2009年聖誕節，實中各部以各式活動歡度佳節。雙語部在23日中午舉行露天音樂會，師、生、家長擠滿了雙語部小中庭，在溫馨冬陽中欣賞表演者以搖滾、街舞和聖誕歌舞表演炒熱了午後聖誕時光；幼稚園部則在12月24日上午由實習老師演出兒童劇「聖誕大餐」，下午英文班老師扮成聖誕老公公分糖果並配合英文課程同唱聖誕歌曲；高中部由弦樂社於12月24日午休時在輔導室前演奏聖誕組曲揭開序幕，12月25日當天先由郭心怡老師指導的合唱團演唱三首聖誕歌曲，接著許儀宇、羅月鳳、黃展明、李文蓉以及廖淑芸老師表演了精采的踢躂舞；國小部延續歷年來的感恩月傳統，以一連串「感恩心得書寫」、「小太陽劇團」以及「天使打擊樂團」以及聖誕節當天的感恩話劇「媽媽的便當」，希望引導孩子們見苦知福而盡力付出、助人，豐富彼此的生命。歲末年終，各部師生均一掃開學以來H1N1流感籠罩的長久陰霾，以熱鬧的活動歡度了聖誕佳節，為2009年劃下完美句點，並希望來年更好。

98年地科教材設計競賽 曾宏煇老師獲特優獎

CHRISTMAS JOY WARMS UP THE COLD WINTER

Christmas of 2009 was celebrated in all departments and the IBSH. On the 23^rd, an outdoor Christmas Concert took place at the IBSH courtyard. Students, teachers and parents gathered and enjoyed a great time as the performers sang and danced the lunch time away. On the 24^th at the Kindergarten department, intern teachers put on a play called “The Christmas Banquet”, and the English teacher dressed up as Santa Claus and passed out candy as the children sang joyously the Christmas songs they learned in English. Same day at the High School department the string orchestra played a medley of Christmas songs at lunch. On the 25^th the High School choir sang three songs of Christmas, followed by a lovely clogging dance performed by five teachers. At the Elementary department, the tradition of giving thanks to wrap up the year continued. By writing thankful notes, watching plays focused on appreciating and sharing, the students learned to enrich one another’s lives through lending a helping hand. With the H1N1 flu threat hovering over the entire school, it has not been an easy semester for anyone. It was great to see everyone celebrating Christmas joyously as the year came to an end. Hope this also marked a closure to the health threat and the coming year promises brighter days for all.

IBSH HOLDS “FREEDOM WRITERS SHORT STORY CONTEST”

PARENT WORKSHOPS EXPLORE LOVE AND LIFE OF ARTISTS

The Guidance Office hosted 13 workshops titled “Artists, Arts and Women” for all parents. Ms. ChenYun-lin, a well-read radio show host, took the participating parents on a marvelous journey of movies and discussions centered on the life and love of several renowned musicians, sculptors and painters such as Picasso, Beethoven and Rodin. Through a close analysis of the lives of the artists, parents increased their awareness of gender-equality and the meanings of life. The final workshop on January 6^th wrapped up this semester's events in an artistic full stop, and parents look forward to more intellectual treats in the coming new semester.

MR. TZENG HONG-HWEI WON 2009 EARTH SCIENCE TEACHING MATERIAL DESIGN CONTEST

The 2009 Earth Science teaching material design contest awarded its winners in November. High School teacher Mr. Tzeng Hong-hwei brought home glory in both “activity design” and “visual introduction of concepts” categories. The latter even received the “Best Work” award. The contest aimed not only to encourage Earth Science teachers to research and develop better teaching methods and ways to improve teaching efficacy, but also to facilitate sharing of ideas and teaching materials among teachers. Congratulations to Mr. Tzeng for winning the contest, and to his fortunate students who will benefit from his ingenious teaching.

ELEMENTARY “READING FOLLOW ME” PROGRAM GOES NATIONAL

The judging of the 2009 “Reading Bedrock School” competition took place on the 14^th of December, NEHS Elementary department’s “Reading Follow Me” program won first place in Hsinchu city and will go national. The “Reading Follow Me” program began last year, aiming to cultivate students’ independent reading habits and to encourage sharing with fellow readers. The reading program targets students of all grades. Homeroom teachers helped to compile the reading list and monitored the reading process and progress at morning quiet time, language arts class, and library time. In the mean time, reading passports were passed out to encourage reading. “Reading Republic” was also created to encourage peer reading and sharing, poetry memorization and book-exchanging. As the “Reading Follow Me” program enters the second year with such fruitful results and honorable recognition at the city level, we thank the teachers and administrators of both years for their hard work, and wish them best luck at the national competition.

GUIDANCE OFFICE HOSTS COLLEGE INTRODUCTION

The Guidance Office hosted four “College Introduction” events during lunch time from December 22 through the 25^th. Department deans and professors from six colleges of the National Chiao Tung University came and introduced their departments to high school students and parents. Professors emphasized that NEHS graduates that went to Chiao Tung University were all very outstanding, giving the quality of education of NEHS a good name. This reputation encouraged Professors to recruit more of our graduates. All “College Introduction” events were documented by parents and the minutes were kept at the Guidance office for students’ future references.