ES Literacy Week Ends with a Fabulous Friday Performance

ES Literacy Week Ends with a Fabulous Friday Performance

Here is part of the performance (here's the link if it fails to load below https://goo.gl/AzQtkE): 

Girls' Volleyball - In the Eyes of a Leopard

With only three returning players and a few injuries in the beginning, our season didn’t really kick off with a good start but we pushed through it. The girls practiced several hours a week, for two months, striving to get better. As the SAISA tournament got closer we saw our team really coming together. The big day had finally arrived as we boarded the plane with excitement and nervousness. After a long and tiring plane ride we arrived at our destination, Muscat, Oman. It was late, so we went to our host houses and got some much needed rest. We played our first match with Lahore the next day, following that was our match with Islamabad. We had smiles on our faces as we had won both of our matches. By the end of the day, we were exhausted but some of our nervousness had been replaced with confidence. On our second day we played Colombo and Dhaka. We went head to head against Dhaka. The scores were very close, but with Emma’s spikes and Sarya’s saves, we ended up with winning; 26-24; 25-19. Our confidence slowly escalated as we crept closer to the finals. Entering the third and final day, we were very confident. Winning our first match on the third day was unbelievable, we were in the finals! We knew the finals would be hard, going against the home team, but we knew we had it in us. As the crowd roared and cheered, we kept our calm and played our game. The crowd would roar as loud as they wanted, but nothing was bringing us down. The quick spikes, strong defense and powerful serves helped us gain points quickly. About an hour later, we had won three sets in a row. The final whistle had blown, we had won SAISA girls volleyball 2016. We all huddled together and took a moment to process what had just happened. The feeling was incredible. Our handwork had paid off. Though the feeling of victory was great, what made this SAISA memorable was the journey, the journey that began months ago. With only three returning players and many newcomers to the sport itself, the improvement was unbelievable. Watching each individual's journey, how they grew and improved, all the hard work, time, and effort they put in. Watching the team come together to support, motivate, and help one another was beautiful. This SAISA wouldn’t have been same without our team or our coaches. Our coaches who guided us throughout the season with passion, dedication and a lot of hope. This SAISA is definitely one of the most memorable ones.  
 

A Swim to Remember!

The mighty Snow Leopards emerge victorious for the first time at SAISA Swimming!

Lincoln wrote a little piece of history this past week by winning the SAISA Swimming Championships for the first time in our school’s history. The swimmers pushed through their limits in training and this was evident throughout the meet with some amazing performances. All the long hours in the pool, and the motivational team talks, shaped the swimmers into being the mature individuals they showed themselves to be during the meet. Every swimmer swam some personal bests and accomplished their goals. This meet brought the community together and created an even stronger bond among the members of the swim family and Lincoln family as a whole.

Niharika Tuladhar and Nasir Hussain set SAISA records for the 100 breast and 200 IM respectively in their own age groups. The 13-14 girls broke the SAISA records for the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay; they also set the new SAISA record for the 200 medley relay. Shreetika Singh and Tisa Sakya broke the SAISA records for the 100 IM and 200 Breaststroke events for their own age groups. The pool seemed to literally heat up with some sizzling swims!

Our teams finished 2nd in the 10-12 girls, 10-12 boys, 13-14 boys and 15-19 boys and 1st in the 13-14 girls and 15-19 girls. We also finished 2nd in girls overall and 1st in boys overall. Finally, we finished 1st overall as SAISA Champions. A huge achievement!

With SAISA Swimming being hosted in Nepal for the first time, Lincoln faced a challenge to accommodate all the swimmers and coaches. But with the amazing support from the community, it was worth it. Thank you everyone!

