CCB News
At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, Daniela Estrada Lasso from 7th grade, participated in the National Interleague Artistic Swimming Championship representing Valle del Cauca in Medellín. She won a gold medal in the mixed duet category. Daniela also won two silver medals in the team freestyle category and team combined for her outstanding participation She won first place in her category and was crowned with the delegation of Valle del Cauca as champions of the Interligas.
Looking forward to this new school year, Daniela is training for her participation in the National Interclub Championship to be held in December. She will now compete in the youth category.
Daniela is 12 years old and has been practising artistic swimming for 4 years. She trains 6 days a week, 4 hours a day, belongs to the Ciudad de Cali Club which is part of the Liga Vallecaucana de Natación and also to the CCB’s High Performance Athlete Sports Programme!
"I was nervous because it was my first time representing Valle. I felt a lot of responsibility and pressure, as we had very few months to train in water. We had several difficulties due to the pandemic and the blockades. But I felt that we gave our all to get a good result. We doubled the training, it was up to 8 hours a day of preparation. In the end I felt very satisfied with the work I did and the medals we won," Daniela told us.
Her mother, Claudia Lasso, a former artistic swimmer, has supported her and has been her inspiration. She was very proud of her daughter's commitment and sporting quality.
"I know how demanding this sport is in terms of time, effort and sacrifice. Daniela has taken on this challenge working very hard, she has had a very nice process of learning, organisation and commitment with the team and the sport. The satisfaction I have is very great for what Daniela has shown" Claudia told us.
We would like to congratulate Daniela for her medals. We know she will be very successful in her career.
August marks the beginning of a school year full of changes, and some of those changes are the new Heads of Section in both Primary and Secondary: Carlos Piñeres and Silvia Franco, respectively.
We share some insight into who they are and what they look to accomplish in their new positions.
Interim Head of the Secondary Section, Silvia Franco
With a career spanning more than 20 years, Silvia has been with the CCB since February 1999. She joined as a Secondary psychologist and spent 11 years in the position. She then became a section assistant in August 2010, working under five different heads.
At the end of the year 20-21 we said goodbye to Dr. Tracy Arnold who was Head for two years. The school set about the task of finding the best person to replace her, but having not yet found Tracy's replacement, Silvia took on the position, understanding all the responsibility that goes with it.
"I feel very honoured by the trust the school has placed in me and the team. It was better to take on the position on an interim basis at this time and not to bring in someone new in a hurry or to make a quick selection, but to take the time to make a good pick", Silvia told us.
She emphasises that one of the skills they are looking for in a head of section is a love of education. She firmly believes that love and passion provide an intangible force that is necessary to fulfil this difficult task.
She also noted how important it is to always be open to dialogue and recommendations, understanding the importance of teamwork and interdisciplinary work, and the support of all teachers, collaborators and parents.
"I will give my best. It is something I have always tried to do in my years and career at the CCB. I hope I can live up to the trust I have been given for this position. I will be working as a team, always listening to the people".
We wish Silvia all the best in this new phase and we wish the Secondary Section every success under her leadership.
Head of Section Primary, Carlos Piñeres
Carlos joined the school in 2003 as a Primary music and orchestra teacher. Carlos has a degree in Music from the Universidad del Valle and previously worked as a horn player in the Orquesta Sinfónica del Valle.
At the CCB, he worked as a music teacher for 11 years, during which time he was also in charge of the CCB Orchestra (which grew to 65 members!) and for two years he taught music in the IB Diploma Programme. During this time he was part of the team in charge of implementing the PEP programme, the Primary Years Programme, from scratch, giving him an in-depth knowledge of this IB Continuum programme.
In 2014, Diane offered her the opportunity to become a Deputy Head of Primary, a position he held for 7 years. With Diane’s departure, the school opened an internal call for candidates to find a replacement. Carlos was chosen out of seven candidates to take the position. It is a great responsibility for him to take on such an important position and he is very grateful for all that Diane taught him.
“It is a great responsibility that I take on and even more so with all the legacy that Diane left us. A large part of my professional development was achieved thanks to her accompaniment, she allowed me to learn a lot as a person, and I owe it in large part to her to be able to be here. She is a fantastic person,” Carlos told us.
He also says that maintaining the status of excellence that the College has earned at regional, national and international level will be a challenge for this new position he is occupying. And we know that he will give his all to make Primary and CCB grow.
“I love teaching, being with the children, it is an energy that rewards you day by day. Seeing their joy when they manage to develop a skill or achieve a project is priceless. Seeing them grow and seeing them in their universities, in their jobs, seeing that they are successful, is something that fills you as a teacher and makes you feel that what you are doing is worthwhile,” said Carlos.
We wish him the best of luck in this new stage of his life. On behalf of the whole community CCB.
Grade 10 student, Isabella Trujillo Cortés, has been selected to publish her poem “Manos de un pianista” in the literary magazine “Lexikalia”, from the School of Literary Studies of the Universidad del Valle. The magazine was created in 2013 and has 10 issues to date. Isabella's poem will be part of the 11th issue. The selection was made through an invitation for submissions made by Lexikalia at the end of the last academic year.
Isabella's poem is about her and the connection she has with her piano when she plays it. A representation of herself, of her passion for the instrument. Using different literary figures, Isabella came up with a beautiful piece that was selected from among several participants in the call for entries.
The Secondary Spanish Teacher, Luis Gabriel Rodríguez, told us a little about the process Isabella went through to be selected.
"Last year, in ninth and tenth grade, we worked on the appreciation, analysis and creation of poetry. This work resulted in very interesting poems. For this reason, the students were encouraged to participate with their work in the magazine," Luis Gabriel told us.
Secondary’s Spanish Coordinator for MYP and DP, Andri Yicelt García, was very excited about Isabella's achievement and gave a message of encouragement to other CCB students with a knack for writing.
"Congratulations to Isabella on her achievement. I hope that more students from our school continue to showcase their skills for literary creations and that they can be part of many more magazines nationally and why not, internationally," said Andri.
With this poem, Isabella confirms her love for writing, as it is not the first poem she has written. However, she had not done it before in Spanish.
"I love writing, I feel it is a way to express your feelings, to express what we can't say in everyday dialogue. I think that writing speaks beyond what you think and say," Isabella told us.
The English romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, once said that “Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.” And it is true for Isabella’s poem, bringing out the beauty of her relationship with the piano.
