AlphaMax Academy triple winner of English Spelling Bee Contest.

AlphaMax Academy won the first prize for Suriname English language schools or the third time in succession in the English Spelling Bee Contest. The contest was held on Saturday 18th August in the Congreshal in Paramaribo.This also means that the Academy is now the proud owner of the challenge trophy!

Photo: de Ware Tijd

There also was an English Spelling Bee contest for schools in which Dutch is the medium of instruction.

 In a separate round in this year's contest students had to give the meaning of English words.

“By going bigger, we want to realize a long-term goal, which is participating in the foreign Spelling Bee”, says Ms. Monique Brown, director of Stichting Leren voor een goede toekomst (Foundation of Learning for a good future). (Quote from article in de Ware Tijd Daily 20 April, 2015.)

One of the goals of the organization is promoting English language education in schools. She said that she was surprised that the children were so good.

This year AlphaMax Academy was the only participant in the category of schools in which English is the medium of instruction. Other English Language schools did not participate for a variety of reasons.

Since AlphaMax was the only school contestant,  AlphaMax students had to compete with each other. The overall winner was Archana Mangal. In second place was Joanna Daher and Sheetal Anroedh came  third . They got prizes; Archana Mangal got a trophy to keep and a laptop.

Archana Mangal said: “I not only wanted to participate but to broaden my knowledge, I also wanted to prove myself. And it is very important to be able to communicate in the English language.”

The students were prepared by AlphaMax Academy English instructors Kawita Thani,  Sharon Hoppie, Simone Griffith and  Cheryylyn Cambridge .

Carinlangs students -Kawita Thani,Vishal Ramjiawan and Gina Persaud were members of the jury  AlphaMax put  a lot of effort into preparing its students and helping to to organize the contest.

AlphaMax, and Archana, Joanna, Sheetal in particular, Congratulations!
 Source: D de Ware Tijd
Mr. Atma Jagbandhan,
Science instructor -AlphaMax Academy

Register now for second BA TESOL one year capstone program

The Caribbean Institute of Language Studies® (CARINLANGS®)

In collaboration with Dr. Robby Morroy




PRESENTS TO SUITABLE CANDIDATES

TEACHING OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES (TESOL)

Bachelor’s & Master’s Programs

THE TARGET GROUP
In-service teachers with an MOA diplo



WHAT’S BEING OFFERED

A capstone program to upgrade holders of the MOA diploma to the bachelor’s degree level in

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

The capstone program will serve as a pre-requisite for a master’s degree program in TESO



DATES
Bachelor’s TESOL – April 13 2015 to April 2016 [4 quarters – 2 semesters]
[Vacation periods in September and Christmas 2015


Master’s TESOL – starting in October 2016

LOCATION
AlphaMax Education Complex, 18-24 Stanvastestraat, (Zorg-en-hoop), Paramaribo

REGISTRATION
Limited Places – 25 candidates MAXIMUM

Candidates must have already completed an MOA diploma

Candidates MUST be in-service teachers in the Dutch or English education system in Suriname

Candidates must be committed to pursuing the Master’s TESOL program which will commence
in October 2016

Candidates must submit a written “Personal Statement” (approximately 500 - 1000 words in
English) addressing their interests and evaluating their commitment to the field of
study, the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Call 597- 400588 (AlphaMax Academy)

Email: carinlangs@gmail.com

PROGRAM MODERATORS

Robby Morroy, Ph.D.

                                                         
                Sean F. Taylor, M.A., B.A.


           Milton M. Drepaul, Dip. Ed. (Hons. – UWI), B.A

EXTERNAL UNIVERSITY EXAMINERS & QUALITY ASSURANCE COLLABORATORS

Carinlangs hosted a workshop with

University of Amsterdam lecturer Mr Klass van der Laan  

Carinlangs students in dance item on Tagore program with ICC and AlphaMax Academy.

