Welcome Home!
“Home” is a word that can have so many simultaneous meanings, especially to international educators. Some of us just went “home” to visit our families and friends over the summer. Some of us just returned “home” to our familiar bedrooms in Chennai after weeks on the road. And, some of us are creating a new “home” as new faculty and staff here at AISC. Take a moment to mindfully think about all of the places that you feel at home. We hope that the American International School of Chennai community comes to mind in one of your personal definitions.
101 Things to Do in Chennai
Whether you are making Chennai your new home or have been living here for many years, have a look at this link to 101 Things to Do in Chennai. How many have you done? Comment on this blog with your own opinions of what is worth doing, seeing, and eating here in Chennai!
Get Connected - WhatsApp Groups
Community WhatsApp Groups - We have some WhatsApp Groups open to everyone in our community, based on common interests. Please click this link to join a variety of community WhatsApp Groups that interest you! We will be updating this list throughout the year, if you’d like to create and share your own group, please let us know!
The Wellness Program at AISC
If you are a “newbie”, you may or may not have heard about our Wellness Program here at AISC.
The framework of our program falls under four categories of wellness:
social, cultural, emotional, and physical wellness.
As a community, we are able to offer each other various events, classes, and activities in order
to promote wellness.
The framework of our program falls under four categories of wellness:
social, cultural, emotional, and physical wellness.
As a community, we are able to offer each other various events, classes, and activities in order
to promote wellness.
Wellness Wednesdays - Twice a year, (October 23rd, 2019 & February 26th, 2020) we will be
having an early release day dedicated to faculty wellness. During these afternoons together,
faculty will be asked if they would like to offer a session to share a skill or passion with their colleagues.
We will be able to sign up for various events on campus, ranging from meditation sessions to faculty
soccer matches and beyond. More information on our Wellness Wednesdays will be forthcoming,
if you have any questions or are eager to run a session - please comment below or contact Keeley
directly (tkeeley@aischennai.org).
having an early release day dedicated to faculty wellness. During these afternoons together,
faculty will be asked if they would like to offer a session to share a skill or passion with their colleagues.
We will be able to sign up for various events on campus, ranging from meditation sessions to faculty
soccer matches and beyond. More information on our Wellness Wednesdays will be forthcoming,
if you have any questions or are eager to run a session - please comment below or contact Keeley
directly (tkeeley@aischennai.org).
Wellness Academy - If you would like to offer an activity that goes beyond a 60-120 minute afternoon
session, you will be encouraged to apply for a stipended position to run a class for your peers, for a
minimum of 10 hours. Are you passionate about sewing? Can you lead yoga or zumba classes?
Would you be able to teach Bollywood dancing? What other unique classes might you be able to teach?
Please contact Keeley if you have any ideas, or comment on this blog, below, if you’d like to
gather the opinions of your colleagues.
session, you will be encouraged to apply for a stipended position to run a class for your peers, for a
minimum of 10 hours. Are you passionate about sewing? Can you lead yoga or zumba classes?
Would you be able to teach Bollywood dancing? What other unique classes might you be able to teach?
Please contact Keeley if you have any ideas, or comment on this blog, below, if you’d like to
gather the opinions of your colleagues.
Wellness Events - In addition to the Wellness Wednesdays and Wellness Academy, we will have
several Wellness Events throughout the year. Some events will be Wellness Funded - which means
they are funded and organized by the school and mostly free to participants. Other events will be
Wellness Sponsored - which means that the Wellness Coordinator or Team Leader will organize and
share information about an event and cover transportation costs but the fees would be covered by
participants. The Wellness Program will also help to promote and Staff Organized events by posting
information to our Wellness Calendar and advertising it on our weekly blog.
several Wellness Events throughout the year. Some events will be Wellness Funded - which means
they are funded and organized by the school and mostly free to participants. Other events will be
Wellness Sponsored - which means that the Wellness Coordinator or Team Leader will organize and
share information about an event and cover transportation costs but the fees would be covered by
participants. The Wellness Program will also help to promote and Staff Organized events by posting
information to our Wellness Calendar and advertising it on our weekly blog.
Wellness Oasis - We are lucky to have a room dedicated to wellness, which is open every day that the school is open. We have yoga mats, iPads, headphones, massage chairs, coloring books, and some light reading available to our faculty. This special space is dedicated to your mental and emotional wellness; please do not bring work into this zone. It is located next to our Health Center (Nurse’s Office). You can get in by placing your palm over the black keypad and then entering our secret code: 1920*
Wellness Committee - Are you interested in becoming more involved?
Are you feeling excited about everything that our Wellness Matters Program has to offer our community this year? Would you like to be even more involved? Please consider joining our Wellness Committee for the 2019-2020 school year. We will aim to have monthly meetings to discuss our program and upcoming events.
Keeley Tagtmeyer-Liotard is the Wellness Coordinator this year. While Keeley is on maternity leave (September - February), Priya Venugopal will be taking over. We would like to send our heartfelt THANKS to Beth Rappe, our former Wellness Coordinator and mentor. We have big shoes to fill and we hope to continue growing our Wellness Matter Program with dedication and participation from our community.
If you are interested in joining the Wellness Committee, please contact Keeley directly (tkeeley@aischennai.org) or comment on this blog below. Keeley and Priya will be reaching out to interested Wellness Committee members shortly to set up our first meeting of the year.
Great job on this blog post, Keeley! So good! 🔥
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