Category: Eagles Making News

The Council of International Schools’ Award for International Understanding was designed to recognize those students in an international school that are actively involved in promoting international understanding.

The Award for International Understanding is

"Awarded to a student who is a good representative of their own country, with a positive attitude toward the life and culture of others, able to converse in at least two languages, a contributing force in the life of the school, with the ability to bring differing people together into a sense of community, thus furthering the cause of international understanding".

Dr. Matthews presented this award during the Senior Awards Ceremony on June 4, 2012 with the following:

“The senior recipient of this award is a citizen of Saudi Arabia and speaks both Arabic and English. Over the last four years this student has been an active member of our Make A Difference club which is devoted to protecting the environment, eradicating poverty in developing countries through microfinance, and local community volunteer outreach. This student has been an officer in this club the last two years, the president this year.

This student is the only member of the Class of 2012 to participate for three straight years in the Habitat Club’s spring break service project in the Philippines. Last year, as a junior, she participated in not only one but two different service trips. One was back to the Philippines and the second was to India.

An MUN participant for the last three years, she is a stranger to no one and has a sincere infectious optimism and energy that other students naturally follow. She provides a lens into the life of a Saudi female for others to see and understand. She has a cumulative GPA of 3.58, is a full IB Diploma student, and has acceptances at a number of universities including NYU, George Washington, Boston University, and the University of Kent in England.

This year’s winner of the CIS Award for International Understanding is Haya Al-Hejailan.”

Congratulations Haya!