Carinlangs student Kawita Thani with School of Nations Director in Guyana-on Primary Research project

Dr, Eugene Merkus of AlphaMax Foundation gives MOU to Iniversity of Guyana Vice Chancellor

June 21 International Day of Yoga

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0JP20V20141211?irpc=932

Leading an Enlightened & Successful Life

Leading an Enlightened & Successful Life

Sunday, June 29^th, 2014 

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (registration opens at 9:00 a.m.)

At AlphaMax Academy, Stanvastestraat, 18-24 Zorg-en- hoop

Presented by I Ching Systems Educator & Intuitive Coach, Monique Drepaul

§  Do you feel weighed down and stressed?

§  Do you repeat patterns in your life with the same type of relationship or job?

§  Are you afraid to move forward?

§  Are you looking to change your life?

Personal Transformation involves breaking out of and resolving repetitive behavior patterns. All patterns are based on something that happened in the past. They are an attempt to protect ourselves from hurt and harm that has already happened. Now YOU can change your patterns, quiet your mind and find a new Path based on your natural gifts, hopes and dreams!
I Ching Systems is a research and education company that produces a technology based on the principles of eastern medicine that can be used to restore emotional balance. Monique has been using I Ching Systems instruments for over 10 years. Every participant will have the opportunity to use this transformation technology for free at the event. 

Share this information with everyone you know and don’t miss this opportunity to change your life! 

Seminar cost -SRD$100/person. Pre-register by June 27^th, 2014 and bring a friend for free. Call 8650795

Email smartbusinesschoices@gmail.com

http://www.MoniqueDrepaul.com 

 ICHING seminars

  

Personal Transformation Seminar at AlphaMax Academy on Sunday June 29th at 10 am

Leading an Enlightened & Successful Life

Sunday, June 29^th, 2014 

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (registration opens at 9:00 a.m.)

At AlphaMax Academy, Stanvastestraat, 18-24 Zorg-en- hoop

Presented by I Ching Systems Educator & Intuitive Coach, Monique Drepaul

§  Do you feel weighed down and stressed?

§  Do you repeat patterns in your life with the same type of relationship or job?

§  Are you afraid to move forward?

§  Are you looking to change your life?

Personal Transformation involves breaking out of and resolving repetitive behavior patterns. All patterns are based on something that happened in the past. They are an attempt to protect ourselves from hurt and harm that has already happened. Now YOU can change your patterns, quiet your mind and find a new Path based on your natural gifts, hopes and dreams!
I Ching Systems is a research and education company that produces a technology based on the principles of eastern medicine that can be used to restore emotional balance. Monique has been using I Ching Systems instruments for over 10 years. Every participant will have the opportunity to use this transformation technology for free at the event. 

Share this information with everyone you know and don’t miss this opportunity to change your life! 

Seminar cost -SRD$100/person. Pre-register by June 27^th, 2014 and bring a friend for free

Email smartbusinesschoices@gmail.com

http://www.MoniqueDrepaul.com 

  

Carinlangs presents " Celebrating Tagore's Gitanjali"

Students of the Caribbean institute of Language Studies will join with AlphaMax Academy, The Suriname Indian Cultural Center and the Indian Embassy in Suriname to present a program on Saturday May 10 at the Alphamax Educational complex to honor  India's most famous writer and artist--Rabindranath Tagore.

The program -"Celebrating Tagore's Gitanjali- an evening of poetry , music and dance " will feature musical items by ICC's musical teacher Devesh Chaturvedi and his students as well as ICC's dance teacher Raddhika Shah and her students.

Marylyn Westerveld -Carinlangs Presenter

The signature item on the program is a uniquely created script by Ivan Khayiat of selected poems from "Gitanjali" which will be dramatically performed by students from AlphaMax Academy and Carinlangs.

This section of the program will also feature live and recorded music and dance intricately linked to the themes and mood of the poetry. Both the Carinlangs and AlphaMax dance items are choreographed by Mrs. Kavita Thani.

