From Easter celebrations on campus and Opsahl Global Service Program trips to Moldova, Nepal, and Thailand to a well-deserved spring holiday and a sunny return to campus, we take a photo-driven look at the past month at TASIS.
Working Together Toward Common Goals
TASIS Director of University and College Counseling Johanna Fishbein and College Counselor Conor Fritz traveled to TASIS Portugal on March 28 to participate in the third annual TASIS College Counselor Summit. The summit began two years ago at TASIS England, and last year TASIS Switzerland welcomed college counselors from the other three TASIS campuses (Dorado, Portugal, and England.)
This year’s summit focused on resource sharing and a discussion of case studies and issues in higher education at the moment that are impacting TASIS students. It was a great day of collaboration, and the TASIS Switzerland team left with new ideas for programming, student resources, and much more to support students in the university application process.
Outdoor Lesson
Grade 10 students in Dr. Chris Love’s Honors World Literature class met outdoors on the Villa De Nobili Terrace on April 1 to discuss Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges.
Igniting an Interest in Science
Brian Barry’s Grade 6 Science class ventured outdoors on the afternoon of April 1 to perform an awe-inspiring experiment.
Piano and Poetry
On the evening of April 1, advanced High School pianists from the studio of Angela Perini put on a lovely recital in the Palmer Cultural Center in which they performed works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and other renowned composers. Students in the Honors World Literature class read poems from their home countries in between each piece.
Battle of the Brains
High School members of the TASIS Math Club participated in the Euclid Math Contest on April 3.
TPA Treats
Middle School students enjoyed Easter treats and games on the Kay Hamblin Terrace on April 3 courtesy of the TASIS Parent Association (TPA).
Tackling Titration
On April 4, students in Elizabeth Rodostianos’s Chemistry class were given a mixture with an unspecified amount of HCl acid. Using NaOH as a titrant, the budding chemists safely neutralized the liquid and determined its acidic concentration.
The Thrill of the Hunt
On the afternoon of April 4, right before the two-week spring holiday began, Elementary School students enjoyed Easter egg hunts organized by the TASIS Parent Association (TPA) at Al Focolare for grades pre-Kindergarten through 1 and at Hadsall for grades 2–5.
Spring Holiday
On April 5, the TASIS campus closed for a full two weeks. Most students and faculty enjoyed a well-deserved holiday while three High School Service Learning groups traveled to Moldova, Nepal, and Thailand on Opsahl Global Service Program trips.
Supporting a Community in Moldova
For the first time since 2019, a group from TASIS returned to Moldova to reconnect with Opsahl Global Service Program partner EcoVillage Moldova in the village of Rîșcova. Five High School students and two faculty chaperones spent a week learning about the effects of climate change, planted trees, used their creative skills to design and execute a number of construction projects alongside local students, created a vegetarian cookbook, made a promotional video for the EcoVillage, visited a local school, and more. The group made the best of some challenging weather conditions and even got caught in a few April snow showers.
Contemplating Big Questions in Thailand
Fourteen High School students and four faculty chaperones spent their two-week spring holiday on an Opsahl Global Service Program (GSP) trip to Kanchanaburi, Thailand, where they worked closely with OurLand, a conservation and education center located near the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary—a region deeply affected by habitat loss, environmental degradation, and human-wildlife conflict. Working alongside the local community, the TASIS students took part in a variety of service projects, including building check dams, making sustainable bricks, participating in environmental clean-ups, and engaging in language exchange with children at a local school, where they all reflected on the question: How do we make choices that promote better outcomes for people, the planet, and economic well-being?
Through activities such as visiting elephant sanctuaries, learning about recycling systems with the Buddhist monks, and hearing firsthand from local farmers about adapting to human-wildlife conflict, the TASIS group explored how individual and collective decisions shape both communities and ecosystems.
Helping Out in Nepal
After spending several months learning about the history of Nepal and the plight of Tibetan refugees, eight High School students and three faculty chaperones spent two weeks on a transformational Opsahl Global Service Program trip to Nepal over the spring holiday.
The group members stayed in an isolated Tibetan refugee camp near Pokhara, where they helped to reroof two houses, helped rebuild stone walls, spent time with the retired elders, and did some gardening. After a three-day interlude of trekking through the Himalayas, the students and chaperones spent two days with young Tibetan nuns in the Keydong Nunnery, where they learned to make butter statues and sand mandalas. The last service component was to work with a Tibetan high school and learn how to run a zero-waste school.
This incredible trip has been a part of the Opsahl Global Service Program since its inception in 2014.
Return to Campus
After a restful two-week holiday, students and faculty returned to campus on April 22 excited to reconnect with friends and tackle the remainder of the academic year.
An Engaging Literary Discussion
In collaboration with the Museo Hermann Hesse Montagnola, TASIS hosted its second annual literary colloquium, “Hesse Now: A Library of World Literature,” in the Palmer Cultural Center on the evening of April 24. Moderated by the poet and philosopher Stella N’Djoku, the discussion included interviews with High School English Department Chair Dr. Chris Love and three TASIS students: Alessia Primo ’26, Anastasia Sozanovska ’26, and Diana Xiao ’26. The group spoke about formative literary works in languages other than English and discussed the meaning and value of world literature today.
Futures in Focus
On April 25, three professional panelists spoke to High School students about careers in international relations, international law, politics, military leadership, supply chain management, government, and international affairs. The panel discussion represented the second installment in the TASIS College Counseling Office’s “Futures in Focus” lunch series, which introduces students to potential career paths.
Adventurous Journeys
Five groups of Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award candidates successfully completed their Practice or Qualifying Adventurous Journeys (at either the Silver Award or Bronze Award level) over the weekend of April 25.
Recorder Karate
Grade 3 Music students have spent the spring learning how to play the recorder, earning colored “karate belts” along the way by demonstrating increased levels of prowess.
Preparing to Serve
Student veterans of TASIS Opsahl Global Service Program trips to Cambodia, India, Kenya, Moldova, Nepal, Thailand, and Zambia shared their service travel experiences with 10th-grade students in the Palmer Cultural Center on April 30. The younger students will soon use the information provided by the upperclassmen to pick the GSP partners they wish to support next year.
