<\/p>\n
For more information on JIS's 2002 Odyssey, visit the website
\nat www.jisalumni.com, or contact Michael Sheridan via email at
\n50years@jisedu.or.id, or fax (62-21) 765 7852.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jis-gets-into-festive-mood-for-50th-anniversary-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}