The curriculum at AlphaMax Academy is strongly influenced by the ideals of India's celebrated poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore.

On June 4th 2011 Suriname’s First Lady Ingrid Bouterse Waldring unveiled the Tagore monument, a sculpted bronze figure of Tagore.This monument, a gift from India to Suriname, is one of several worldwide.

In 1918, Tagore founded Visva Bharati University – an international center of Culture and Humanistic Studies.

Tagore considered the lack of education to be the main obstacle in the way of national progress and at the root of all its problems. He thought that the basic objectives of any worthwhile national education system were to promote, creativity, freedom, joy, and an awareness of a country’s cultural heritage.

Monique Brown, Dr. Morroy, Ambassador Subrshini & Sean Taylor at opening of Carinlangs.

Therefore he worked assiduously towards developing an appropriate system of national education. He felt that each nation was different and this fact should be reflected in its system of education.

Two of his significant thoughts on this matter are:
“Let the students gather knowledge and materials from different regions of the country, from direct sources and from their own independent efforts.”

“We must try to understand how [our native] genius express[es] itself… Unless we try to put these together and discover the integrating factors behind these diverse streams of thought and make them a subject of study at our universities, we would only be borrowing knowledge from abroad. The natural habitat for knowledge is where it is produced. The main task of universities is to produce knowledge, its dissemination is its secondary function. We must invite those intellectuals and scholars to our universities who are engaged in research, invention or creative activity.”

To help foster and enrich the holistic formation of its young scholars, from its inception, the Academy has devoted four of its five school days to left-brain academic and ratiocinative development and activities, and one full school day to right-brain creative endeavors.

Caribbean Institute of Language Studies - Registration for Second 2014 BA TESOL Group

REGISTER NOW

The Caribbean Institute ofLanguage Studies® (CARINLANGS®)

In collaboration with Dr.Robby Morroy

Presents to suitable candidates

Teaching of English To Speakers Of Other Languages (Tesol)

Bachelor’s and Master’s Programs

THE TARGET GROUP

                In-service teachers with an MOA diploma

What’s Being Offered

·       A capstone program to upgrade holders of the MOA diploma to the bachelor’s degree level in                 

·       Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

·       The capstone program will serve as a pre-requisite for a master’s degree program in TESOL.

DATES

                Bachelor’s TESOL – June 2014 to June 2015 [4 quarters – 2 semesters]

                                [Vacation periods in September and Christmas 2014]

                Master’s TESOL – starting in October 2015

LOCATION

                AlphaMax Academy, 18-24 Stanvastestraat, (Zorg-en-hoop), Paramaribo

REGISTRATION

                Limited Places – 35 candidates MAXIMUM

                Candidates must have already completed an MOA diploma

                Candidates MUST be in-service teachers in the Dutch or English education system in Suriname

                Candidates must be committed to pursuing the Master’s TESOL program which will commence

                in October 2015

                Candidates must submit a written “Personal Statement” (approximately 500 - 1000 words in

                English) addressing their interests and evaluating their commitment to the field of

                study, the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

                Call 597- 400588 (AlphaMax Academy)

                Email:  carinlangs@gmail.com

PROGRAM MODERATORS

                Robby Morroy, Ph.D.                                                                    

                Sean F. Taylor, M.A., B.A.

                Milton M. Drepaul, Dip. Ed. (Hons. – UWI), B.A

Carinlangs hosts successful training workshop

Last week from Tuesday 18 to Friday, March 21 teachers  from  the IOL, the FHR Business School and the University of Suriname ADEK participated in a workshop on  Career Counselling.

This Career  Counselling Workshop took place in the auditorium of Alphamax Academy's auditorium in Stanvastestraat. The workshopt was organized by the Caribbean Insitute of Language Studies (CARINLANGS) in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam and Alphamax Academy.

