Activities

Yearbook is the eagerly anticipated publication of the entire years work, with every single member in the school admired for their hard work from a grueling and adventurous year. We even have a brand new addition integrated into our yearbook called the “most likely to” section, which adds an extra element of fun, giving a small taste of what people are like in a unique way. It’s the one club present for the entire year and the single most prized piece of work at the end of the year. Each year we continue to evolve in terms of representing our school to the fullest. The club is insanely dedicated from start to finish. The grind of publishing the yearbook towards the end shows the care our club has for the good of the school and how important it truly is.

-Rakhat

The chess club has been preparing several students for COASH championships and tournaments. The ultimate aim of the club is to raise interest in chess and to educate people in the sport of chess. Players of all levels are invited, and the club hopes to incorporate the entire school into the chess lifestyle.

-Mrs. Binder

The dance team focuses on the purpose of sharing and spreading the joy of dancing. The club expresses enthusiasm in teaching intricate choreographies to whoever is enthusiastic about dancing or people who are constantly searching for new challenges. Our goal for this year is to perform a public show and receive donations which would then be handed over for less fortunate people. 

-Seoyun

Formed in August 2017, YouthxWomen is a club that focuses on volunteering and empowering the members through shared ideas and experiences. Through selling handmade bracelets, bake sales, weekend office cleanings, car washing, organizing movie nights, sponsoring sporting events, running raffles, and creating several donation boxes, we raised over $2,000—enough money to cover supplies, food, and tuition for months—to gift to the family of a single mother with five children. The family had gone from dealing with domestic abuse to having only a few potatoes in their fridge and no clothes to subsist on through Almaty’s frigid winter. We hoped our efforts would be more helpful to these victims of domestic violence than being part of a large, faceless, global NGO. Through candid group discussions about privilege, intersectionality, and gender roles, trust-building activities, we turned a fundraising club into a tight-knit community of 23 people with similar ambitions and goals.

Debate teaches students how to make organized and logical arguments from both sides of a topic in a competitive atmosphere. Culminating in our participation in the tournament that took place at the Eurasian Technological University, where some of the outstanding students such as Geonwoo, Sultan and Aruzhan in the world schools placement, who took first place in the World Schools format and Alice GIlman who also took first in the original oratory  speech. 
Achievements:
1st KSDA tournament in ETU: Alice Gilman 1st in O.O., Geonwoo, Sultan, Aruzhan (Barcelonian Inquisition) 1st in WS
Practice tournament in school #148: Muchen Zhang 2nd in Public Forum, Ming 1st in O.O. and 2nd in LD 
Future events: WSC in late May/early June, tournament April 20-21

-Mr. Johnson

The MUN allows students interested in international affairs to develop diplomacy skills and practice them in local, national, or international tournaments. This year has been excellent, with our membership growing sizeably. We have trained many excellent delegates in how to properly participate in a conference. Our school sent delegates to the QSI Astana Model United Nations (ASTMUN) in January, with four of our delegates taking awards, and to the New Silk Way Model United Nations here in Almaty in April. We are also working towards potentially hosting a conference here at AiS in the future. 
Achievements:
KIMEP New Silk Way Mini-MUN: Alice Gilman 1st, Amir Balakhmet 2nd
QSI Astana MUN (ASTMUN): Amir Balakhmet 1st in Crisis Committee, Alice Gilman 2nd in Crisis Committee, Grant Rix 1st in Climate Refugee Committee, Camelia Ionascu 2nd in Climate Refugee Committee

-Mr. Johnson + Amir B

Helping Hands is a volunteer organization working to assist families and children in the Almaty area. Through fundraising efforts and visits, we aim to help those in need, be it through distributing donated clothes, buying board games, or organizing trips with a local orphanage. Through dedicated effort, we are attempting to put good out into the world and to create a better environment for all of us to live in.

-Helping Hands Committee