@SABIS^® STARS 2018!

On April 20^th and 21st, SABIS^® International School – Yas Island - Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., hosted the highly-anticipated 2018 edition of SABIS^® STARS. The event welcomed students from 28 SABIS^® schools in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Kurdistan-Iraq, K.S.A., Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, and the U.A.E, for a two-day event that showcased their knowledge, talent, and critical thinking skills.

SABIS^® STARS is a biennial, regional contest in which students from SABIS^® schools meet and compete in events that are designed to challenge them beyond academics, ignite their desire to investigate their passions, and showcase their talent and creativity. This year, over 500 students competed in 11 different categories including debate, photography, live art performances, singing, public speaking, creative writing, spelling, science projects, world issues, and advertising. The competition was fierce and the judges – prominent individuals from the local communities – were impressed by the standards of participants’ work, high spirits, and camaraderie that they witnessed at the event.

The event culminated in a closing ceremony in the presence of SABIS^® Board members, partners, directors, diplomats, media representatives, and VIPs to announce the winners. In his closing ceremony speech, SABIS^® Vice-President Mr. Victor Saad stated: “SABIS^® STARS is carefully designed to maximize potential and secure the most meaningful engagement with the world and its concerns. The carefully selected topics are both varied and stimulating enabling our students to practice and display the widest range of skills.” He added: “They can also in this melting pot of diversity, exchange cultural viewpoints, learn new ideas and of course make new friends […]”.

For his part, guest speaker and ISC-Abu Dhabi alumnus Dr. Ahmed Al Shoiabi, Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Services at Khalifa University of Science and Technology commented: “We all know that the school experience is culmination of the educational and social interaction. Employers are looking for skills such as public speaking, team building, creativity and art inclination which are qualities which SABIS^® Stars celebrate. […] Each of the competitions focused on a specific professional skill which, let’s face it, cannot always be taught inside a classroom.”

Participating schools all enjoyed their fair share of trophies and students returned home with perhaps the best trophy of all: great memories of a fantastic event! With the next SABIS^® STARS set to take place in the spring of 2020, they have a lot to look forward to! For more information about SABIS^® STARS 2018 visit their official Facebook page at facebook.com/SABISSTARS. For more information about schools in the SABIS^® Network, visit sabis.net