Director Robby Morroy of CARIN ALONG said that the purpose of the SLB workshop was to provide trained coaching advisors for the Caribbean Institute of Languages BA and MA TESOL programs. 

The SLB workshop which lasted four days, took place under the leadership of Klaas van der Laan a senior member of the Faculty of Education at the  University of Amsterdam. Mr.Van der Laan is an experienced academic counselor and teacher trainer. 

Topics that were discussed and practiced in the workshop included:

·          the professional development of teachers

·          the development-oriented supervising students and

·          creating a professional research attitude 

Earlier this month launched the Caribbean Institute of Language Studies, a Bachelor'

program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages ​​(TESOL). The first group of 14 candidates in the program  all have the MOA diploma in English and are working in education. 

Ambassador Keith George of Guyana, Ambassador of India Mrs. M. Subashini, and Monique Brown from the Department of Curriculum Development in the Ministry of Education were distinguished speakers at the formal opening of the  Institute. 

Men's 50 Meter Freestyle A Final Arena Grand Prix 2014 At Orlando

AlphaMax graduate Surinamese Renjo Tjon A Joe  made the finals and swam with this elite group of the world's best swimmers.
He has just been in the US for two months. Renjo has represented Suriname internationally.
His dream is to bring Suriname its second gold medal in the Olympics.
In his final term at Alphamax Renjo delighted the school with an outstanding portrayal of King Herod in the school's Christmas play.

Karsters' " Portrait of Hope and Peace"-Suriname's Tributue to Mandela's Message

Nelson Mandela, the fourth and last-living icon on Professor Ruben Karsters’ renowned “Portrait of Hope of Peace:  The Four Ms”, passed away on Friday, December 5th, 2013, in the land of his birth, South Africa.  Mr Mandela was 95 years of age.

His Excellency, Desire D. Bouterse, the President of the Republic of Suriname and a long-time admirer of the former President of South Africa, joined scores of other heads of state from around the world – all of whom converged on the southernmost nation-state on the horn of Africa, to pay their last respects to  the legendary African leader who following incarceration for over two decades emerged triumphant, vindicated, to lead his oppressors and fellow-black and non-black supporters as the era of Boer-instigated apartheid was finally brought to a close in dramatic peace, reconciliation, and harmony in the mid-1990s. 

Suriname’s First Lady, Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs also attended the funeral ceremonies which drew billions of sympathetic television viewers worldwide – the likes of which mirrored the farewell rite and service for Mother Theresa of Calcutta. 

Nelson Mandela’s rise to political prominence and world respect in the 1990s spanned a struggle of more than four decades.  The village boy from Qunu became an international symbol and icon of protracted struggle and hope that finally yielded the once-impossible, triumphant victory.

In 2006-2007, Suriname’s Professor Ruben Karsters captured on canvas four icons from the 20th century with the specific purpose of inspiring through visual imagery young people and future leaders of the 21st century.  In his portrait, “The Four Ms”, Karsters chose to portray Mahatma Gandhi of India, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X of the United States of America, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. 

There are historic, geographic and natural connections between all four iconic freedom-fighters:  Gandhi’s rise to political prominence began in the country of Mandela’s birth and struggle, South Africa.  Although the two men never met, they both faced on African soil the same monstrosity, ‘aparthied’.  All four men were considered ‘dangerous’ by the status quo and faced incarceration for their outspoken moral stand on the issues of their day.  And in the process of taking clear, unflinching, moral stands – what Mahatma Gandhi termed ‘satyagraha’ (truth-force), they galvanized not just people in their immediate locales, but hundreds of millions worldwide.  Given the fear they generated and the ‘urgency’ of their specific moments in the 20th century, three were assassinated at the hands of their own countrymen - Gandhi in 1948, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in 1968. 

