For the past few months, a committee has been reviewing the ASL Mission Statement. I believe that the Mission Review Team should look to the students for ideas, for we are the heart of ASL.
The mission is not about the curriculum, the swimming pool, new playgrounds, or the test scores; it is about the hearts and souls of all of us. The magic comes from us. We are Londoners no matter what our background, age, race or where we were born. No matter how long we have been here we all share this amazing city.
I am Brazilian, Spanish, British and American and have been attending ASL for five years. From these five years, I have learned about all the unique perspectives every student brings to the school including myself
We all have different lenses. I believe that with the variety of backgrounds in our school, we should be learning and sharing information about the culture instead of American traditions. Yes, there are a vast amount of Americans attending this school. However, this should not be our only label.
My interpretation from the current mission statement is that we are going to get a global education. However, at ASL, I have only learned about American money. We should also be learning the British way. After all, it doesn’t matter how many years we do so, but we all live in Britain. It is important that we learn about this from other cities, not only London. It is important to our future and the world’s future.
I think that the name of the school is conflicting with the mission statement because the name is the American School in London but the mission statement states that they will give a global education. Maybe families who want to send their kids to ASL will be confused with the mixed messages. However, they would not be confused if they came to ASL and met all of us.
We are international with a deep American connection. Let’s change the mission statement to show that because when I walk in the classroom I don’t see a group of Americans, I see people from all different places and yet I feel connected, and together, almost like a family. ASL lets people from all different places join together and be one. ASL is a way to connect us together to show us that people can be friends with whoever they want to be be friends with. let’s not be the American School in London; let’s be the International American School in London.
