Extracurricular Activities
Each year at our school we have so many fun activities besides our usual school programmes! We have special ceremonies, sport matches, exhibitions, performances, field trips, talent shows, and many more. All these are mostly planned, organized, and carried out with the help and co-operation of both our instructors and principles, and, of course, we as the students.
Special Occasions and Ceremonies
At the TIS we have many annual ceremonies on the important dates and events that take place in Iran such as 4 November (Students’ Day) and 11 February (Iranian National Day), amongst others. For example, during the ten days which lead to 11 February and, together, mark the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979, a creativity competition is launched in which students are encouraged to decorate the school building as well as separate classrooms with an overarching theme. At the end of the competition, the winning teams are rewarded by gifts and/or field trips.
Also, during the first ten days of the holy lunar month of Moharram, we have several programmes for the mourning of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, who is one of the most venerated figures in Shiah Islam). During this period which falls in different dates in the AD calendar, we decorate all over the school building in order to highlight the sad events which took place more than 13 centuries ago. There are also special mourning programmes for the students held each morning in the course of this period. In a festive mood, however, we also start decorating the TIS around a fortnight before Christmas, usually keeping Christmas trees all around the school building. At all such events, the school supports us with the funds, facilities, and equipment needed for organizing the programme and designing the area in which the ceremony will take place. The really fun thing for everyone present in these ceremonies is the games and matches, such as dodge ball, which we have with our teachers.
At least a couple of times in a year, we have a potluck where students bring food from their home culture in order to share it with everybody else. Such festivities help spread the variety of cultures represented in the TIS and forge a new bond between us all, creating a warm and open atmosphere in our school.
Exhibitions
During each year we have a number of art exhibitions held in the school. In these exhibitions, in which all the school staff, students themselves, and their parents can attend, the creative artworks of the students from the kindergarten to the IB Diploma candidates are presented. However, some exhibitions are exclusively organized for the younger students only. The elementary students, moreover, usually have many science fairs of their own, presenting what they have learnt so far in the fields of the natural sciences. On the other hand, there are other exhibitions only for high school and mainly the IB art students who studying art professionally. Here there is a good opportunity for them to present their artworks to the rest of the TIS family. Sometimes a special niche is given to certain individual students who may have outstanding works to showcase which would be a huge incentive for them to keep up the good work.
Drama, Music, and Talent Shows
At the TIS, our literature syllabi include many world-famous plays. In each academic year, students from the same or different grades perform one or more of these dramas in front of the whole school community. Such occasions are mainly organized by either the faculty or the senior high school and IB students. Later on, these are performed at either our school’s special ceremonies or have a specific time associated to themselves and performed for the school.
For our elementary and middle school students who take music class at the TIS, there are music shows and concerts at school in which they can perform to the rest of the school. Other entertaining programmes include talent shows. These again are mainly organized and planned by the IB students but performed by the other junior students the outcome of which would definitely encourage all our teamwork activities. The talent shows include dancing, singing and music, acting, etc.
Field Trips
Almost every couple of months our school takes us to field trips to different regions in Tehran and sometimes even to other cities in Iran. City expeditions include going to cinemas, parks, paintball games, landmarks, and many other interesting places in Tehran. For art students there are special field trips to museums, galleries, pottery workshops, etc, which can help them during their art course(s). Generally all the students agree that such field trips are a really good break time as well as fun education for everybody.
Sport Events
Every year a number of sport events are organized at the TIS. In order to excel in these competitions, the participating teams will have constant practice hours in the school gym. The matches are mostly played during the middle and end of each academic year.