Ironically, of the four, after decades of protests which had spread across the earth – becoming even an international embarrassment as the incessant rumble rose clarion-strong in the United Nations, only Nelson Mandela came to full bloom, democratically elected as President from 1994 - 1999, before his retirement from public life, and acquiescence at the ripe old age of 95.  Finally, the souls of all four men chose bodies of ‘color’ and the soles of their feet trod the soil of the oft-despised continent, Africa. 

Little wonder, Ruben Karsters’ portrayed these four iconic men who symbolized sacrifice and personal self-transformation by ordinary folk amidst the angst, struggle and undying quest for betterment, not just for themselves but future generations, regardless of color, clime, or creed. 

Upon completion, Professor Karster’s Portrait of the Four Ms, first went on public display at Suriname’s Fort Zeelandia Museum & Art Gallery.  It was part of an exhibition sponsored by the Embassy of India entitled “Indian Resonances in Suriname” – and precisely because the Mahatma was among the 4Ms, there was logical reason for its inclusion. 

In October 2007, the Karsters’ Portrait journeyed to India where – sponsored by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) – it was on display for about eight weeks in New Delhi.  There were numerous anecdotes and accolades on the sub-continent about the unusually unique Portrait which for the first time suggested a metaphoric connection between the four freedom fighters – two from the new world and two from the ancient world.  One wealthy admirer was so enamored in India that he offered Karsters ‘any price’ for the painting.  The latter, however, perceiving a greater purpose beyond that of the Portrait gracing one person’s private collection, returned to Suriname with the masterpiece.

In 2010, when Suriname’s freedom fighter and nationalist, Desire D. Bouterse, finally came to power, through free and fair democratic elections, President Bouterse took the bold decision to adopt Ruben Karsters’ “Portrait of Hope & Peace:  the Four Ms” as his official state gift. 

The Presidential Gift achieved a rare amplitude in November 2010 when President Bouterse presented the Karsters’ Portrait in person to the President of Venezuela, the late Hugo Frias Chavez.  The significance of the gift was reflected in an independent MSNBC poll which selected the Bouterse-Chavez gift as one of the top three best and most appropriate gifts from one head of state to another in 2010.  Karsters’ life-like and brilliantly executed “Four Ms” portrait was selected above gifts from heads of state in the U.S., Russia, U.K., Middle East, and elsewhere. 

Undoubtedly the “Four Ms” was the highlight of the Karsters artistic career which began for the autodidact at the age of seven.  However, the sudden passing of Professor Ruben Karsters on March 5th, 2013, following a brief illness, gave some admirers cause for reflection because the artistic genius died on the same day as Hugo Frias Chavez, the Bolivarian freedom-fighter from Venezuela. 

Prior to his own demise, on the occasion of an earlier meeting, Ruben Karsters had requested that the President of Suriname also present the painting to Nelson Mandela.  Sources close to the President indicated that he had hoped to do so in person.   However, on account of Mandela’s sustained illness and convalescence, a likely meeting between the two freedom-fighters did not take place.

Nelson Mandela, the South African boxer, lawyer, freedom-fighter and Marxist, who joyfully triumphed over adversity, and like Jesus and Gandhi magnanimously forgave his jailors and oppressors, to become an international icon, has been captured in inimitable joyful form on a canvas that is undoubtedly Suriname’s most famous painting to date, “The Portrait of Hope & Peace: the 4 Ms.” 

A Caribbean poet, resident in Suriname, memorialized his first encounter with the Karsters’ art-piece in verse that reflects the essence of the painting

One Shakti
One century
One trajectory

Seamlessly staged
Meteoric rocket fired forth
Morphing the old in the new

One world of Gaea
Rta, the goal, Ananda
Shanti Om!
                    Ivan A. Khayiat © 2007

Thus, as the eternal flame, honoring the world-renowned fallen South African statesman and hero of struggling people, burns bright on a hillside in Mandela’s boyhood village in Qunu, South Africa, it will do likewise in Suriname and the Caribbean for generations to come.