The Journey of Champions: Boys' Volleyball

The Journey of Champions: Boys’ Volleyball 2016-2017

A famous American statesman Colin Powell once said, “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Although the boys in the volleyball team didn’t quite apply it in the political sense that Powell insinuated, the same philosophy was pertinent and evident throughout their season. The season for the boys’ Volleyball started off excellently, with several of the returning players showing a big leap of improvement. Furthermore, the overall team’s chemistry and determination was invigorated with new additions to the team. Each individual in the team made sure to put in their own share of sweat, determination and hardwork. As the early season progressed, the philosophy of perseverance started to become evident in numerous games. Against the Jawalakhel club team, despite the loss, the boys showed great character in fighting for every point. As more challenging games came their way, the boys kept learning and adding improvement points to their philosophy of play. Important aspects of teamwork such communication, trust, and leadership were bolstered after every game. Another big pre-tournament game that the team faced was against the Armed Police Force (APF) team. The APF team have some of the best volleyball players in the nation. Despite losing the match, the boys showed excellent sportsmanship, and application of their training routines: executing their serves, their calls, their covers, and their hard spikes. However, there was no time to celebrate. With SAISA approaching, and a big Dashain break in the way of training, the boys had to keep improving.

The day of SAISA finally approached, and the boys departed Nepal feeling confident with their arduous nine weeks of training. The first day of SAISA brought ambivalent feelings to the players. Although the first game had been won in a heated match against Dhaka 2-1 in sets to Lincoln, the second game against Bombay was one to forget as the boys lost 2-0. At the end of the day Lincoln was second in their pool,  Coaches Sam Davis and Curtis Broker motivated the team to push for further improvement in the following days. That motivation proved effective; as the hard work, training, and perseverance that the boys had trained for started to show in the games that followed. In the second day, the boys played their final game of the table against Chennai; in which a comfortable 2-0 win saw them face ASC Jordan school in the quarter finals.

The Quarter Finals proved to be a tough game for Lincoln School, as the sets kept fluctuating in the lead of points between the two teams. However, Lincoln School went on to win both the sets. Not only did Lincoln progress to the Semi Finals, but they also created a strong bond with the boys from the ASC Jordan School.

The Semi Finals was a big test for Lincoln School Boy’s Volleyball team. After winning the first set, the boys were down in their second set with 12 points to 22 for TAISM. The team called for a timeout. In the time out Coach Sam Davis urged the boys to shrug off their complacency and bring back their mentality to fight for every point, he reminded them that they had to “take it if they wanted it, because nobody would hand it to them.” The players kept this in mind and made an incredible comeback to win the second set 26-24.  We were in the finals!

The build up to the finals brought a certain nervous-excitement to the emotions of Lincoln School boy’s Volleyball players. The day had so far been excellent, with a win against TAISM, and a nice ovation from young fans of the Chennai school. A certain vibe of confidence floated in the air as the boys changed in the locker rooms. With 30 minutes remaining until the Finals the boys walked out into the hot air of Chennai. The boys warmed up to pump up music; a routine they had carried out since their first string of wins from the Chennai game. As they huddled up in a circle, they let out all their nervous energy in the form of a dance. Each member of the team, including the two coaches danced away. The boys then walked in the gym, prepared to face the AIS/Dhaka, a tough opponent to face, but one that Lincoln had beaten in their first game of the SAISA tournament. The boys were introduced one by one, and after a full team pump up, the referee blew the whistle to start the game. What followed next was a full application of all the sweat, determination and hardwork that the boys had gone through. Fighting with all their might, the boys won an emotional final, winning 3 sets in a row. However the emotions didn’t stop there, after hearing further news from the girls volleyball and the swim team’s victories in SAISA, tears of joy celebrated a historical moment for Lincoln School.

The victory of the tournament and the overall experience of everything the boys had gone through brought together a family. A family that understood each other and fought for each other. The season of the boys volleyball team perfectly encapsulated a core value of the Lincoln School mission statement,  “to have the confidence and competence to pursue their dreams.”

By Norchen Lama

Lincoln Girls’ Volleyball Team Brings Home the Gold!

Lincoln Girls’ Volleyball Team Brings Home the Gold!

The Lincoln School girls’ volleyball team started their SAISA journey with an early flight to Muscat, Oman. Arriving in Muscat, the girls went to their host house for a long nights rest before the tournament began. Calm and ready for the first day, the girls won their first game against Lahore easily. The girls seized the second game with a mighty 25-1, 25-2 win. The first day seemed to be just a warm-up for the rest of the championship.

The second day was a marathon. The girls had to play three games in comparison to the previous day’s two. Breezing through the first game, Lincoln had to play Dhaka for the second game. By far this was the girls’ closest game, barely winning the first set 26-24 and smoothly taking the second set 25-19. This was the toughest game for the girls’ mentally, however they stayed consistently positive through every point. Exhausted by the previous game, the girls were a little tired playing Bombay, but they took it in their stride and nabbed another win. By this time the girls knew that they were playing ACS (a new SAISA school) in the semi-finals.

            

With the nights rest to recuperate, the girls were excited going into the last day. The coaches had closely been watching ACS, thus the girls knew the weak areas of their opponents and they capitalized on that. The girls were in the finals against the home team TAISM. What is more, this was the fourth consecutive year that the Lincoln School Girls' Volleyball team had made it to the SAISA Championship game. An astounding feat for our small school. 

When 2:00 rolled around, an hour before the final, the team started their warm up routine. A crowd started to build in the gym in support of the home team. The girls kept their calm. The plan was to play this game the same way as all the other games. The first set started and Lincoln created a strong lead early. It soon became apparent that the TAISM team was folding under the pressure to win the finals. The girls’ volleyball team rolled straight through TAISM in the final, sweeping the championship in straight sets 25-14, 25-9, 25-15. Soon after their win, the girls were watching the boys’ snatch their championship and anxiously waiting for the news about the swimmers. This volleyball team was reliable and consistent on the court. Without a doubt a very strong team and a class above their opponents in the SAISA competition. 

By Emma Shrestha

Grade Three Students Learning about Sixteenth Notes

Grade Three Students Learning about Sixteenth Notes 

Grade Four Composing with the Pentatonic Scale

Grade Four Composing using the Pentatonic Scale 

P1 students share the "Gruffalo Story"

P1 students teamed up with their G5 Reading Buddies to share and retell the "Gruffalo Story". Retelling is a foundational reading skill that P1 students have been working on. Way to go P1! Thanks G5!

ES Literacy Week!!

Please join us for the ES Literacy Week October 24th-28th. It will be a week full of activities and events including a Wednesday parent session-Engaging with Literacy at Home @ 8am- Hope to see you there!

LS Snow Leopards Make Waves at 2nd LS Swim Champs!

The Lincoln Snow Leopards Continue to Make Waves in the Pool!

The weekend of October 1 & 2 saw the 2nd annual Lincoln School Invitational Swimming Championships bring our community together for a couple of days of excitement as our swimmers continue to dazzle in the pool. As the defending champions from last year, our Snow Leopards had high expectations of themselves in the water, and saw the meet as an opportunity to have fun, make some friends from others schools, and swim some personal best times. 

A total of around 170 athletes from 18 different schools participated in the meet, while the Lincoln swimmers showed what hard work and dedication can do for their skills and overall performance. The support from the swimmers, parents and coaches was outstanding, with the team earning a total of 31 individual golds, 28 silvers, 26 bronzes and countless personal best times. On both days, a large amount our swimmers made it to the finals, proving what hard work can do for their times. Once again, our Snow Leopards emerged as champions with a massive points total, but more importantly lessons learned and experienced gained for future competitions. 

Some other highlights:

Nasir Hussain smashed four 10-12 boys' Lincoln records, including the 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Fly, and the 100 IM. 

Alex Shah broke the school record for the 13-14 boys' 100 free with a time of 1.04.98.

Tisa Shakya broke school records in both the 13-14 girls' 100 free and 200 free with some fantastic times, including a 1.09.05 in the 100 free. 

Niharika Tuladhar swam an incredible race during the finals on the 2nd day, breaking her own Lincoln & SAISA record in the 100 breast with a 1.25.00. She also broke the 15-19 girls' 50 fly record with a 32.86. 

Oshina Bharati demolished her own LS record in the 100 Back by 2 seconds, clocking a 1.15.97.

Our relay teams showed their strength in depth by breaking both the 4*50 Medley Relay, as well as the 4*50 Free Relay records in 13-14 and 15-19 age groups. A total of five relay records were broken! 

Overall the 2nd Annual LS Invitational was a great success for our Lincoln Snow Leopards and our community at large, and we are eager to show our efforts and love for swimming at SAISA in two weeks! 

Shreetika Singh, LS Swim Team Captain